JOHN ERWIN DEAD AT 88

 

You can read the full story here.

Best known as the original He-Man, he played Reggie Mantle in Filmation’s Archie franchise based on the comics. He also played Reggie, Cousin Ambrose, Hexter, J.R., Humphrey and Hank in Sabrina the Teenage Witch (1970); Dick Tracy, Alvin, Smokey Stover, Spooky, Gaylord Buzzard and various others in Archie’s TV Funnies; Q and Slick in The New Archie/Sabrina Hour; Casey Balloo in “The Horse That Played Center Field” episode of ABC Weekend Specials; and Ronald Radford III and Clumpley in The Thing. He also provided voices for Foofur.

SABRINA'S SECRET LIFE

 

SABRINA’S SECRET LIFE
(Syndication, November 10, 2003-February 3, 2004)
 
Archie Comics Entertainment LLC, Les Studios Tex SARL, DiC Entertainment

  

 

            Following the conclusion of Sabrina: The Animated Series, DiC Entertainment regained their independence from Disney after falling under their ownership with their purchase of ABC. Still possessing the Sabrina license from Archie Comics, DiC produced a follow-up movie called Friends Forever!, utilizing the same designs as The Animated Series but featuring an all-new voice cast with no connection to the live-action sitcom that inspired it. Sabrina (Britt McKillip), having turned 13, received a magic wand from queen witch Enchantra (Jane Mortifee) and was allowed to enroll in the Witch Academy. There, she met and befriended a fellow half-human named Nicole (Alexandra Carter) and they endeavored to make themselves into full witches so that they would fit in with the other students.

Harvey Kinkle: smitten by Sabrina, or under a spell?

            This led into a new series: Sabrina’s Secret Life. Sabrina was now 14 and attending Greendale High School. While she still lived with her aunts Hilda (Moneca Stori) and Zelda (Bettina Bush) and warlock-turned-cat Salem (Maurice LaMarche), and continued to have a crush on her friend, Harvey Kinkle (Michael Monroe Heyward), they were the only returning characters. He best friend Chloe was said to have moved away, and rival Gem Stone went to attend a private school out of town. Uncle Quigly, Pi and the Spooky Jar just disappeared without a mention or trace. Newly added was Sabrina’s new human best friend, Maritza (Vanesa Tomasino), who was unaware of her powers; Sabrina’s best-friend-turned-enemy and Enchantra’s niece, Cassandra (Tifanie Christun); and teachers Ms. Magrooney and Mr. Snipe (Christopher Gaze), who taught classes in both the Human World and Netherworld. While the series continued the theme of Sabrina balancing the two halves of her heritage, her powers were considerably weaker than the other versions; relying on her wand to cast spells rather than hand waves and incantations.

Sabrina and Cassandra square off.

            Sabrina’s Secret Life debuted on November 10, 2003 in syndication as part of the DiC Kids Network programming block. It was developed by DiC founder Jean Chalopin, who also served as head writer and wrote half of the episodes. Jean-Michel Guirao was the series’ composer. It would be the last show produced by French animation studio Les Studio Tex, which shut down shortly after its conclusion. Unlike its predecessor, Secret Life only ran for a single season of 26 episodes. Disney would purchase the international rights to air it on their channels alongside The Animated Series in international markets in a package called Totally Sabrina (although in Germany it aired simply as a third season to The Animated Series), and would be rerun on Toon Disney and Disney Channel in the United States until 2005. It made its way to CBS as part of the KOL Secret Slumber Party programming block from 2006-07, and later as part of their successor Cookie Jar Entertainment’s Cookie Jar TV block from 2010-11.

THE ARCHIE COMEDY HOUR

 

THE ARCHIE COMEDY HOUR
(CBS, September 13, 1969-January 3, 1970)

 
Filmation Associates

 

MAIN CAST:
Dallas McKennon – Archie Andrews, Hot Dog, Mr. Weatherbee, Pop Tate, Mr. Lodge, Coach Kleats, Salem, various
Ron Dante – Archie Andrews (singing)
Jane Webb – Betty Cooper, Veronica Lodge, Miss Grundy, Big Ethel, Sabrina Spellman, Aunt Hilda, Aunt Zelda, Della the Head Witch, various
Toni Wine – Betty Cooper (singing), Veronica Lodge (singing)
John Erwin – Reggie Mantle, Ambrose, Hexter, various
Howard Morris – Jughead Jones, Moose Mason, Dilton Doiley, Hot Dog Jr., various
Don Messick – Harvey Kinkle, Spencer, Chili Dog, various
Treva Frazee – Ophelia

 

For the history of Archie, check out the post here. For the history of Sabrina, check out the post here.

 

            1969 continued to be a banner year for the Archie Comics characters. The Archie Show was still doing well in the ratings, and the virtual The Archies band managed by Don Kirschner was working on their second (Everything’s Archie) and third (Jingle Jangle) album, and had scored a major milestone with their third single, “Sugar, Sugar”, which hit #1 on the U.S. Billboard and U.K. Singles chart for four and eight weeks, respectively, and was certified gold. They would score another gold with the single “Jingle Jangle” later in the year, while charting in the top 40 with two more singles. “Sugar, Sugar” even led them to yet another appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, and was brought up into space by Apollo 12 astronauts Alan Bean and Pete Conrad. Eager to keep the ball rolling, CBS asked Filmation to continue and expand with The Archies.

The Archies are back and still rockin'.

            The result was the second incarnation of The Archie Show, The Archie Comedy Hour. Along with reruns from The Archie Show, Comedy Hour incorporated new segments that were mostly one-off gags rather than story driven, such as “Dilton Doiley’s Inventions”. “The Funhouse” joke segment in the middle of the hour was modeled after Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In. Additionally, there were music segments designed to showcase the new music from The Archies.

Advertising mock-up introducing Sabrina.

            Comedy Hour also gave Filmation a chance to fulfill an itch. For a long time, producer Lou Scheimer had been trying to secure the rights to adapt the sitcom Bewitched into an animated series; continuing Filmation’s trend of banking on established properties and their audiences. While perusing some Archie comics on vacation, CBS head daytime programming Fred Silverman discovered that Archie themselves had their own witch character, and alerted Scheimer to the fact. After securing the rights from publisher John Goldwater, Scheimer immediately set Jack Mendelsohn to develop Sabrina, the Teenage Witch for inclusion within the Comedy Hour.

Archie and the gang getting to know the new girl in school.

            Unlike the comics where Sabrina (Jane Webb) was a half-mortal sent to live with her witch aunts, the series’ intro stated that Sabrina was created accidentally when said aunts Hilda and Zelda (both also Webb) mixed the wrong ingredients into their brew. So, instead of gaining a fellow wicked witch, they found themselves with a groovy teen who liked hanging out with her friends at Riverdale High as much as using her magic to help them (in secret, of course). Much like the comics, however, Sabrina’s efforts often ended up making situations worse. Sabrina’s adventures often featured as much of the Archie cast as her own, which included her magical cat, Salem (Dallas McKennon); oblivious boyfriend, Harvey Kinkle (Don Messick); best friend, Ophelia (created for the show, voiced by Treva Frazee); and warlock cousin, Ambrose (John Erwin). Occasionally, Sabrina even had to put up with head witch Della (Webb) and her bratty nephew, Hexter (Erwin). Sabrina’s segments bookended the hour with an additional short segment of her demonstrating magic tricks to the audience.

Reggie is certain there's something peculiar about Sabrina.

            The Archie Comedy Hour debuted on CBS on September 13, 1969. However, canonically, it was preceded by a prime-time special that aired the following night: Archie and His New Pals. The special saw Sabrina coming to Riverdale High just as Reggie (Erwin) and Big Moose (Howard Morris) were set to run against each other for class president. While Sabrina was technically the only “new pal” introduced in the special, its title was actually based on the special’s sponsor: Pals Vitamins. Unlike The Archie Show, this time around one of the Archie writers was employed in George Gladir, co-creator of Sabrina. Additional writers included Bob Ogle, Jim Ryan, Bill Danch and Mendelsohn. Legendary animator Don Bluth, still early in his career, worked as a designer. While The Archies’ music was written by Jeff Barry, Ritchie Adams and Mark Barkan and performed by studio musicians Gary Chester on drums, Dave Appell on guitars, Joey Macho on bass, and Ron Frangipane on keyboards with Ron Dante and Toni Wine on vocals, Ray Ellis composed the rest of the music.

Hilda, Zelda and Salem.

            Sabrina proved popular right out of the gate, prompting Filmation to produce more episodes with her and spin her off into her own series the following year. She was combined with the original concept, The Groovie Goolies, to make the new hour-long program Sabrina and the Groovie Goolies (sometimes known as The Sabrina Comedy Hour). The Archie format was adjusted again to feature more music and more comedy routines rather than typical stories in Archie’s Fun House featuring the Giant Juke Box. That same year, “Jingle Jangle” was featured on The Ed Sullivan show in January while the special was rerun on March 22^nd as The Archie Sugar, Sugar, Jingle Jangle Show with different opening and closing songs.

Sabrina grooving with Harvey.

            Archie Comics continued their staunch support of Filmation and their programs. Along with blurbs about the shows on their covers, “Sugar, Sugar” was woven into practically any story that featured music or The Archies playing; starting with Archie’s Pals ‘n’ Gals #57 (1970).  Further, Archie began publication of a new title called Archie’s TV Laugh-Out (a play on Laugh-In) that primarily showcased their television characters (although, really, it wasn’t any different than any other Archie title besides the combination of all the characters into one book). It ran for 106 issues, ending in 1986, and some stories were collected into a digital trade for Archie's 75th anniversary. Comedy Hour and TV Laugh-Out simultaneously introduced the characters of Ambrose and Harvey; both created for the show that became permanent additions to the Sabrina mythos. While cover-dated for that December, Laugh-Out’s first issue actually went on sale just two weeks after Comedy Hour’s debut.

Archie's TV Laugh-Out #1.

            Post Cereal ran a promotion that included records of “Everything’s Archie”, “Bang-Shang-A-Lang”, “Boys & Girls” or “Hide and Seek” that could be cut out of the back of the boxes of select cereals; a set of 10 metal pins; Jughead’s hat; iron-on images; stationary; Archie’s car; temporary tattoos; and jumping figurines. Unfortunately, no home releases of the Archie portions of the show or short segments are known to exist. When the series was sold into syndication, the shows were cut up and merged into a package called The Archies. Those segments continued to live on in television while the rest wound up on the cutting room floor. When Hallmark purchased Filmation’s assets from then-owner L’Oréal in 1995, they converted everything to digital and PAL-region formats and discarded all of the originals. The restored special—sans the Pals promotional material—and the music segments for “Sugar, Sugar”, “Jingle Jangle” and “Get on the Line” were included as bonus features on the Archie’s Funhouse complete series DVD from Classic Media in 2008. Four additional segments were featured across all four of the Archie & Friends compilation DVDs. The segment for “You Know I Love You” was recovered from an overseas broadcast and uploaded to YouTube. The Sabrina segments, which continued to air in reruns as part of her own show, were released as part of the Archie & Friends compilations Sabrina the Teenage Witch and Archie’s Classic Cartoons, as well as in a complete series DVD set by Classic Media in 2012 and a 10 episode collection from 20^th Century Fox. The set was reissued by Universal Pictures Home Entertainment in 2019, including the first episode of The New Archie and Sabrina Hour (also known as The Archie and Sabrina Surprise Package).

 
 
EPISODE GUIDE:
Sabrina segments:

“The Fairy Godmother / Hiccups” (9/13/69) – Sabrina uses magic to get Spencer to take Ophelia to the school dance. / Sabrina’s hiccups causes her magic to go out of control.

 

“Which Witch is Which? / The Basketball Game” (9/20/69) – A magical mishap causes Hilda to get Sabrina’s face. / Sabrina attempts to use magic to stifle the opposing team’s cheating during a basketball game.

 

“Will the Real Weatherbee Stand Up? / Caveman” (9/27/69) – When the school ends up short-staffed, Sabrina duplicates Mr. Weatherbee to help out. / Attempting to help Sabrina with her history homework causes Ambrose to bring a caveman into the present.

 

“Paint Story / Aunt Zelda’s Broom” (10/4/69) – Sabrina joins the others in painting Mr. Weatherbee’s house. / Sabrina tries to get Zelda her broom for a race in the other world.

 

“Cinderella Story / What the Hex is Going On?” (10/11/69) – Sabrina’s magic goes wild during the costume ball. / Hilda hexes Jughead after he speaks ill about witches.

 

“Wishbone / Babysitter” (10/18/69) – Hot Dog Jr. and Chili Dog find a magic soup bone that grants wishes. / Sabrina has to babysit Della’s wicked nephew, Hexter.

 

“Carnival / Stage Fright” (10/25/69) – A comet passes by overhead that causes everything a witch does to be backwards. / Hilda lands the role of a witch in a play.

 

“Pet Show / Funny Bunny” (11/1/69) – Sabrina enters Salem in a pet show just as a cosmic constellation occurs that causes witches’ cats to be rambunctious. / Sabrina tries to help Jughead be successful, but instead turns him into a rabbit.

 

“Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow / A Witch in Time” (11/8/69) – Sabrina tries to change Mr. Weatherbee’s mind about people with long hair. / Della decides Hilda and Zelda aren’t witch enough to watch over Sabrina and assigns her a new guardian.

 

“When the Cat’s Away / Costume Party” (11/15/69) – Sabrina and Salem trade places. / Sabrina realizes the gang is holding their costume party at the home of the Witches’ Convention.

 

“Let’s Have a Hand for Jughead / The New Freeway” (11/22/69) – Sabrina tries to help Big Ethel attract Jughead. / The Spellmans must save their house from the construction of a new freeway.

 

“Blue Whale / Football Game” (11/29/69) – At the aquarium, Hexter decides to help out a homesick whale. / Hilda attends the school football game and unwittingly helps the opposing team win.

 

“Town Beautiful / Horse’s Mouth” (12/6/69) – A pair of bikers undermine the gang’s efforts at beautifying the town. / Sabrina grants a horse the gift of speech to help get a law changed.

 

“Birdman of Riverdale / Hoedown Showdown” (12/13/69) – Sabrina learns some secrets about a grumpy old man. / The gang helps Moose’s uncle with his harvest so he won’t lose the farm.

 

“Spooky Spokes / You Oughta Be in Pictures” (12/20/69) – Sabrina accidentally gives away Ambrose’s motorcycle and tries to get it back. / Sabrina helps the gang with their movie.

 

“The Generation Flap / School Daze” (12/27/69) – Sabrina arranges a birthday party for Archie on the same night her aunts arranged a magic seminar. / Hexter goes to Riverdale High after shrinking Sabrina down to doll size.

 

“Ug at the Bat / Computerized Moose” (1/3/70) – Hilda makes Sabrina take the caveman to school where he turns out to be a natural batter in baseball. / Moose becomes super-intelligent after an accident with the school’s computer.

 
 
Special:

“Archie and His New Pals” (9/14/69) – Sabrina starts at Riverdale High just as a heated election is about to begin between Reggie and Moose for class president.

SMF ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION (PART 7)

We continue our third anniversary celebration!

As we celebrate, we figured we'd also take the opportunity to celebrate the various other programs enjoying anniversaries this year (at least at an interval of 5). Some we've covered, some we'll get to covering sooner or later, but all of them represent Saturday morning. For this installment, we recognize those shows turning 40. The big 4-0.

Take a walk down memory lane with us, and feel free to share your memories in the comments, or over on our Facebook group or Facebook page, or on Twitter @SatMForever. We'd love to hear from you!

Now, without further ado, join us in celebrating...

NOTE: Not all intros available at this time.

(As part of The Tom & Jerry/Mumbly Show)

SABRINA: THE ANIMATED SERIES

SABRINA: THE ANIMATED SERIES

(Syndication, September 6, 1999-February 27, 2000)

Archie Comics, Savage Studios, Hartbreak Films, DiC Entertainment, Buena Vista International

            After over 20 years, Sabrina the Teenage Witch made a return to television. In 1996, Showtime aired a film based on the character starring Melissa Joan Hart in the title role. The film followed Sabrina’s discovery of her witchly abilities on her 16^th birthday and how she tried to use those powers to get Seth (Ryan Reynolds) away from popular girl Katie (Lalainia Lindbjerg). The film performed well-enough for ABC to invest in a spin-off television series developed by Nell Scovell and Jonathan Schmock. Sabrina, The Teenage Witch revamped the movie’s plot for the pilot and followed Sabrina as she dealt with being a typical teen who just happened to have magical powers. Hart was the only actor carried over from the film, with Caroline Rhea and Beth Broderick assuming the roles of her aunts Hilda and Zelda, Nate Richert playing love-interest Harvey Kinkle, and Nick Bakay as the voice of warlock-turned-cat Salem Saberhagen.

DVD cover featuring Salem, Quigly, best friend Chloe, Hilda, Sabrina, Zelda, Harvey and rival Gem.

             In 1999, Savage Steve Holland spun the television series off into an animated series for a younger audience. Sabrina: The Animated Series followed the same premise as the live sitcom, but Sabrina (Emily Hart) was reduced to middle school age. Hilda and Zelda (both Melissa Joan Hart) continued their roles as Sabrina’s mentors, but had been reduced to teenagers as punishment by head-witch Enchantra (Jane Mortifee) for misusing their magic. Their guardian was a new character created for the series, Uncle Quigley (Jay Brazeau), who came from Sabrina’s human side of the family and possessed no magical powers. Bakay reprised his role of Salem, and Harvey (Bill Switzer) was changed from Sabrina’s boyfriend to having a mutual crush on her. The film and both shows were produced by Hartbreak Films, the production company run by Melissa and Emily’s mother, Paula.

The Sabrina comic.

            Sabrina: The Animated Series ran in syndication for a single season of 65 episodes. It was shown concurrently on ABC’s Disney’s One Saturday Morning programming block and UPN’s Disney’s One Too block on Sundays, as well as on UPN’s weekday lineup. To commemorate the sitcom, Archie Comics had relaunched their Sabrina title with updated character designs reflective of the show. After 32 issues, the series was rebooted once again in 2000 and published adventures based on the cartoon. When the series was cancelled, Archie returned Sabrina to a teenager with #38 until an all-new continuity and a manga style was adopted with #58. 

SABRINA: SECRETS OF A TEENAGE WITCH

SABRINA: SECRETS OF A TEENAGE WITCH

(The Hub, October 12, 2013-June 7, 2014)

Archie Comics, MoonScoop, DSK Group India, Laughing Lion, Telegael Teoranta

MAIN CAST:

Ashley Tisdale – Sabrina Spellman

Tabitha St. Germain – Hilda Spellman, Veralupa

Erin Mathews – Zelda Spellman, Jessie

Kathleen Barr – Enchantra, Tiffany Titan, Zandra

James Higuchi – Shinji Yagami

Matthew Erickson – Harvey Kinkle

Ian James Corlett – Salem, Professor Geist

Maryke Hendrikse –Amy, Londa

David Kaye - Jim

Andrew Francis – Ambrose

For the history of Sabrina, check out the post here.

Sabrina #38 where the series underwent a soft reboot to bring the teenage version back.

Sabrina: Secrets of a Teenage Witch was the sixth series based on Archie Comics’ teenage witch, and the first to be rendered in CGI with characters designed by Trevor Wall. Developed by the veteran writing team of Pamela Hickey and Dennys McCoy, Secrets took the majority of its inspiration from the third ongoing series of Sabrina comics in the early 2000s after it changed formats from adapting Sabrina: the Animated Series back to the classic teenaged version with issue #38.

Sabrina with Enchantra, Zandra, Londa and Veralupa.

Secrets focused on the life of teenager Sabrina Spellman (Ashley Tisdale) who lived in the town of Greendale. Because she was a half-witch, she spent half of her time in the Witch World learning about her magic in witch school. To extend the day, Sabrina utilized the Hourglass of Horus which slowed down time in the mortal realm to an hour for every eight she spent in Witch World. Unlike other versions of Sabrina, this one was prophesized to be a witch princess destined to rule Witch World. As a result, her headmistress, Enchantra (Kathleen Barr), took whatever underhanded steps were necessary to try and steal Sabrina’s powers in order to become queen herself.

Sabrina with aunts Hilda and Zelda about to drive into her kitchen portal to Witch World.

Sabrina lived with her two witch aunts, Hilda (Tabitha St. Germain) and Zelda (Erin Mathews). Although they kept their more human-like appearances from the later Sabrina comics rather than their initial traditional witch looks, they were given their original physical attributes: Hilda was tall and slender while Zelda was short and chunky with glasses. Unlike other versions of Sabrina, the Spellmans resided above a bakery they owned and operated. Living with the Spellmans was a black cat named Salem (Ian James Corlett, doing a Paul Lynde impression). Salem was different from previous versions in that the Spellmans didn’t know his origins as a wizard and that he served as a reluctant spy for Enchantra, with designs to make Sabrina’s life in the mortal world as miserable as possible.

Harvey at Greendale High.

Following the core Sabrina characters was Harvey Kinkle (Matthew Erickson). Usually depicted as athletic and Sabrina’s main romantic interest, Harvey instead was nerdy and just one of her very good friends. Harvey’s normal attributes, and Sabrina’s interest, was switched over to the new character of Jim (David Kaye). Sabrina’s mortal best friend was another new character, Jessie (Mathews), who knew of Sabrina’s double life. Her chief rival was the spoiled brat Amy (Maryke Hendrikse), who always tried to one-up Sabrina whenever possible.

Shinji and Professor Geist.

Over in Witch World, Sabrina’s classmates consisted of her cousin Ambrose (Andrew Francis), who had appeared previously in other shows but for the first time was depicted as being relatively close to Sabrina’s age; Veralupa (St. Germain), a half-werewolf half-witch who was Sabrina’s best friend in Witch World; and twins Zanda (Barr) and Londa (Hendrikse). Shinji Yagami (James Higuchi) was Enchantra’s son and often aided her in her schemes against Sabrina. Shinji was a braggart who took every chance to show off his magic and belittle his classmates, which usually ended up in some magical trouble. Their primary teacher at witch school was Professor Geist (Corlett, using a Scottish accent), a powerful witch whose lower half resembled that of a ghost.

Sabrina surfs away from Witch School.

Sabrina: Secrets of a Teenage Witch was initially planned for a summer 2013 debut, but was delayed until October 12, 2013 on The Hub. The series was produced in cooperation with Archie Comics, MoonScoop Group, DSK Group India, Laughing Lion and Telegael Teoranta. Writers included Sylvie Barro Morincome, Dean Batali, Benoit Grenier, Jimmy Hibbert, Darren Jones, Sandrine Laprevotte, Peter Lawrence, Maud Loisillier, Christopher Panzner, Robin Stein, Alastair Swinnerton, Dan Wicksman and Nuria Wicksman, along with Hickey and McCoy. Veteran voice actor Charlie Adler served as the U.S. voice director. Noam Kaniel and Nicholas Varley composed the series’ music, with the theme performed by Bridgette Hammers with backing from Kaniel. 

Sabrina DVD cover.

After a single season of 26 episodes, the show was quietly cancelled during the transition period when The Hub became Discovery Family after Discovery Communications took back a controlling interest in the network from the financially-struggling Hasbro. Lionsgate released two three-episode compilations on DVD in 2014 and 2015 called A Witch and the Werewolf and Magic of the Red Rose.

EPISODE GUIDE:

“Dances with Werewolves” (10/12/13) – Magic escapes from Witch World and turns Harvey into a werewolf.

“Scream It with Flowers!” (10/19/13) – Veralupa helps Sabrina round up the roses she gave out on Valentine’s Day that have been cursed by Enchantra.

“Ice Giant for Tea” (10/26/13) – Sabrina has to juggle helping Jessie with the school play and battling an ice giant with Ambrose at the same time.

“Shock Rock” (11/2/13) – Shinji puts together his own band to make Sabrina’s task of finding one for a benefit in Greendale difficult.

“No Time” (11/9/13) – Sabrina accidentally loses her hourglass, causing the human world to freeze in time.

“Faking Up is Hard to Do!” (11/16/13) – Enchantra forces Sabrina to cancel her date with Jim to have a romantic dinner with Shinji.

“Hic! Hic! Boom!” (11/23/13) – Sabrina has to find a baby dragon Shinji accidentally let loose in the human world before its mother destroys the witch school.

“Best Friends Fighting” (11/30/13) – Enchantra hides fighting sprites in Sabrina and Jessie’s bracelets, turning them into mortal enemies.

“Return of the Werewolf” (12/7/13) – Sabrina and Veralupa have to wrangle Harvey who has transformed into a werewolf again.

“Creatures and Caves” (12/14/13) – Sabrina’s friends accidentally enter a portal in the woods to Witch World.

“See No Sabrina, Hear No Sabrina!” (12/28/13) – Salem wants to turn Jim invisible so Sabrina will pay attention to him, but casts the spell on her instead.

“Hurry Scurry” (1/4/14) – Salem accidentally turns her teacher and aunts into a chicken and mice, and Salem is hungry.

“Ultra-Stitious” (1/11/14) – Sabrina must make humans superstitious to charge up their magical wands, but she does too good a job and opens a dangerous vortex in Witch World.

“Sabrina the Troll Princess” (3/15/14) – When trolls convince an amnesiac Sabrina she’s their princess, she leads them in an attack on the witch school.

“Baby-Witching” (3/22/14) – Sabrina offers to babysit Jessie’s cousin, but the task is made difficult by the super-strength spell Enchantra puts on the kid.

“Night Pests” (3/29/14) – Sabrina discovers all her friends are sharing the same nightmare with her.

“A Renewed Sense of Magic” (4/5/14) – Sabrina’s in charge when her aunts are turned into teenagers.

“Super-Brina” (4/12/14) – Harvey believes Sabrina is a superhero when he sees her use her powers.

“Home Sweet Home” (4/19/14) – Sabrina needs help from Witch World to keep her home from being torn down.

“Now You See It…” (4/26/14) – Harvey finds Sabrina’s wand and uses it for his magic act in the school talent show.

“No More Magic” (5/3/14) – Sabrina and Shinji must race to find a cure for a magic-stealing illness before the trolls attack the witch school.

“What a Ride!” (5/10/14) – Sabrina makes deliveries for her aunts, and Shinji ends up trapped inside her scooter.

“Who Let the Cat Out?” (5/17/14) – Salem escapes Enchantra’s employ by running away and taking human form.

“Chariots of Fear” (5/24/14) – Hilda covers for Sabrina at school while she and Shinji go on a dangerous journey.

“Careful What You Witch For!” (5/31/14) – Sabrina frees a genie who not only grants her wishes, but the wishes of everyone in town.

“Spella!” (6/7/14) – Spella bans Sabrina and Enchantra from Witch World and the two must work together to return and defeat her.


Originally posted in 2016. Updated in 2018.

HISTORY OF SABRINA, THE TEENAGE WITCH

Sabrina and Salem's introductory panel.

            Sabrina Spellman is just your average teenage girl with average teenage problems. Boys. Homework. Oh, and she’s a witch.

Head Witch Della pops in.

            Created by writer George Gladir and artist Dan DeCarlo, Sabrina first appeared in the 22^nd issue of the humor anthology Archie’s Mad House in 1962. Originally intended as a one-off, fan response prompted the pair to continue producing new stories with her for Mad House. Sabrina eventually became a feature in Archie’s TV Laugh-Out, which featured stories based on Archie Comics characters currently appearing on TV at the time, before gaining several self-titled series of her own beginning with Sabrina, the Teenage Witch in 1971.

Sabrina with aunts Hilda and Zelda.

            Sabrina, whom Gladir incorrectly named after a former junior high classmate (the girl’s name was actually Sabra) feeling it had a nice New England ring to it, was a half-witch on her father’s side. Sabrina attended mortal school but was also actively studying the use of her witchcraft (usually independently, but some story lines saw her attending a witch school). She frequently dated mortal Harvey Kinkle (Archie’s TV Laugh-Out #1, 1969), a kind and loyal boy prone to moments of klutziness. Sabrina often used her magic in secret to try and help others despite the witch’s code of causing mischief (although she would sometimes inadvertently cause mischief when her good deeds backfired). This often annoyed her overseer for the Witch’s Council, Della (debuting with Sabrina, albeit with only one “L” in her name), who had a short temper and often intervened in order to get Sabrina to act more like a real witch. Sabrina resided with her two aunts in Greendale: Hilda and Zelda, both responsible for her continued training.

Hilda, Zelda and Salem's first modern make-over.

            Hilda actually appeared before Sabrina in Mad House #19 (1962). She was an ugly witch in both her own stories and occasionally as host for the book before becoming Sabrina’s aunt. She gained less-witchy features and red hair but maintained a witch’s appearance right down to her long, black dress and pointed hat. Hilda was short-tempered and shown to enjoy casting evil spells; particularly against mortals whom she despised (namely Harvey). When Sabrina gained a live-action sitcom in the 1990s, Hilda’s personality was softened and her look updated into a slender, attractive red-headed woman with contemporary clothing.

Zelda and Hilda's second modern makeover.

            Zelda first appeared in Mad House #65 (1968) and was the complete opposite of Hilda. She was short and stout with green hair and glasses, and had a relatively good-natured personality while also wearing traditional witch’s garb. Around the time of the 1990s sitcom, she became taller and slender with short green hair and an updated wardrobe.

Salem gets his own prequel spotlight.

            The Spellman’s also resided with Salem Saberhagen (originally Plotsworth, first appearing in Mad House #22), a warlock cursed to be a cat as punishment by the Witch’s Council for one of three reasons: plotting world domination; standing up Queen Witch Enchantra (replacing Della, now her assistant), who first appeared in Sabrina vol. 3 #15 (1998) at the altar; or for using magic to entice a mortal to kiss him (depending on the continuity). Named for the Salem Witch Trials, Salem originally appeared as an ordinary cat before gaining some limited magical abilities. With the success of the 1990s live-action sitcom, Salem was altered in the comics to be able to talk.

Ambrose bringing the family drama.

            Additionally, various other relatives would pop in and out. Most frequently was Cousin Ambrose (Laugh-Out #1). Ambrose presented an adult figure not in a position of authority that Sabrina could turn to at times. Depending on the story, he could be a bit mischievous and, in later years, something of a womanizer, as well as alternating from a heavyset older gentleman to a younger warlock.

Sabrina and the Archie crew animated.

            As her fellow Archie creations from Riverdale were doing well on Saturday mornings, it wasn’t long until Sabrina joined them.