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.