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 The style of laptops used are a lot more bulky than today, though I don't recall seeing computers used as outdated as the one Sidney uses in Scream.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

[–] ItsEddieHaskellBeyotch 10 years ago

It stars Melissa Joan Hart as the lead character...you can't get more dated than that.

When theres no more room in Hollywood, remakes shall walk the Earth.

[–] EtaoinShrdlu001 9 years ago

Eddie, You beat me to the punch, but only by a few years . . .

I thought immediately of MJ Hart (explains it all), but also Nick Bakay, and Martin Mull.

I saw Martin Mull & his Fabulous Furniture at the Bijou Café in Phila., in 1973. He used to have a funny stand up act, while sitting down in an old Living Room chair, singing funny songs. He even has a few albums. That probably makes me pretty dated.
My gorgeous H.S. Art teacher took me, but that, sadly, wasn't a date.

Whatever is not nailed down is mine. Whatever I can pry loose is not nailed down.

[–] mjn-seifer 9 years ago

Except Melissa Joan Hart was in Mellissa and Joey, which ended only last year.

[–] poem 10 years ago

The main thing that really, really dates this show is the incredible amount of superflous references to people and bands that mean absolutely nada, zippo, nothing, nil, rien, nichts, zero today.

Its really sad because otherwise this show could be very timeless; the selection of actors was really good (I strongly doubt they manage to get such a good cast again if they ever redo this) and the storylines, well I guess theres a lot of potential for making better ones, but still it was kind of charming.

Everything else pales in comparison.

Good computers are still "bulky". It means you have space in them for extensions and large drives, and that you can repair them well.

The large majority of bookreading is, as far as I can see, still done from paper books. For starters, Kindle is an awful system thats trying to rip you off. Its basically the same stunt as consoles.

I happily pretend season 4 to 7 dont exist, just like theres only one Matrix movie - so dont ask me about them.

ARE YOU FRIGGIN INSANE ??? Vampires havent been "influenced" by Twilight. You really want people to start puking or what ? Basically only preteen girls can actually stand Twilight. To us adults, this stuff is awfully written and trying to rationalize abusive husbands etc. No thanks.

---
A gentleman will not insult me, and no man not a gentleman can insult me.

[–] danfaz94 10 years ago

The main thing that really, really dates this show is the incredible amount of superflous references to people and bands that mean absolutely nada, zippo, nothing, nil, rien, nichts, zero today.

Its really sad because otherwise this show could be very timeless; the selection of actors was really good (I strongly doubt they manage to get such a good cast again if they ever redo this) and the storylines, well I guess theres a lot of potential for making better ones, but still it was kind of charming.

Everything else pales in comparison.

I agree, rewatching it was wonderful and I think the cast was perfect. They could never ever recreate this which is why I was disappointed to hear that they wanted to reboot it as a film series (luckily, this seems to have been scrapped!). The only problem is indeed the references to bands and people who mean nothing now. There were a few times when I had to look up who they were referring to. Other than this, it was solid.

The large majority of bookreading is, as far as I can see, still done from paper books. For starters, Kindle is an awful system thats trying to rip you off. Its basically the same stunt as consoles.

I definitely prefer actual paper books and I don't like reading from a Kindle but the point I made on it dating the show was the fact that Sabrina had to go to the library to find out a books ending when she could have either downloaded it there and then with a Kindle or else looked the ending up online.

ARE YOU FRIGGIN INSANE ??? Vampires havent been "influenced" by Twilight. You really want people to start puking or what ? Basically only preteen girls can actually stand Twilight. To us adults, this stuff is awfully written and trying to rationalize abusive husbands etc. No thanks.

I don't particularly like Twilight (the film New Moon was one of the worst things I've ever had the misfortune to watch) and I'm glad the Sabrina episode was made before the current vampire craze. My meaning of it feeling dated was that nowadays most vampire related films or shows will have at least a passing reference to Twilight, whereas the Sabrina episode is doesn't and the vampire is very old school. Again, I appreciate this fact for it makes it more timeless but I thought it of note when comparing how the show holds up years later.

I happily pretend season 4 to 7 dont exist, just like theres only one Matrix movie - so dont ask me about them.

That's a shame. I know a lot of Sabrina fans are like this, but although seasons 4-7 weren't as good as 1-3 (in fact, Season 7 was absolutely abhorrent aside from the finale) there were still some hidden gems, particularly in Season 6 which was pretty strong.

Little people? Who decides they are so unimportant?

[–] sparklingly 10 years ago

Season 7 was absolutely abhorrent aside from the finale

True, the finale was great though because it gave the best possible ending for Sabrina and Harvey. 12:36 on the dot. 

When your mind breaks the spirit of your soul.

[–] danfaz94 10 years ago

True, the finale was great though because it gave the best possible ending for Sabrina and Harvey. 12:36 on the dot.

It truly was the best possible outcome! The only thing that didn't make it perfect was Zelda not being there and none of Sabrina's old friends. Other than that though it was amazing to see her not only get back with Harvey but to have confirmation that they really were soul mates! The 12:36 reference was perfect and a nice touch considering the Sabrina writers weren't usually good with maintaining continuity.

Little people? Who decides they are so unimportant?

[–] sparklingly 10 years ago

You're right, I missed Zelda and Valerie should have been there. I never really liked her college friends. It was great that we got to see that they were soul mates and that at the same time that it didn't matter to Sabrina and Harvey in the end as they threw away those pieces and drove off together into the sunset.

When your mind breaks the spirit of your soul.

[–] GreenGoblinsOckVenom86 10 years ago

Randy Travis appeared in an episode in season 1 I watched the other night. Funny, my brother and I used to listen to a lot of his songs back in the day.

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

[–] Jeannette_Mary 8 years ago

Randy Travis appeared in an episode in season 1 I watched the other night. Funny, my brother and I used to listen to a lot of his songs back in the day.

I still listen to his music. I know he had a bad stroke and hope he can perform again one day.

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

[–] mjn-seifer 10 years ago

The main thing that really, really dates this show is the incredible amount of superflous references to people and bands that mean absolutely nada, zippo, nothing, nil, rien, nichts, zero today.

I disagree to this completely; they will always mean something because their music still exists, and not only are people old enough to remember them, there is also a younger generation that can easily discover them as well. The thing about music is that it lasts forever, and never goes away even if those who create it do, to this day I am rediscovering songs from years ago, and loving them, and the same goes with new songs that have recently come out, that's one of the amazing things about music to me - it ages well, all of it does (at least to me), there are songs I don't care about as much, and some I dislike/have disliked, but give them time, and I find something to like about them, but it never goes the opposite with me, I never hate songs I used to love (though I admit I didn't realize that when I was younger), the worst that will happen is that I may need to take a break from them, which, if you're playing them non-stop, is understandable.

So because of this, I know that these bands mean something to someone, and if they don't, they will one day, even if it's just for that one song, because music never dates, it just becomes more nostalgic than it was before, and gives us something to go back to, at least that's how I see it. In fact, I can safely say that these references don't date the show, but instead have the opposite effect, they keep the show relevant, because we all have at least one band we remember for some reason (regardless of whether they were one of the bands referenced in this show) and all continue to get played somewhere, just waiting for a new person, of whatever age, to discover their music, or for someone to rediscover them, and realize that they love that song now, or remember that they did.

[–] mjn-seifer 10 years ago

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.

Not really. How you choose to portray vampires depends on what you want to do, and there have been other "non-traditional" vampires before Twilight. It doesn't date the show at all.

[–] danfaz94 10 years ago

Not really. How you choose to portray vampires depends on what you want to do, and there have been other "non-traditional" vampires before Twilight. It doesn't date the show at all.

I agree, vampire lore is of course very flexible given its origins as folklore. All I meant by the Twilight reference is that watching the show today, it is unusual for there to not be any "Edward wannabes" show up. I did not mean that the actual vampire that shows up, Vladimir, was outdated but rather the fact that the people auditioning decided to go for the more classic vampire look etc. whereas nowadays with the likes of Twilight, True Blood etc. it would be more likely for them to dress a little more current. Especially considering Miles's film apparently included the vampire being in high school and facing off against cheerleaders.

Little people? Who decides they are so unimportant?

[–] jtsjtssmokey-703-366973 10 years ago

Hmmm there is Angel and yup will include Spike as he was a major character, plus the other vamps that were dusted, much better than the twitlight sadgag...ok guess they seem to me to resemble a lot of the Disney image of the "poor helpless girl that needs the man to be complete, thinking of one of the first ones, Cinderella, even upto, an no have not seen but have heard, Frozen, as did she too need a/her man...yes have seen the t, but why is it that even today, a person cant be complete within themselves ? no on can really complete another person...nope will not rattle bout that no more, done ranting.

I still like to watch shows like Sabrina, but did wonder why they had another year in high school, guess went to gr 13 ? but considering some of the not so great epis, would rather watch them than reality crap that is pushed today. And there is still a certain appeal to the show, dated or not.

[–] 10 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Suriname86 8 years ago

The clothes for sure. Any musical guests. And as much as i like Jenny, her character was very "90s rebel girl."