The Michigan flaih; - Wpelnp el-v. Oct nhpr 1 . 1000 - ... ........ ._..... ......... .. . . ................ s... .. eve . s . .... ... ...... ...... .a.... . .. ... . .. .. . ..... ..... ... .. JULUL)UT -L,), -LZ7U--7 - 4..L Witchy Hart spreads more tan controversy in photos The Baltimore Sun 11 For anyone who grew up watching '80s prime-time sitcoms, using zit cream and believing in the purity of Sabrina the Teenage Witch, a glance t the magazine racks recently was rnEh to provoke some deep soul- se ing. On the cover of Stuff magazine, Alyssa Milano, formerly the sweet amantha Micelli of "Who's The Boss?" made sultry in a drenched hite tank top. Nearby, Rebecca ayheart, the former "Noxzema irl," appeared (airbrushed to death) opless in leather pants on the cover f Details. Most wicked of all, though, was h age of Melissa Joan Hart, star if WBC's uber-wholesome "Sabrina he Teenage Witch," flaunting herself n boy magazines Maxim (the "bare itch" in black lingerie) and Bikini the wet witch in, well, a bikini). The startling images alone elicited inces. But in her pinup-accompa- iying "interviews," Hart also offered p some disturbing dish, like an pisode of Tequila-induced vomiting nme difference between good and Treat sex. You could hardly think back on her ld Nickelodeon kiddie sitcom, 'Clarissa Explains It All," without 'ecling dirty. Nubile starlets appearing semi- ude on magazine covers is nothing ;hocking - or new. And any leap rom ingenue to sex kitten is a calcu- ated risk, something Hart seemed to la in mind when she declared on ' s "Showbiz Today": "You now, it's something I just decided to do. I'm 23, is the bottom line. I'm 23. I can do what I want. It's my career." But this little witch has got more at stake. Like, Melissa, you're the center- piece of ABC's saccharine "TGIF"' lineup - the birthplace of "Family M*rs," "Step By Step," and "Boy Meets World." And there's a reason most of your fans - with the exception of those who, play drinking games to your show before going out - are home watching TV Friday nights. They're 8 years old! Sabrina's a good witch. Hart seemed like a good girl. Why go bad - even if you do have a new movie, thten flick "Drive Me Crazy" - no 11 to promote? "This is a game of publicity. It just elevates her status even more," says Neil Alperstein, associate professor of popular culture at Loyola University. He says stirring up the controversy caldron has perks for everyone. Hart herself is luxuriating in the buzz and copies of Maxim are flying off the shelves. Regardkles of her new fan base of hungry young males, Hart does stand to lose some less lusty Sabrinaphiles. "Sometimes people will reject the celebrity when they do something so antithetical to their value system," says Loyola's Alperstein. After all, Hart has two audiences to satisfy: the kids who watch her and their parents. "If she rode Sabrina to success, she owes something to that per- sona," says Sheri Parks, co-host of WJHU's "Media Matters" and a University of Maryland, College Park, professor. Is it unfair to sliackle the young witch- to this pristine image? Jim Kaminsky, co-editor of Maxim, thinks so. "It's a good thing to let everyone know she's an adult," he says. "That': a difficult thing to do" Kaminsky added that offering his readers "your favorite witch without a stitch" wasn't a random decision. Maxim, he says, has a vocal reader- ship, and had received thousands of letters suggesting Hart grace the cover, he says. Not that his magazine would pan- der to every kinky reader demand, Kaminsky assures. Maxim would never feature an under-18 starlet on its cover, he says, as Details did ear- lier this year when "Eyes Wide Shut" ingenue Leelee Sobieski displayed cleavage on its cover. "It's not like we're pulling a fast one on any of these actresses," he says. When Maxim approached Hart, there was no arm-twisting involved, Kaminsky says. Hart and her mom, Paula, "Sabrina's" executive produc- er, seemed eager to do some high- profile image tweaking. Whatever Hart's fans (and busi- ness partners) think of her abrupt image shift, it illustrates that heels, push-up bras and smoldering glances may just be the most reliable tickets to starlet success. There are exceptions to the rule (see Jodie Foster and Claire Danes). But there are far more tales of squeaky-clean sweethearts doing some serious re-vamping, some trag- ically (Dana Plato), others tri- umphantly (Drew Barrymore). Take actresses like Milano and Shannen Doherty, whose Brenda Walsh on "Beverly Hills, 90210" basked in her Beverly Hills Virgin identity. (Doherty was in "Our House" with Wilford Brimley before that. Wilford Brimley! He does Quaker Oats commercials!) These two formerly wholesome hotties have since become notorious for their bad-girl power. Maybe it's a witch thing. The two are now on the same show, "Charmed," playing sis- ter witches. Empowered, exploited ... whatever. For an actress facing this almost inevitable rite of passage, this is how it goes: Girl gets popular in whole- some role. Girl develops secondary sexual characteristics. Girl appears on cover of testosterone-fueled 'zine with only a sheet and a G-string cov- ering secondary sexual characteris- tics. Think the Olsen twins in leather. It's just a matter of time. '',,; I Courtesygofsy1'C Melissa Joan Hart is driving parents crazy w-ith her recent men's magazine photos. Read the Daily. 0 ,. ,. S5.26 Late Shows Fri &aSat 0 No passes or Tuesday discounts Unfimited Free Drink Refills & .25c Corn Refills Stadium Seating Gives YOU An Unobstructed View e ALL SCREENS DIGITAL STEREO ALLTHEATERS STADIUM SEATING 6 SUPERSTAR (PG-13) 1:30,3:30. 5:30,7:25,9:10 ORANDOM HEARTS (R) 11:30, 12:30, 2:00,3:05,4:30, 5:45, 05, 8:45, 9:45 THREE KINGS (R) 12:00, 12:25, 2:20,2:55,4:40, 5:10, 7:00, 7:30, 9:25, 9:55 o ELMO IN GROUCHLAND (G) 4:00, 3:00, 5:00, 7:00 O DRIVE ME CRAZY (PG-13) 1:20, 1:40, 3:20, 3:40, 5:20, 5:40, 7:20, 7:40, 9:20, 9:35 OMYSTERY ALASKA (R) 11;45, 2:05, 4:25, 6:55, 9:25 OPLUNKETT & MACLEANE (R) 2:45, 7:25 LUMINATA (R) 11:50, 4:35, 7:05 UMFORD (R) 2:15,9:30 DOUBLE JEOPARDY (R) ~1:55, 12:20, 2:10, 2:40, 4:30, 4:55, 650, 7:15, 9:15, 9:40 JAKOB THE LIAR (PG-13) 9:00 BLUE STREAK (PG-13) 12:15, 2:35, 5:00, 7:10, 9:20 FOR LOVE OF THE GAME (PG-13) '11:45.2:15. 4:45.7:15. 9:40 Mu .. F m