Chicago, celebrate Sabrina The Teenage Witch with us tomorrow night
There was lots to love about the TV series Sabrina The Teenage Witch, the mid-’90s sitcom featuring Melissa Joan Hart as a good-hearted girl gifted in witchcraft who lived with a pair of equally skilled aunts and an animatronic cat named Salem. The show ran for seven seasons, traveling from ABC to The WB. Young girls who grew around the turn of the millennium loved Sabrina as a cool, empowered role model, but the show was even more groundbreaking than it might have seemed: After all, it was created by legendary TV writer Nell Scovell (The Simpsons, Murphy Brown) and written by mostly women.
To celebrate the series, The A.V. Club and Chicago Ideas are hosting a screening event on Tuesday, March 27 at Chicago’s Logan Theatre (2646 North Milwaukee Avenue), from 7 to 8:30 p.m., called When Feminism Is Magical. We’ll be watching the Sabrina episode “Mars Attracts,” where Sabrina and her aunts visit an ice palace/ski lodge on Mars, guest starring Chris Elliot as an insurance salesman who’s interested in Hilda (Caroline Rhea).
Scovell has just a released a book, Just The Funny Parts, recounting her experiences as frequently the only woman in the writers’ room. She’ll sit down with A.V. Club Staff Writer Gwen Ihnat after the viewing to discuss Sabrina’s legacy, continued relevance, and upcoming reboot. Tickets are still available—hope to see you there!