
Scovell used witchcraft as a metaphor for Sabrina learning how to control her emotions and desires as she navigates her teenage years and young adulthood. She also wanted to develop a female character who focused on supporting her friends, making the right choices, and performing well in school. Scovell adapted the comics because she wished to create something that would resonate with teenagers and young adults who enjoyed the strange and magical. The origins of Sabrina the Teenage Witch stem from the Archie comics, which have a similar plot. She brews potions, casts spells, learns skills from her witch aunts, and communicates with her talking cat, Salem.

The series follows Sabrina as she deals with life as a teenager and life as a secret witch. When Sabrina contacts her father, he confirms her magical powers. Her aunts explain that she is a witch with powers that were activated on her sixteenth birthday, but she does not believe them. Sabrina the Teenage Witch begins when Sabrina Spellman wakes up on her sixteenth birthday levitating above her bed.
