While of course we all know that Hermione Granger is the greatest witch to ever grace us with her presence (Go, go, Gryffindor) there is another witch who is pretty hot on her heels – Sabrina, the Teenage Witch. After debuting onto our screens in 1996, this epic ‘90s show taught us everything we needed to know about cats who wanted to dominate the world, awesome sorcery skills, family ties and more. Basically, it was the bomb diggity. Yet, we bet there are some things you didn’t know about the show…
The show is based on a popular comic book
Yuh huh, your girly ‘90s TV show was actually based on a geeky comic book series – and if that doesn’t make you want to convert to the nerd club then we don’t know what will! Based on a character from the popular Archie Comics franchise, Sabrina Spellman wowed comic book fans with her powers through the comic book series. This will soon work in favor of those who are Riverdale fans (AKA another Archie Comics creation) as a new spin-off show will merge Betty, Jughead, Archie, and Veronica with Sabrina, which is basically the best news ever.
The show was literally made for Melissa Joan Hart
There would be no Sabrina The Teenage Witch without Melissa Joan Hart, but while fans often exclaim that their famous actor was ‘literally made for the part’ – this was actually the case for Melissa. Yep, the concept of the show was actually thought up by Paula Hart, Melissa’s mom! As soon as she read the comics, she knew that her daughter was the perfect person for the leading role, so she didn’t even have to audition.
The networks REALLY wanted to buy into the show
When Paula Hart first thought up the idea of having a Sabrina The Teenage Witch as a TV show, she scored herself a whopping four meetings with four of the biggest networks in one day – which meant that she had to be pitch perfect (if you’ll excuse the pun). Amazingly, her pitch seemed to work, as that same day she was offered the chance to work with three of them! In the end, they chose to work with ABC as the viewership was more up their street.
Salem was found pretty close to home
Although Sabrina was OBVIOUSLY our favorite character on the show, there was no denying the fact that Salem had our hearts. He was witty, he was evil, and he was the kind of bad boys that our moms told us to stay away from – so we couldn’t resist. Yes, we know he’s cat! While the producers of the show were looking to find a voice actor to play their domineering cat, they actually found him a little closer to home. After volunteering to read the part during original read-throughs, one of the show’s writers, Nick Bakay, was eventually given the role full-time.
One of the minor characters is now a huge Hollywood star
If you don’t remember who Mr. Pool was – we don’t blame you. As Sabrina’s biology teacher, this guy was such a minor character that most of us have forgotten him. However, there’s no way you could forget him now, as the guy who played Mr. Pool – Paul Feig – is now a huge Hollywood filmmaker. Yep, this dude created the epic Freaks and Geeks, directed the best movie of all time, Bridesmaids, and even directed the all-female Ghostbusters remake. What a legend.
Sabrina, The Teenage Witch, was one of the best things about our childhood – but we bet you didn’t know these epic facts!
