'Eastwick': Did you find it bewitching, or should it be burned at the stake?

Congratulations, Eastwick! ABC’s re-imagining of John Updike’s novel (and the film that followed) has earned a season pass on my DVR. Granted, this was not that difficult since it’s up against CSI: NY and The Jay Leno Show, but I found the series premiere entertaining nevertheless. For starters, Rebecca Romijn is (one of) the most likable models-turned-actresses out there. As the money-strapped free-spirited artist/widow Roxanne, she gets to wear her hair curly and sport fabulous accessories, which makes her even more appealing. She also gets to have sex with Kyle XY‘s Matt Dallas, who plays her current boy toy/wannabe boyfriend. Nice to see Dallas and his bare chest again, but I’m not buying them as a couple, or even bed buddies. Maybe it’s because Romijn appreciates a charismatic man in real life and I’m transferring that to Roxy, but I think Dallas and whatever his character’s name is (I’m not getting attached) are too reserved. Actually, I know they are, because the wish she made in the fountain that helped summon the mysterious Darryl Van Horne to the seaside village of Eastwick was that she’d meet a man who “gets her” — and buys $50,000 worth of her art before they hit the Egyptian cotton sheets. Her power is having visions, which came in handy when she needed to save her daughter from date rape.

Lindsay Price (Lipstick Jungle) and Jaime Ray Newman (General Hospital) complete the coven. Price is Joanna, an underappreciated (except for her breasts!) reporter at the local paper who says the most inappropriate things anytime her longtime crush, handsome-but-slightly-geeky-’cause-he’s-wearing-glasses-you-see photographer Will (Estonian model-turned-actor Johann Urb) speaks to her. (A vibrator joke — yay 10 p.m.!) She wished that she’d be able to get what she wants by finally having the confidence to ask for it — a promotion, a real assignment, a lip-lock with Will. Darryl has already taught her that she can use her eyes and voice to get men to do whatever she wants. She had no problem asking her boss for the money in his wallet (I would’ve felt guilty about that) but balked after she instructed Will to kiss her. She wants it to be real. Ah.

Newman is Kat, a nurse and an overworked mother of five — or six, if you count her husband (Jon Bernthal). She wished that someone would finally take care of her, which Darryl has decided to do by providing her with a fancy New York divorce lawyer. Her gift appears to be the ability to freak her husband the eff out. After she said the earth would have to move to get him off his hammock, the earth moved; when she said he had no spark, he got electrocuted.

That brings us to Darryl. He’s rich, he’s bold, and he’s hot, but I can’t help wishing that he was played by Chris Noth (who is over on CBS’ The Good Wife). But I do believe that Paul Gross (Due South), apparently one of Canada’s most popular actors, will grow on me. He doesn’t seem interested in doing a Jack Nicholson impersonation, which is a good start. And I definitely started warming to him when he threatened to kill Mr. Grabby Hands if he ever touched Roxanne’s daughter again.

So, what did you think of Eastwick? (If you missed it, and you’re in serious procrastination mode, the pilot is embedded below.) Will you keep watching because you liked the show and wonder what else Darryl will awaken in the trio, or because you don’t like CSI: NY or Jay Leno? Maybe you won’t keep watching at all. Share your opinions in the comments section below!

Image Credit: Robert Voets/ABC