Hart rose to fame on “Clarissa Explains It All,” which aired from 1991 to 1994, and then on “Sabrina the Teenage Witch” from 1996 to 2003.

Why Melissa Joan Hart never watched her beloved ’90s shows when they first aired

Hart rose to fame on "Clarissa Explains It All," which aired from 1991 to 1994, and then on "Sabrina the Teenage Witch" from 1996 to 2003.

By Lauren Huff

Lauren Huff

Lauren Huff is an award-winning journalist and staff writer at ** with over 12 years of experience covering all facets of the entertainment industry.

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February 16, 2026 12:30 p.m. ET

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Melissa Joan Hart attends a Variety Power of Women event in 2025. Credit:

Tibrina Hobson/Getty

When it comes to the early work that made her a household name as a teenager, Melissa Joan Hart has a surprising admission: She never really watched any of it back in the day.

“I’ve never watched the shows, really, ever, except *Melissa and Joey*, because I had to live-tweet them. So I did watch those," she told PEOPLE at Steven Tyler’s 7th Annual Jam for Janie Grammy Awards Viewing Party, referring to her sitcom with Joey Lawrence that ran from 2010-2015. "But I recently watched, like a few years ago, when I had my podcast, I would watch an episode here and there for whoever was coming on, just to refresh my memory about certain things."

Hart also told the outlet the last time she watched one of her old shows was "a few years ago."**

Hart first rose to fame on *Clarissa Explains It All*, which aired from 1991 to 1994, and then on *Sabrina the Teenage Witch* from 1996 to 2003.

Since she doesn't count herself among the diehard fans of her own shows, she told PEOPLE that, over the years, she's forgotten about other projects she appeared in.

Melissa Joan Hart and Salem the cat in 'Sabrina the Teenage Witch'.

George Lange/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty

"Apparently, I was on *Boy Meets World*, and I didn't even remember. I had to watch it,” Hart joked, meaning her 1997 guest starring role on the series. “I don't have memories of a lot of these things, so it's fun to watch them back sometimes, but it's also a little cringe. *Sabrina* is 30 this year, which is crazy,” she added.

Hart may not be keen on revisiting past work, but she has spoken about them many times over the years. She previously opened up to PEOPLE in 2024 about how she didn't feel like she could relate to her most famous character, Sabrina.

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"Not only was she younger than me, she didn't want attention. She wanted to be the wallflower," Hart said at the time. "She didn't know what to do with these magical abilities. She felt very lost, and other people were trying to help her solve it."

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"If she wasn't always in different costumes and kind of getting put in these weird situations where I got to be Cinderella or Alice [in] Wonderland or a trapeze artist or in Cirque du Soleil or whatever," Hart added, "I don't know if I would've enjoyed the experience as much as I did, because I just didn't identify with her very well."

She did feel she could relate more to suburban teen Clarissa, however, in her other major coming-of-age series.

"Being on *Clarissa* gave me that freedom to sort of figure out who I was while she's figuring out who she is," Hart said. "So it's really a blurred line between me and Clarissa — we were the exact same age."**

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