In the latest ads for CW’s new teen series Riverdale, the live-action series looks even more like an updated Twin Peaks than in the initial teaser trailer. CW’s television adaptation of the 75-year-old Archie Comics characters and hometown is only weeks away. More and more we’re thinking the series has the look and feel of the Archie Comics’ recent successful expanded universe in its Afterlife with Archie and Chilling Adventures of Sabrina series. Let’s face it–if the new television series really were to look like the monthly comic book, which has run relatively unchanged for its 75-year span, it would basically be a remake of Happy Days.
However CW’s Riverdale turns out, our fingers remain crossed that we’ll see the infamous Sabrina drop in as a guest star or that the writers will find a way to incorporate at least a good Halloween episode. Zombies, anyone? Another classic franchise family, Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys, are getting their own update next year when Dynamite Comics releases a new monthly series adaptation with a noir, true crime twist: Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys: The Big Lie. The common theme seems to be bringing back the classics, but trying to spin them in a way to make them appeal to current audiences, which is nothing really new as adaptations go.
The first full-length trailer and a second teaser for Riverdale were both released this week. Every classic property should get the CW teen soap opera treatment like Riverdale and Smallville and all the great DC Comics series currently running. The shows may not be entirely loyal to the source materials, but you can bank on some interesting characters and well-told stories ahead.
Check out this first extended trailer for Riverdale:
And here is a second teaser for the show from earlier this week:
Riverdale stars K.J. Apa as Archie Andrews, Lili Reinhart as Betty Cooper, Camila Mendes as Veronica Lodge, Ashleigh Murray as Josie McCoy, Luke Perry as Fred Andrews, Cole Sprouse as Jughead Jones, Madelaine Petsch as Cheryl Blossom, Ross Butler as Reggie Mantle, Casey Cott as Kevin Keller, Marisol Nichols as Hermione Lodge, and–speaking of Twin Peaks–Mädchen Amick as Alice Cooper. Recurring roles include Lochlyn Munro as Betty’s dad, Robin Givens as Josie’s mom, and Stranger Things’ Shannon Purser (Barb!) as a friend of Betty and Veronica.
Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, writer on the Archie comic book series, penned the first two episodes of Riverdale. The pilot will air January 26, 2017, titled “The River’s Edge.” It will be followed by “A Touch of Evil,” “Body Double,” and “The Last Picture Show”–presumably each episode will borrow a title from a classic quirky film.
C.J. Bunce
Editor
borg.com
