Date: Thursday, April 4, 1996
Source: By Kate O'Hare, Tribune Media Services.
Section: TEMPO
Column: Television. Copyright Chicago Tribune
MAGIC TOUCH YOUNG ACTRESS WANTS TO BRING
`SABRINA THE TEENAGE WITCH' TO LIFE
Although "Clarissa Explains It All" still airs on Nickelodeon,
the show hasn't been in production for more than two years, but its star,
Melissa Joan Hart, has been plenty busy doing movies of the week and guest
appearances. But now the New York University sophomore wants to get back
into series television, and she thinks she has found the perfect vehicle
in "Sabrina the Teenage Witch." Loosely based on the Archie comic
book, "Sabrina" premieres as a 90-minute movie at 7 p.m. Sunday
on Showtime; it has been picked up as a pilot for a possible ABC fall series.
The movie was produced in association with Hartbreak Productions. Hart
is vice president of Hartbreak, and her mother, Paula, is president. "
`Sabrina' looked so cool," says the younger Hart, "and she looked
like me. "I said, `This would be really cool. Let's do a movie.' And
my mother and I shopped it around and brought it to Showtime, and they
bought it. We also sold it to ABC. It's going to be pretty big, it sounds
like." Hart plays teen Sabrina, who is sent to live with her aunts
(Charlene Fernetz, Sherry Miller) in Archie's hometown, Riverdale, while
her parents are abroad for a year. The young, eccentric aunts share a big
house with their black cat, Salem. As Sabrina tries to cope with a new
town, a new school and a clique of spoiled rich kids, her 16th birthday
approaches. When it finally arrives, Sabrina makes the startling discovery
that she is a witch, as are her aunts and her parents. She has been sent
to Riverdale to learn the rules and regulations of magic and witchcraft.
While keeping the secret from friend Marnie (Michelle Beaudoin) and secret
admirer Harvey (Tobias Mehler), Sabrina attracts attention from school
hunk Seth (Ryan Reynolds) and earns the animosity of his snooty girlfriend
(Lalainia Lindbjerg). Thrilled with her new powers, Sabrina tries to use
her magic to win Seth, but soon learns that you can't always get what you
want and sometimes the best thing is right under your nose. Says Hart:
"What I loved about the old comic strips was the chemistry between
Harvey and Sabrina."
As far as witches go, "Sabrina" owes more to "Bewitched"
than anything else, with one important difference. In "Bewitched,"
Samantha (Elizabeth Montgomery) spends all of her time trying to get through
life without using her powers to please her husband. This isn't the case
with Sabrina. "No way!" exclaims Hart. "We're going to try
to be true to the comic strips, and in that, Sabrina loves being a witch.
She's a witch on purpose, and she knows why she's a witch. She said she's
got to keep it interesting. She's got to sometimes make them lose the basketball
game and sometimes make them win, but basically she just wants to cause
trouble among the teens." While Samantha twitched her nose, Hart had
to find a distinctive gesture of her own for working magic. "I was
trying to come up with something to do, because everyone's got their own
little trademark. Because the aunts were doing these big hand gestures
every time they did magic, doing big things, I figured that since I'm a
little apprentice, an amateur, I should have something smaller. So I just
did that little flick of the finger thing. It was supposed to be like the
winking of an eye." Is Hart worried about protests from people who
don't like the idea of witches? "No, not really expecting any. There
might be some people who don't like the idea of witchcraft or powers, give
kids the wrong idea, but I think basically it's just a fun, happy story.
You've just got to take it for what it is, entertainment." According
to Hart, the series version of "Sabrina" will have a different
cast from the movie, and Hart plans to have input in casting, wardrobe
and scripts. And, of course, it means working every day with her mother.
"It's interesting," says Hart. "It's a lot of fun, and it's
easy to go to her and tell her what I don't like, but then again, we have
our disagreements. There are the mother/daughter problems, when you're
fighting at home and then you come to work, and you just don't want to
see her. Home comes to work a little bit. "It's a little sticky when
it comes to money, but that's about it. That's where it ends." And
having your mother as your boss and manager does have its advantages. "You
call one person, and you've got all your information right there: How your
brothers and sisters are doing; what does your room look like; did your
boyfriend call and what's going on in your business life."
PHOTO: Melissa Joan Hart (center) stars as Sabrina, who learns that her aunts Zelda (Charlene Fernetz, right) and Hilda (Sherry Miller) are witches.
Eric Last, November 8th 1996