Salem the Cat
If you're old like me (23 feels old) and you grew up as a child of the 1990's, then you're probably familiar with the television sitcom series Sabrina the Teenage Witch.
The show stars Melissa Joan Hart as Sabrina, who lives with her two aunts, Hilda and Zelda, in Massachusetts, and their black cat, Salem. On her 16th birthday she finds out she's a legit witch with magical powers, the ability to travel between realms and everything that comes with it, all the while whilst dealing with general highschool drama, her adorable crush, Harvey, and keeping her secret.
As a little girl watching the series, Sabrina was a total role model; looking back I can totally see why: she's sassy, smart, fun, pretty, but she always makes mistakes and learns from them - often saving herself from whatever trouble she's gotten into. Plus she has the ability to magically zap things (like clothes), manifest things, travel through time, and generally wreak havoc in one form or another - what little girl wouldn't want that lifestyle? Well, I did at least. But Sabrina's powers are far from limitless and much of the trouble she gets stuck in is a result of banned behaviour as put form by the witches council - like the ban the Witches Council has over love spells. Kind of like the Genie in Aladdin, the Witches council upholds strict codes of conduct when it comes to messing with the mortal world and mortals themselves; they even step in to sometimes turn back time when an event needs to be covered up like the time Europe was ruled by rabbit. Don't remember that one? Exactly.
Sabrina is a family-friendly show and so most of the episodes contain a lesson that Sabrina learns and often (literally) works on a moral compass, but re-watching as an adult makes for a different experience of the same sort of fun; kind of like the way Disney films are when you watch them later, you pick up jokes and references that maybe went over your head if you watched as a kid. And the best character I find for this is their cat born warlock companion, Salem.
Salem Saberhagen is centuries old witch who, after attempting to actually take over the world in the 60's, was caught by the witches council, stripped off his powers and turned into a cat for 100 years as punishment. Since this was only about 30 years ago at the time of the show, Salem's got ages to go yet and no apparent out - but that doesn't stop him from trying, and almost succeeding in the later series. But apparent from Sabrina and her antics, Salem is probably my favourite part of the show simply because of all the weird and wonderful things he gets up to. He can be like a grumpy old man in cat form, but the fact that he is a feline makes so much more for comedy - such as pretending to be a woman in a chatroom, having a crazy house party with catnip, prank calling people, and trying to trick his ex-girlfriend into thinking he's still really a warlock. He's a pretty crafty kitty.
And alongside that, he's actually a pretty loving familiar especially when you consider how fond of Sabrina he is. All through the series he watches out for her as much as he drives her crazy; from warning her not to kiss Harvey unless she wants him to turn into a frog to entering himself into a cat show so the two of them can win some money. He's probably her best friend in the series, despite what they actually may say, and its both a fun homage to the 'man's best friend' relationship with a pet and the witch and her familiar stereotype. Plus who doesn't love the idea of a talking pet? So long as it's not Major and the other pigs from Animal Farm....
Even as a child when Sabrina first aired, I'd always related to her as a young, sassy modern woman with (i wish, I had) supernatural powers that can apparently do everything except open a jar. And so when our family cat, Meisha, passed away in early 2003 and by the end of the year we were ready to share the love with a new feline, we picked a black cat and I jumped for the name Salem. And you wouldn't believe just how fitting that name actually was. For one thing, my Salem looks just like Sabrina's even though in my cat's age he's developed an eye thing that makes him look kind of like a pirate with an eye patch. But in terms of eye shape and colour, face, size, colouring and body type, our Salem is so much like his namesake in looks that I sometimes still anticipate that he will actually start talking to me in Nick Backay's voice. It's been 11 years now and that still hasn't happened, but there's still time, right?
In other aspects, my Salem is evil as all hell and I would not be even a little bit surprised if he tried for world domination just like the original. He's a terror to small mammals, likes to break mirrors on Friday the 13th (yes, really) and more than one of my friends are actually too terrified to go near him. Plus, Anubis, the greyhound, is still terrified of him and they've been living together for over two years.
I think I named him well, if I do say so myself, and it seems like even after a full decade since we got him that I'm still waiting for him to turn around and talk to me. I love my cat - even if he's an evil creeper and loves to jump out of nowhere to scare the living crap out of me.
Salem Saberhagen quotes:
- You're the only one who understands me, Salem.
- Yes, but that doesn't mean I care.
-If you ladies don't mind, I've got a lot of new territory to mark.
-Adolescence is not sitting well with you.
-I found the Fountain of Youth! It's the toilet!
-Would you be terribly upset if I threw up in one of your shoes?
-I urge you to accept me as your ruler.
-I'm blonde! My IQ just dropped 20 points!
-Someone brought the catnip, I had nothing to do with it!
There are plenty more fun Salem moments that you can find either just watching the series, or in collections on YouTube but I recommend him - he's always good for a laugh.
Not that my Salem thinks so when I try to get him to watch with me.
The show stars Melissa Joan Hart as Sabrina, who lives with her two aunts, Hilda and Zelda, in Massachusetts, and their black cat, Salem. On her 16th birthday she finds out she's a legit witch with magical powers, the ability to travel between realms and everything that comes with it, all the while whilst dealing with general highschool drama, her adorable crush, Harvey, and keeping her secret.
As a little girl watching the series, Sabrina was a total role model; looking back I can totally see why: she's sassy, smart, fun, pretty, but she always makes mistakes and learns from them - often saving herself from whatever trouble she's gotten into. Plus she has the ability to magically zap things (like clothes), manifest things, travel through time, and generally wreak havoc in one form or another - what little girl wouldn't want that lifestyle? Well, I did at least. But Sabrina's powers are far from limitless and much of the trouble she gets stuck in is a result of banned behaviour as put form by the witches council - like the ban the Witches Council has over love spells. Kind of like the Genie in Aladdin, the Witches council upholds strict codes of conduct when it comes to messing with the mortal world and mortals themselves; they even step in to sometimes turn back time when an event needs to be covered up like the time Europe was ruled by rabbit. Don't remember that one? Exactly.Sabrina is a family-friendly show and so most of the episodes contain a lesson that Sabrina learns and often (literally) works on a moral compass, but re-watching as an adult makes for a different experience of the same sort of fun; kind of like the way Disney films are when you watch them later, you pick up jokes and references that maybe went over your head if you watched as a kid. And the best character I find for this is their cat born warlock companion, Salem.
Salem Saberhagen is centuries old witch who, after attempting to actually take over the world in the 60's, was caught by the witches council, stripped off his powers and turned into a cat for 100 years as punishment. Since this was only about 30 years ago at the time of the show, Salem's got ages to go yet and no apparent out - but that doesn't stop him from trying, and almost succeeding in the later series. But apparent from Sabrina and her antics, Salem is probably my favourite part of the show simply because of all the weird and wonderful things he gets up to. He can be like a grumpy old man in cat form, but the fact that he is a feline makes so much more for comedy - such as pretending to be a woman in a chatroom, having a crazy house party with catnip, prank calling people, and trying to trick his ex-girlfriend into thinking he's still really a warlock. He's a pretty crafty kitty.And alongside that, he's actually a pretty loving familiar especially when you consider how fond of Sabrina he is. All through the series he watches out for her as much as he drives her crazy; from warning her not to kiss Harvey unless she wants him to turn into a frog to entering himself into a cat show so the two of them can win some money. He's probably her best friend in the series, despite what they actually may say, and its both a fun homage to the 'man's best friend' relationship with a pet and the witch and her familiar stereotype. Plus who doesn't love the idea of a talking pet? So long as it's not Major and the other pigs from Animal Farm....In other aspects, my Salem is evil as all hell and I would not be even a little bit surprised if he tried for world domination just like the original. He's a terror to small mammals, likes to break mirrors on Friday the 13th (yes, really) and more than one of my friends are actually too terrified to go near him. Plus, Anubis, the greyhound, is still terrified of him and they've been living together for over two years. I think I named him well, if I do say so myself, and it seems like even after a full decade since we got him that I'm still waiting for him to turn around and talk to me. I love my cat - even if he's an evil creeper and loves to jump out of nowhere to scare the living crap out of me.
Salem Saberhagen quotes:
- You're the only one who understands me, Salem. - Yes, but that doesn't mean I care.
-If you ladies don't mind, I've got a lot of new territory to mark.
-Adolescence is not sitting well with you.
-I found the Fountain of Youth! It's the toilet!
-Would you be terribly upset if I threw up in one of your shoes?
-I urge you to accept me as your ruler.
-I'm blonde! My IQ just dropped 20 points!
-Someone brought the catnip, I had nothing to do with it!
There are plenty more fun Salem moments that you can find either just watching the series, or in collections on YouTube but I recommend him - he's always good for a laugh.
Not that my Salem thinks so when I try to get him to watch with me.
Sam xox
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