Coven Academy Is the Perfect Series to Relaunch Freeform’s Scripted TV… Except for the Binge Release

I remember when Freeform and The CW dominated primetime TV with young adult series.

Those were the days of The Vampire Diaries and the Arrowverse on The CW, and Switched at Birth, The Fosters, and Good Trouble on Freeform.

Those days sadly ended, so it’s exciting to see a promotion for Coven Academy, premiering in October on Freeform.

The teen supernatural series reminds me of The Secret Circle, Legacies, and Twilight, so it feels like an old-school The CW series.

Coven Academy follows Briar, a New York teenager, who is sent to a New Orleans magic school, Crescent Vail, after her mother mysteriously dies.

She assumes she’s attending a boarding school for troubled girls, but it’s actually a magic school to help teens unearth their powers.

Coven Academy highlights Briar and two of her magical witch friends as they learn the secrets of the magic school.

They become caught between ancient superstitions, feuds, and forbidden love interests, and the coven must decide what they’re willing to risk to protect themselves or the city.

Ever since I heard the premise, I was intrigued. It could bring in lots of old nostalgic fans and several new ones.

Almost every network has housed a supernatural teen mystery; The CW had more than I can count. Netflix has Wednesday.

Disney has never really delved into this genre because of their audience, and that’s why Freeform was the ideal network to air Coven Academy.

Their viewership leans a bit older than the Disney Channel, so I’m thrilled they took this risk, and it still fit their brand, which often focused on romance, family, and friendship.

Coven Academy will reach multiple audiences with established 90s icons like Tiffani Thiessen (Beverly Hills 90210) and Devon Sawa (Nikita).

Thiessen plays the headmistress, Miss Graves, and also knew Briar’s mother, while Sawa portrays one of the school’s cool professors.

The CW fans will recognize Malina Pauli Weissman (Briar) as Young Kara from Supergirl. She was talented back then, and I am looking forward to seeing her lead Coven Academy.

While Coven Academy is the perfect fit for Freeform and the kind of programming it’s been missing, it would be better if it were airing weekly instead of in a bingeable format.

Instead, Coven Academy consists of 21 fast-paced chapters, so they’ll air more like three movies on Freeform, beginning on October 1.

Fast-paced chapters over three weeks do not cut it, especially when you can binge all of it on Disney+ or Hulu the next day. This is the type of show fans could talk about for weeks if we let it linger.

They could discuss how Briar adapts to her grief over losing her mom, discovers she has magic, and makes new friends.

There will likely be debates about her love triangle and whether she chooses Jake (Malachi Barton), the charming warlock, or Ollie (Louis Thresher), the new hungry vampire.

I’m still excited for Coven Academy, but the bingeable format has dimmed it some.

Over to you, TV Fanatics.

Do you plan to watch Coven Academy? Does it feel like an old-school YA series? Do you prefer weekly drops or a binegable format?

Let us know in the comments.

Coven Academy premieres on Freeform on October 1, and the entire season drops on Disney+ and Hulu on October 2.

TV Fanatic is searching for passionate contributors to share their voices across various article types. Think you have what it takes to be a TV Fanatic? Click here for more information and next steps.