Eastwick

"Eastwick," which premieres tonight on ABC, represents a third attempt to turn the 1987 film of the 1984 John Updike novel "The Witches of Eastwick" into a TV show. NBC made a pilot in 1989 and Fox one in 2002 -- and I promise you these are the last dates you'll have to read in this review -- but this is the first to grow from a pilot into a series. It is something less than magical, but it's pleasant and pretty and easy to watch. In a hamlet "at the edge of New England," three women, each with a yearning burning inside of her, awaken to unsuspected powers after simultaneously wishing on a fountain during a dress-up-as-pilgrims-or-witches fall fair.

ABC has decided not to order any additional episodes of its new Wednesday night drama "The Witches of Eastwick," which is about as close as a network gets to saying they're canceling a show these days. Although much of ABC's Wednesday night has been a pleasant surprise with "The Middle," "Modern Family" and "Cougar Town" getting full-season pickups, "The Witches of Eastwick" has been pulling in Jay Leno-like numbers at 10 p.m., often averaging fewer than 5 million viewers. The show, which stars Rebecca Romijn and Lindsay Price, is based on the John Updike book.

"Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" had all the makings of a hit, even without Arnold. But after just two shortened seasons, Fox pulled the plug on the blockbuster franchise's move to TV. Ratings had fallen to a series low by May, and it seemed the show was doomed to be unfavorably -- and maybe unfairly -- compared to its iconic source material. This year, the networks are trying something more subtle. More movie reboots are on the way, but rather than plucking from mega properties, the networks have chosen less obvious films to help launch, but not overshadow, new series.

"Eastwick," which premieres tonight on ABC, represents a third attempt to turn the 1987 film of the 1984 John Updike novel "The Witches of Eastwick" into a TV show. NBC made a pilot in 1989 and Fox one in 2002 -- and I promise you these are the last dates you'll have to read in this review -- but this is the first to grow from a pilot into a series. It is something less than magical, but it's pleasant and pretty and easy to watch. In a hamlet "at the edge of New England," three women, each with a yearning burning inside of her, awaken to unsuspected powers after simultaneously wishing on a fountain during a dress-up-as-pilgrims-or-witches fall fair.

It started out as a dark satire of the late '60s and its shifting morality, then became a big-haired '80s horror-show dominated by special effects and Jack Nicholson's eyebrows. And now, it's on its way to entering the world again as an easygoing television show, set in the first decade of the 21st century, about women's friendship and aimed at the "Desperate Housewives" crowd. (It's even shot in the old town square from "Gilmore Girls.") That's a pretty rich afterlife for a novel considered somewhere between an anomaly for its author and a misogynist classic.

"It's an action-detective story with a female slant. It's been referred to as a female 'Dirty Harry.' " That's how a rep for John Milius described "Fatal Beauty," which Milius is currently scripting and will direct for MGM. No deal has been cinched, but Cher (now at work on "The Witches of Eastwick") is the hoped-for star.

ABC has decided not to order any additional episodes of its new Wednesday night drama "The Witches of Eastwick," which is about as close as a network gets to saying they're canceling a show these days. Although much of ABC's Wednesday night has been a pleasant surprise with "The Middle," "Modern Family" and "Cougar Town" getting full-season pickups, "The Witches of Eastwick" has been pulling in Jay Leno-like numbers at 10 p.m., often averaging fewer than 5 million viewers. The show, which stars Rebecca Romijn and Lindsay Price, is based on the John Updike book.

"The role he was born to play" was a flaming ad line in the dear old days of movie hype. And watching Jack Nicholson snort, wheeze, leer, letch, purr, growl, pout, pitch fits and masticate his way through "The Witches of Eastwick"--the devil come to present-day Rhode Island--it's enough to make you believe in acting predestination. Under Australian director George Miller ("Mad Max"), "The Witches of Eastwick" (citywide) begins so promisingly.

Like Byron and Hemingway, John Updike stands not just for himself but for a generation. It is the generation of the Fifties; the time of small causes, good taste, individual salvation through personal relationships and, for seasoning, a tablespoon of Kierkegaard poured over a pudding-like stability and set ablaze.

Jack Nicholson has agreed to play the devil in the movie version of John Updike's "The Witches of Eastwick," The Times has learned. According to an informed source close to the negotiations, Nicholson flew to Los Angeles last weekend from his home in Aspen, Colo., to meet with director George Miller ("Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome"). Sandy Bresler, Nicholson's longtime agent, refused to comment on the deal and told a reporter, "You'll have to clear all of that through Warner Bros."

It started out as a dark satire of the late '60s and its shifting morality, then became a big-haired '80s horror-show dominated by special effects and Jack Nicholson's eyebrows. And now, it's on its way to entering the world again as an easygoing television show, set in the first decade of the 21st century, about women's friendship and aimed at the "Desperate Housewives" crowd. (It's even shot in the old town square from "Gilmore Girls.") That's a pretty rich afterlife for a novel considered somewhere between an anomaly for its author and a misogynist classic.

"Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" had all the makings of a hit, even without Arnold. But after just two shortened seasons, Fox pulled the plug on the blockbuster franchise's move to TV. Ratings had fallen to a series low by May, and it seemed the show was doomed to be unfavorably -- and maybe unfairly -- compared to its iconic source material. This year, the networks are trying something more subtle. More movie reboots are on the way, but rather than plucking from mega properties, the networks have chosen less obvious films to help launch, but not overshadow, new series.

"Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" had all the makings of a hit, even without Arnold. But after just two shortened seasons, Fox pulled the plug on the blockbuster franchise's move to TV. Ratings had fallen to a series low by May, and it seemed the show was doomed to be unfavorably -- and maybe unfairly -- compared to its iconic source material. This year, the networks are trying something more subtle.

Who, a year or two ago, could have imagined that October 2008 would heap on us so many tricks and so few treats? This Halloween season must have looked heaven-sent for publication of "The Widows of Eastwick," John Updike's return to the ravishingly wicked trio of his bestselling, gleefully raunchy 1984 novel, "The Witches of Eastwick."

The Theatre Royal Drury Lane is the crown jewel of this city's West End theater district, an impressively ornate auditorium that boasts a distinguished, centuries-old history. Original productions of many of the musical theater's most beloved classics have played here: "Oklahoma!," "The King and I," "42nd Street," "Sweeney Todd," "A Chorus Line." Backstage in the empty theater on a Sunday morning, Eric Schaeffer is taken by a different kind of magnificence.

"The role he was born to play" was a flaming ad line in the dear old days of movie hype. And watching Jack Nicholson snort, wheeze, leer, letch, purr, growl, pout, pitch fits and masticate his way through "The Witches of Eastwick"--the devil come to present-day Rhode Island--it's enough to make you believe in acting predestination. Under Australian director George Miller ("Mad Max"), "The Witches of Eastwick" (citywide) begins so promisingly.

Who, a year or two ago, could have imagined that October 2008 would heap on us so many tricks and so few treats? This Halloween season must have looked heaven-sent for publication of "The Widows of Eastwick," John Updike's return to the ravishingly wicked trio of his bestselling, gleefully raunchy 1984 novel, "The Witches of Eastwick."

The Theatre Royal Drury Lane is the crown jewel of this city's West End theater district, an impressively ornate auditorium that boasts a distinguished, centuries-old history. Original productions of many of the musical theater's most beloved classics have played here: "Oklahoma!," "The King and I," "42nd Street," "Sweeney Todd," "A Chorus Line." Backstage in the empty theater on a Sunday morning, Eric Schaeffer is taken by a different kind of magnificence.

Like Byron and Hemingway, John Updike stands not just for himself but for a generation. It is the generation of the Fifties; the time of small causes, good taste, individual salvation through personal relationships and, for seasoning, a tablespoon of Kierkegaard poured over a pudding-like stability and set ablaze.

"It's an action-detective story with a female slant. It's been referred to as a female 'Dirty Harry.' " That's how a rep for John Milius described "Fatal Beauty," which Milius is currently scripting and will direct for MGM. No deal has been cinched, but Cher (now at work on "The Witches of Eastwick") is the hoped-for star.