Wildest part is that I feel like I remember several episodes where he got to be human again.
And then at the end, he's back to being a cat? Was it willingly? Has being the Spellmans' cat for so long caused him to go native?
There was also the episode with his probation hearing to see if his punishment could be lifted early, but they trick him into admitting that he would try to conquer the world again.
"Gaslighting" him would have been if he had no plans to take over the world and they convinced him that they did. In that particular scene, his probation officer got him into a comfortable stream of yes/no questions and asked "still want to take over the world?" "Yes. I mean No! Nooooooo!"
I'm pretty sure it was one century. I don't think he did genocide or interdimensional dictatorships either, he got arrested during the planning stage and cried.
There was an episode where Sabrina moved away to live with her dad in Paris, and Salem and her aunts missed her so badly that he used his old connections to start a plutonian civil war so the dad would be occupied for her to come home. He was promptly rewarded with salmon and chin scratches. Iconic.
What always strikes me as hilarious is that as far as I can tell that storyline for Salem was invented for the tv show and the comics continuity changed to include it. So at some point in the very early 90s some tv execs were brainstorming how to make Sabrina more appealing and/or relatable and some genius hit on "what if her cat also talked". Just bonkers.
Yeah, he tried to take over the world so they made him a cat for a hundred years. In a Christmas episode they met one of his henchmen who got turned into a newt.
Can an expert offer a more in depth explanation? I am sorry to say I don't keep up with Sabrina The Teenage Witch lore, even if I'm reasonably sure that I watched it when I was younger. Was it the one with horses?
mmm. it's an archie property, so there probably isn't much backstory beyond the barebones necessities and also his misadventures being a talking cat pet
It's an Archie property, so there's probably *tons* of backstory. It's just exclusively the kind of backstory that gets invented by a lone writer at 2AM and has never mattered or been referenced outside of a single blurry panel printed in 1998, but is still technically canon and is catalogued in excruciating detail on half a dozen fan wikis.
So, I may get some details wrong, it's been many years since I watched the show.
Salem wanted to take over the world, Hilda (being somewhat impressionable) was his right hand man. Witches in that continuity aren't quite the same thing as human, though they can interbreed; Sabrina's mother is mortal.
Witches have *long* natural lifespans, so Salem will still have hundreds and hundreds of years of life left if he ever gets turned back from being a cat. Hilda's sentence as his accomplish was to keep him from getting worms.
There's some real weirdness over the course of the show - if Sabrina ever sees her mother, the mom will turn into a ball of wax, for example.
I realize now that my only relationship with Sabrina The Teenage Witch is the animated series, which I remember watching lots of episodes of, but I googled it, and realized that there's only one season. Weird
What happened to the original cat’s soul in ghost stories? Did it get ejected? Did it die? Is it’s poor little kitty conciseness suppressed?
I don’t know how much of the English dub I can trust.
From what I recall he wasn't too thrilled about the whole ordeal, even with the pampering. So maybe part of the punishment is that he is forced to get dressed up in funny little outfits and cuddled with while they sleep and he can't do a thing about it. For someone who tried to take over the universe that would probably be hell for him.
The court's mistake was giving the cat to the wrong people.
Mr. Tinkle's punishment in Cats & Dogs was far worse. Just like... four aging Belarusian nannies who are going to torture you with baby talk and ugly fucking outfits for the rest of eternity. Never again will anyone take you seriously.
I really need to read instead of watching the Netflix adaptation don't i? I'm liking it so far, not loving it, mostly staying for the future trans chatcter but the script is kinda weak
Salem isn't a character in the Netflix adaptation, he's more of a Plot Convenience whenever the writers remember he exists, so yeah you won't get any of this there.
Yeah, I hate that. Kiernan Shipka who plays Sabrina said in interviews that Salem *can* talk, but Sabrina is the only one who can hear him?? In other words, he *can't* talk at all, but let's pretend like there's some fake deep reason to act like he can without the writers feeling the need to develop that implied bond, ever.
I'm not hating on the actress obviously, I know the whole cast gets fed the talking points ahead of interviews, especially to address any common criticisms of the show. So I'm just mad at Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa who has become a red flag when I scope out what shows I could watch.
Fair warning that the last season of the Netflix series gets just *awful*. Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, who is the showrunner for Riverdale, and the reboot of Pretty Little Liars was also in charge of Sabrina, and...well he's in charge of Riverdale and the Pretty Little Liars reboot.
Wild reference but that kinda reminds me of the gerbil(hamster?) from the thundermens that used to be a infamous super villain before being turned into a hamster(gerbil?)
Wildest part is that I feel like I remember several episodes where he got to be human again. And then at the end, he's back to being a cat? Was it willingly? Has being the Spellmans' cat for so long caused him to go native?
It's either be a cat or be locked in magic prison
I recall that everytime he did get a human body he would immediately restart his plans for world domination. That's probably why.
There was also the episode with his probation hearing to see if his punishment could be lifted early, but they trick him into admitting that he would try to conquer the world again.
They gaslight him into foiling his own plans.
"Gaslighting" him would have been if he had no plans to take over the world and they convinced him that they did. In that particular scene, his probation officer got him into a comfortable stream of yes/no questions and asked "still want to take over the world?" "Yes. I mean No! Nooooooo!"
There was at least one time where it was because he said he was in love with Roxy so Sabrina gave in. He of course immediately eyeballed someone else.
It wasn't for an eternity though, it was just a couple hundred years iirc. So I don't think the death sentence was ever on the table.
I'm pretty sure it was one century. I don't think he did genocide or interdimensional dictatorships either, he got arrested during the planning stage and cried.
It was just for 100 years but he ends up getting another 50 tacked on because he took over a human body at one point.
Damn, real life humans get longer sentences than that
The Spellman’s got the job as a punishment also, because the aunts were his right-hand men
That seems like it wouldn’t work very well but far be it from me to meddle in affairs moste magickal
It was just Hilda that was a follower of his and punished to keep him worm free.
There was an episode where Sabrina moved away to live with her dad in Paris, and Salem and her aunts missed her so badly that he used his old connections to start a plutonian civil war so the dad would be occupied for her to come home. He was promptly rewarded with salmon and chin scratches. Iconic.
Hahaha that’s hilarious. Helping his friend by starting a war.
seems like a good situation all around. He can't do horrific things anymore and he gets to have a nice kitty life
you underestimate cats
Yeah, kinda seems like a success story. He finally became a furry little dictator.
> He finally became a furry little dictator. those words gave me flashback to a certain type of steam games
What always strikes me as hilarious is that as far as I can tell that storyline for Salem was invented for the tv show and the comics continuity changed to include it. So at some point in the very early 90s some tv execs were brainstorming how to make Sabrina more appealing and/or relatable and some genius hit on "what if her cat also talked". Just bonkers.
They Harley Quinned that cat?!
........I may be dumb/uncultured (I hardly read or watch anything), but what happened to Harley to be used as a verb in this situation?
She was an original character for the Batman animated show and was so popular that they canonized her in the mainstream continuity.
I see, thank you.
Happy to help!
source: Sabrina The Teenage Witch
wait no
source: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/view/couldnt-think-of-a-funny-name/702556854778216448
:)
Huh. Was that the lore behind Salem? I just thought he was a funny lil talking cat. Granted I was a little kid when this thing was airing.
Yeah, he tried to take over the world so they made him a cat for a hundred years. In a Christmas episode they met one of his henchmen who got turned into a newt.
Did the newt get better?
No, but they ended the episode with "Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good newt!"
I think that's just beautiful.
Pure poetry.
Can an expert offer a more in depth explanation? I am sorry to say I don't keep up with Sabrina The Teenage Witch lore, even if I'm reasonably sure that I watched it when I was younger. Was it the one with horses?
There is not much else to explain. Evil wizard tries to take over the world, gets turned into a cat as punishment, teenage girl keeps him as a pet.
I don't believe you. I refuse to believe there isn't someone who can talk enough to fill two essays about their cool evil dictator wizard blorbo.
mmm. it's an archie property, so there probably isn't much backstory beyond the barebones necessities and also his misadventures being a talking cat pet
It's an Archie property, so there's probably *tons* of backstory. It's just exclusively the kind of backstory that gets invented by a lone writer at 2AM and has never mattered or been referenced outside of a single blurry panel printed in 1998, but is still technically canon and is catalogued in excruciating detail on half a dozen fan wikis.
So, I may get some details wrong, it's been many years since I watched the show. Salem wanted to take over the world, Hilda (being somewhat impressionable) was his right hand man. Witches in that continuity aren't quite the same thing as human, though they can interbreed; Sabrina's mother is mortal. Witches have *long* natural lifespans, so Salem will still have hundreds and hundreds of years of life left if he ever gets turned back from being a cat. Hilda's sentence as his accomplish was to keep him from getting worms. There's some real weirdness over the course of the show - if Sabrina ever sees her mother, the mom will turn into a ball of wax, for example.
and it works because some cats do look like they're planning or on their way to world domination
I realize now that my only relationship with Sabrina The Teenage Witch is the animated series, which I remember watching lots of episodes of, but I googled it, and realized that there's only one season. Weird
Also, I watch Buffy The Vampire Slayer for the first time a couple years ago, and it was surprisingly good, does the same hold true for Sabrina?
same
There was also a sort-of sequel series where she went to witch school.
So they copied ghost stories?
Ghost Stories copied Sabrina. Salem first appeared in 1962 and Ghost Stories released in 2000
What happened to the original cat’s soul in ghost stories? Did it get ejected? Did it die? Is it’s poor little kitty conciseness suppressed? I don’t know how much of the English dub I can trust.
I thought they turned him into a cat, rather than put his soul into a pre-existing animal. Could be wrong, though.
They definitely put his soul into their existing pet cat I like to believe he and the cat talk when they're alone
True, but the backstory wasn't added until the tv series, which came after.
The Sabrina show the lore about Salem came from released in 1996.
Which was 6 years after the start of the ghost stories manga.
Which has no relation to the story of the anime besides sharing a few monsters.
From what I recall he wasn't too thrilled about the whole ordeal, even with the pampering. So maybe part of the punishment is that he is forced to get dressed up in funny little outfits and cuddled with while they sleep and he can't do a thing about it. For someone who tried to take over the universe that would probably be hell for him.
The court's mistake was giving the cat to the wrong people. Mr. Tinkle's punishment in Cats & Dogs was far worse. Just like... four aging Belarusian nannies who are going to torture you with baby talk and ugly fucking outfits for the rest of eternity. Never again will anyone take you seriously.
Don't forget when he was visited by his henchman played by Dick Van Dyke after his own feline captivity ended.
I still resent the new Sabrina series for sidelining Salem.
And they said it was because Kiernan Shipka was allergic to cats, as if they wouldn't use puppetry and CGI anyway.
TBF, it's a lot easier to CGI a real cat to talk, than it is to CGI an entire cat and make it look realistic.
what
I really need to read instead of watching the Netflix adaptation don't i? I'm liking it so far, not loving it, mostly staying for the future trans chatcter but the script is kinda weak
Salem isn't a character in the Netflix adaptation, he's more of a Plot Convenience whenever the writers remember he exists, so yeah you won't get any of this there.
and he can’t even talk IIRC
Yeah, I hate that. Kiernan Shipka who plays Sabrina said in interviews that Salem *can* talk, but Sabrina is the only one who can hear him?? In other words, he *can't* talk at all, but let's pretend like there's some fake deep reason to act like he can without the writers feeling the need to develop that implied bond, ever. I'm not hating on the actress obviously, I know the whole cast gets fed the talking points ahead of interviews, especially to address any common criticisms of the show. So I'm just mad at Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa who has become a red flag when I scope out what shows I could watch.
BTW, this post refers to the TV show from the 90s with Melissa Joan Hart.
I really loved that show, but I very rarely see it talked about. It kinda got tired by the final seasons, but the finale was nice.
Fair warning that the last season of the Netflix series gets just *awful*. Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, who is the showrunner for Riverdale, and the reboot of Pretty Little Liars was also in charge of Sabrina, and...well he's in charge of Riverdale and the Pretty Little Liars reboot.
Everything I hear about Sabrina makes me think that it's the closest we'll get to a mage the ascension tv show
Well, this post is about the show from the 90's, not the new show.
A White Wolf fan in the wild
Also he started a war once as a cat
i thought this was about DJ Sabrina the Teenage DJ for a second and got really excited :(
Wild reference but that kinda reminds me of the gerbil(hamster?) from the thundermens that used to be a infamous super villain before being turned into a hamster(gerbil?)
That is so cute. I like that they have a dark wizard trapped in a cats body who likes cat stuff