Melissa Joan Hart first gained fame starring on Nickelodeon’s ‘Clarissa Explains It All’ before she moved on to a slightly older-skewing sitcom, ‘Sabrina the Teenage Witch‘, which ran on ABC as part of its TGIF lineup for seven seasons from 1996 until 2003. Of course the concept originated in the pages of Archie Comics, where the teenage witch was friends with the Riverdale gang and lived in the neighboring town of Greendale. In addition to Hart’s sitcom version, ‘Sabrina’ was also featured in her own 1970 Saturday morning cartoon. (The live action show also inspired two animated series.)
Hart’s sitcom was iconic, but now Netflix is bringing her character back on a new darker hour-long drama that is… kind of a spin-off from The CW’s hit ‘Riverdale’. As recently as 2016, Hart had hinted that plans were under way to revive her version of the show. Obviously, with the new show arriving, those plans have been scrapped.
How does she feel about ‘The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina’?
“Indifferent, really.”
Ouch. But unlike Holly Marie Combs of ‘Charmed’ who has been vocally opposed to the planned remake of her show, Hart is actually open to acting on or directing an episode of the new ‘Sabrina’.
“People kept asking for it, and they were already doing Riverdale, so I guess it made sense. I think they’re doing it in a smart way — change it up, don’t make it the same. If you’re going to do the same show, it probably would fall on its face, but I think what they’re doing is probably the smartest way to reboot something.
“Never say never, but it would depend on the character they wrote. I just don’t know where I would fit in. I would definitely take a look at the material if they sent it along.”
While ‘Riverdale’ and presumably ‘Sabrina’ target an audience so young they have never seen Hart’s sitcom version, for older viewers, a Hart guest appearance would be a great nod.
Kiernan Shipka has been cast as Sabrina Spellman on the new series, while Jaz Sinclair was recently cast as her best friend Rosalind Walker. There is no set production or release date for the new iteration.
How would you feel about a Melissa Joan Hart role on ‘The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina’?
Source: Entertainment Weekly
