When I was a kid I loved comic books. The market wasn’t flooded with superheroes then, so my favorites were the Dell Mickey Mouse/Bugs Bunny comics based on movie cartoons, Dennis the Menace comics based on the newspaper comic strip, and Archie Comics, an eponymous label about teenager Archie Andrews and the innocent, fun-loving denizens of the town of Riverdale. When I heard last year that the CW, the network that aims at the youthful demographics, (18-49 years old), was airing a series called RIVERDALE based on the Archie comics, I just had to watch. Even if I was out of the age range. I have watched. Let me tell you the CW’s RIVERDALE isn’t like any Archie comic you read in your well-spent or misspent youth.
In the new RIVERDALE,the characters, although physically resembling those of the past, are nothing like their cartoon predecessors. Archie played by KJ Apa is a bulked up, 21st century version of the cartoon character with an up-to-date hairstyle. Remember how cartoon Archie had those weird curls atop his head. No more. And, not only does the beautiful, raven-haired Veronica Lodge, played by Camila Mendes, have wealthy parents, but her father Hiram made that wealth as a cold-blooded crime boss. In the comics, Jughead was only concerned about pursuing a hamburger. On RIVERDALE, Jughead is a fearless laptop-wielding student journalist writing for a school that apparently has no editorial taboos and is also a member of a motorcycle gang for which his often imprisoned father was once president. He still wears the weird beanie, though. Now, I think the TV Betty is my favorite character. Lili Reinhart really looks like Betty, especially when she has her tied back in the signature ponytail. She’s sweet, cute, and vulnerable as a good Betty should be. Still, she is a tough young woman, a journalist like Jughead, and she’s not afraid to do battle with the psycho killer who stalks the Riverdale streets. She also often crosses pens with her nasty mother who is the editor of the local Riverdale paper as well as having a lot of nasty words with her at home. As to some of the other characters of import in the comics, Reggie Mantle has a limited role in the show but is the go-to-guy if you need steroids. Dilton Doily, comic book nerd, is now a potential serial killer. And Miss Grundy, the old maid school teacher of years gone by, is now a hot, 20-something music teacher who teaches Archie a lot more than chords on his guitar. (Miss Grundy was a short-term character in the show. She got murdered already.)
Comic book Betty and Veronica were both always trying for romance with Archie. Usually Veronica was successful. That’s the case in the TV show, too. Archie and new-girl-in-town Veronica fall for each other and go, as they used to say in the 50‘s, all-the-way! (They probably still say it.) In the TV show Betty also has an in-depth relationship, really in-depth, with Jughead. . . although there’s still that sense that Betty would rather be with the red-headed kid. Poor Betty.
The producers pulled some actors from 90’s kid-oriented TV shows to play the grown-ups in RIVERDALE. BEVERLY HILLS 90210’s Luke Perry is Fred Andrews, Archie’s hard-working dad, Molly Ringwald of SIXTEEN CANDLES and PRETTY IN PINK is Archie’ ginger-topped mom, Skeet Ulrich, one of the two killers in SCREAM plays Jughead’s dad, and Madchen Amick of TWIN PEAKS is Betty’s mom, Alice Cooper. (Was Mrs. Cooper really named Alice in the comics?)
I happily admit that I usually enjoy this show. The young actors are great looking and fun to watch and just serious enough in their portrayals not to make the characters seem silly. A scandal in the old Archie comics might have involved gold fish in the punchbowl at the prom. On the CW, Season 1 dealt with, among other dark things, sexual abuse and football players, and Season 2 with an vengeance-seeking killer bent on murdering everyone in Riverdale who ever sinned. Now that’s a big job no matter what town you are talking about. Does this sound silly? Does it sound like too much of a stretch? Maybe. . . still I recommend RIVERDALE. Watch it once, and if you hate it, never come back to this comic town again, but you very well might like it. Care to try? Season 1 is on Netflix and Season 2 is probably still on demand.--Greg Ellstrom
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