MovieChat Forums > Sabrina the Teenage Witch (1996) Discussion > What things date the show?

What things date the show?

posted 12 years ago by danfaz94
38 replies | jump to latest

I saw this topic on the Roseanne board and thought it could be fun for Sabrina. Re-watching the series over YouTube years after it first aired, it becomes apparent that, with technology moving so rapidly, the show has aged in only ten years or so. However, I'm glad the series was made when it was. It's nice to see how things have changed and think the later 90s/early 00s complements the show well. I won't mention GCI effects because even TV shows these days are still pretty bad about this and Salem actually looks good for a 90s sitcom.

1. VHS tapes are used throughout as opposed to DVDs. (the only mention to DVDs I remember is a DVD player being on auction in "Spoiled Rotten") In "Good Will Haunting", Harvey claims the bad choice in films is due to the video store being sold out of all the good ones, which these days wouldn't be a problem with all the On Demand availabilities for watching films.

2. No mobile/cell phones. Whenever Sabrina needs to contact her aunts, she's always seen using a payphone, whereas these are virtually nonexistent now. In "Sabrina, the Matchmaker" she says there's no way Emile can contact anyone quickly unless he has a car phone, which seems ludicrous to today's audience. In "Sabrina and the Beanstalk", Valerie has to call Sabrina's house phone to talk to her; Harvey also has to call the house phone many times throughout the series. In "Some of My Best Friends are Half-Mortals", Josh tells Sabrina that he's been trying to get through to Morgan all night but couldn't and now she's went to bed it's impossible - nowadays, he could have called or text her mobile phone.

3. The style of laptops used are a lot more bulky than today, though I don't recall seeing computers used as outdated as the one Sidney uses in Scream.

4. During 'A Long and Winding Shortcut', Sabrina needs to go to the library for a school assignment and at the end, Zelda says she's going to the library when the last few pages of her book are missing. Today, she obviously could have used a Kindle, read the ending online, etc.

5. The fashion (not the extent of, say, 'Clueless', but it somewhat dates the show). For example, the whole leather fad that occurs in Season 5.

6. The vampires in "Really Big Season Opener" are more traditional, as opposed to how they would be represented now, post-Twilight. The people auditioning with capes and such seems outdated, at least for this generation.

7. I don't know whether this counts, but Sabrina can't look her mam without turning her to wax, but they write letters and call each other. Obviously today they could text, but maybe they would also be able to Skype as they wouldn't be technically looking at each other directly.

Little people? Who decides they’re so unimportant?

[–] Takedi21 12 years ago

8. I've mentioned this before on here, but the season 4 theme song notably dates the show. Whereas the 1st theme song & the 3rd theme song are just generic theme song music, the 4th theme song in particular has a sort of bubblegum, pop music vibe/feel to it, as it was obviously capitalizing on the bubblegum, pop music fad that was going on in the late 90s at the time.

Ex-girlfriend, you can't have him!: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TThHPHU4oJY

[–] slightly-damaged-goods 11 years ago

9. The pop stars that are on the show. Sometimes it was SO forced, but nearly all of them are people who aren't currently popular. And they are all people who were super in at the time.

Britney Spears, Backstreet Boys, NSYNC... Definitely capitalizing on the pop era.

[–] user2334 11 years ago

I still like 90s pop nothing wrong with it :)
Another thing they still use ordinary vampires nowadays Twilight was just different.

You know True Blood and The Vampire Diaries.

[–] Nelson64 11 years ago

Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake are still ultra famous

[–] joe_538 8 years ago

Not just the pop singers, I hadn't heard Sally Jessy Raphael or Tara Lipinski's names in years until rewatching the series.

[–] jackiefoxybrown 11 years ago

Reading your post brought me back,I just turned 28 & I miss the good ol' days. The simplicity of it all now everythings just so different. (Sighs)

[–] brndnpitt87 11 years ago

I remember getting a kick out of a character saying they were going to "KaZaA some music" lol

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[–] snakewrangler22-642-758793 11 years ago

I remember when the first season aired and it was around 1996 or somewhere around that time and sometimes Sabrina would sing "Funky Song, Funky Song" I never find information about the song.

[–] Moonlighty 11 years ago

And it didn't occur to you they made the song up for the show? It had 1 line repeated twice.

-
Consider the daffodil. And while you're doing that I'll be over here looking through your stuff.

[–] annedoe 10 years ago

they didn't make it up. It was a real song. It also played at my prom back in 2008

[–] Blanche_Elizabeth_Devereaux 11 years ago

Oh gosh! I remember them singing that song.

Shake your whammy fammy
funky song funky song
Shake your whammy fammy
Fu-unky song!

[–] snakewrangler22-642-758793 11 years ago

It was mostly heard throughout the episode where Sabrina goes with her Aunt Vesta to the Pleasure Dome. My favorite part was when we see Salem singing it and then Harvey.

[–] SVU14_1 11 years ago

No mobile/cell phones.

Cell phones I think began to appear in Season 7 which was the last season of the show (2002-2003) though they may have appeared earlier. However, they were of course the old flip phones that were new and trendy in the early 2000s.

[–] Takedi21 11 years ago

That makes sense. Only upper middle class and wealthy people could afford cell phones in the 90s. This is why in the movie "Clueless" there was a specific scene showing Cher and Dionne talking on their cell phones in the highschool hallway to emphasize how rich they were. That scene would probably be seen as a joke to today's generation because nowadays even the average Joe on the street has an iPhone .

Ex-girlfriend, you can't have him!: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TThHPHU4oJY

[–] danfaz94 11 years ago

Only upper middle class and wealthy people could afford cell phones in the 90s. This is why in the movie "Clueless" there was a specific scene showing Cher and Dionne talking on their cell phones in the highschool hallway to emphasize how rich they were. That scene would probably be seen as a joke to today's generation because nowadays even the average Joe on the street has an iPhone .

I was actually watching Clueless the other day and that part really made me laugh! What really makes the scene cringe worthy for me is the fact that when it was made, the phones they had probably looked very modern and desirable, whereas now, with their bulkiness and antennas, they look horrific in comparison to those we have today. This also extends to the scene where Cher gets a message on her pager from Dionne before they talk on the phone.

Little people? Who decides they are so unimportant?

[–] GreenGoblinsOckVenom86 10 years ago

They probably don't look as bad as Zack Moriss' huge white phone in the early seasons of Saved by the Bell.

When the Story Lady tells us about the naughty boy who blew up his goldfish.

[–] Jeannette_Mary 8 years ago

They probably don't look as bad as Zack Moriss' huge white phone in the early seasons of Saved by the Bell.

Zack's phone was one of those that had to have a bag carried along with it to work wasn't it? lol As a kid I thought it was cool!

"Sometimes life hands you lemons that are worth 2 in the bush, I like kittens."

[–] joe_538 8 years ago

Now I'm recalling a scene in Body Slam (1987) where Dirk Benedict pretends to get a call on his carphone, just so he can hold it up and get the attention of a random babe. It's a lot funnier than it used to be.

[–] Jessica103 10 years ago

It's fanny not fammy

[–] mr_bickle_the_pickle 11 years ago

Definitely the clothes. I am re-watching Season 1 right now and soooooo much velour. And vests.

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[–] gapeach1004 11 years ago

- TRL in Season 7, especially with Carson Daly as the host.
- Scorch Magazine, the acts they worked with/were mentioned.

[–] velcronewsletter 10 years ago

i love that so many things are dated on tv. so much to laugh at and so much to learn about previous decades. the lack of mobile phone was something so noticeable