We love making magic with Sabrina...dun dun dun dun...The teenage witch turns 25!
25 years after Sabrina, The Teenage Witch made its premiere on ABC, I interviewed co-creator and TV veteran Nell Scovell about its surprisingly subversive legacy, its persistent whiteness, and Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. My latest for @ELLEmagazine https://t.co/ewxGw7Fej6
- Candice Frederick (@ReelTalker) September 27, 2021
-Today marks the 25th anniversary of Sabrina the Teenage Witch starring Melissa Joan Hart
-The co-creator who left after S1 talks about the show and their regrets
-Viacom wanted Sabrina's mother to be dead but she fought against it since she didn't want to give into the dead mom trope and since they were a family comedy, it felt wrong.
-Regrets not having more diversity in the cast and was very small minded when it came to thinking that Sabrina's aunts didnt necessarily have to both be white. Cicely Tyson was pitched for the role of Aunt Zelda.
-Sarah Michelle Gellar almost cast spells instead of slaying vampires but chose graveyards over a cozy home.
-Gets a kick out of her impact on the character in all mediums such as Sabrina's last name being Spellman which wasn't in the comics. It is something that she created specifically for the show, using her fathers best friends last name. Same goes for Sabrina having a mortal mother and witch for a father. All of whom have become integral to the character both in comics and re-adaptations of the show.
-Sabrina, much like Buffy jumped networks due to a breakdown in negations between Viacom/Abc. ABC was going to pick the show up for a 5th season as it was a ratings hit but Viacom wanted the network to pay $1.5mill/episode which resulted in ABC cancelling the show.
-TheWB came along and offered $675k/episode and a 2 season deal which Viacom agreed to due to ABC not playing ball.
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