''Salem'' is an American

supernatural Supernatural refers to phenomena or entities that are beyond the laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin (above, beyond, or outside of) + (nature) Though the corollary term "nature", has had multiple meanings si ...

horror television series created by Brannon Braga and

Adam Simon Adam Simon (born February 6, 1962) is an American director, producer, and screenwriter. His directing credits include '' Brain Dead'' (1990), '' Body Chemistry II: The Voice of a Stranger'' (1992), and '' Carnosaur'' (1993). Simon, along with p ...

, loosely inspired by the real

Salem witch trials The Salem witch trials were a series of hearings and prosecutions of people accused of witchcraft in colonial Massachusetts between February 1692 and May 1693. More than 200 people were accused. Thirty people were found guilty, 19 of whom w ...

in the 17th century. The series premiered on

WGN America WGN America was an American subscription television network that was owned by the Nexstar Media Group, and was the company's only wholly owned, national cable-originated television channel. The channel in its final form under the WGN branding ra ...

on April 20, 2014, becoming the network's first original scripted series. As the network's first and highest-rated series, it was renewed for a second season on May 15, 2014. A third season was commissioned on July 11, 2015 and premiered on November 2, 2016. On December 13, 2016, it was announced that WGN had cancelled the show after three seasons, with the final episode airing on January 25, 2017.

Plot overview

The series stars

Janet Montgomery Janet Ruth Montgomery (born 29 October 1985) is an English film and TV actress. She first gained attention for her role as Ames in the second season of the television series '' Human Target'' (2010–11), and also for her appearance in the 2009 ...

as Mary Sibley, a powerful witch who controls the Salem witch trials by exacerbating hysteria among the Puritans while executing her plan of summoning the

Devil A devil is the personification of evil as it is conceived in various cultures and religious traditions. It is seen as the objectification of a hostile and destructive force. Jeffrey Burton Russell states that the different conceptions of ...

. Problems arise when her long lost love, John Alden (played by

Shane West Shannon Bruce Snaith (born June 10, 1978), better known as Shane West, is an American actor, singer, and songwriter. He is known for his portrayal of Eli Sammler in the ABC family drama '' Once and Again'', Landon Carter in '' A Walk to Remembe ...

), returns to Salem, complicating Mary's plans. The show has prominent elements of

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

romance.

Cast and characters

Main

Recurring

Production

Development

The series first appeared as part of

's development slate in July 2012, under the title ''Malice''. On June 4, 2013, WGN America bypassed the pilot stage and placed a series order for 13 episodes, under the new title ''Salem''. On November 8, 2013, filming of the series began in

Shreveport, Louisiana Shreveport ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is the third most populous city in Louisiana after New Orleans and Baton Rouge, respectively. The Shreveport–Bossier City metropolitan area, with a population of 393,406 in 2020, is ...

, on an expansive set reflecting 17th-century Massachusetts. On May 15, 2014, ''Salem'' was renewed for a 13-episode second season by WGN America. On July 11, 2015, ''Salem'' was renewed for a 10-episode third season by WGN America. It began production on January 21, 2016. In December 2016, a month after the third-season premiere, it was announced that the series had been cancelled. Its series finale aired on January 25, 2017.

Casting

Casting announcements began in October 2013, with Ashley Madekwe first cast in the role of Tituba.

Seth Gabel Seth Gabel (born October 3, 1981) is an American actor. He is known for his roles of agent Lincoln Lee on Fox's television series '' Fringe'', Cotton Mather on WGN America's series '' Salem'', and Adrian Moore on the FX series ''Nip/Tuck''. H ...

was the next actor cast, in the regular role of Cotton Mather.

and Xander Berkeley were cast in the lead role of Mary Sibley and the role of Magistrate Hale, respectively.

later signed onto the series regular role of John Alden. Also cast was Tamzin Merchant as Anne Hale. Elise Eberle was later cast in the series regular role of Mercy Lewis. On the June 1, 2014 episode, Stephen Lang joined the cast in the recurring role of

Increase Mather Increase Mather (; June 21, 1639 Old Style – August 23, 1723 Old Style) was a New England Puritan clergyman in the Massachusetts Bay Colony and president of Harvard College for twenty years (1681–1701). He was influential in the admini ...

. For the second season,

Lucy Lawless Lucille Frances Lawless (; born 29 March 1968) is a New Zealand actress and singer. She is best known for her roles as Xena in the television series '' Xena: Warrior Princess'', as D'Anna Biers on the re-imagined ''Battlestar Galactica'' seri ...

and

Stuart Townsend Stuart Townsend (born 15 December 1972) is an Irish actor. He portrayed Lestat de Lioncourt in the film adaptation of Anne Rice's ''Queen of the Damned'' (2002), and Dorian Gray in Alan Moore's ''The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen'' (2003) ...

joined ''Salem'' in the recurring roles of Countess Marburg and Samuel Wainwright, respectively. Joe Doyle and

Oliver Bell Oliver Bell (born May 13, 2004) is an American actor, based in Florida. He began his professional acting career at the age of eight. He is best known for his role as Little John/the Devil on the WGN America series '' Salem'', and Little Boy in th ...

also joined the second season in regular roles of Baron Sebastian Marburg and Mary's lost son, respectively. During the third season, singer

Marilyn Manson Brian Hugh Warner (born January 5, 1969), known professionally as Marilyn Manson, is an American rock musician. He came to prominence as the lead singer of the band which shares his name, of which he remains the only constant member since it ...

joined the cast in a recurring role as barber and all-around problem solver Thomas Dinley.

Music

The majority of ''Salems score was composed by

Tyler Bates Tyler Bates (born June 5, 1965) is an American musician, producer, and composer for film, television, and video game scores. Much of his work is in the action and horror film genres, with films like '' Dawn of the Dead, 300, Sucker Punch, H ...

. Bates selected " Cupid Carries a Gun", a song he co-wrote with

and recorded by the band for their album '' The Pale Emperor'', as the show's title track.

Episodes

Home media

The first season was released on DVD in the United States on October 28, 2014, by Fox Home Entertainment. The second season was released on DVD on April 5, 2016, and is manufactured by Amazon's CreateSpace MOD Program.

Reception

Critical reception

''Salem'' scored 49 out of 100 based on 16 critic reviews on

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, which the site characterizes as "mixed or average reviews". On

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

, the first season scored 54% and an average rating of 5.5 out of 10 based on 26 critic reviews. The critical consensus reads: "While the horror scenes are well-executed, ''Salem'' lacks enough substance to sustain even a guilty-pleasure interest." Neil Genzlinger of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', upon reviewing the first season, said the show is "brash and well executed... perversely entertaining". He went on to say that "when ''Salem'' isn't being deliberately outrageous, it's cultivating a dynamic that could be fruitful as things move along. Here in the 21st century, science and reason rule, but in a world of sorcery, clinging to rationality just makes you stupid." Mark Dawidziak of ''

The Plain Dealer ''The Plain Dealer'' is the major newspaper of Cleveland, Ohio, United States. In fall 2019, it ranked 23rd in U.S. newspaper circulation, a significant drop since March 2013, when its circulation ranked 17th daily and 15th on Sunday. As of M ...

'' gave the first few episodes a positive review, saying "Slowly drawing you into its heightened version of that Puritan community, ''Salem'' casts its spell with an opening episode that is a witch's brew of romance, fear, deceit, revenge, hysteria, evil and uncertainty." Zack Handlin of '' The A.V. Club'' called the series "a collection of shallow stock characters and ramshackle plotting" that attempts tacky exploitation of a tragedy. Brian Lowry wrote in ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' that although the series is not bad, it "plays like a rather flat supernatural soap".

Ratings

The series premiere rose to 3.4million viewers in Live+7 ratings, and had more than 1.5million viewers in adults 18–49. The season two premiere rose 150% in adults 18–49 in Live+7 ratings, from 0.2 to 0.5, while it rose to 1.5million viewers in Live+3. The second episode rose 300% from 0.1 to 0.4.

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * {{NewsNation 2014 American television series debuts 2017 American television series endings 2010s American drama television series 2010s American horror television series 2010s American supernatural television series Cannibalism in fiction Fiction about the Devil English-language television shows Witchcraft in television Television about magic Salem witch trials in fiction Satanism in popular culture Television series based on actual events Television series by 20th Century Fox Television Television series created by Brannon Braga Television shows filmed in Louisiana Television series set in the 17th century Television series about the history of the United States Television shows set in Massachusetts Television series about witchcraft WGN America original programming Gothic television shows