This isn't our old, familiar Archie Comics, fellow boomers. Archie, Jughead and the gang in Riverdale may have been around since December 1941, but The CW has gotten hold of it and tweaking has taken place.
For those of us who long ago quit paying attention, Archie slipped over into graphic novels and became increasingly more "adult" starting in 2010, incorporating more contemporary themes. There was even a zombie apocalypse in 2013.
Which brings us to the latest incarnation.
Riverdale debuts at 8 p.m. today on The CW with a decidedly darker vision of high school life in the idyllic small town of Riverdale -- "The town with pep!" as it says on the billboard out on the highway.
Indeed, as a new school year begins, the town is staggering from the recent tragic and mysterious death of golden boy Jason Blossom.
Archie Andrews (New Zealand actor K.J. Apa) is still our red-headed, freckle-faced all-American kid who just happens to have been having a steamy summer fling with his hot, young music teacher, Ms. Grundy (Sarah Habel).
Teacher/student affairs, by the way, are still taboo, even in Riverdale, a town literally shrouded in fog and mist (Vancouver, British Columbia, is where the show is filmed).
Despite the end of the affair, Archie wants to pursue a career in music and not follow his father (Luke Perry) into construction. Without Ms. Grundy, Archie lacks a suitable music mentor. That includes singer Josie McCoy (Ashleigh Murray), who is only focused on her band, the soon-to-be-world-famous Josie and the Pussycats.
Also suffering under all this teen angst and pressure is Archie's long-standing best bud friendship with brooding would-be writer and classmate Jughead Jones (Cole Sprouse), who has modified his goofy trademark beanie hat into a hip knit thing.
Sweet, perfect girl next door Betty Cooper (Lili Reinhart) still has a crush on the suddenly ripped Archie, but hasn't seen him all summer (he's been busy). Madchen Amick portrays Betty's overbearing mother Alice.
Fresh drama unfolds when formerly wealthy Veronica Lodge (Camila Mendes) arrives from New York with her financially ruined mother Hermione (Marisol Nichols).
"I'm Breakfast at Tiffany's," Veronica chirps, "but this place is strictly In Cold Blood."
There's undeniable chemistry between Archie and Veronica, but she has precious few friends and doesn't want to risk what she has with Betty by making a move on Archie.
And finally there's Cheryl Blossom (Madelaine Petsch), twin sister to the recently departed Jason, and Riverdale's resident mean girl/queen bee. Cheryl is more than happy to stir things up, but she has deep, dark secrets of her own.
Riverdale has gotten a lot of pre-season buzz and in the three episodes I've seen, I understand why. The Los Angeles Times has labeled Riverdale as Twin Peaks meets Dawson's Creek, and quotes creator Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa as saying, "We always try to tell a story that works both as an Archie story and as a noir, David Lynch-ian kind of story.
"Our show is not that different from the core of Archie from the 1940s or the 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, and then learned a lesson.
"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. He's wrestling with that, but his essence is still the same."
• New on Amazon. Z: The Beginning of Everything debuts on Amazon on Friday. The series stars Christina Ricci as high-spirited Zelda Sayre, the future Zelda in the star-crossed duo of F. Scott (David Hoflin) and Zelda Fitzgerald.
The series follows the couple from their first meeting in Montgomery, Ala., to the wild celebrity life in New York, and their days as expatriates in Paris.
It was a crazy, drunken marriage. Neither made it out of their 40s.
• Seinfeld. Jerry Seinfeld is moving his hilarious short-form series Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee from the digital network Crackle to the far more accessible Netflix when Season 10 premieres late this year. There will be 24 episodes.
• Reminder. ABC's hugely popular Thursday night lineup kicks in today. Beginning at 7 p.m. it'll be Grey's Anatomy, Scandal and How to Get Away With Murder.
• Brad Paisley. The country star has a special, Brad Paisley -- Landmarks Live in Concert: A Great Performances Special, at 8 p.m. Friday on AETN. It's an outdoor concert at West Virginia University.
The TV Column appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. Email:
mstorey@arkansasonline.com
Weekend on 01/26/2017