The Archie Show
Series, 1968, The '60s and '70s, Set in Riverdale
The Archie Show is #2 of 18 in release order and #2 of 18 in chronological order in the CBS Saturday Morning Cartoons.
The story
The Archie Show is a Saturday morning cartoon animated series produced by Filmation. Based on the Archie comic books, created by Bob Montana in 1941, The Archie Show debuted on CBS in September 1968 and lasted for one season. A total of 17 half-hour shows, each containing two 11 minute segments, were aired. Archie cartoons continued to be aired in various forms until 1978.
The Archie Show recap
The Archie Show (1968) turns Archie Andrews and his Riverdale friends into a bubblegum pop band, The Archies, in a Filmation cartoon for CBS. Norm Prescott and Lou Scheimer produced it from the comics of John L. Goldwater and Bob Montana. Archie (Dallas McKennon, singing voice Ron Dante) plays lead guitar, joined by Jughead Jones (Howard Morris), Reggie Mantle (John Erwin), and Betty Cooper and Veronica Lodge (both spoken by Jane Webb and sung by Toni Wine), plus Jughead's dog, Hot Dog. Each half hour mixes two short comedy stories with a song by the band, a Dance of the Week and a Jughead joke segment. The first run of 17 episodes aired from September 14, 1968, to January 4, 1969. The band's single "Sugar, Sugar", sung by Dante and Wine, topped the pop charts for four weeks in 1969 and became the year's biggest hit. CBS kept the gang on Saturday mornings by reshaping the show: it grew into The Archie Comedy Hour in 1969, adding a Sabrina the Teenage Witch segment, then became Archie's Funhouse in 1970 with live-action pieces, before leaving CBS in 1971 after three seasons.
The Archie Show ending explained
The Archie Show ends with "Jones Farm", its 17th episode, aired as the first run closed on January 4, 1969, with no series finale. The format carried straight on in The Archie Comedy Hour and Archie's Funhouse. Filmation kept making Archie cartoons until 1978, including Archie's TV Funnies, The U.S. of Archie and The New Archie and Sabrina Hour, the last of which moved to NBC. The characters later returned in live action in the drama Riverdale (2017).
Ratings
IMDb 6.8/10
Where it fits
- Release order: after The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Hour, before Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!.
- Chronological order: after The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Hour, before Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!.
Cast
- Dal McKennon as Archie Andrews / Hot Dog / Mr. Weatherbee / Pop Tate / Mr. Lodge / Coach Kleats (speaking voices)
- Jane Webb as Betty Cooper / Veronica Lodge / Miss Grundy / Big Ethel (speaking voices)
- Howard Morris as Moose Mason / Jughead Jones / Dilton Doiley (voices)
- John Erwin as Reggie Mantle (voice)
- Ron Dante as Archie Andrews' singing voice
- Toni Wine as Betty Cooper's & Veronica Lodge's singing voices
Created by John L. Goldwater.