Eastwick (TV Series)

''Eastwick'' is an American fantasy comedy-drama television series based on John Updike's 1984 novel ''The Witches of Eastwick'' which aired on ABC from September 23 until December 30, 2009. The series was developed by Maggie Friedman, and starred Paul Gross as the infamous Darryl Van Horne, alongside Jaime Ray Newman, Lindsay Price, and Rebecca Romijn as the eponymous witches.

Plot

Joanna Frankel, Katherine Gardener, and Roxanne Torcoletti were three dissatisfied women living in the picturesque town of Eastwick, New England. Yearning for excitement in their lives, each of the women desperately make a wish for “something to change”, in their daily lives. The following day, a mysterious and very secretive stranger named Darryl Van Horne arrives and begins courting each of the women in turns. Darryl eventually informs the women about their 'witch' talents and encourages them to explore their unique abilities. However, as the series progresses, the three unlikely friends begin to worry about Darryl's ultimate intentions.

Cast

Primary characters

* Katherine "Kat" Gardener (Jaime Ray Newman) is a level-headed mother of five children, a nurse at Eastwick General Hospital, and the wife of Raymond Gardener. Struggling to balance a happy and healthy life and marriage, Kat is often compared to Mother Nature. Coincidentally, Kat exhibits the power of elementalism, otherwise known as the manipulation and control of the elements; air, earth, fire, water, lightning, and the manipulation of weather itself. As the show progressed, Kat also showed signs of healing abilities, as she was able to magically heal the injuries of her hospital patients. Her counterpart from the book is Sukie Rougemont.
* Joanna Frankel (Lindsay Price) is an insecure news reporter at the Eastwick Gazette. Although Joanna finds it difficult to have the things she wants, she ironically exhibits the hypnotic ability to control and manipulate the minds of men. As the show progressed, Joanna also showed signs of telekinetic powers and is able to move multiple objects with a simple thought. Her counterpart from the book is Jane Smart.
* Roxanne "Roxie" Torcoletti (Rebecca Romijn) is a free-spirited sculptress and also the widowed mother of Mia Torcoletti. As a widow, Roxie is seen as an outcast, largely because many of the Eastwick citizens believe she was responsible for her husband’s death. Throughout the series, Roxie exhibits clairvoyant powers, allowing her to hear and see deceased people, hear others' thoughts, and envision events that can (and most of the time will) happen. As the show progresses Roxie's Clairvoyant abilities also allow her to hear her mother’s inner, secret thoughts. Her counterpart from the book is Lexa Spofford.

Main

* Ashley Benson as Mia Torcoletti
* Jon Bernthal as Raymond Gardener
* Veronica Cartwright as Bun Waverly
* Jaime Ray Newman as Kat Gardener
* Lindsay Price as Joanna Frankel
* Rebecca Romijn as Roxanne Torcoletti
* Sara Rue as Penny Higgins
* Johann Urb as Will St. David
* Paul Gross as Darryl Van Horne

Recurring

* Darren Criss as Josh Burton
* Matt Dallas as Chad Burton
* Jason George as Max Brody
* Jack Huston as Jamie Dalton
* Cybill Shepherd as Eleanor Rougement
* Torsten Voges as Fidel

Episodes

Production

Previous versions

Before ''Eastwick'', two other television adaptations of the original film were produced, but neither of these were picked up for full seasons. The first adaptation was produced for NBC in 1992, starring Julia Campbell as Jane Hollis, Catherine Mary Stewart as Sukie Ridgemont, Ally Walker as Alexandra Spofford, and Michael Siberry as Darryl Van Horne.

The second unsold pilot was produced for Fox in 2002, starring Marcia Cross as Jane Spofford, Kelly Rutherford as Alexandra Medford, Lori Loughlin as Sukie Ridgemont, and Jason O'Mara as Darryl Van Horne.

Cast comparison

Development

The series is based on the 1984 novel ''The Witches of Eastwick'' and the film counterpart of the same name. While the book was written by John Updike, the series was conceived by Maggie Friedman, who wanted to create a show about female empowerment and a show that is magical but also real. ABC picked up the show in early 2009.

The series was filmed on the Warner Bros. Studios backlot, using the same town square as The WB's series, ''Gilmore Girls''. Filming of the pilot began in August 2009 when all characters had been cast, the last one being Matt Dallas on July 30. ABC decided to put the show on the air Wednesdays at 10:00pm Eastern/9:00pm Central, after another new show, ''Cougar Town'' on ABC's Comedy Wednesdays.

There were initial suggestions that the show could potentially feature a musical episode, but this never occurred. The last day of shooting was held on November 16, 2009.

Cancellation

''Eastwick'' was also one of the eighty-four shows canceled in 2010. After the series was canceled on November 9, Kristin of E! Online held an online campaign to determine which endangered show should be given another chance; ''Eastwick'' won the poll with 54.5% of the vote. Show creator Maggie Friedman was "said to be extremely frustrated and angry" with how the network mishandled the show.

Reception

Critical reception

''Eastwick'' initially opened with mixed reviews. Metacritic has given the series a score of 50% based on the pilot episode, from among 21 critical reviews.
''Entertainment Weekly'' gave the pilot episode a B, stating the show "plays like ''Desperate Housewives'' if the Wisteria Lane ladies liked prestidigitation instead of poker."
''Variety'' was also favorable by saying "the pilot represents a polished product that neatly introduces an array of characters and establishes ''Eastwick'' as a project with no small measure of potential."
The ''Boston Globe'' gave the show a more positive review: its writer still compared it to ''Desperate Housewives'' while saying "''Desperate Housewives'' is frustrating because it can’t seem to decide what it is: murder mystery, silly farce, or realistic look at domestic woes. ''Eastwick'' is allegory and knows it, so it can be plausibly silly and over-the-top, and hint at real issues - women in the workplace, gender politics at home - without trying too hard ... I’ll take Witch Hazel over Wisteria any day." The ''New York Post'' described ''Eastwick'' as the best new fall show of 2009, giving it a Grade A−, the highest score for any of the new shows graded.

International distribution

''Eastwick'' saw better success internationally than in the United States. The show premiered in the United Kingdom on November 24, 2009. The pilot episode gathered 157,000 viewers on Hallmark Channel and 105,000 on Hallmark+1, the channel airing an hour behind the original channel, for a total of 262,000 viewers. During the week, it placed #2 on the Hallmark channel and #1 on Hallmark+1. Following episodes usually earned the top spot on the channel for the week. The sixth episode pulled in 194,000 viewers on Hallmark, and then an additional 110,000 at 11pm, totalling 304,000 viewers. The episode got #1 on both Hallmark and Hallmark+1.

The United Kingdom were the first to see episodes eleven and thirteen, the series finale, while both episodes remained unaired in the United States. Episode eleven aired on January 19, 2010, and gathered a total rating of 188,000 viewers. The series finale aired on February 14, 2010, achieved 201,000 on Hallmark as the highest of the series and 93,000 on Hallmark+1, resulting in a grand total of 294,000. The broadcasts on Hallmark averaged 157,846 viewers, Hallmark+1 averaged 69,846 viewers, and together averaged 227,692 viewers in total.

Ratings

''Eastwick'' premiered with 8.53 million viewers, coming second in its timeslot, beaten only by ''CSI: NY''. Excluding only ''Lost'' premieres and finales, ''Eastwick'' produced ABC's highest viewers and young adult numbers in the time period with regular programming in almost 2 years - since October 17, 2007 and October 24, 2007, respectively.

The September 30, 2009 episode dropped 1.91 million viewers from the pilot, and scored 6.62 million. Though it dropped in ratings, other shows that night also dropped the same amount. Growing from its week-ago series debut by 8%, ''Eastwick'' won its time period among Women 18-34, beating ''CSI: NY'' in the hour by 12% (2.8/8 vs. 2.5/8).

The October 7, 2009 episode was opposite CBS' time-period veteran ''CSI: NY,'' ABC's freshman ''Eastwick'' earned second place in the 10 o'clock hour, defeating NBC's ''Jay Leno'' for the 3rd week in a row among Adults 18-49 (1.8/5 vs. 1.7/5), but placed No. 1 in its hour with Women 18-34 (2.0/6-tie) for its 2nd consecutive telecast.

The October 14, 2009 episode beat out NBC's ''Jay Leno'' in Adults 18-34 (+15% - 1.5/5 vs. 1.3/4) and for the 3rd week in a row across each of the key Women demos (W18-34/W18-49/W25-54). It also grew its audience week to week in both Adults 18-34 (+7% - 1.5/5 vs. 1.4/4) and Adults 25-54 (+5% - 2.1/5 vs. 2.0/5).

The October 21, 2009 episode defeated NBC's ''Jay Leno'' in Adults 18-49 (+13% - 1.7/5 vs. 1.5/4), and was also seeing bumps from first-reported numbers through DVR playback, surging by 1.1 million viewers and by an additional 4-tenths of an Adult 18-49 rating point from the initially reported Live + Same Day Numbers to the Live + 7 Day DVR finals.

The October 28, 2009 episode continued to beat NBC's ''Jay Leno'' in the 10 o'clock hour, leading by 20% this week among Adults 18-49 (1.8/5 vs. 1.5/4), and built its Adult 18-49 audience by 13% over the prior week (1.8/5 vs. 1.6/4), tallying its best number in 3 weeks. It also saw bumps from the first-reported numbers through DVR playback, surging by 1.0 million viewers and by an additional 4-tenths of an Adult 18-49 rating point from the initially reported Live + Same Day Numbers to the Live + 7 Day DVR finals.

The November 4, 2009 episode continued to beat NBC's ''Jay Leno'' in the 10 o'clock hour (3 weeks in a row), leading by an even wider margin of 23% this week among Adults 18-49 (1.6/4 vs. 1.3/4), and saw bumps from the first-reported numbers through DVR playback, averaging an additional 1.0 million viewers and a 4-tenths of an Adult 18-49 rating point increase from the initially reported Live + Same Day Numbers to the Live + 7 Day DVR finals.

After the show was cancelled, ABC stopped advertising the show, meaning less viewers were highly likely.

The November 25, 2009 episode fell hard in ratings, mainly because of it being the day before Thanksgiving Day, in which all programmes that night took a hit in their ratings, also achieving season, or series, lows. It managed to pull 3.65 million in overnight ratings, but rose in final numbers to 3.89 million.

The December 2, 2009 episode was up week to week by 17% in Total Viewers (4.2 million vs. 3.6 million) and by 18% in Adults 18-49 (1.3/4 vs. 1.1/3). The ABC freshman drama ranked No. 2 in the hour with Adults 18-34 (1.1/3-tie) and among key Women: W18-34 (1.6/5), W18-49 (1.7/5-tie) and W25-54 (2.1/5). It saw bumps from the first-reported numbers through DVR playback, averaging an additional 1.0 million viewers and a 4-tenths of an Adult 18-49 rating point increase from the initially reported Live + Same Day Numbers to the Live + 7 Day DVR finals.

Legacy

Although ''Eastwick'' was short-lived, the supernatural drama became a favorite for fans of the occult. The pilot episode achieved 8.53 million viewers and remained the highest viewed telecast on ABC at the Wednesday 10pm slot until "''Revenge''" scored a 3.3 adults 18-49 rating and 10.02 million viewers in its September 2011 premiere.

The premiere episode also became one of the highest-viewed pilots of a supernatural series based on witches, even beating cult favorite ''Charmed'' (7.70 million viewers). In August 2010, it was "pick of the week" in '' The South African Times'', where the journalist speculated the show would get a cult following.

Awards and nominations

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Eastwick (TV Series)
2000s American comedy-drama television series
2009 American television series debuts
2009 American television series endings
American Broadcasting Company original programming
English-language television shows
American fantasy television series
Live action television shows based on films
Television shows based on American novels
Television series by Warner Bros. Television Studios
Television shows set in Rhode Island
Witchcraft in television
The Witches of Eastwick