“Sabrina the Teenage Witch” premiered on ABC on September 27, 1996, pulling more than 17 million viewers into the network’s “T.G.I.F.” lineup. Nell Scovell created the show, developed by Jonathan Schmock from the Archie Comics character. The hook was simple: on her sixteenth birthday, Sabrina Spellman learns she is a witch.
Trailer, via daphschizo.
Melissa Joan Hart Learns She Is a Witch
Melissa Joan Hart plays Sabrina, a novice whose spells keep going wrong. She lives at 133 Collins Road in Westbridge, Massachusetts, with her 600-year-old aunts and Salem, a talking cat voiced by Nick Bakay.
Hilda and Zelda Spellman
Caroline Rhea plays Hilda, the impulsive sister. Beth Broderick plays Zelda, a scientist and college professor, and the voice of reason when magic gets misused. Both counsel Sabrina on her powers and on growing up.
Salem Saberhagen, Witch Turned Cat
Salem is a witch transformed into a cat for trying to take over the world. The aunts must look after him. He is the show’s best running joke, and Bakay’s voice sells it.
A Departure From the Archie Comics
The show breaks with the comics, where Sabrina knew of her powers from an early age. Here the discovery drives everything.
- Hilda and Zelda Spellman, her 600-year-old guardians
- Salem Saberhagen, the witch-turned-cat
- Westbridge, Massachusetts, the fictional setting
- Sabrina’s season 3 quest to uncover the Spellman family secret
Seven Seasons Across Two Networks
The series ran four seasons on ABC, ending May 5, 2000, then three more on The WB, from September 22, 2000, to April 24, 2003. Seven seasons, 163 episodes.
Bewitched and the Pop-Culture Jokes
Its premise and “genial loopiness” earned comparisons to the 1960s series Bewitched. Contemporary pop-culture references, invented witch history and science-fiction elements filled the episodes. Some seasons carried arcs; most stayed episodic.
The College Years and the Missing Aunts
The later seasons moved Sabrina into college dorms, then back home in season 7 after her aunts left for the Other Realm. Rhea and Broderick left as regulars before the finale. The show lost its center.
What Holds Up
Hart’s performance is the constant. The aunts gave the comedy its friction — reason against impulse — and Salem gave it the joke that never needed explaining. The back half is thinner. Once Sabrina leaves the house, the show becomes a standard campus sitcom with magic as decoration. The season 3 family secret arc remains the strongest stretch, because it gave the magic a purpose beyond the week’s gag.
This is a 7.8 of 10 — a warm, well-built sitcom that knew its trick and, for four seasons, performed it cleanly.
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