Freeform is heading back to high school, but this time with cauldrons. The network's new teen drama Coven Academy is quietly turning into one of the more fun casting stories of the season, because someone in that casting office clearly grew up on the same TGIF block I did. TV Insider has the full rundown, and the names alone got me half hooked.

It's a witchy teen drama about young witches-in-training at a supernatural boarding school. So, the Chilling Adventures of Sabrina / The Vampire Diaries lineage, that specific lane where everyone's gorgeous, the lighting is moody, and somebody's grandmother is definitely hiding something. In my book Freeform has always had a knack for this stuff. Pretty Little Liars felt like the blueprint for years, all secrets and slow-burn reveals, and a school full of young witches feels like the natural next swing. Your mileage may vary on that take, but it's mine.

The cast is where it gets fun for someone my age. Tiffani Thiessen is in this, playing Miss Graves, the head of the school, which is the correct career arc for every '90s icon: Kelly Kapowski grows up to run the creepy academy. And Devon Sawa is along for the ride as Mr. Cole, a warlock professor, which means the Casper and Now and Then portion of my VHS-era brain lit up immediately. Those two sharing a frame in 2026 is the kind of thing I didn't know I needed until it was in front of me.

They're joined by a mix of rising stars and Disney Channel alums, which is the classic Freeform recipe. That network has always functioned as the cool older sibling of Disney Channel, the place where the teen audience graduates to slightly spookier, slightly more romantic fare. If you've followed an actor from a Disney show into a Freeform one, you know the transition usually works, and a supernatural boarding school setup gives the younger cast plenty to chew on.

We have a date, too. Coven Academy premieres October 1, 2026 on Freeform, with next-day streaming on Disney+ and Hulu for anyone who's cut the cord or just prefers their witch boarding school on a laptop. A teaser has already dropped and while I'm not in the business of judging a show by its first thirty seconds, the vibes are exactly what you'd want from this premise.

I'll be watching, obviously. My professional couch potato credentials demand it, and I have a documented weakness for teen supernatural dramas that I refuse to call a guilty pleasure because there's no guilt here. The Thiessen of it all alone earns the first episode.

What I can't predict is whether it leans campy or genuinely dark, because that's the fork in the road for every show like this. Sabrina managed both, barely, and it's a harder balance than anyone gives it credit for. We'll find out October 1.

In the meantime, I'm adding it to the ongoing series coverage list. Jess keeps telling me my watchlist is 90 percent shows about teenagers and I keep telling her the teenagers are the ones making the interesting stuff right now. She'll come around. She always does.