I’ve been binging witch shows lately, specifically trying to find ones that use real lore instead of treating witchcraft like some throwaway plot device.
I know Charmed shows Witchcraft as heavily dramatized, but it is currently my guilty pleasure. They refer to Wicca but really the term witch in that show is pretty general but it’s mostly respectful and a lot of fun.
What other shows should I be watching?
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Charmed’s got a soft spot in my heart even with the drama. It actually pulls from Wicca more than people say, especially the rituals and how the Power of Three echoes the Triple Goddess. So your guilty pleasure has more going on than it seems. So enjoy it and don’t feel guilty!
They’ve also made a reboot but… I wouldn’t.
For something with similar vibes but more adult, try Witches of East End. Based on the Melissa de la Cruz books, it follows the Beauchamp family discovering their magic amid family drama and supernatural trouble in a coastal town. Julia Ormond and Mädchen Amick are great, especially the aunt. Only two seasons (sadly) but worth it.
A Discovery of Witches is the one I’d push most. Three seasons, feels properly researched with the witch bloodlines and grimoires, plus the rituals. Quieter and more herbal and library focused than Charmed’s flashy spells.
If you want something lighter, Good Witch is pure comfort viewing. Cassie Nightingale helps her small town with gentle magic and intuition. Hallmark cheesy, yeah, but perfect after a long day when you just want soft magic and tea.
Salem. (The WGN one not the trials documentary).
If you want something with actual historical bones, it’s underrated. It takes the witch panic of the era and adds real witches dealing with it, pulling in plenty of figures from the real Salem trials. Janet Montgomery’s Mary Sibley is based on accuser Mary Walcott, Shane West plays a fictionalized John Alden, Seth Gabel is Cotton Mather, and Ashley Madekwe is Tituba. They take huge liberties, but someone in the writers’ room did the reading.
It’s dark and gory, so not for everyone.
Chilling Adventures of Sabrina is the obvious next step from Charmed. It’s nastier and creepier than the old Sabrina show, with demons and devils plus characters like Madam Satan. It leans hard into satanic imagery and treats the Church of Night like a Catholic-inverse cult, which annoyed me at first, but the writing carries it.
American Horror Story: Coven gets mentioned a lot for a reason. It follows a coven of witches in New Orleans dealing with threats, with themes of oppression and America’s racial and sexual biases. The voodoo vs Salem witches stuff gets messy, but the way they handle Marie Laveau is interesting, and Stevie Nicks shows up as herself.
One nobody recommends but should: Penny Dreadful. The supporting witches, especially Nightcomer leader Evelyn Poole and her coven, have some of the most unsettling depictions of dark craft I’ve seen. Those blood-painted ritual scenes still stick with me.
Adding some less obvious ones.
Motherland: Fort Salem is set in an alternate reality where witches make up the U.S. army. It follows three witches through training as they defend against threats, with a magic system based on vocal work and sound. Got cancelled too early, but the three seasons are solid.
WandaVision is worth a watch even if you’re not into Marvel. It’s about Wanda dealing with grief over Vision, framed through old sitcoms from the '60s to early 2000s. The magic elements around grief felt surprisingly grounded. Agatha gets her own spinoff that leans harder into witch stuff.
Buffy isn’t strictly a witch show, but Willow’s arc is one of the better ones for showing someone learning the craft and getting lost in power before finding their way back. It gave us “Wanna Blessed Be” and tried to keep things empowered without being preachy. Tara’s also just great.
For something cozier, The Owl House on Disney has a thought-out magic system with specialized covens and handles young witches figuring out their path with care. Watched it with my niece and got more into it than she did.
On your Charmed point, the loose use of terms does mirror how messy real communities can be with labels like witch, Wiccan, pagan, and eclectic. Some people swap them freely, others will argue about it endlessly. The show just rolls with that.
One of the best witch shows in ages is WGN’s Salem. Check it out if you have Hulu.
Been wanting to check out Chilling Adventures of Sabrina for a while. The darker tone sounds promising, feels like it might take the craft more seriously than the lighter stuff out there.
Has anyone watched it though? Curious whether it actually handles witchcraft with any respect, or if it’s just style over substance.
Have you watched A Discovery of Witches? The lore feels more fleshed out than a lot of what’s floating around out there. Not perfect, but might be worth a look.
Little Witch Academia and The Owl House might scratch that itch better than live-action shows, even if animation isn’t usually your thing. The animated format lets them dig deeper into magical systems without budget constraints watering down the craft elements.
Practical Magic and The Witches of Eastwick are both solid picks if you want that same mix of fun and respect for the craft.
Mayfair Witches is worth trying if you like family-lineage magic with inherited gifts and messy ancestral patterns. It’s darker, but sometimes a witch show that understands bloodline baggage works well.
Try starting with just the pilot of A Discovery of Witches next time you have a quiet evening. The spells and the way the main character digs into old texts gave me that same pull I get when I’m actually researching something for my own work.
It sits with the history without turning everything into big battles right away.
Motherland: Fort Salem deserves more love. The whole concept of witches using vocal cord magic and sigil work is creative as hell.
I do throat singing as a hobby, and watching them weaponize sound through their ‘seeds’ had me hooked from episode one. The militarized witch angle isn’t for everyone, but the worldbuilding is solid.
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell. It has that old, mossy folk-magic feel. Okay, I just made it sound like a candle scent. But truly.
Wait, you haven’t watched The Magicians? What are you even doing with your life? (Kidding, obviously.) But for real though, drop everything and go check it out on Netflix. It’s become my all-time favorite show, and I think you’ll forgive me for being dramatic about it once you start.
Bewitched, Sabrina, The Worst Witch, and Winx Club all have that fun witchy vibe if you’re looking for more to watch after Charmed.
Penny Dreadful is worth your time if you want something darker and more atmospheric than Charmed. It delivers on the gothic horror while including some interesting occult themes.
The witchcraft elements feel grounded, not cartoonish. Just my take.
A Discovery of Witches handles the craft with more care than most mainstream shows. Worth checking out.
Penny Dreadful is another solid option, though fair warning, it leans pretty heavily into mature content, so it depends on what you’re comfortable with.
Good Omens might work for you. It’s got an angel and a demon as reluctant best friends trying to stop the apocalypse, along with a witch’s descendant and Satan’s kid just trying to have a normal childhood. Imagine explaining that family tree at Thanksgiving.
The religious elements are played for laughs rather than being preachy, so you don’t need to worry on that front.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer was everything to my moody teen self. If you haven’t watched it, go.
Willow’s whole journey into witchcraft really resonated with me when I was already feeling all those big feelings… you know what I mean?