Bewitched reboot conjured by Kenya Barris with interracial leads

Black-ish creator Kenya Barris may be selling his wares to Netflix, but he’s got at least one more item on the docket for ABC. The network has issued a production commitment to a Bewitched reboot from Barris and Black-ish writer-producer Yamara Taylor, EW has learned.

While the half-hour single-camera comedy will be based on the 1960s sitcom starring Elizabeth Montgomery as witch Samantha, whose supernatural life collides with suburbia and mortal husband Darren (Dick York), this new spin will feature an interracial couple as its lead characters.

Barris and Taylor wrote the story, which is described as follows: “Samantha, a black hardworking, single mom, who happens to be a witch, marries Darren, a white mortal who happens to be a bit of a slacker. They struggle to navigate their differences as she discovers that even when a black girl is literally magic, she’s still not as powerful as a decently tall white man with a full head of hair in America.”

Barris will executive produce through his Khalabo Ink Society banner. Taylor will also EP along with John Davis and John Fox of Davis Entertainment.

The new Bewitched hails from ABC Studios, Sony Pictures Television and Davis Entertainment.

Plans for more Bewitched go back years. CBS had plans for a reboot in 2011 and a similar pilot production commitment for a Bewitched sequel series fell to NBC in 2014. There was also that 2005 movie we dare not speak of.

This latest attempt comes as multiple witchy projects, including a Charmed reboot and a Netflix series adaptation of the Chilling Adventures of Sabrina comic, are actively coming down the pipeline. Plus, there’s the entire Norman Lear collection being mined for a potential resurgence of the ’60s and ’70s. Bewitched hits the sweet spot of these two trends.

Barris, meanwhile, is making his way to Netflix with a multi-year deal said to be worth up to $100 million. He’ll have his hands full for the foreseeable future.

Deadline was the first to report the news.