Kenya Barris and Yamara Taylor, both from black-ish, have signed a deal with ABC to develop a remake of 1960s sitcom Bewitched. This deal comes at an odd time as Barris just sign a large overall deal to work at Netflix, so this will more than likely be the last project he develops for the alphabet network.
Bewitched is owned by Sony, and it will be co-producing along with ABC Studios and Davis Entertainment. Previously there were attempts at reviving the property at CBS in 2011 and at NBC in 2014, but neither project moved on to even the pilot episode stage. This new version has received pilot production commitment meaning that at least the first episode will be produced.
The original Bewitched ran for eight seasons on ABC from 1964 to 1972. It starred Elizabeth Montgomery as Samantha, a witch who had married a mortal and moved to suburbia with him much to the shame of her mother, Endora (Agnes Moorehead). The updated version is said to follow Samantha who is an African-American single mother that goes on to marry Darrin who is a bit of a slacker. Samantha will learn that despite her powers she is not as powerful as a white man in modern-day America.
Bewitched joins an avalanche of reboots currently in development throughout Hollywood including the likes of ALF, The Facts of Life, Fantasy Island and more. How many of them actually make it out to the public remains to be seen, but it is clear there is a full-on nostalgia resurgence happening at the moment.
