STARR REPORT

Michael Starr

'Witch' way is up: Eden snags 'Sabrina' role

Barbara Eden will return to series TV in a comedic role for the first time since "I Dream of Jeannie" on The WB's "Sabrina the Teenage Witch."

Eden will play Sabrina's (Melissa Joan Hart) Great Aunt Ida in a recurring role beginning in December. Great Aunt Ida is described as "the devilish matriarch of the Spellman family."

Eden begins production on her first "Sabrina" episode, "A Birthday Witch," today in Los Angeles. There's nothing official, and this is just an idea, but if Eden works out she could be an eventual replacement for Caroline Rhea (Aunt Hilda), who will begin hosting her own talk show after Rosie O'Donnell leaves "The Rosie O'Donnell Show" next May.