'OINTB' Creator Takes On The Salem Witch Trials

Season 2 of Orange Is the New Black will hit your Netflix queue on June 6, but the creator of the hit series is already working on her newest TV project. Creator Jenji Kohan is developing a series for HBO and it may sound like something you've already seen, possibly more than once. Kohan is developing a show about the Salem witch trials and though it's not exactly a brand new concept in today's TV landscape, Kohan's involvement might make me want to watch yet another witch-centric show.

Though Kohan's show will focus on the Puritan community living in Salem, Mass. her show does have some key differences from shows like WGN's new series Salem , a current example of a show that focuses on this time period. Where Salem makes it clear that the supernatural is at work within the community, Kohan's version of the show will leave any witch-doings up to interpretation:

We don’t really answer the question whether these women were witches, we just present a lot of situations, and again, it’s open to interpretation. We cover it from a lot of angles.

Instead of making the show all about the alleged witches, Kohan's desire is to show a broader picture of Puritan life. As she told Vulture at the TIME 100 Gala:

We forget that the Puritans were young, hardy people in their 20s, and they were human, so it was all this insane stuff that’s going on, and they were sexy and mean and all those things that you would expect — human nature was essentially intact.

Okay, now I'm excited. Kohan proved that she knew how to take people in tough, crazy situations and showcase the most raw aspects of their nature with Orange Is the New Black. She could very well do the same with this historical drama. While I do love my supernatural TV shows, I would definitely watch a non-supernatural take on the Salem witch trials, especially one that digs deep into the social implications of living the Puritan lifestyle.

As cool as this sounds, Kohan admits that the project is a far way off. Until then, we'll be binge-watching Orange Is the New Black until we reach the end of Season 2.