Tune in
“Riverdale” premieres Thursday, Jan. 26, at 9 p.m. on the CW Network.
Did you know?
› The Andy Hardy movies, a series of sentimental comedies that starred Mickey Rooney and made from 1937 to 1946, were the inspiration for the creation of the Archie Comics gang.› Archie, Betty and Jughead made their debut in December 1941 in Pep Comics. They were so popular, the company soon changed its name to Archie Comic Publications.› In 1969, the Archies music group had the No. 1 pop hit of the year — “Sugar Sugar.” Their next single, “Jingle Jangle,” climbed to No. 10. They were created by impresario Don Krishner after the members of his previous creation, the Monkees, began to demand total musical autonomy because they had become so popular. The musicians who played on the Archie records were a group of various studio musicians.› In 1990, a movie titled “Archie: To Riverdale And Back Again” aired on TV.› “Sabrina, the Teenage Witch” is a spinoff of Archie Comics.› In 2011, a copy of Archie Comics No. 1 from 1942 sold for $167,300, the most ever paid for a non-superhero comic.Source: Wikipedia, mentalfloss.com, scoopwhoop.com
Over 75 years, Archie, Betty and Veronica - the squeaky-clean, idealized teen heroes of Archie Comics - never dealt with more high-school drama than who Archie would ask to the prom.
That's about to change. Radically.
On Thursday night, the CW Network launches "Riverdale," a new show based on the Archie Comics series that features a sexually-charged cast of teens caught up in a shady murder mystery. Think "Gossip Girl" meets "Twin Peaks."
Oh, there's still the iconic Betty-Veronica-Archie love triangle, but now the girls vie with a very cougarish Miss Grundy for Archie's attention. No wonder. The snub-nose Archie with cross-hatched orange hair in the comics has been updated as a ripped redhead played by K.J. Apa in the new series.
From the moment Veronica hails Archie with "Hey, Teen Outlander!" - a pop culture reference to another ginger, Sam Heughan, star of "Outlander" - viewers know this isn't the Archie they grew up reading. And the nostalgia associated with their childhood comics has some fans disappointed to see the Archies' image tarnished.
"I don't even think I can describe the level of contentment I had with each new issue of the Archie comic books," says Becky Hansard, Silverdale Baptist Academy head of school. "I would get them at the drugstore located next door to what is now Food City on Lee Highway. I only went when I had saved up the dime it took to buy the comic book. I can still hear the tinkling of the little bell on the door of the drugstore."
"I hate what they are doing to my comic book friends with the new sexy TV series. Veronica would be mortified!" she says.
It's not just baby boomers who may be in for a shock; Millennials will find that the teen heartthrob of their generation, Luke Perry, is playing Archie's dad.
But one thing remains the same: There's still a Pop's Chok'lit Shoppe in Riverdale where the gang hangs out.
In the premiere, Riverdale High's "it girl," Cheryl Blossom, played by Madelaine Petch, has survived a boating accident that kills her twin brother. As the teens try to process this tragedy, secrets are revealed that show all is not as it seems in their all-American town.
Betty Cooper, played by Lili Reinhart, is still the bubbly, blonde girl-next-door, but she pops Adderall to cope with her mother and the pressures of high school. Veronica Lodge (Camila Mendes) is new to town, having arrived after her dad is involved in a Bernie Madoff-style Ponzi scandal.
Archie's sidekick, Jughead Jones (Cole Sprouse), narrates the series through his role as a reporter for the high school newspaper. He's doing his own investigation into the accident. Josie McCoy (Ashleigh Murray) is still singing lead with Josie and the Pussycats, but she's begun collaborating with Archie on music.
Roberto Aquirre-Sacasa, creator and executive producer, says these changes are one reason why the series is titled "Riverdale."
"We wanted to make it clear that it was about a town, not just a high school," Aquirre-Sacasa said in an interview with TV Guide.
After writing for "Glee" and "Big Love" television series, Aguirre-Sacasa wrote comic books for 11 years before being named chief creative officer for Archie Comics.
A.J. Kocher, co-owner of Fantasy Factory in Dalton, Ga., which carries Archie Comics, says that, though the comics have declined some in popularity over seven decades, one reason they still sell is that its creators "have modernized them and gone to a little more mature level. It's still suitable for teens, but not as 'jokey' a book as it was when I was a kid."
That's the goal Aquirre-Sacasa has for this series.
"Our show is not that different from the core of 'Archie' from the 1940s and 1950s. Archie in the comics was a good kid who always tried to do his best, frequently screwed up, made things worse before he made them better, then learned a lesson," Aguirre-Sacasa said in an interview with the Associated Press.
"The Archie on our show is actually like that as well. He is basically a good kid, but he's in much more adult situations than he ever was in the comic book."
Executive Producer Greg Berlanti wanted to update the cast's diversity.
"A lot of these comic books were written in a time where the bulk of the people reading them and writing them were white," he says. "That's not the world we live in anymore. We were cognizant about changing the ethnicity and updating characters."
To that end, Veronica is played by Latino actress Mendes and Josie and the Pussycats are an all-black trio. And Casey Cott plays gay teen Kevin Keller.
Even though "Riverdale" is about teenagers dealing with the angst of high school and the series is targeted to teens, that's not the age group that buys Archie Comics, says Buddy Davenport, owner of B&M Amusement on Highway 58.
"It's older people, ages 25 to 50," he says. "They've been collecting (the comics) all their life, and they are still collecting."
Whether or not they tune in Thursday remains to be seen. But Davenport anticipates the new television show may give his business a bump.
"Anytime a new series starts, volume normally picks up."
Contact Susan Pierce at spierce@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6284.