‘Charmed’ Reboot Staff Fires Back After Original Series Writer’s “Imposters” Dig

Writers for the Charmed reboot didn’t hold back after a perceived insult from someone who worked on the original series.

Curtis Kheel, who wrote for the first Charmed series that premiered on The WB in 1998 and ran for eight seasons, took to Twitter on Saturday to respond to a news story about the reboot’s series finale, which aired the day prior on The CW. The episode ended with the lead characters entering a portal that took them to Halliwell Manor, which was featured in the original show that starred Shannen Doherty (Prue Halliwell), Holly Marie Combs (Piper Halliwell), Alyssa Milano (Phoebe Halliwell) and Rose McGowan (Paige Halliwell).

“As an original #Charmed writer, I can tell u what happened next: Piper, Phoebe & Paige vanquished the 3 imposters right after they invaded Halliwell Manor,” Kheel tweeted. “Then @H_Combs blew up the portal to that other universe & quipped: ‘We wish them well.’ #seriesfinale #CharmedReunionMovie.”

This tweet was perceived by many Twitter users as an insult toward the reboot, which was recently canceled after four seasons. Kheel’s post referenced the fact that Combs clearly did not appreciate that a reboot existed and tersely reacted to it getting picked up to series in 2018 by tweeting, “We wish them well.”

The reboot’s team certainly took the message as a dig, as the verified Twitter account for the reboot’s writing staff replied, “Unlike with the OG version of the franchise, we had a strict ‘no assholes’ hiring policy in the writer’s room. We feel mostly sorry for these people, because unlike them we actually like each other and had the BEST time. Onward….”

A follow-up tweet from the new show’s writers added, “And for the record, we LOVE both versions, which is why we set out to create a cohesive universe. In our minds there is zero competition in a long line of strong young witches tasked with repeatedly saving the world. –FIN.”

The next morning, Kheel posted a series of tweets expanding on his feelings about the reboot. “My problem with the #Charmedreboot is that from Day One, it pretended like the original #Charmed didn’t exist, yet it borrowed a ton of ideas from it,” he wrote, in part. “We worked very hard on the OG series for many years & to disregard that is offensive & disrespectful to US & our fans.”

The final season of the Charmed reboot starred Melonie Diaz (Mel), Sarah Jeffery (Maggie) and Lucy Barrett (Michaela).

Representatives for the reboot declined to comment. A representative for CBS TV Studios did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

June 12, 11:10 a.m. Updated with Kheel’s follow-up message.