1 9 9 6 – 2 0 0 3 (USA)
163 x 25 minute episodes
The house at 133 Collins Road in Westbridge, Massachusetts, is owned by Hilda and Zelda Spellman (Caroline Rhea and Beth Broderick), sisters who are also witches. Also living with them is their beautiful niece Sabrina (Melissa Joan Hart) and Salem Saberhagen, a warlock who has been turned into a black cat (voiced by Nick Bakay) by the Witch’s Council.
Hilda is 620 years old. She plays the violin and eventually buys The Hickory Dickory Clock Shop with Zelda, where they help lost travellers in time (people seeking to go back in time to correct a mistake in their lives) using the ‘Lost in Time Clock’.
Zelda, the older sister, admits to being “500-plus years old” and is interested in science, psychiatry, slug reproduction and art (she was a model for Goya and nude postcards of her are sold at the art museum).
Sabrina is unaware that she is a witch. Her mother is a mortal (an archaeologist on assignment in Peru) and her father a warlock (although Sabrina believes he is with the Foreign Secret Service).
Hilda and Zelda have been assigned by the Witch’s Council to teach Sabrina the art of witchcraft.
On Sabrina’s 16th birthday (when the series begins), Sabrina discovers she is a witch when she acquires her first power – levitation. She also receives a book – The Discovery of Magic – as a guide to help her understand her powers.
Sabrina attends Westbridge High School and hangs out after school at a pizza parlour called The Slicery.
On her 18th birthday (in the third season), Sabrina begins her senior year in high school and works as a waitress in The Coffee Shop. She hopes to become a journalist and begins her career as a writer for The Lantern, her high school newspaper. She next wrote for the Adams Advocate, her college newspaper before becoming a professional writer for The Boston Courier then for the music magazine Scorch.
Hilda and Zelda were dropped from the show in 2001 and Sabrina became housemates with Roxie King (Soleil Moon Frye) – who hosted the college radio station show Chick Chat – and Morgan Cavanaugh (Elisa Donovan), who aspired to become a fashion designer.
Harvey Kinkel (Nate Richert) was Sabrina’s one and only true love – although it took her years to discover this. He was also the only mortal who knew Sabrina’s secret and, although Sabrina fell for Josh (David Lascher), a reporter for the Citizen, and later planned to marry band promoter Aaron Jacobs (Dylan Neal), she realised in the final episode, that she and Harvey were meant to be together forever.
Sabrina Spellman
Melissa Joan Hart
Salem Saberhagen
Nick Bakay
Hilda Spellman
Caroline Rhea
Zelda Spellman
Beth Broderick
Harvey Kinkle
Nate Richert
Libby Chessler
Jenna Leigh Green
Roxie King
Soleil Moon Frye
Morgan Cavanaugh
Elisa Donovan
Principal Willard Kraft
Martin Mull
Josh
David Lascher
Aaron Jacobs
Dylan Neal