‘Roswell,’ ‘Charmed’ pale imitators of originals
We should really have a better reason to go back to Roswell, New Mexico.
CW’s latest remake, due Tuesday (9 EST/PST), is based on the series that aired on WB and UPN from 1999-2002, which in turn stems from the “Roswell High” books by Melinda Metz about aliens living secretly in the infamous southwest town. It follows this season’s “Charmed,” a remake of the 1998-2006 WB series about three witch sisters, not to mention “90210,” “Dynasty” and “Melrose Place.”
It’s not surprising that shows such as “Roswell” and “Charmed” come back. In this remake/reboot/revival universe, the law of averages says anything that can be rebooted will be. Addictive genre television aimed at young women is right on brand for the network of “Riverdale” and a third “Vampire Diaries” series. But the art of the remake requires more finesse than the clumsy “Roswell, New Mexico” and “Charmed” have exhibited. And it’s a shame for me and other fans who came of age amid the smoldering Roswell aliens and the Halliwell sisters.
Both series falter but for nearly opposite reasons. The original sin of “Charmed” is the relationship between the new creators, the source material and, by extension, its fans.
For most Hollywood types tasked with re-creating a beloved property, fealty to fans is paramount. J.J. Abrams bent over backward, in complicated yoga positions, to please the legions of “Star Wars” fans while directing and promoting 2015’s “The Force Awakens.”
But while promoting “Charmed” last summer, the cast and creators awkwardly sidestepped questions about the original and the disapproval of original star Holly Marie Combs. No effort was made to stay faithful to the rules of magic established by the original series. And though the new writers had good reasons to change some of the mythology, the rest is just different for the sake of being different.
While watching, I was too immensely bothered by similarities with the original version to pretend I was watching something totally new, but it was so different that even small changes grated.
I was aware of every departure from the original, from the way the sisters deployed their powers to the special effects behind teleportation. It made even trying to focus on the lack- luster story a challenge. Many fans were outraged about the bastardization of the source material from the moment the first trailer was released.
The “New Mexico” writers were smarter about fan relations. Original cast member Shiri Appleby (“UnREAL”) is on board with the remake and is even set to direct an episode. At a New York Comic-Con panel in October, the actors said the right things about the original, offering a legitimate reason for a remake – a push for diversity and the hot-button debate over immigration.
Although the creators know how to speak fans’ language, in practice, “New Mexico” is little more than a deformed clone of “Roswell.” It’s nearly identical, just not as good. The characters have the same names, and locations and relationships are near carbon copies. There are only two impactful changes: The characters are older, 20somethings rather than high schoolers, and Liz (Jeanine Mason) is a Latina daughter of undocumented immigrants.
The play on the term “illegal alien” was one of CW’s big selling points, but it feels more like a “woke” checklist by network executives to bring intrigue and Gen Z fans to an otherwise mediocre remake. At least in the first three episodes, the writers don’t push the show’s political themes enough to make them resonate.
The other aspects of “New Mexico” also are a letdown: The writing is poor, the action is dull and the main actors are less compelling than the original cast, which included talents such as Appleby and Katherine Heigl, pre-“Grey’s Anatomy.”
There’s no road map to making something old new again (although anxious writers and creators could stream the impeccable “One Day at a Time” on Netflix), but the extremes represented by “Charmed” and “New Mexico” are certainly not the way to go. For viewers, whether they watched the originals or not, there has to be a reason to tune in besides the title.