"ABC Saturday Comedy Special" Archie (1978)

User Rating:

8.8/10   

Director:

Robert Scheerer

Writers:

Beverly Bloomberg (writer)
Eric Cohen (writer)

TV Series:

"ABC Saturday Comedy Special" (1978)

Original Air Date:

15 July 1978

Genre:

Comedy

Plot:

Plot Keywords:

TV Series Pilot | Archie Comics | Based On Comic Book | Sitcom | Anthology

Cast

Dennis Bowen	...	Archie Andrews
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Whit Bissell	...	Mr. Lodge
Susan Blu	...	Midge
Jim Boelsen	...	Moose
Paul Thomas Gordon	...	Phil (as Paul T. Gordon)
Gordon Jump	...	Mr. Andrews
Jane Lambert	...	Miss Grundy
Audrey Landers	...	Betty Cooper
Mae Marmy	...	Aunt Helen
Derrel Maury	...	Jughead Jones
Bill Mumy	...	Larry
Michelle Stacy	...	Little Jinx
Amzie Strickland	...	Mrs. Lodge
Hilary Thompson	...	Veronica Lodge
Tifni Twitchell	...	Big Ethel
Byron Webster	...	Mr. Weatherbee
Mark Winkworth	...	Reggie Mantle

Runtime:

60 min

Trivia:

ABC ordered this pilot to be retooled. Another pilot titled The Archie Situation Comedy Musical Variety Show (1978) (TV) was made but it was not picked up either.

Movie Connections:

Follows "The Archie Comedy Hour" (1969)

One of two failed Archie pilots, with largely the same cast

The first pilot for an "Archie" TV show aired only once, during the summer on ABC, and was a more traditional adaptation of the long-running comic book series, with corny jokes more like the 1950s. The second pilot for an "Archie" TV show also aired only once, on ABC, during the following summer, and had a more modern slant, showing the actors singing and dancing like a contemporary rock group and being a bit more "racy" and modern, with jokes about making out and kissing. They even had Lil' Jinx, which I think is the only time the character got to step outside the comic pages! I'm pretty sure this entry is for this second attempt.

I remember one of the songs done in this series was called "Telephone Rondelay," but I can't remember if it was in the first or the second pilot! It was something like the song, "The Telephone Hour," in the musical, "Bye Bye Birdie." The same cast was in both pilots, or at least I remember that both pilots had Audrey Landers as Betty, Dennie Bowen as Archie, but most especially both had Derrel Maury as Jughead, who I (sigh) fell in love with!! Such a jazzy Jughead! I do remember the bit mentioned in a previous comment, where the others were trying to learn Jughead's real name. I think it was Miss Grundy who helped Jughead fool the kids with info that indicated his name was Jughead. At the end, Jughead told her thanks, but I remember the teacher responding with, "You're welcome, Forsythe"--and not Steve. Forsythe was Jughead's real name in the comics.