Melissa Joan Hart Reveals Clarissa Explains It All Reboot Was 'Squashed' by Nickelodeon: 'We Tried'
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Clarissa Darling has nothing left to explain.
When it comes to a potential reboot of the 1990s Nickelodeon staple Clarissa Explains It All, star Melissa Joan Hart just revealed that the project is no longer moving forward.
"We tried that, actually," Hart said Saturday during 90s Con when asked about returning to television as the titular teenager telling audiences about her adolescent struggles.
In 2018, The Hollywood Reporter broke the news that Hart and series creator Mitchell Kriegman were in talks to reboot the sitcom with the actress, now 45, as the family's mother.
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However, at Saturday's 90s Con panel with the cast of Sabrina, the Teenage Witch — on which Hart also starred in the '90s — the actress said that the project ended up getting tossed.
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"Nickelodeon got a new president, and they kind of squashed the whole thing," she said. "So it was actually in the works and yeah, it just sort of disappeared. It took like a year to do the contracts, which was the hardest part, and then it just kind of fizzled out. So I don't think [it will happen]."
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Though Clarissa, which ran for five seasons on Nickelodeon from 1991 to 1994, may have come to an end, Hart still holds the character close to her heart. At 90s Con, the actress donned Clarissa Darling's iconic Dr. Martens that could often be seen when the teen sat on her bed crisscross-style to address her latest adventures with audiences.
"I had to redo the laces because the laces snapped," Hart said on the panel, referring to her costume piece from 30 years ago and explaining how thin the soles have become. "I'm like, 'I have to rock the Docs today, especially the actual ones.' "
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Nate Richert, who played Sabrina's boyfriend Harvey Kinkle on Sabrina, joked, "I have a guy who can re-sole her boots. He's reasonable and does a good job!"
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Hart and Richert reunited with Beth Broderick (Zelda), Caroline Rhea (Hilda), and Jenna Leigh Green (Libby) at 90s Con, which is running through Sunday in Hartford, Connecticut. The five discussed their favorite moments from the ABC series, with Rhea joking that if Clarissa wasn't coming back to television, it's about time the Spellmans do.
"I guess [Melissa is] gonna have to reboot us!" she said.
