Melissa Joan Hart talks new Sabrina – CW project after Sabrina the Teenage Witch
When The CW announced that they were looking to spin off Riverdale with a property all about Sabrina the Teenage Witch, our interest was piqued. This is a popular and very familiar character, but the big challenge for the network is strictly this: There is already a Sabrina series out there! The original Sabrina, the Teenage Witch aired on ABC for several years, establishing Melissa Joan Hart as a major TV star after she began that journey with Clarissa Explains It All back on Nickelodeon.
So, given that this Sabrina is already out there, why is The CW even bothering to do this again? Well, much of it has to do with interpretation more so than anything else. Speaking (per Entertainment Weekly) recently while at L.A. Comic-Con this weekend, Hart made it clear that there are some big differences between the show that she did and the one that is currently planned by executive producer Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa:
“We’re not involved… The rights reverted back to [Archie Comics], and they’re doing The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, which is a darker sort of twist … I think our show was about magic and family, and I think the new one — it sounds like, I have no idea — but the new one is going to be more about witchcraft, dark stuff. I think it sounds more Buffy the Vampire Slayer than it does Sabrina, so I think it will appeal to a different kind of audience and be a totally different show.”
It’s hard to argue with any of this, given that the original version of Sabrina was a lighthearted Friday night family comedy. This new one is likely to be more in the vein of Riverdale, which is as dark as dark can be for a show featuring the sort of characters that it does.
Do we think that there is a good chance for Sabrina to be a hit, even if it’s not like the other version of the show? Definitely. Remember that Riverdale entered its own run with a reputation that, (thanks to Archie Comics) was largely squeaky-clean. It was able to play off of that reputation and deliver something edgy and interesting. The same can be said about what we end up seeing with this show as well and that what we here at CarterMatt are hoping to see – this way it could lead to some really nice crossovers and we know how much the CW loves crossovers!
Do you think that the new Sabrina will work even if it is different from the other version of the show? Share below in our comments section and let us know your thoughts.