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Witches Are Real in WGN America’s ‘Salem’

Posted at 3:52 AM, Apr 17, 2014
and last updated 2014-04-17 06:11:15-04

SHREVEPORT, La. (April 16, 2014) — A story that most of us learned about in middle school is coming to TV on April 20 and paints the Salem Witch Trials in a new – and racy – light. FOX 17 was able to visit the set recently and found that danger lurks behind every dark corner in this small 17th century village.

Salem‘ is the first original show produced by WGN America, the network that became famous for showing Chicago Cubs baseball games, and will air in the competitive 10 p.m. slot on Sunday nights. The show stars Shane West (A Walk to Remember, ER) as protagonist John Alden, Janet Montgomery (Human Target) as his love interest – and witch! – Mary Sibley, and Xander Berkeley (24) as Magistrate Hale. The show was created by Brannon Braga, who worked on more than 300 episodes of the Star Trek series and recently helmed the reboot of Cosmos on FOX.

Though the story has been told in classrooms and on stage in The Crucible, not much else has been done on this time period on TV or in the movies, so almost all of the costumes had to be made and props built. A massive outdoor set was built on leased land in Grand Cane, La., for exterior scenes, while most indoor shoots are done at a soundstage in Shreveport.

Salem is rated TV-MA and contains graphic violence and sex; it is not intended for young viewers.

WGN America is owned by Tribune Broadcasting, also the parent company of WXMI FOX 17.