Archie Comics Partner With Fox For New TV Show ‘Riverdale’
Archie Comics, featuring Archie Andrews and his entourage are soon going to make their way to our TV screens.
Archie Comics TV Series ‘Riverdale’ Coming To Fox http://t.co/SBZ4uWp0Fs
— Mr Ious (@MrIousRivergang) May 1, 2015
After Archie Comics received a contemporary makeover thanks to Mark Waid and Fiona Staples, the popular comic series appears set for its own TV show on Fox. If sources are to be believed, Greg Berlanti, the man behind TV shows like Arrow and The Flash, is developing a new drama for Fox based on the adventures of Archie and his gang in the small fictional town of Riverdale.
Warner Bros TV has agreed to produce Riverdale together with the studio-based Berlanti Productions. Taking place in the present day, Riverdale promises to be a modern live-action drama, unlike the many animated renditions that have sought to bring Archie onto our TV screens in the past, usually with little or no success.
It is also worth noting that the show will be written by Archie Comics’s Chief Creative Officer, Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa (who also writes “Afterlife With Archie” and “Sabrina”), promising a surrealist bend to an otherwise coming-of-age teen drama series.
Deadline, one of the first media outlets to have released the news, wrote what Aguirre-Sacasa’s involvement could be mean for the new Archie Comics show.
“Set in the present, the series offers a bold, subversive take on Archie, Betty, Veronica and their friends, exploring the surreality of small-town life — the darkness and weirdness bubbling beneath Riverdale’s wholesome façade.”
Aguirre-Sacasa, who is also a successful playwright and screenwriter, has an extensive background in coming-of-age teen dramas with Glee and Looking already in his CV, while Berlanti is a TV veteran, having earlier produced the immensely popular Dawson’s Creek and Jack & Bobby, in addition to his impressive recent productions.
According to the official Archie Comics press release, Archie Comics Publisher and Co-CEO Jon Goldwater spoke of the partnership between Aguirre-Sacasa and Berlanti in glowing terms.
“This is a historic moment for Archie Comics, and we couldn’t be happier to partner with FOX, Warner Bros. and Greg Berlanti to bring our characters to television. Greg and Roberto are experts when it comes to making great, compelling television and bringing beloved comic book creations to life on the screen. They’re the perfect team to welcome viewers to Riverdale.”
Riverdale, though slightly reworked, will still contain all the significant elements of the original Archie Comics series – the eternal love triangle of Archie, Betty and Veronica will be a central feature – while Jughead, Reggie and Kevin Keller will all remain permanent fixtures. The show aims to stay true to the central aspects of the characters, while at the same time tweaking the settings to give Riverdale a more modern-day feel.
But before Archie fans forget, the last time Archie donned a live-action role, it turned out to be quite a disaster. We will hope Aguirre-Sacasa and Berlanti can avoid us a repeat. If you’re too young to remember (or if it was so horrendous that you’ve blocked it out), check out this clip of the original live-action Archie Comics adaption.
[Photo: Giulio Marcocchi / Getty Images]
