Witches will defend the United States on Disney’s Freeform

With Disney+ and Hulu streaming services added to its belt, and the cable channels it acquired from Old Fox, Disney is doing a bit of retooling with its programming mix for television. One of the channels that’s going through a transition phase is Freeform. Top of the list of the new shows is “Motherland: Fort Salem.”

Set in an alternate America where witches ended their persecution over 300 years ago by cutting a deal with the government to fight for their country, “Motherland: Fort Salem” follows three young women from basic training in combat magic into early deployment. In this world, the traditional roles of gender and power are flipped, with the more dominant women on the front lines fighting looming terrorist threats that are familiar to our world—but with supernatural tactics and weapons. 

“We’re so excited to be able to tell this story rich with female empowerment, complex storytelling and an incredibly creative canon,” said Tom Ascheim, president, Freeform. “While set in an alternative universe, ‘Motherland: Fort Salem’ will continue the authentic and issues-driven storylines that our network is known for, and what our audience has come to expect. We are thrilled to be working with Eliot, Will, Adam and Kevin on this exceptionally creative tale and look forward to bringing this even further to life.”

The series stars Ashley Nicole Williams, Jessica Sutton, Taylor Hickson, Demetria McKinney and Amalia Holm. “Motherland: Fort Salem” is executive produced by Eliot Laurence, Will Ferrell, Adam McKay, Kevin Messick, Maria Maggenti and Steven Adelson.

I have to say I’m a fan of alternate timeline shows and am very much looking forward to “Motherland: Fort Salem.” No exact release date yet, but get your spells ready for Spring 2020 on Freeform.