Few sitcoms were as culturally dominant in the late 1990s as Sabrina the Teenage Witch, a supernatural comedy that premiered in 1996 and ran for seven successful seasons. Starring Melissa Joan Hart as the titular witch, the series bridged the gap between family-friendly humor and the chaotic coming-of-age experience, producing 163 episodes that remain beloved by a generation of viewers. Sabrina the Teenage Witch’s longevity, however, came with the inevitable side effect of narrative drift. When a sitcom runs for so long, writers often lose track of established lore, leading to contradictions that devoted fans are quick to spot. While most of these errors are minor continuity slips, Sabrina the Teenage Witch features one of the most amusingly glaring plot holes in sitcom history.
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The error in question centers on the episode “Christmas Amnesia” (Season 3, Episode 11), which aired exactly 27 years ago on December 11, 1998. In this holiday special, Sabrina Spellman inadvertently erases Christmas from the collective memory of the world after attending an “anti-Christmas” party in the Other Realm. As the only person who remembers the holiday, she must scramble to restore the festive spirit before the concept is lost forever.
The episode’s climax involves Sabrina encountering the actual Father Christmas (Kay E. Kuter) to resolve the magical mishap. The script treats this meeting as a moment of genuine shock for the teenage witch, portraying her as stunned to discover that the figurehead of the holiday is a living, breathing entity. This reaction is the source of the confusion, and the episode’s title, “Christmas Amnesia,” serves as an unintentional description of the writers themselves. By this point in the series, Sabrina had already met Santa Claus and had even saved the entire holiday a mere 12 months prior.
Sabrina Meets Santa in Season 2 (Before Meeting Him Again in Season 3)
The plot hole of “Christmas Amnesia” skips over “Sabrina Claus” (Season 2, Episode 12), which aired on December 19, 1997. In this episode, Sabrina is diagnosed with a magical condition known as “egotitis,” a severe form of selfishness that threatens to ruin her holiday spirit. To cure her, her aunts summon a man named Bob (John Ratzenberger) to help her rediscover the meaning of giving. The episode reveals that “Bob” is merely a pseudonym for the real Santa Claus. The narrative takes a turn when Bob injures his ankle after tripping in the Spellman household, leaving him unable to complete his Christmas Eve run. Consequently, Sabrina is forced to don the red suit and pilot the sleigh herself, delivering presents to children around the world to ensure Christmas arrives on time.
In 1997, Sabrina is fully aware that Santa Claus exists, has spoken with him extensively, and has literally performed his supernatural duties. Yet, in 1998, the show presents a version of Sabrina who is surprised by the presence of Father Christmas and treats the holiday as an abstract concept. This lack of continuity transforms the Season 3 struggle into a bizarre case of selective memory, where the protagonist forgets the most magical night of her life to serve the jokes of a new script.
Sabrina the Teenage Witch is currently available to stream on Hulu and Paramount+.
Do you think sitcoms should be held to strict continuity standards, or are holiday specials exempt from the timeline? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!
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