Like recent high school graduates all across America, "Sabrina the Teenage Witch" is leaving home and heading off to college this month.
Unlike most, however, "Sabrina" is also matriculating to a new network — the series moves from ABC to the WB (Ch. 30) on Friday at 7 p.m.
Same time, different channel.
When ABC decided to go with more adult-themed comedies and scrap its family oriented T.G.I.F. lineup, the WB quickly stepped in and made a two-year commitment to "Sabrina." And, while star Melissa Joan Hart could have called it quits after four years and 96 episodes, she said she's enthusiastic about the show's new lease on life.
"It's a great show," Hart said. "I have so much fun doing it. We have the best cast and crew, I believe, in all of Hollywood. And we have the most fun of any set I've been on."
And it won't be exactly the same show that aired on ABC. There's a new setting, new cast members and changes in the writing and production staffs.
"It works out nicely with her moving to college and us moving to a new network because it's really a built-in chance to pump some life and energy into the show," said Bruce Ferber, who has come aboard this season as a new executive producer.
In Friday's season premiere, Sabrina moves out of her aunts' house to a nearby college. She's got a new roommate, Roxie (Soleil Moon Frye of "Punky Brewster"), "a street-wise sort of tougher character to play off of Melissa's kind of natural bubbliness," Ferber said. And there's a resident assistant, Morgan (Elisa Donovan), "a party girl who represents the temptation to get Melissa out into the world."
The third new character is Miles (Trevor Lissauer), "a guy who very much believes in the paranormal and UFOs . . . but never realizes that a witch is living right under his nose."
And not every member of the cast is making the trek from ABC to the WB. Sabrina's longtime boyfriend, Harvey (Nate Richert) will depart in Friday's episode, and Martin Mull, who played the high school principal, is also out.
But contrary to some reports, Sabrina's two aunts are not being jettisoned.
"They're a very important part of 'Sabrina,' " said Paula Hart, the show's executive producer (and the mother of Melissa Joan Hart). "The aunts play a big role in the show and when we moved to the WB, (network executives) made it very clear they wanted the aunts to be an integral part."
Aunt Hilda (Caroline Rhea) will buy the coffee shop next to campus — and one of her first hires will be Sabrina. And Aunt Zelda (Beth Broderick) is going to start teaching at the college.
Oh, and Salem — the talking cat — will also return, although we may see less of him this coming season. "He wants to be on the college campus to meet the girls, but Sabrina doesn't really want him there all the time," Ferber said. "So he's back and forth."
While the change in networks is at least a bit unusual — although it's happening with greater frequency in recent years — it's certainly not unusual for a show entering its fifth season to make some changes in order to freshen things up a bit. And "Sabrina" would have undergone a makeover even without switching from ABC to the WB.
"You get tired of doing the same thing all the time. . . . No matter where we went, we were going to make these changes," Paula Hart said.
But, despite the move to a bit more adult "Sabrina," she promises the show will retain its family-friendly nature.
"The whole reason we started 'Sabrina' way back when is there was very little on television for families to watch together," Paula Hart said. "This is why I wanted to see a show like 'Sabrina' on the air. . . . And I don't intend to go too far off now. We'll just age it up a little bit, make it a little smarter, but not necessarily abandon the audience that we've already built."
"It is an opportunity," said Melissa Joan Hart. "The show is changing, the network is changing. It's almost going to be like doing a whole new show for us except we get to work with the same people we love. . . . And we have such a great fan base, so why let them down?"
E-mail: pierce@desnews.com