The resurrection of the Archie brand in... Riverdale, which has become a smash hit teen series 1 1

[exitmusicblue]

Thought this merited a wider discussion among boardies than possible in the TV/Movies thread.

The success of Riverdale boggles my mind.  The cast virtually sweeps all of the youth awards.  The actors/actresses each have millions upon millions of followers on social media and a gazillion trending posts.  Every kid into today's pop culture is well-aware who Archie, Veronica, Betty, Jughead, and fam are... uncannily like how it used to be in the States and around the world.  Of course, the versions they know aren't the old school comic book types, but still.  The show despite its liberties pays homage to the comics at every turn (a city sign with PEP, Little Archie and Afterlife and Madam Satan references, etc. etc.), thanks to showrunner and Archie super-geek Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa (fellow Yalie!).

Hats off to Roberto and his creative team for pulling it off.  Plus a Sabrina show is coming, heavily influenced by the recent horror books... speaking of which, even the older comics have received a second wind from this phenomenon.

Edited August 21, 2018 by exitmusicblue

[jools&jim]

My kid, who leaves for her first year of college in a few weeks, was a huge Archie fan growing up, and was more-or-less in the target demographic when the show debuted.

She watched a few episodes...and that was it.  None of her many pop-culture obsessed friends cared for it, either...

 

[aardvark88]

It does seem like most kids under 16 know all about Riverdale tv characters. Dilton Doyle is played by a teen Canadian-Chinese actor hoping to get more screen time on the series that seems primarily filmed in North Vancouver, BC.

[exitmusicblue]

1 minute ago, jools&jim said:

My kid, who leaves for her first year of college in a few weeks, was a huge Archie fan growing up, and was more-or-less in the target demographic when the show debuted.

She watched a few episodes...and that was it.  None of her many pop-culture obsessed friends cared for it, either...

 

That was my own reaction from watching the first season... and then look what happened with the second:

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5420376/awards

[exitmusicblue]

1 minute ago, aardvark88 said:

It does seem like most kids under 16 know all about Riverdale tv characters. Dilton Doyle is played by a teen Canadian-Chinese actor hoping to get more screen time on the series that seems primarily filmed in North Vancouver, BC.

Word, it's crazy.  Just crazy.

[shortboxed]

I'm a fan of Riverdale and it's no coincidence that I've been buying more GA Archies since I started watching the show. For an Archie Comics fan, there are TONS of references in the show that most viewers probably don't realize are from the original source material, and I think that's pretty cool for Archie Comics fans.

[archiecomicscollector]

I'm a HUGE Archie Comics collector, and, although it took me a few episodes (i.e. Miss Grundy), I'm also a fan of Riverdale. 

[ComicConnoisseur]

The power of Hollywood. Never underestimate it. Can make stars overnight.

 

[thunsicker]

I watched this with my daughter who coincidentally is starting college Monday.  It was fun.  She enjoyed the teen drama like so many other shows she watches (Pretty Little Liars, Gossip Girl, 13 Reasons Why) I liked it for its Archie references.

 

Oh and Boola Boola.

[fastballspecial]

My wife and daughter are fascinated by the show and neither collected comics. I make fun of them all the time now.

Its sorta revenge for me for all the geek jokes I get from them.

 

[exitmusicblue]

At the airport, found in the latest issue of Rolling Stone: