[8] On July 19, 2012, it was announced that Lifetime had ordered a pilot for Witches of East End for its 2013 season, and that the show would be executive-produced by both Maggie Friedman and Erwin Stoff, and produced by Fox 21.

[9] On January 31, 2013, it was revealed that Lifetime had picked up Witches of East End with ten episodes and that it was scheduled to premiere later that year.

[10][11][12] The executive VP of programming for Lifetime Networks, Rob Sharenow, said "We've been thrilled about Witches of East End and its powerful premise since the moment we bought the property, and our friends at Fox 21 helped develop it for television.

[14] On September 14, 2012, the role of Freya Beauchamp was officially given to Jenna Dewan,[15] who publicly announced on December 17, 2012, that she and then husband Channing Tatum were expecting their first child.

[17] And on September 19, 2012, Rachel Boston and model Daniel Di Tomasso were announced to have earned the two remaining main roles, respectively Ingrid Beauchamp and Killian Gardiner.

On October 29, 2012, the crew moved for a week to Macon, Georgia, where they filmed the wedding scenes for the pilot at the historical Hay House.

Lori Rackl of Chicago Sun-Times[32] described the show as a "soapy, silly adaptation of Melissa de la Cruz's best-seller."

Matthew Gilbert of Boston Globe[33] reviewed the show saying "[It] will remain a missable new supernatural series populated by wooden actors and feeble plotlines."

Diane Werts of Newsday gave the show a more positive review, saying "What's utterly clear is that the starter hour picks up steam whenever loose-cannon Amick bops around -- although Ormond does a nice job of grounding its shenanigans in a semblance of reality."

[35] Allison Keene from The Hollywood Reporter also praised the premiere, claiming "Witches of East End is up against a number of other supernatural shows, and there becomes a question of saturation.

[5] After its cancellation, fans launched an online petition campaign to save the show called "Renew Witches of East End".

[47] The campaign received support from celebrities on Twitter who backed the show to be renewed, including Channing Tatum, William Shatner and Snooki as well as stars from television series such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer's Sarah Michelle Gellar and Charmed's Shannen Doherty and Holly Marie Combs.