Is the Nielsen Family ready for an X-rated Sabrina?

Once upon a time Melissa Joan Hart was happy "explaining" it all to you -- as Clarissa on the popular Nickleodeon children's show. But now she's decided that a picture is worth a thousand words. The twenty-three year old star of ABC's family sitcom Sabrina, the Teenage Witch is being showcased as "the witch without a stitch" in the popular men's magazine Maxim.

"What we're doing is just showing people that she is a grownup," explains Hart's mom, Paula.

And Maxim's cover shot of the wholesome young actress disporting topless should make it perfectly clear that Hart is well past puberty.

"It makes me a little uncomfortable as her mother," Paula Hart admits. "But as the executive producer of the show, maybe it will bring in more male viewers."

We're glad she has her priorities straight.

If any potential male viewers need more convincing, that's Hart again in the skimpiest of bathing suits on the cover of Bikini magazine.

It ain't always easy being a grownup sex symbol.

"I can't even eat anything," Melissa Joan complains. "I have to look skinny in a bikini. Any kind of bread makes me look plump. I told them they can't airbrush my body, they can't change my shape--that sends a terrible message to girls."

Meanwhile, a PG-13 version of the blond starlet will soon be available when Hart's new movie, Drive Me Crazy, opens at a theater near you this week.

by Patrizia DiLucchio