Netflix's "Chilling Adventures of Sabrina" Almost Made Salem a Dog
If you’ve ever watched an episode of the classic ‘90s sitcom Sabrina, The Teenage Witch, you know that Salem nearly always steals the show. The quick-witted feline serves as accomplice to protagonist Sabrina Spellman, offering her advice and snide remarks, no matter the circumstance. Netflix’s upcoming reboot of the original Archie Comics storyline could have changed Salem’s role entirely — the creative team almost made him a dog.
Though this may come as a shock to those of us whose affinity for cats began with Salem, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina actually had a good reason for considering a doggo replacement for his role. Of course, it all began with Sabrina herself, played by none other than Kiernan Shipka.
“I get a call that says, ‘Kiernan is allergic to the cat,’” showrunner Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa said in an interview with Entertainment Weekly. “It did go through my mind: Could Salem be a dog?”
In a huge win for OG Salem stans, the answer turned out to be no. Kiernan ended up powering through her sniffles in the name of the show’s accuracy to the original tale of a young witch and her pointy-eared BFF.
“We keep at a safe distance,” Kiernan told EW, adding that “it’s like, ‘Actors That Didn’t Get Along in Shows: Kiernan and the Cat Hated Each Other.’”
In addition to this recounting of a disaster avoided, EW’s article revealed plenty of other exciting news about Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. The show will be comprised of several “mini-movie” episodes following Sabrina as she decides whether to become a full-fledged witch, a decision that would require her to pledge her allegiance to the Dark Lord. It’s a choice between the magical world, where her aunts Zelda (Miranda Otto) and Hilda (Lucy Davis) take residence, and the mortal one, comprised of Sabrina’s school friends and boyfriend Harvey, played by Ross Lynch. Unlike Sabrina, The Teenage Witch, Chilling Adventures is said to be a darker take on the same storyline — one episode will even pay homage to The Exorcist. I’m already scared, BTW.
“[The season is] following her dark education,” Aguirre-Sacasa said of the show, which will debut on Netflix on October 26. “It’s all part of a bigger arc, which is her trying to hold on to her humanity as her witch nature is developed.”
Thankfully, Sabrina will have the guidance of her legendary cat to help her along the way.
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