Eastwick RIP

So, Eastwick's been cancelled and I'm a little bummed about it. Especially since there won't be any closure in the final episode. I'll still be tuning in until the end though, because more than the mysteries of the show, I really like its tone and the characters. It's not my favorite new show of the season (that would be Modern Family) or even my favorite new one-hour drama (White Collar), but I enjoyed my weekly trips to the Stars Hollow-like town of Eastwick and watching these funny, attractive women try to unbury the local mysteries.

It's been a long time since I've seen the 1987 movie The Witches of Eastwick, but I don't remember being that impressed by it. My recollection is that it was more about the star power of its actors than it was about telling a satisfying story. It had a cool concept though, so I was immediately interested in a TV show with lesser-known actors and the same basic plot. The trick was going to be finding someone who could play Darryl Van Horne with as much charisma as Jack Nicholson, but without directly imitating him. Fortunately, Eastwick nailed it with Paul Gross. He's convincing at both scary and charming, often at the same time.

As for the girls, I've only just now realized that they aren't playing the same characters from the movie (or the John Updike novel). They're similar, but their names are different and their occupations, life circumstances, and even their personalities seem to have been tossed in a blender and redistributed. Which was all for the better, I think, because it keeps the whole thing fresh instead of a rehash of a 22-year old film that I didn't like that much to begin with.

When I mentioned being more interested in the characters than the mystery though, I wasn't implying that the mysteries are uninteresting. It's been a lot of fun watching the women try to figure out who Darryl is and what his relationship to Eastwick (and a previous trio of local women) is really all about. I'm sorry I'm not going to learn the answers.

But yeah... more than that, I'm sorry not to get to hang out with these characters anymore.