11 Differences Between "Chilling Adventures of Sabrina" and "Sabrina the Teenage Witch"
Mild spoilers for Season 1 of The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina will follow.
Netflix's Chilling Adventures of Sabrina is finally here and it's the perfect pick to have a spooky night in during Halloween time. Of course, many people also fondly remember the Melissa Joan Hart-helmed Sabrina the Teenage Witch of the late-90s TGIF programming block and think to yourself, “hey, I love Sabrina Spellman, I’ll definitely check Chilling Adventures of Sabrina out!” But if you didn't already know, the new Netflix series is not a reboot of the beloved sitcom. Instead, it's an adaptation of the comic book series published by Archie Comics.
We're here to tell you that while you definitely should check the new show out, you should also be forewarned: the two shows are very different. How different? Let's count the ways… (mild spoilers ahead!):
1. Sabrina’s Witchy Identity
In Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Sabrina Spellman didn’t find out she was half-witch until her 16th birthday. But in Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, Ms. Spellman (played by Kiernan Shipka) has always known she’s half-witch, half-mortal. But on the eve of her Sweet 16, she has quite a decision to make: sign herself over to the Dark Lord and keep her powers or continue living life as a mere mortal. But we're all wondering what that conversation was like when Sabrina was about 5 or so.
2. Sabrina’s Rite of Passage
Sabrina Spellman of STTW had to take witchy pop quizzes when she turned 17 and solve her family secret when she turned 18 in order to get her full witch’s license. The heroine ultimately figured it out: every member of the Spellman family is born with a twin. It was revealed that Sabrina's twin Katrina was actually the evil one, a discovery made after Katrina attempted to throw Sabrina into a volcano. Meanwhile in CAOS, when Sabrina turns 16 she has to undergo a Dark Baptism, sign her name in the ominous-sounding Book of the Beast, and pledge her soul to the Dark Lord and herself to the witch world. This would be mean severing her ties to her mortal world and friends forever. Sounds like a pretty chill birthday bash.
3. Sabrina’s Mortal Friends
When Sabrina lived on TGIF, her mortal friends were — though sometimes suspicious of the weird witchy things that often happened around the Spellman family — pretty much unaware of the Other Realm (except for that one time when Sabrina could let them into her other world, but they forgot all about it the next day). But now that Sabrina is on Netflix, her mortal friends, still largely unaware she’s a witch at the beginning of the series, have some otherworldly connections, too, both in their family histories and their current lives.
4. Harvey Kinkle 4 Ever
Harvey Kinkle (Ross Lynch), Sabrina’s mortal boyfriend, is as adorable as ever, but in the latest Sabrina iteration, he’s a loveable, sensitive nerd who loves comic books and drawing. But later in the season, there are also some revelations about his family history. In the old days on STTW, he was a (still sensitive) kinda doofus-y jock who liked fixing cars.
5. Aunt Hilda and Aunt Zelda
You remember Aunt Hilda and Aunt Zelda in STTW, right? One was irresponsible, fun-loving, and musically gifted (Hilda) and the other was responsible, kind of uptight, and a scientist (Zelda)? Well, in CAOS, they’re…a bit different. Hilda (Lucy Davis) is still the slightly-less-responsible one of the two (at least when it comes to witch rules and disciplining Sabrina) and Zelda (Miranda Otto) is still much more of a stickler, but the similarities end there. For one, Hilda has a British accent. Their relationship is much testier (Zelda even literally kills Hilda, but don't worry, she comes back). And they run a mortuary out of their home this time around instead of a clock shop.
6. Salem the Familiar
Sabrina still has a black cat familiar named Salem, but he a) is just hers, not the whole family’s; b) is a goblin, as are all familiars in CAOS, not a transformed witch/warlock who’s being punished; and c) doesn’t speak to Sabrina. Well, he does, but not in a way the audience can hear what he’s saying. And while the '90s Salem had a quick wit and sharp tongue, the Salem in CAOS has quick reflexes and an actual bite than just bark.
7. The Spellman Parents
In Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Sabrina’s parents are divorced and living separately from her — but they’re alive. In Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, they’re long dead, though they may pop up at some point in some way or another. This is a show about magic, remember?
8. The Other Realm vs. the Church of Night
The witch world of STTW was literally another realm (the Other Realm, in fact) that the Spellmans accessed through their linen closet. In CAOS, it’s not explicitly another realm, but more of a way of life, embodied by the Church of Night, aka the coven that the Spellmans belong to, aka the religion that worships the Dark Lord and is governed by High Priest Father Blackwood.
9. Witch School and Mean Girls
Sabrina Spellman in 1996 had her aunts, her magic book, and eventually, her Quizmaster to teach her magic. Sabrina in 2018 learns from her aunts and cousin Ambrose (who is also new to the Sabrina show-world and played by Chance Perdomo), along with classes at the Academy of Unseen Arts, where she has to deal with this show’s version of mean girls: the Weird Sisters (aka Prudence, Agatha, and Dorcas). These girls and their blood curses make Libby Chessler’s “ew” look like child’s play.
10. Witch Hunters, Demons, and Resurrections, Oh My!
The world of magic in Chilling Adventures of Sabrina is a bit, uh, more serious and scary. We don’t remember Melissa Joan Hart’s Sabrina ever attempting an exorcism or a resurrection, do you? Or her father making a deal with the Dark Lord to be able to marry a mortal? And the witch hunters of STTW would turn a witch into a mouse. But in CAOS, they’ll for real kill a witch.
11. The, Um, Entire Tone and Themes of the Show
Sabrina the Teenage Witch was a fun, bubbly sitcom filled with magical mishaps, cute (very '90s) outfits, and silly jokes. Chilling Adventures of Sabrina is, at its core, a horror show — it’s dark, scary, and though there’s humor, it’s not what one would call “silly.” Which makes it very different from the other series and also perfect for Halloween time. CAOS also has themes of freedom and power, specifically feminine power, running throughout. STTW never tackled said themes with quite as much seriousness. However, there is one similarity: the outfits are still cute.
Related: Kiernan Shipka Has Hope for a Sabrina and Riverdale Crossover
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