** SPOILERS AHEAD!!**
The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina is the perfect show to binge watch because once you begin the first episode, there is no way you’ll stop. I used to be obsessed with the 90’s sitcom Sabrina the Teenage Witch and the show made little me want to be a witch just like Sabrina! In the Netflix show based around the sitcom, it made me think twice. This show brings a darker side to the Spellman family and I am living for it. There are some major differences between the two shows, here are 5 major differences between The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina and Sabrina the Teenage Witch.
1. Salem is played by a real cat and doesn’t speak
In the sitcom, Salem is a witty character who is Sabrina’ familiar who guides her. In the CAOS, Salem is a golben that Sabrina summons in the woods to become her familiar and is just her cat, unlike in the sitcom where Salem was a warlock that was turned into a black cat for punishment. Also, in the Netflix original, the only person who can understand Salem is Sabrina herself so if you were expecting witty remarks from Salem, I hate to say you are not going to get them.
2. The Rite of Passage
In STTW, Sabrina had to take pop quizzes on her witch identity and to solve her family secret at the age of 17 and then by the age of 18 she would become eligible to receive her full witch license. Yet in the Netflix original, on Sabrina’s 16th birthday, she would perform something called a Dark Baptism which makes her a full member of the Church of Night by signing her name in the Book of the Beast. This is a much more sinister and darker side of becoming a full witch in comparison to the original.
3. Harvey Kinkle
I don’t know about any of you but I have been Team Harvey since I watched the show in the 90s. In the sitcom, Harvey and Sabrina start out as friends and eventually turn into lovers and in the Netflix show Harvey and Sabrina are together right from the start. In the Netflix show, Harvey’s family has a dark past in Greendale; he comes from a family of witch hunters. Although when Sabrina tells Harvey that she is a witch, Harvey kinda freaks out a bit. I mean wouldn’t you freak out if your significant other told you that she resurrected your brother from the dead becauses she’s a witch? Harvey does find out in the final episode of STTW of what Sabrina truly is, but it is not because she brought back his dead brother.
4. Aunt Hilda and Aunt Zelda
If you were a true STTW viewer, you were obsessed with Aunt Hilda and Auntie Z. Hilda was irresponsible, funny and fun-loving while Zelda more responsible and more uptight. They are still in the Netflix show, but are a bit different. Their relationship is a bit… different. Zelda kills Hilda whenever she gets mad at her but don’t worry Hilda comes back each time since she gets buried in special soil. Hilda is a bit more relaxed with Sabrina’s witchy teachings but Zelda on the other hand is not. She is a prime member of the Church of Night and wants nothing more than her niece to follow the Path of Night as well.
5. Sabrina’s Parents
In the sitcom, Sabrina’s parents are divorced and she seems them a bit in the show- that is the major difference between the sitcom and the show. In the Netflix show, Sabrina’s parents passed away in a tragic accident and left her to her aunts. Sabrina does not know very much about her parents other than her mother was a moral and her father was a High Priest in the Church of Night. Sabrina learns more about her past and her parents during the show, They do show up sometimes, such as during Sabrina’s first dark baptism and when Sabrina went into the moral limbo to bring back Tommy’s soul she had seen her mother. Maybe they will make a magical comeback in the next season- this is witchcraft right?
There are so many similarities between Sabrina the Teenage Witch and The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina yet there are striking differences. This Netflix original gave the show a more spooky vibe to it which makes it the perfect Halloween binge watching show. But beware, there is only one season; for now.