TV Idea: A Pagan Melrose Place
This came to me in a dream, as is often the case. I can’t choose my dreams, but I can craft them a little once I am inside one.
Melrose Place was a Beverly Hills 90210 spin-off, with a bunch of young hot people living in the same apartment block.
So, exactly the same concept, people in an expensive, open air apartment block, with grounds etc. Maybe on the East Coast…
Here’s where it gets weird – each person who lives there was magically drawn to the place, some contrivance will be needed for why non-magic people didn’t move in. Maybe they are executive apartments that come with jobs.
There is a basement where an old wizardly type man lives – he is the (secret) owner, caretaker and the person who summoned them all.
The characters will be a transgender (of course) college student, a Keith Richards-esque musician, a Mom who suddenly had an empty nest, and so on – they can be literally any character that doesn’t have family to be with.
In the front yard is a rustic round table and chairs, the only outdoor furniture, and a bit like Community, this is where they meet – cautiously and incidentally to begin with – and learn about each other. All sensed they were a little bit magical, but the key here is combined magic through ritual, which they get the first hints of by simply being together at the table.
I’m thinking very realistic magic, less Harry Potter and more witches using their will power to stop Trump being elected. No telekinesis etc. Just the ability to collectively use will to change the minds of others.
The stories are primary about self-discovery and friendship and community, but the series arc is about stopping someone who is conflicted (say, a politician or leader of sorts) from doing something bad, and getting them to do some kind of equal but opposite good.
A feel-good, philosophical show, with “round table” discussions, and insights into loneliness, community and purpose. Season 2 would investigate hubris, because they undeniably caused magic to happen in Season 1, although it couldn’t be proven to anyone else. They look into what they can do with their combined powers, what their limits are.
Over-arching (over-arcing?) all series is the question of how they were brought together, and by who… Maybe in Season 3 they are tricked into doing harm on a major scale.