Sabrina the Teenage Witch (1970 TV series)

Sabrina the Teenage Witch (titled Sabrina and the Groovie Goolies or The Sabrina Comedy Hour and promotionally referred to as The Sabrina the Teenage Witch Show or The Sabrina Comedy Show) is an American animated television series produced by Filmation that aired on CBS during Saturday mornings from 1970 to 1974. The series has also aired in prime time as a syndicated series.

Based on Archie Comics' Sabrina the Teenage Witch, the show was a spin-off of The Archie Comedy Hour, featuring new episodes of Sabrina along with the Groovie Goolies. Writers at Archie Comics later stated they were "flabbergasted" that Filmation sought to cast Sabrina, then a minor (but rising) character in the Archie Comics fictional universe, as the lead role in an animated series.

According to Filmation co-founder Lou Scheimer, "We were always looking for concepts that already had an audience or proven interest, and I had actually been interested in doing Bewitched as an animated series. We met up with the guy who produced it, William Asher, who was married to the star, Elizabeth Montgomery, but he didn’t have the rights, so it didn’t work out. But then I got a call from Freddie Silverman, who was on vacation down in Mexico and had been looking through a stack of Archie comics. He said, “Did you know that your friend Goldwater already has a teenage witch character in the Archie books?” That was how we decided to do Sabrina.”

The show's opening strapline is: "Once upon a time, there were three witches, who lived in the little town of Riverdale. Two aunts, Hilda and Zelda, are choosing the ingredients to create an evil wicked witch. But suddenly, Zelda bumped right into Hilda and accidentally added beautiful girls' stuff as an extra ingredient. Thus, the grooviest teenage witch was born. She has white hair with a pink headband, and blue eyes. She wears a blue dress with a black belt and black shoes. She loves to goof off and battle evil forces using her ultra magical powers. It so happens that she is the first bewitching American superhero — Sabrina, the teenage witch!"

The series follows a teenaged witch who likes to hang out with her friends at Riverdale High and fight enemies using her magical powers without letting her friends discover her secret. This series was aimed primarily towards young girls ages 6 to 14 and contained an adult laugh track. Following its first season, the series was reduced to a half-hour when the Goolies were spun off into their own series.

Filmation animated Sabrina once more in 1977 with The New Archie and Sabrina Hour.

Voices

 * Jane Webb - Sabrina Spellman, Aunt Hilda, Aunt Zelda, Miss Della the Head Witch, Betty Cooper, Veronica Lodge, Miss Grundy, Big Ethel, Bella La Ghostly, additional voices
 * Dallas McKennon - Salem, Archie Andrews, Hot Dog, Mr. Weatherbee, Pop Tate, Mr. Lodge, Coach Kleats, Ronnie, Clyde, Rover, Goo, additional voices
 * Don Messick - Harvey Kinkle, Spencer, Chili Dog, additional voices
 * Treva Frazee - Ophelia
 * John Erwin - Cousin Ambrose (1969-1970), Hexter, Reggie Mantle, additional voices
 * Howard Morris - Cousin Ambrose (1970-1971), Big Moose Mason, Jughead Jones, Hot Dog Jr., Frankie, Wolfie, Fido, Dr. Jekyll and Hyde, Mummy, Hauntleroy, Orville, additional voices
 * Larry D. Mann - Boneapart, additional voices
 * Larry Storch - Drac, Hagatha, Ghoulihand, Batso, Ratso, Icky, additional voices

Home video


Genius Products released the complete series on DVD on April 29, 2008 in Region 1 as Sabrina the Teenage Witch: The Complete Animated Series.

Universal Pictures released a DVD titled Magical Antics, containing 10 episodes.

In 2017, Universal re-released the complete series DVD set.