Pluto TV, the world's leading FAST (free ad-supported streaming television) service from Paramount Global, has launched a
dedicated Sabrina the Teenage Witch channel in the U.K., allowing fans to watch back-to-back episodes of the old school Nickelodeon UK favourite!
Sabrina is a normal teenager, except for one thing - she's a witch! Guided by her aunts, who come from a long line of witches, and Salem, a mischievous warlock doing penance as a black cat.
About Sabrina the Teenage Witch:
Sabrina the Teenage Witch is an American sitcom based on the Archie Comics series of the same name. The show premiered on September 27, 1996, on ABC in the USA to over 17 million viewers in its "T.G.I.F." line-up.
The show stars Melissa Joan Hart (
Clarissa Explains It All,
The Casagrandes) as Sabrina Spellman, an American teenager who, on her sixteenth birthday, discovers she has magical powers. She lives with her 600-year-old aunts, witches Hilda (played by Caroline Rhea) and Zelda (played by Beth Broderick), and their magical talking cat Salem Saberhagen (voiced by Nick Bakay,
Angry Beavers) at 133 Collins Road in the fictional Boston suburb of Westbridge, Massachusetts through most of the series.
When the teenage traumas of school, boys and homework get a bit too much, Sabrina can brighten things up with a bit of magic! But being a magic maker is not all lotions and potions - as Sabrina's two aunts Hilda and Zelda keep telling her everyday. And taking advantage of your powers can land you in BIG trouble. Just ask the Spellman's wise pet Salem, who got turned into a cat after trying to take over the world! (don't ask!)
However, there's certainly never a dull moment in Sabrina's life as she tangles with giant babies, mad pirates and even a pop star or two, and always staying one step ahead of Principal Kraft who would love to kick her out of school!
The series ran for 163 and three television films:
Sabrina the Teenage Witch (the unofficial pilot of the series),
Sabrina Goes to Rome, and
Sabrina, Down Under.
In the US, the series' first four seasons aired on ABC from September 27, 1996, to May 5, 2000, with the final three seasons being ran on The WB from September 22, 2000, to April 24, 2003.
In the UK,
Sabrina the Teenage Witch ran from 1997 to the mid-noughties, and quickly became a top show on Nick, often winning Watch Your Own Wednesdays, Watch Your Own Weekends, Watch Your Own Weeks, and Head 2 Head battles.
The
Sabrina the Teenage Witch television series was produced by Hartbreak Films and Viacom Productions with Finishing the Hat Productions being there for season 1 only.
The show went through many cast changes throughout its run, the first major changes being the departure of Sabrina's best friend Jenny Kelly (Michelle Beaudoin) and teacher Mr Pool (Paul Feig,
Ghostbusters: Answer The Call) at the end of the first season.
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| 'Sabrina the Teenage Witch' Season Two Cast |
At the beginning of the fourth season, Valerie Birkhead (Lindsay Sloane), who joined in season two, departs the show permanently along with Libby Chessler (Jenna Leigh Green). Valerie's character moves away to Alaska with her family, while Libby transfers to a boarding school.
In season four, China Shavers joined the cast as Dreama, the new kid in school, who causes a lot of trouble because she uses magic. She later turns out to be Sabrina's student. Sabrina has to teach Dreama how to control her magic. When the series finished its fourth season, as Sabrina was about to attend college, several secondary characters left the show, including Willard Kraft (the late, great Martin Mull) and Harvey Kinkle (Nate Richert). Harvey later appeared in season five and then returned as a series regular.
In season five, Soleil Moon Frye, Elisa Donovan and Trevor Lissauer joined the cast as Sabrina's mortal roommates Roxie King, Morgan Cavanaugh and Miles Goodman, respectively.
After the series' sixth season, Caroline Rhea and Beth Broderick, who portrayed Sabrina's aunts from the show's premiere, also decided to leave the show. When the character of Sabrina started to attend college, the role of her aunts became less important. Broderick felt that the role of Zelda had nothing more to offer, while Rhea landed her own syndicated talk show,
The Caroline Rhea Show. Hilda moves to the Other Realm to live with her new husband and soulmate, Will (Douglas Sills), and Zelda, now reverted back to her childhood state to save Sabrina after she's turned to stone, also moves to the Other Realm.
Trevor Lissauer, who played Sabrina's housemate Miles Goodman, also left the show after appearing in seasons five and six.
Sabrina's love interest Josh, played by David Lascher (
Hey Dude,
Two of a Kind,
Clueless), left for Prague after appearing from season four to six. Lascher reportedly wanted to pursue other projects. In order to fill the void, producers brought in Aaron, played by Dylan Neal, as Sabrina's love interest in the show's final season.
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| 'Sabrina the Teenage Witch' Season Six Cast |
In season seven, Diana-Maria Riva, Andrew Walker, John Ducey and Bumper Robinson (
Rocket Power: Race Across New Zealand,
All Grown Up!,
Guys Like Us) joined the cast as Annie Martos, the boss of Scorch Magazine, the hip magazine where Sabrina started to work, and Sabrina's colleagues, Cole Harper, Leonard, and James, respectively.
In the shows two-part series finale episode, "What a Witch Wants"/"Soul Mates", Caroline Rhea reprised her role of Aunt Hilda, accompanied by Aunt Zelda, who has now been turned into a candle so that Sabrina's mortal mother could attend her wedding without being turned into a ball of wax.
Throughout its run, many guest stars appeared on the show, including Kenan Thompson and Kel Mitchell, Britney Spears, the Hanson brothers, No Doubt, Sally Jessy Raphael, and Penn & Teller (Penn portrayed Drell, head of The Witches Council), along with Emily Hart (
Sabrina, the Animated Series), Melissa's real-life sister, and Melissa's then-boyfriend (now husband) Mark Wilkerson! Emily played Amanda Wiccan, the bratty younger cousin of Sabrina, and Mark played himself!
The original
Sabrina the Teenage Witch TV movie, considered as the unofficial pilot of the series, produced by Viacom and Hartbreak Films and aired on Showtime, starred Melissa Joan Hart as the title character, Sabrina Sawyer, and Charlene Fernetz and Sherry Miller as Sabrina’s aunts Zelda and Hilda, respectively. When the television series debuted on TV later that year, Hart became Sabrina Spellman, and Caroline Rhea and Beth Broderick replaced Fernetz and Miller.
During the shows run,
Sabrina the Teenage Witch made two backdoor pilots for potential spin-off series:
- In the season 3 episode "Sabrina, the Matchmaker", ordered by Cupid to help two people fall in love, Sabrina gets her cousin (Hallie Todd) and the plumber (Brian Cousins) together. However, her cousin's bratty daughters ruin it. The spin-off was to feature Melissa Joan Hart's little sisters (Emily Hart and Alexandra Hart-Gilliams), but was not picked up to series by ABC.
- In the season 5 episode "Witchright Hall", Sabrina's heck-raising cousin Amanda is sent to live in the Mortal Realm for a year. Rather than have her stay at the Spellmans', Hilda and Zelda arrange for Sabrina to help get Amanda into a special school called Witchright Hall for maladjusted young witches. The episode guest starred Charles Shaughnessy (
The Nanny) as James Hexton, headmaster of the school and Zelda's former love interest. (Shaughnessy had appeared earlier in the season as Alec, Hilda's love interest). The spin-off was be set in Witchright Hall starring Emily Hart, however the show was not picked up to series by The WB.
Paramount+ UK & Ireland is HERE! Stream a Mountain of Entertainment, including your Nickelodeon favourites! Try it FREE at ParamountPlus.com!
Paramount+ is also available with Sky Cinema at no extra cost.
Originally published: July 02, 2024.
