Sabrina, The Teenage Witch: Season 1

I used to watch this show when I was younger and I remember being really into it, which is why I bought the first season. It was way better than I remembered. Each episode is so hilareous due to clevar writing and a witty cast. Libby, the mean popular girl, is by far one of the funniest characters and the things Sabrina does to get back at her are hugely entertaining. The Aunts are some of the best supporting characters in sitcom history. My family and I watched the whole sitting in three days. We became semi-addicted to it, plus it flys by so fast. Each episode is paced so well that it's not to fast, but it never gets boring. It's a perfect blend of everything you could want in a family friendly sitcom. This is not just for kids or teens, it's for everyone. I can't wait until Season 2 gets released in July and I hope Paramount eventually releases the entire series.

The worst thing about this release is that there are no bonus features. Not even a commentary or a cast retrospective. I still give it 5 stars because the complete series was what I bought it for, but it would have been nice to have Melissa Joan Hart come back and talk a little bit about the show. I mean, it was such a big part of her life. As other people have pointed out, some of the music isn't original due to copyright issues. I can't remember any of the original music from when I used to watch the show, but I didn't think any of the songs sounded out of place, so for the average viewer like me, it shouldn't distract from your enjoyment of the DVDs.

One of the best things about this season set besides the show itself is the case. I have run out of room for big season box sets. Even though this is a 4-disc set, it comes in a standard DVD case. The case is like your standard 2-disc case, but there is a DVD on each side of the physical case and a hinged plastic flap holds the other two discs very nicely. I shook it around and none of the discs flew off their hinges. Very nice packaging.

I highly reccomend this season to everyone. No matter who you are (guy, girl, old, young) you are sure to find something entertaining in "Sabrina The Teenage Witch."

Sabrina has been a great success in syndication, so much so that it probably delayed its DVD release. It has circulated through the cable networks constantly since before the series finished its original network run, often on more than one cable oulet at a time. I hope this long exposure does not suppress DVD sales and discourage future releases. The show was great in the first season, but really hit its stride in season 2. DVDs for the second (and third) season should follow quickly this release.

Oh, man, I'd been hoping and hoping for this first season set to find its way to DVD for a while now, and it is finally here!

I know that my age group or gender probably was not the intended audience for this series, but it captured me after a few episodes in its original run on TV. it works on the level it is supposed to work, but there are so many sly representations of golden age TV in this series that I just could not pull myself away--there is even an appearance by my generation's favorite kids' show host, Chuck McCann in a cameo on what is one of my favorite episodes of the first season, in which Sabrina's best friend, Jenny Kelly, stays with Sabrina for a weekend and curiously finds her way into that closet that sends her, a mortal, into the Other Realm where she meets up with the wonderfully smug and nasty Head of the Witches' Council, played with just the right amount of grease by Penn Gillette, and his secretary who, I believe, is actually played by Debra Harrie of Blondie!!

And this brings up how much I adored the character of Jenny Kelly, a nonconformist free spirit who stands out as a great supporting player in this first season and, if such things are truly important, a good role model to the intended audience! If only Sabrina, herself, listened carefully to Jenny's philosophy, she'd have gotten through her realization that she is "different" so much easier. Jenny is played so enjoyably by Michelle Beaudoin and helps make this first season well worth the money.

My only real complaint about the package, here, as it appears on DVD for the first time, is that all original pop songs have been removed from the key episodes, even though, thankfully enough, the appearance of the Violent Fems remains intact on yet another wonderful episode in which Aunts Hilda and Zelda become teen-agers again to escort Sabrina on a trip with an unlikely bunch of schoolmates to meet and greet their favorite band at a local record shop. The impressions of the aunts as angst-ridden teens, having to go through the trials and tribulations, first hand all over again is utterly hilarious! Don't overlook this series' first season as just kids' media. Those writing the scripts were truly writing from memories of their own younger days, as evidenced in the afore-mentioned episode, and not only is Michelle Beaudoin as jenny (who only appeared in this season) a breath of fresh air here, but it is also fun to watch jenna Leigh Green as smarmy Libby Chessler; in fact, there are times when she is almost a bit lovable. There is an episode in which Miss Green has to play Sabrina disguised as Libby as well as Libby herself and she comes close to stealing the spotlight away from Melissa Joan Hart who plays the title character.

But, again, why remove those pop songs? usually, I'm screaming about how great musicians often see their good songs misused in bad TV sitcoms, but the songs used for this season were not intended to delegitimize the tune. In an episode about a day when Sabrina's mood grew darker, it was fun to hear REM's "Shiny, Happy People" since I always thought that Michael Stipe was writing with his tongue somewhat in his cheek, or Liz Phair's song used on the Violent Fems episode as Sabrina takes off into the air on her first vehicle, a flying vacuum cleaner. Since Ms. Phair writes with a spikey sense of humor, I would have thought that she would not have minded the inclusion of her song here! The music substituted was okay, but I'm a stickler for keeping things the way they were when we first were introduced to the show in question, and the inclusion of the afore-mentioned tunes and others were what gave this season of this series a hint of real coolness above other shows aimed at the same core audience on those Friday nights.

But all the great scenes are here and I urge those of you, like me, who called this show their guilty pleasure to check this out.

next time, though, leave the music be, and please give us some great special features! Didn't anybody connected with this series have the occasional fond memory to share? Give yourselves a big hand, here. It worked and this is the best representation of it all!!

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