Netflix’s ‘Sabrina’ casts a dark but entertaining spell
We’re in the midst of two holiday seasons on television: Hallmark Channel begins its “Countdown to Christmas” programming event with its first new movie, “Christmas at Pemberley Manor,” debuting at 8 p.m. Saturday. Hallmark, of course, is “pushing the season,” as my 8-year-old says.
More seasonally appropriate, Netflix debuts “Chilling Adventures of Sabrina,” CBS All Access introduces “Tell Me a Story,” and NBC brings back “Midnight, Texas.”
‘Sabrina’
This is not your parents’ TGIF iteration of “Sabrina the Teenage Witch,” which was an ABC sitcom (1996-2003). You can tell from Sabrina’s aunts’ frequent positive exclamations of “Praise Satan!”
“Chilling Adventures of Sabrina,” now streaming, is a dark, one-hour serialized drama with a deep, expensive-looking production design that submerges viewers in Sabrina’s weird world.
Created for television by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, who also wrote the comic book series that inspired this TV show, “Sabrina” stars the always compelling Kiernan Shipka (Sally Draper on “Mad Men”) as the title character.
Sabrina is about to turn 16 and engage in her Dark Baptism — the Church of Night’s most sacred unholy sacrament — but all she really wants to do is hang out with her
high school friends and start a feminist club at school when she’s not holding hands with boyfriend Harvey (Ross Lynch, “Teen Beach Movie”).
Orphaned when her human mother and warlock father died — the series suggests it was not an accident — she lives with her cold, haughty Aunt Zelda (marvelous Miranda Otto, “Lord of the Rings”) and her more maternal Aunt Hilda (Lucy Davis, British version of “The Office”). Yes, her cat Salem is around, too, albeit with a more malevolent back story.
Actually “more malevolent” is an easy description for all aspects of this reimaging.
Originally developed by The CW as a “Riverdale” companion, “Sabrina” shifted to Netflix and apparently got showered with a Netflix budget. The series looks as fantastically gloomy and dank as it should given the dark themes.
What’s most surprising about this “Sabrina” is its willingness to explore the Church of Night as the flip side of Christianity. Some viewers will be appalled, but there’s a fascinating exchange at the start of episode two between Sabrina and Father Blackwood (Richard Coyle), Satan’s representative on Earth. He dismisses her questions about signing her name in the Dark Lord’s Book of the Beast and whether it gives the Dark Lord dominion over her soul (“It’s largely a symbolic gesture as rituals in most religions are,” he says) and whether signing means the Dark Lord can call on her to do his bidding (“all religions demand some sacrifice”).
Father Blackwood also describes Satan’s church not as the embodiment of evil but as “the embodiment of free will.” It’s a fascinating conversation and back story to unpack.
Coming on the heels of Netflix’s excellently spooky “Haunting of Hill House,” “Sabrina” is not in the same league. The show is at its best when it deals with the ways in which she is torn between two cultures — the mortal world of her high school and the witchy world of her birthright — and when it depicts how Sabrina’s avowed feminism conflicts with aspects of her religion.
‘One Dollar’
There’s been basically no buzz around CBS All Access’ filmed-in-Pittsburgh “One Dollar” since the show’s premiere in late August. “One Dollar” managed to get only six reviews at Metacritic.com, seven at Rotten Tomatoes (most firstseason shows get reviewed by at least a dozen TV critics, if not closer to twice that number), likely due to a cumbersome and in my experience often glitchy screening site that requires critics to jump through hoops, a ridiculous expectation in this Peak TV era.
‘Tell Me a Story’
CBS All Access’ newest entry, “Tell Me a Story,” benefits from the name recognition of executive producer Kevin Williamson (”Scream,” “Dawson’s Creek”), but it still remains to be seen whether the service can sustain itself with expensive series that are not spinoffs or shows with “Star Trek” in the title.
“Tell Me a Story,” streaming Wednesday, has a premise that sounds like “Grimm” meets Mr. Williamson’s imagination: Fairy tales reimagined as a twisted psychological thriller set in modern-day New York City with the first season interweaving “The Three Little Pigs,” “Little Red Riding Hood” and “Hansel and Gretel.”
CBS All Access did not make the series available for review by press time.
‘Midnight, Texas’
One other spooky series returns this week: NBC’s “Midnight, Texas” (9 p.m. Friday, WPXI-TV) hasn’t aired an episode since September 2017. The show underwent a showrunner switch between season one and season two and its entire nine-episode second season will air over eight weeks.
Based on the book series by author Charlaine Harris (“True Blood”), “Midnight, Texas” follows assorted characters in a remote Texas town, including a psychic, witch, assassin, angel and vampire.
Executive producer Nicole Snyder said season one burned through all three of Ms. Harris’ books, so season two is largely invented by the show’s writers.
“We have new owners of a crazy hotel in town, and we kind of went off the rails with that,” Ms. Snyder said in August during NBC’s portion of the 2018 Television Critics Association summer press tour. “And everything else is pretty much new and crazy, and not Charlaine Harris approved, but hopefully, she’ll like it.”
Kept/canceled
Netflix renewed the serialized animated comedy “Disenchantment” for two seasons of 10 episodes each, bringing the show to four total seasons. Netflix renewed “Atypical” for a 10-episode third season.
Netflix canceled “All About the Washingtons” after a single season and “Luke Cage” after two seasons.
Channel surfing
On CNN’s “This Is Life With Lisa Ling” (10 p.m. Sunday), the host travels to Lily Dale Assembly, a New York village that is a community of psychic mediums, including Pittsburgh native Janice Dreshman . ... Hollywood trades report “Megyn Kelly Today” may be done. Reports say Ms. Kelly was in talks with NBC execs before her offensive “blackface’ comments Tuesday about taking on a newsier role at the network. This week’s controversy appears to have ended her tenure at the Peacock, which aired reruns of her show Thursday and Friday as trades report she may not return.
Tuned In online
Today’s TV Q&A column responds to questions about “Lethal Weapon,” “Divorce” and “Happy Together.” This week’s Tuned In Journal includes posts on “Welcome to Waverly” and “Native America.” Read online-only TV content at http://communityvoices.post-gazette.com/arts-entertainment-living/tuned-in.