Every Witch Way
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 Moral of the story: NEVER turn a Telenovela into a knock-off of another popular sitcom, or else it will turn out like this.
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Every Witch Way is an American/Canadian telenovela-formatted teen sitcom that originally aired on Nickelodeon from January 1, 2014, to July 30, 2015. It was the American version of Grachi, a successful series on Nickelodeon's Latin American counterpart.
Plot
Emma Alonso moves with her father Francisco to the suburbs of Miami, Florida, where she attends Iridium High. She later learns that she is a witch, and is also the "Chosen One", having great powers and abilities of her generation. Emma barely makes it through the school year with the help of Lily, the school nurse who is Emma's guardian; Andi Cruz, her best friend; Daniel Miller, a mutual crush, and the rest of the Sharks, Iridium High's swim team. There are obstacles along the way, too, including Maddie Van Pelt, the leader of the Panthers, a trio of the school's most popular girls, who is a newly profound witch, and Daniel's ex-girlfriend.
Why It Should Get Cursed by a Witch
- Even though the show is based on Grachi, this is almost very unfaithful to the original series as it sometimes seems like a rip-off of Wizards of Waverly Place, and Sabrina the Teenage Witch.
- The characters are clichéd and unlikeable.
- Emma Alonso is your normal/relatable main protagonist but done poorly, similar to Tori Vega from Victorious. She's also an uninteresting Mary Sue as she can do all the spells because she is the chosen one.
- The mean girls and villains have no personalities or motivations other than to steal Emma's magic.
- Maddie also serves no purpose in the plot other than to be Emma's rival; she's also a spoiled possessive mean girl.
- Daniel Miller doesn't seem to have a personality. He just seems like a boring crush.
- Unexplained bad acting, with many actors showing zero emotion and coming off as stale.
- In turn, it spawned a spin-off called WITS Academy, even though nobody wanted it.
- WITS Academy was also still not that good and didn't improve much over this series. That was also very clear considering it only lasted for 1 season and 20 episodes over not even a month, making it the shortest lived Nickcom ever.
- As with most Nickcoms, the special effects are terrible.
- Additionally, the CGI for the magic looks very cheap and fake.
- The majority of jokes in the show aren't even that funny.
- The plot is very cliché, even though it's not the worst part of the show.
- The pun in the title isn't really that clever.
- It's difficult to comprehend what's happening in an episode because the pacing is so fast.
- The cast of the show, especially lead Paola Andino, had been wasted.
- Minimal or more nonexistent character development.
- There was a crossover with Talia in the Kitchen, another bad Nickelodeon sitcom. Unexpectedly, it was as awful as both shows were and did not try to improve basically anything.
- The love triangle between Emma, Jax, and Diego felt rather forced and poorly executed.
- In spite of its best efforts, it fails to be dark and serious.
- As it had 4 seasons and 85 episodes, it was obviously rushed. It was released in less than two years.
- The series finale, "A Girl's Sacrifice", despite being decent, ended on a cliffhanger note as Andi gets trapped in a liquid case on her way to the academy. This was a really unsatisfying way to end the episode and series; despite being continued in WITS Academy, it's really an insult to anyone who didn't know a spin-off even existed.
- It almost felt like an insult to the original series that this was based on.
- Furthermore, it seems they only made it to ride on the success or popularity of Grachi.
Redeeming Qualities
- The sitcom isn't as bad as some Nickelodeon shows.
- Some likeable characters, like Emma's best friend Andi Cruz, and Jax.
- Although they were mediocre and sometimes lackluster, Seasons 3 and 4 were slight improvements over the first two.
- The theme song is pleasant to listen to.
- It may be enjoyable to some people.
- It's a relief there's no laugh track since they overuse it in a lot of Nickcoms.
- Some good or decent episodes, like the finale "A Girl's Sacrifice", which was a decent way to end the series, despite WISGCBAW#16.
- The concept was interesting, but it was executed poorly.
Reception
The series received mixed to negative reviews from critics, audience, and Grachi fans alike. Though despite the positive reviews and fans, it was considered to be one of the worst Nickcoms ever made. It currently holds a rating of 5/10 in IMDB and 90% on Google.
The show was given 2 stars by Emily Ashby on Common Sense Media, with her stating that it "devotes too much time and energy to Maddie's superficiality and spite", making it an unsuitable choice for an impressionable age group. Her criticism towards the show included how "none of Maddie's actions ever land her in hot water she can't work a spell to escape", so those who watch the series never see her learn her lesson. Ashby also criticized the subpar acting in the show as well as its low-budget look and feel, and no laugh track in the show makes it "unusually flat for a tween sitcom". To finish off her criticism, she added on how the absence of engaging elements leaves "nothing to distract [viewers] from the excessive superficiality and pettiness" of many of the central characters.