by Tyler Ryder
Netflix has rebooted the classic show “Sabrina the Teenage Witch,” putting their own take on it.
The original series was based on a comic book series printed by Archie Comics. The show aired from 1996 to 2003, and followed Sabrina, a high schooler, who lives with her witch aunts, and her talking cat, Salem. The Netflix production is also based on a set of comics following the same characters. The comic series shared a name with the Netflix series, and followed Sabrina, while taking place in the 1960s. The Netflix production focuses on Sabrina’s life as a half witch, as well as a struggle to protect herself and family. The Netflix series has Kiernan Shipka as Sabrina, Ross Lynch as Harvey Kinkle (Sabrina’s love interest), and Lucy Davis and Miranda Otto as her aunts. The series has 10 episodes, each at about an hour long, with plans to release a holiday episode on December 14th, 2018. A second season of the show is in the works, with no released date announced yet. The original show detailed Sabrina’s adventures from discovering her witch powers to attending college. It was a comedy show, often described as a sitcom, whereas the new iteration is a horror centric production.
The show had a total of 7 seasons, with a grand total of 163 episodes, and 3 movies. There were also several animated series’, with the first having run from 1999 to 2000. One glaring change from the original series involves a popular character, Sabrina’s cat Salem. While in the 1996 series Salem spoke regularly, he doesn’t talk at all in the Netflix series. While this may have bummed out fans, the show still seemed to do well for itself.
The production has a 90% on RottenTomatoes.com, and a 7.9/10 on IMDB. The tv-14 rating on Netflix also helps expand the audience, giving the show a broad horizon of fans.