Sabrina Is Coming To Netflix: Here's A Run-Down Of The Teenage Witch's Iconic History
6 December 2017, 12:30 | Updated: 27 October 2018, 17:19
From 1962 to now, here's how much your favourite witch has changed over the years.
It's official. Sabrina The teenage Witch is coming to Netflix in the very near future. Riverdale showrunner, Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa tweeted the good news and now we're officially hype for Sabrina to return to the small screen.
Things are about to get a lot more CHILLING! #Sabrina #Netflix pic.twitter.com/QsHVTcfeyD
— RobertoAguirreSacasa (@WriterRAS) December 1, 2017
Sabrina's adventures will be new for some younger viewers. However, those of us who grew up with the 90s live action sitcom AND the animated series will know all about the icon that is Sabrina Spellman.
Sabrina's origins....
Sabrina the Teenage Witch is, of course, a member of the Archie Comics universe. Fun fact, in the comics, Sabrina is written as a resident of Greendale (the town where Riverdale's Black Hood takes his second victim--Geraldine Grundy).
Originally, Sabrina was "created" by her aunts but is later established as half witch, half mortal (her witchy attributes coming from her paternal side). In the comics and subsequent series' Sabrina lives with her aunts, Hilda and Zelda, and their cat Salem.
Sabrina first made her appearance in Archie's Madhouse # 22 (1962). The spin-off comic series, Sabrina The Teenage Witch first went into print April 1971.
Live action Sabrina sitcom (1996-2003)
In 1996, Melissa Joan Hart starred in a TV film Sabrina adaptation that later became a full series. Live action Sabrina, like her comic counterpart, lived in a house with her two aunts and talking cat, Salem.
The series ran for 7 seasons, adopting a typical hijinks filled sitcom format. In the show, Sabrina dated Harvey Kinkle, a character that also featured in the original Archie Comic.
In the series, Sabrina's magic manifests by pointing her finger and doing spells. Sabrina's spells going awry was a reoccurring theme in the show as the teen witch learned to control and deal with the fall out of her often unstable magic.
Animated Sabrina series'
An animated Sabrina the Teenage Witch series ran from 1970-1974. A spin-off of the Archie Comedy Hour, the series also featured Sabrina's adventures with the "Groovy Goolies".
In 1999, the animated adventures of a younger Sabrina were brought to ABC. Sabrina: The Animated Series ran for one season (65 episodes) and followed Sabrina as a 12-year-old middle school student.
This Sabrina was voiced by Melissa Joan Hart's younger sister, Emily Hart. Again, Sabrina lived with her aunts Hilda and Zelda and their cat, Salem. A new gaurdian, Uncle Quigley, was created specifically for this series.
The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina on Netflix
Fast forward to 2017 and Sabrina is getting new life in the form of a Netflix reboot. Sabrina will be around for at least two seasons in her newest iteration, as Netflix have ordered 20 episodes (two 10-episode runs).
Thanks in part to the success of Riverdale, Netflix were keen to grab a teen Archie comics spin-off of their very own. Don't expect a Melissa Joan Hart style Sabrina, though.
Audiences are being primed to expect something in the vein of "Rosemary's Baby" and "The Exorcist". The reboot is being described as a "dark coming of age story" with horror elements.
Based on the popular Roberto Auirre-Sacasa written comic series of the same name, The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina will likely feature the teenage witch as we've never seen her before.
