Published on Friday, October 15, 1999 Section: Preview Page: D9
© 1999 The Arizona Republic
Byline: By David Bianculli, New York Daily News

Melissa Joan Hart, who plays the wholesome title character of ABC's Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, poses on the cover of a national magazine in a very sexy black lace bra and panties, and absolutely nothing happens. No muss, no fuss.

Two years later, she goes the sexy route again on some other national magazines, and all hell breaks loose. The publisher of Archie Comics is outraged; gossip and TV columnists have a field day.

Not only is this a very silly problem for anyone to fret over, but there's an astoundingly easy solution, which I am more than willing and able to provide.

First, the problem.

Hart, who has been a visible and generally well-behaved teenage TV star since getting the title role in Nickelodeon's Clarissa Explains It All almost a decade ago, celebrated her adulthood at age 21 by striking a sexy pose on the cover of the October 1997 issue of Details magazine along with such young actresses as Yasmine Bleeth, Alyssa Milano, Jamie Luner and Jeri Ryan.

Milano, now of WB's Charmed, and Luner, now of NBC's Profiler, are only three years older than Hart, yet already have played very sensual roles on TV and the movies without causing any fuss. Why should Hart, in her off hours, be any different?

The folks at Archie Comics, and those who rail about such things, say it's because there's a confusion between the character of high-school coed Sabrina and the actress who plays her. Anyone that confused probably believes in talking cats; besides, an adult trapped in the role of an unevolving youngster can be a very sorry thing to watch. (Think of Family Matters with a 10-foot-tall Jaleel White still trying to play Urkel.)

It's totally understandable why Hart, while grateful to the exposure and opportunity afforded by Sabrina (Fridays on ABC), would want to stretch her wings a little. It's also understandable why the comics publishers and TV producers would want to preserve the wholesome image of their central character.

There is ample precedent, however, in a way to satisfy both parties, even in so specific a case as a TV heroine with paranormal powers.

In the '60s, both Elizabeth Montgomery of Bewitched and Barbara Eden of I Dream of Jeannie grew restless of playing the same goody-two-shoes roles and being subservient to their wimpy leading men on their respective sitcoms.

The solution? Give them another role, playing a look-alike but much more sexy and sinister, relative with magic powers.

Presto: Montgomery played not only the sweet Samantha but also her wild and crazy cousin Serena. Eden got to play not only the ultradocile Jeannie but also her man-eating sister, Jeannie II.

At the conclusion of last season's Sabrina, the long-puzzling family secret was revealed to be that Sabrina had a look-alike relative. And though she was a dead ringer for Sabrina, she turned out to be a little less sweet than Sabrina had suspected.

So even the groundwork is laid. Just bring back the look-alike - with a dark wig and a fashion makeover - and let Hart be good and bad at the same time. That'll make everybody happy and continue a long-established TV tradition of sexy alter egos.

Photo by Kathy Willens/Associated Press Melissa Joan Hart's goody-two-shoes status as Sabrina runs counter to her understandable desire to stretch her wings a little in real life.