Eastwick (TV series)
Encyclopedia
Eastwick is a 2009 screwball comedy
series based on John Updike
's novel, The Witches of Eastwick
. 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.
coming a distant second at 14.1%. Soon following, the creator, Maggie Friedman, was said to be furious with how the show was mishandled on the network, particularly with its timeslot (being a fantasy drama on a late time after a long run of half an hour sitcoms on promoted ABC Comedy Wednesdays) and the irregular airings of the later episodes with little to no promotion.
, and the film counterpart of the same name
. While the book was created 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, just the reality will be a little heightened. ABC
picked the show up 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 the show should be on 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.
has gives the series a score of 50% based on the pilot episode, based upon 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, but said, "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.
, and 105,000 on Hallmark+1, the channel that airs an hour behind the original channel for a catch-up, total of 262,000 viewers. It was #2 on the channel for the week on Hallmark, and #1 of the week on Hallmark+1. Following episodes usually got the top spot for the channel of the week. The sixth episode pulled in 194,000 viewers on Hallmark, and then an additional 110,000 at 11pm, totalling 304,000. 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, as the United States left those two episodes unaired. Episode eleven aired on January 19, 2010, and gathered a total rating of 188,000 viewers. The series finale, airing February 14, 2010, achieved 201,000 on Hallmark, 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 227,692 viewers in total.
. 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.
on January 12, 2011, it still failed to match the viewers and 18-49 ratings of the pilot and second episode of Eastwick.
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 Times
, where the journalist speculated the show would get a cult following.
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.
Screwball Comedy
Screwball Comedy is an album by the Japanese band Soul Flower Union. The album found the band going into a simpler, harder-rocking direction, after several heavily world-music influenced albums.-Track listing:...
series based on John Updike
John Updike
John Hoyer Updike was an American novelist, poet, short story writer, art critic, and literary critic....
's novel, The Witches of Eastwick
The Witches of Eastwick
The Witches of Eastwick is a 1984 novel by John Updike.-Plot summary:The story, set in the fictional Rhode Island town of Eastwick in the late 1960s, follows the witches Alexandra Spofford, Jane Smart, and Sukie Rougemont, who acquired their powers after leaving or being left by their husbands....
. The series was developed by Maggie Friedman, and starred Paul Gross
Paul Gross
Paul Michael Gross is a Canadian actor, producer, director, singer and writer born in Calgary, Alberta. He is known for his lead role as Constable Benton Fraser in the television series Due South as well as his 2008 war film Passchendaele, which he wrote, produced, directed, and starred in...
as the infamous Darryl Van Horne, alongside Jaime Ray Newman
Jaime Ray Newman
Jaime Ray Newman is an American actress and singer. Newman is best known for starring as Kristina Cassadine in soap opera General Hospital, as Kat Gardener in ABC's Eastwick, and as Dr. Tess Fontana in Syfy's Eureka....
, Lindsay Price, and Rebecca Romijn
Rebecca Romijn
Rebecca Alie Romijn is an American actress and former fashion model. She is best known for her role as Mystique in the X-Men films, and for her recurring role as Alexis Meade on the television series Ugly Betty.-Early life:...
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”. The following day, a furtive stranger, named Daryl Van Horne, arrives and begins courting each of the women in turn. Daryl eventually informs the women about their witchy talents and encourages them to explore their unique abilities. However, as the series progressed, the three unlikely friends began to worry about Daryl's ultimate intentions. Although the series was cancelled before the end of the first season, it can be assumed that Daryl was actually the Devil, who was accidentally conjured by the women’s magic.Characters
- Joanna Frankel (Lindsay Price) was an insecure news reporter at the “Eastwick Gazette”. Although Joanna found it difficult to have the things she wanted, she ironically exhibited the hypnotic ability to control and manipulate the minds of men. As the show progressed, Joanna also showed signs of telekinetic powers, as she was able to move multiple objects with the simple thought of her mind.
- Katherine "Kat" Gardener (Jamie Ray Newman) was a level-headed mother of five children, nurse of the Eastwick General Hospital, and wife of Raymond Gardener. Struggling to balance a happy and healthy life and marriage, Kat was often compared with “Mother Nature”. Coincidentally, Kat exhibited the power of elemental control, which allowed her to manipulate to the elements of air, earth, fire, water, and weather. As the show progressed, Kat also showed signs of healing abilities, as she was able to magically heal the injuries of her hospital patients.
- Roxanne "Roxie" Torcoletti (Rebecca RomijnRebecca RomijnRebecca Alie Romijn is an American actress and former fashion model. She is best known for her role as Mystique in the X-Men films, and for her recurring role as Alexis Meade on the television series Ugly Betty.-Early life:...
) was a free-spirited sculptress and also the single mother of Mia Torcoletti. As a widow, Roxie was seen as an outcast, especially due to the fact many of the Eastwick citizens believed she was responsible for her husband’s death. Throughout the series Roxie exhibited clairvoyant powers, that allowed her to envision and predict future events. As the show progressed, Roxie also showed signs of telepathic abilities, as she was able to hear her mother’s inner, secret thoughts.
Cast
- Darren CrissDarren CrissDarren Everett Criss is an American actor, singer-songwriter, musician, composer, and a founding member and co-owner of the theater company StarKid Productions. He currently portrays Blaine Anderson, an openly gay high school student, on the FOX television series Glee...
as Josh Burton. - Rebecca RomijnRebecca RomijnRebecca Alie Romijn is an American actress and former fashion model. She is best known for her role as Mystique in the X-Men films, and for her recurring role as Alexis Meade on the television series Ugly Betty.-Early life:...
as Roxanne Torcoletti. - Lindsay Price as Joanna Frankel.
- Jaime Ray NewmanJaime Ray NewmanJaime Ray Newman is an American actress and singer. Newman is best known for starring as Kristina Cassadine in soap opera General Hospital, as Kat Gardener in ABC's Eastwick, and as Dr. Tess Fontana in Syfy's Eureka....
as Kat Gardener. - Paul GrossPaul GrossPaul Michael Gross is a Canadian actor, producer, director, singer and writer born in Calgary, Alberta. He is known for his lead role as Constable Benton Fraser in the television series Due South as well as his 2008 war film Passchendaele, which he wrote, produced, directed, and starred in...
as Darryl Van Horne. - Sara RueSara RueSara Rue is an American television actress. She is best known for the roles she played as Carmen Ferrara on the comedy-drama Popular and Claude Casey on the sitcom Less Than Perfect. She is also known as a spokesperson for Jenny Craig...
as Penny Higgins. - Ashley BensonAshley BensonAshley Victoria Benson is an American film and television actress, and model. She is known for her role as Abigail Deveraux on Days Of Our Lives , Carson in Bring It On: In It to Win It, and Hanna Marin on Pretty Little Liars.Benson was born and raised in Anaheim Hills, California...
as Mia Torcoletti. - Jon BernthalJon BernthalJonathan E. "Jon" Bernthal is an American actor, best known for his role on the AMC television series The Walking Dead.-Early life:...
as Raymond Gardener. - Johann UrbJohann UrbJohann Urb is an Estonian-American actor and former model.-Biography:Johann was born in Tallinn as a son of a musician Tarmo Urb. At the age of ten Johann moved to live in Finland with his mother and her new Finnish husband. Mostly they stayed in Tampere. When Johann turned 17, he moved to the ...
as Will St. David. - Veronica CartwrightVeronica CartwrightVeronica A. Cartwright is an English-born American actress who has worked mainly in American film and television. She is best known for her role of Lambert in Alien, for which she won a Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress....
as Bun Waverly. - Jack HustonJack HustonJack Alexander Huston is an English actor. Huston had a starring role in Neighborhood Watch and filmed Outlander with James Caviezel and Sophia Myles...
as Jamie. - Matt DallasMatt DallasMatthew Joseph "Matt" Dallas is an American actor, best known for playing the titular character on the ABC Family series, Kyle XY.-Personal life:Dallas was born in Phoenix, Arizona and attended Arizona School for the Arts...
as Chad.
Cancellation
Eastwick was one of the eighty-four shows canceled during the 2009-10 season. After the series was canceled on November 9, Kristin of E! Online held an online campaign for endangered shows in which Eastwick won the poll with 54.5% of the vote, with Three RiversThree Rivers (TV series)
Three Rivers is a medical drama, which premiered on CBS on October 4, 2009 and aired Sundays at 9 pm Eastern Time/Pacific Time. The series was set in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania at a fictional hospital specializing in transplants, with Alex O'Loughlin starring as a famous transplant surgeon...
coming a distant second at 14.1%. Soon following, the creator, Maggie Friedman, was said to be furious with how the show was mishandled on the network, particularly with its timeslot (being a fantasy drama on a late time after a long run of half an hour sitcoms on promoted ABC Comedy Wednesdays) and the irregular airings of the later episodes with little to no promotion.
Production
The series is based on the 1984 novel, The Witches of EastwickThe Witches of Eastwick
The Witches of Eastwick is a 1984 novel by John Updike.-Plot summary:The story, set in the fictional Rhode Island town of Eastwick in the late 1960s, follows the witches Alexandra Spofford, Jane Smart, and Sukie Rougemont, who acquired their powers after leaving or being left by their husbands....
, and the film counterpart of the same name
The Witches of Eastwick (film)
The Witches of Eastwick is a 1987 American horror comedy based on John Updike's novel of the same name. Directed by George Miller, the film stars Jack Nicholson as Daryl Van Horne, alongside Cher, Susan Sarandon, and Michelle Pfeiffer as the eponymous witches...
. While the book was created by John Updike
John Updike
John Hoyer Updike was an American novelist, poet, short story writer, art critic, and literary critic....
, 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, just the reality will be a little heightened. ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
picked the show up early 2009.
The series was filmed on the Warner Bros. Studios backlot, using the same town square as The WB
The WB Television Network
The WB Television Network is a former television network in the United States that was launched on January 11, 1995 as a joint venture between Warner Bros. and Tribune Broadcasting. On January 24, 2006, CBS Corporation and Warner Bros...
's series, Gilmore Girls
Gilmore Girls
Gilmore Girls is an American family comedy-drama series created by Amy Sherman-Palladino, starring Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel. On October 5, 2000, the series debuted on The WB and was cancelled in its seventh season, ending on May 15, 2007 on The CW...
. Filming of the pilot began in August 2009, when all characters had been cast, the last one being Matt Dallas
Matt Dallas
Matthew Joseph "Matt" Dallas is an American actor, best known for playing the titular character on the ABC Family series, Kyle XY.-Personal life:Dallas was born in Phoenix, Arizona and attended Arizona School for the Arts...
on July 30. ABC decided the show should be on Wednesdays at 10:00PM Eastern/9:00PM Central, after another new show, Cougar Town
Cougar Town
Cougar Town is an American television sitcom that premiered on ABC on September 23, 2009. The series focuses on a recently divorced woman in her forties facing the often humorous challenges, pitfalls and rewards of life's next chapter, along with her son, ex-husband, and friends who together make...
on ABC's Comedy Wednesdays.
There were initial suggestions that the show could potentially feature a musical
Musical film
The musical film is a film genre in which songs sung by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, though in some cases they serve merely as breaks in the storyline, often as elaborate...
episode, but this never occurred. The last day of shooting was held on November 16, 2009.
Critical reception
Eastwick opened with initially mixed reviews. MetacriticMetacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
has gives the series a score of 50% based on the pilot episode, based upon 21 critical reviews.
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
gave the pilot episode a B, stating the show "plays like Desperate Housewives
Desperate Housewives
Desperate Housewives is an American television comedy-drama series created by Marc Cherry and produced by ABC Studios and Cherry Productions. Executive producer Cherry serves as Showrunner. Other executive producers since the fourth season include Marc Cherry, Bob Daily, George W...
if the Wisteria Lane ladies liked prestidigitation instead of poker."
Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
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, but said, "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 ChannelHallmark Channel
The Hallmark Channel is a cable television network that broadcasts across the United States. Their programming includes a mix of television movies/miniseries, syndicated series, and lifestyle shows that are appropriate for the whole family...
, and 105,000 on Hallmark+1, the channel that airs an hour behind the original channel for a catch-up, total of 262,000 viewers. It was #2 on the channel for the week on Hallmark, and #1 of the week on Hallmark+1. Following episodes usually got the top spot for the channel of the week. The sixth episode pulled in 194,000 viewers on Hallmark, and then an additional 110,000 at 11pm, totalling 304,000. 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, as the United States left those two episodes unaired. Episode eleven aired on January 19, 2010, and gathered a total rating of 188,000 viewers. The series finale, airing February 14, 2010, achieved 201,000 on Hallmark, 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 227,692 viewers in total.
Seasonal ratings
| Season | Timeslot (EDT) | Season Premiere | Season Finale | TV Season | Rank (viewers) |
Viewers (in millions) |
Rank (18-49) |
18-49 Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wednesday 10:00 P.M. | September 23, 2009 | December 30, 2009 | 2009–2010 | #85 | 5.88 | #69 | 2.0/5 |
Ratings
Eastwick premiered with 8.53 million viewers, coming second in its timeslot, beaten only by CSI: NYCSI: NY
CSI: NY is an American police procedural television series that premiered on September 22, 2004, on CBS. The show follows the investigations of a team of NYPD forensic scientists and police officers as they unveil the circumstances behind mysterious and unusual deaths as well as other crimes...
. Excluding only Lost
Lost (TV series)
Lost is an American television series that originally aired on ABC from September 22, 2004 to May 23, 2010, consisting of six seasons. Lost is a drama series that follows the survivors of the crash of a commercial passenger jet flying between Sydney and Los Angeles, on a mysterious tropical island...
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, which achieved 8.53 million viewers. It remained the highest viewed telecast on ABC at the Wednesday 10pm hour until ABC's new telecast series "Revenge" premiered and scored a 3.3 adults 18-49 rating and 10.02 million viewers. Winning the 10pm hour time slot, against CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.[12] "Reaping and Sewing", a close second. Even with the premiere of Off the MapOff the Map (TV series)
Off the Map is a medical drama created by Jenna Bans, who also served as an executive producer, with colleagues from Grey's Anatomy, Shonda Rhimes and Betsy Beers...
on January 12, 2011, it still failed to match the viewers and 18-49 ratings of the pilot and second episode of Eastwick.
The premiere episode also became one of the highest-viewed pilots of a supernatural series based on witches, even beating cult favorite Charmed
Charmed
Charmed is an American television series that originally aired from October 7, 1998, until May 21, 2006, on the now defunct The WB Television Network. The series was created in 1998 by writer Constance M...
(7.70 million viewers). In August 2010, it was "pick of the week" in The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
, where the journalist speculated the show would get a cult following.
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 NBCNBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
in 1992, starring Julia Campbell
Julia Campbell
Julia Campbell , is an American actress, who is best known for her role as the "mean girl," Christie Masters-Christianson in the feature film Romy and Michele's High School Reunion.-Career:...
as Jane Hollis, Catherine Mary Stewart
Catherine Mary Stewart
Catherine Mary Stewart is a Canadian actress. Her first notable role was as Kayla Brady on the soap opera Days of our Lives from 1981 to 1983...
as Sukie Ridgemont, Ally Walker
Ally Walker
Allene Damian "Ally" Walker is an American actress, producer, director and screenwriter.She is best known for her roles as Doctor Samantha Waters on the NBC crime drama series Profiler , as Agent June Stahl on the FX drama series Sons of Anarchy and as Gloria Shepherd in the Lifetime drama...
as Alexandra Spofford, and Michael Siberry
Michael Siberry
Michael Siberry is an Australian stage and screen actor. He most recently starred as King Arthur in the National Tour of Monty Python's Spamalot. In September 2008, he assumed the role of King Arthur on Broadway....
as Darryl Van Horne.
The second unsold pilot was produced for Fox
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
in 2002, starring Marcia Cross
Marcia Cross
Marcia Anne Cross is an American actress. She is known for her television roles as Bree Van de Kamp on the ABC comedy-drama series Desperate Housewives, and as Dr...
as Jane Spofford, Kelly Rutherford
Kelly Rutherford
Kelly Danne Melissa Rutherford is an American actress known for her roles of Stephanie "Sam" Whitmore on Generations, Megan Lewis on Melrose Place from 1996 to 1999 and currently as Lily van der Woodsen on Gossip Girl...
as Alexandra Medford, Lori Loughlin
Lori Loughlin
Lori Anne Loughlin is an American actress, best known for her role as Rebecca Donaldson-Katsopolis on the ABC sitcom Full House. As of 2011, she portrays the role of Debbie Wilson on 90210, the spin-off of Beverly Hills, 90210...
as Sukie Ridgemont, and Jason O'Mara
Jason O'Mara
Jason O'Mara is an Irish actor who starred in the American television network dramas In Justice and Life on Mars. He now appears in the Fox series Terra Nova.- Career :He performed with The Royal Shakespeare Company...
as Darryl Van Horne.
| The Witches of Eastwick The Witches of Eastwick (film) The Witches of Eastwick is a 1987 American horror comedy based on John Updike's novel of the same name. Directed by George Miller, the film stars Jack Nicholson as Daryl Van Horne, alongside Cher, Susan Sarandon, and Michelle Pfeiffer as the eponymous witches... (1987) |
The Witches of Eastwick (1992) |
Eastwick (2002) | Eastwick (2009) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cher Cher Cher is an American recording artist, television personality, actress, director, record producer and philanthropist. Referred to as the Goddess of Pop, she has won an Academy Award, a Grammy Award, an Emmy Award, three Golden Globes and a Cannes Film Festival Award among others for her work in... as Alexandra Medford |
Ally Walker Ally Walker Allene Damian "Ally" Walker is an American actress, producer, director and screenwriter.She is best known for her roles as Doctor Samantha Waters on the NBC crime drama series Profiler , as Agent June Stahl on the FX drama series Sons of Anarchy and as Gloria Shepherd in the Lifetime drama... as Alexandra Spofford |
Kelly Rutherford Kelly Rutherford Kelly Danne Melissa Rutherford is an American actress known for her roles of Stephanie "Sam" Whitmore on Generations, Megan Lewis on Melrose Place from 1996 to 1999 and currently as Lily van der Woodsen on Gossip Girl... as Alexandra Medford |
Rebecca Romijn Rebecca Romijn Rebecca Alie Romijn is an American actress and former fashion model. She is best known for her role as Mystique in the X-Men films, and for her recurring role as Alexis Meade on the television series Ugly Betty.-Early life:... as Roxanne Torcoletti |
| Susan Sarandon Susan Sarandon Susan Sarandon is an American actress. She has worked in films and television since 1969, and won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in the 1995 film Dead Man Walking. She had also been nominated for the award for four films before that and has received other recognition for her... as Jane Spofford |
Julia Campbell Julia Campbell Julia Campbell , is an American actress, who is best known for her role as the "mean girl," Christie Masters-Christianson in the feature film Romy and Michele's High School Reunion.-Career:... as Jane Hollis |
Marcia Cross Marcia Cross Marcia Anne Cross is an American actress. She is known for her television roles as Bree Van de Kamp on the ABC comedy-drama series Desperate Housewives, and as Dr... as Jane Spofford |
Lindsay Price as Joanna Frankel |
| Michelle Pfeiffer Michelle Pfeiffer Michelle Marie Pfeiffer is an American actress. She made her film debut in 1980 in The Hollywood Knights, but first garnered mainstream attention with her performance in Brian De Palma's Scarface . Pfeiffer has won numerous awards for her work... as Sukie Ridgemont |
Catherine Mary Stewart Catherine Mary Stewart Catherine Mary Stewart is a Canadian actress. Her first notable role was as Kayla Brady on the soap opera Days of our Lives from 1981 to 1983... as Sukie Ridgemont |
Lori Loughlin Lori Loughlin Lori Anne Loughlin is an American actress, best known for her role as Rebecca Donaldson-Katsopolis on the ABC sitcom Full House. As of 2011, she portrays the role of Debbie Wilson on 90210, the spin-off of Beverly Hills, 90210... as Sukie Ridgemont |
Jaime Ray Newman Jaime Ray Newman Jaime Ray Newman is an American actress and singer. Newman is best known for starring as Kristina Cassadine in soap opera General Hospital, as Kat Gardener in ABC's Eastwick, and as Dr. Tess Fontana in Syfy's Eureka.... as Kat Gardener |
| Jack Nicholson Jack Nicholson John Joseph "Jack" Nicholson is an American actor, film director, producer and writer. He is renowned for his often dark portrayals of neurotic characters. Nicholson has been nominated for an Academy Award twelve times, and has won the Academy Award for Best Actor twice: for One Flew Over the... as Daryl Van Horne |
Michael Siberry Michael Siberry Michael Siberry is an Australian stage and screen actor. He most recently starred as King Arthur in the National Tour of Monty Python's Spamalot. In September 2008, he assumed the role of King Arthur on Broadway.... as Darryl Van Horne |
Jason O'Mara Jason O'Mara Jason O'Mara is an Irish actor who starred in the American television network dramas In Justice and Life on Mars. He now appears in the Fox series Terra Nova.- Career :He performed with The Royal Shakespeare Company... as Daryl Van Horne |
Paul Gross Paul Gross Paul Michael Gross is a Canadian actor, producer, director, singer and writer born in Calgary, Alberta. He is known for his lead role as Constable Benton Fraser in the television series Due South as well as his 2008 war film Passchendaele, which he wrote, produced, directed, and starred in... as Daryl Van Horne |
Awards and nominations
| Year | Group | Award | Result | For |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | People's Choice Awards People's Choice Awards The People's Choice Awards is an American awards show recognizing the people and the work of popular culture. The show has been held annually since 1975 and is voted on by the general public. The People's Choice Awards air on CBS and are produced by Procter & Gamble and Survivor magnate Mark Burnett... |
Favorite New TV Drama | Eastwick | |