MediaPunch/REX/Shutterstock; Jordon Nuttall/The CWThe CW's Charmed remake was the subject of ire—from both fans and original cast members—before it even premiered. And now one of the original cast members, Shannen Doherty, is speaking out again—in the show's defense.
While appearing at a comic convention in Paris, Doherty was asked about the new CW series, which got boos from the audience. "I want to remind everybody that these are three girls who just want to act. They got a huge opportunity, and I would implore everybody to be a little bit kinder," Doherty told the crowd.
Doherty, who has praised the show before, said the show is about "good influence."
"This is a show about three strong women again… I know that it may not be your Charmed, but you should all really pat yourselves on the back and congratulate yourselves, because you're the most loyal, amazing fans in the world. And because of you, you made it a show that a younger generation wants to see," she said.
The actress, who was recently seen in the Heathers TV remake, noted the show is giving people jobs and hope. "You have to think about what Charmed did for you when it was on and think about what that's going to do for a new generation. Embrace it, you guys. It's doing well, ratings-wise, and it's employing over 200 people."
New series star Sarah Jeffery took to Twitter to thank Doherty.
Holly Marie Combs was quick to decry the new version of Charmed, which stars Melonie Diaz, Madeline Mantock and Jeffery was three new witch sisters. "Here's the thing. Until you ask us to rewrite it like Brad Kern did weekly don't even think of capitalizing on our hard work," Combs tweeted. "Charmed belongs to the 4 of us, our vast amount of writers, crews and predominantly the fans. FYI you will not fool them by owning a title/stamp. So bye."
Alyssa Milano previously told E! News she was unsure if she was going to watch the remake. "It was such a big part of our lives, so it's hard for us to accept that somebody else is doing it," Milano told E! News' Zuri Hall. "But not anything personal or creative about that, just that it was us, it was huge, personally it's hard to see it sort of move on without us."
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, new series creator Jennie Snyder Urman said she wished they had reached out to the original cast, "only because of all of the feelings that got excavated once that happened."
"Then you look back and you realize, this was such a huge part of their lives for so long, of course they're feeling like, 'Oh my gosh, it's being taken in a direction without me.' But hindsight is 20/20. We understand their feelings, and at the same time we want to give these women — who are starring in the reboot and who have really strong voices — an opportunity to be the heroes of the story, and an opportunity to do their version of the show. It's always tricky when you take a property that has existed and, I can only speak for myself, but I just wasn't fully aware of all of the deep, emotional ties and the feelings that came out of that — really human feelings. So I would like to do better if there's better rebooting in my future, who knows," she said.
Charmed airs Sundays, 9 p.m. on The CW.