As a kid, I vaguely remember watching Sabrina the Teenage Witch on Nickelodeon and later on, one of the channels, either on Orbit or Showtime (can’t remember). I do however, distinctly remember being deeply disappointed by the show! Sabrina was one of my favorite characters (as well as Cheryl Blossom and Katy Keene) in the Archie Comics! Why was the girl from Clarissa Explains It All (which I never watched, because even as a kid living through the 90’s, that show seemed too 90’s to me) playing the coveted role of Sabrina? Why was the show so cheezy and even worse, why was there a laugh track? Why were book to tv-show cross-overs such a train wreck?

Back when renting videos (VHS) were a thing, I remember stumbling upon Archie: To Riverdale and Back Again (released in 1990, rented around mid-90’s) while abroad. This was prior to the cheezy Sabrina the Teenage Witch sitcom. I was super excited! In fact, a cross-over from book (comic book, respectively) to movie hadn’t even occurred to me before! I didn’t know what to expect. With that being said, I wasn’t expecting the made-for-tv-movie that I still attempted to watch. They were all old! I was a kid. I was expecting teens, max. Plus, the whole thing was so boring. From what I remember, all they did was talk. I thought the woman they cast as Betty Cooper was appropriately cute (as a button) up until she attempted seducing Archie. I remember because I was watching it alone and when things started to heat up, I began panicking, not knowing what to do (since I was a kid and I knew I shouldn’t watch non-PG stuff). Do I switch it off? Do I fast-forward until the unwatchable scene was over? Do I call out for an adult? What do I do? I don’t remember much else of the movie, but I do remember how it made me feel, which was very, very disappointed.

Back in Kuwait, I remember catching a few glimpses of the cross-over episode where Scooby Doo met Josie and the Pussycats, on some cartoon channel or other. That keyed me in that an animated version of Josie and the Pussycats existed, which blew my mind (I would’ve loved to watch that, but unfortunately it was never aired in this region of the world)! Many years later, a live-action version of Josie and the Pussycats (2001) was released, which I skipped because it looked… stupid. Same reason I skipped Jem and the Holograms (2015). If they weren’t going to bother giving people’s favorite childhood characters the time and effort and reverence they deserved, just so they could collect on the already amassed fame and popularity of those characters (sound familiar?), then I wasn’t going to bother with watching it.

I was really excited when I first heard about Riverdale (here) and later previewed it (here) and really disappointed after watching it (review here), but at least it was watchable (granted, I actually hate-watch it now lol).

Thanks to Rei who runs Shenanigans of a Gamer Mom (https://rawyablog.com/) for the heads up on the Sabrina reboot! Super stoked that it’s by Netflix! Judging by the trailer, it’s already a step up from the original trainwreck comedy sitcom! All 10 episodes of the first season are already out now. Here’s hoping it won’t be as disappointing as Riverdale!

Just in time for Halloween too!