The tradition of Saturday morning cartoons really kicked into high gear in 1967, when all three TV networks of the time– ABC, CBS, and NBC– unveiled full rosters of original shows created specifically to air in this time slot. Among the standout programs from that season were Hanna-Barbera’s Space Ghost and Filmation’s The New Adventures of Superman, both of which aired on CBS. These two were so popular that the following season saw all three networks launching a slew of superhero/action-adventure cartoons.
While these were hits with kids, they didn’t go over that well with parents. In particular, one mother, Peggy Charron, was so upset at the negative impact that these “violent” shows had on young ones that she created the watchdog group Action for Children’s Television (ACT) and began putting pressure on the networks to remove the series that she objected to.
She won. Due to pressure from ACT, the networks one-by-one removed their superhero/action cartoons in favor of more comedic fare. But what now?
Actually, the networks scored even BIGGER hits with their new less “violent” shows. I have already discussed one… possibly the biggest, most influential cartoon of all– Scooby-Doo.
In 1968, CBS and Filmation delivered another smash success, although one that hasn’t proved as influential or enduring as Scooby-Doo— The Archie Show based on characters from Archie Comics. While The Archie Show was a stellar hit at the time, and the comics and characters continue to this day, the original cartoon isn’t quite the classic that Scooby-Doo is. However, it accomplished something no other cartoon ever has– a #1 hit single on the Billboard charts.*
Archie Andrews debuted in 1941 in MLJ Magazine Inc.’s Pep Comics #22. A goofy, redheaded teenager, Archie was created by John L. Goldwater, Bob Montana, and Vic Bloom, based on the movie character Andy Hardy portrayed in a popular series of films by Mickey Rooney. While Archie and his pals shared Pep Comics with the superhero The Shield, eventually Archie proved so popular that not only did he and his friends get their own comics with their names in the titles, but MLJ changed its name to Archie Comics. (In a wink to the early days, on Riverdale, the titular town is referred to as “The Town With Pep.”)
The Archie Show focused on the main characters from the comics– Archie, his best friend Jughead Jones, frenemy Reggie Mantle, and crushes Betty Cooper and Veronica Lodge, as well as Jughead’s pooch Hot Dog. The five main characters played in a band together called The Archies, with Archie on guitar and lead vocals, Reggie on bass, Jughead on drums, Betty on tambourine, and Veronica on keyboards.
Dallas McKennon voiced Archie, Hot Dog, principal Mr. Weatherby, Pop Tate, Mr. Lodge, and Coach Kleats. McKennon has an extensive resume of voice acting, often providing animal sounds such as Maleficent’s raven in Sleeping Beauty, and Max the dog in How the Grinch Stole Christmas. But perhaps his most iconic roles were as Gumby and Pokey on the original claymation series The Gumby Show and in 1995’s The Gumby Movie.
Jane Webb voiced both Betty and Veronica, as well as Miss Grundy and Big Ethel. To differentiate between Betty and Veronica, Webb gave “Ronnie” a Southern accent, even though the character isn’t Southern in the comics. When Filmation added Sabrina to the series, later on, she voiced Sabrina and both her aunts, Hilda and Zelda. Webb was a Filmation regular having voiced Barbara Gordon/Batgirl on Batman, Wonder Woman on The Brady Kids, Ginger and Mary Ann on The New Adventures of Gilligan, and more.
Reggie was voiced by John Erwin (who would later voice He-Man), while Howard Morris (Ernest T. Bass on The Andy Griffith Show) voiced Jughead, Moose, and Dilton.
The first season of The Archie Show consisted of 17 episodes bookended by two story shorts. In between, there was a dance segment in which the gang would demonstrate a signature move to viewers, a music video, and a brief Jughead short which followed the formula of the one-page gags in the comics.
Ahhhh the music! The Archie Show itself is pretty unremarkable. But it accomplished an amazing feat by landing a string of hit singles including “Sugar Sugar” which went to #1 on the U.S. Billboard charts, where it stayed for four weeks! It sold six million copies and was certified gold.
The song featured on the first episode, “Bang-Shang-a-Lang” hit #22. The Archies scored two other Top 40 hits, “Jingle Jangle” which hit #10, and “Who’s Your Baby”, #40. “Jingle Jangle” sold over one million copies and was also certified gold.
Ron Dante provided the singing voice of Archie with Toni Wine recording the original vocals for Betty and Veronica, before being replaced by Donna Marie, who was herself later replaced by Merle Miller. Dante and other musicians performed as The Archies at live concerts.
“Sugar Sugar” was written by proven hitmakers Jeff Barry and Andy Kim. Barry frequently collaborated with Phil Spector and they co-wrote (along with Barry’s then-wife Ellie Greenwich) such classics as “Do Wah Diddy Diddy,” “Da Doo Ron Ron,” “Then He Kissed Me,” “Be My Baby,” “Chapel of Love,” and “River Deep – Mountain High.” Barry, Greenwich, and Shadow Morton also wrote “Leader of the Pack.” Kim would later score a #1 hit himself with “Rock Me Gently” in 1974.
The singles were not successful when originally shipped to radio. What teenager or adult wants to listen to songs from a kids’ cartoon? But CBS knew that “Sugar Sugar” in particular had the potential to be a big hit and shipped the records to radio stations without labeling them with the group’s name.
It worked and the song became a massive hit. The Archies wound up being so successful that The Ed Sullivan Show would regularly air the musical segments from the cartoon as part of its format.
Check out one of the performances of the pure pop confection “Sugar Sugar” in this clip below:
Partially fueled by the success of “Sugar Sugar” and the other singles, the ratings for The Archie Show skyrocketed, making it the most-watched show on Saturday mornings. A prime-time (?) special, Archie and his New Pals aired in 1969 and introduced fellow Archie comics headliner Sabrina Spellman (a.k.a. Sabrina the Teenage Witch) as a new classmate, and setting her up to co-star on the series the following year.
The Archie Show was clearly a smash hit and CBS and Filmation would continue to deliver new Archie cartoons for years to follow– The Archie Comedy Hour (1969–70), Archie’s Funhouse (1970–71), Archie’s TV Funnies (1971–73), Everything’s Archie (1973–74, no new material), The U.S. of Archie (1974–76), and finally, The New Archie and Sabrina Hour (1977–78).
Archie’s TV Funnies saw the gang running a local TV station where they would air cartoons based on classic comic strip characters– Dick Tracy, The Captain and the Kids, Emmy Lou, Nancy, The Dropouts, Moon Mullins, Smokey Stover, and Broom-Hilda.
The U.S. of Archie was meant to capitalize on the U.S.’ bicentennial in 1976 and had the gang reenacting stories from American history.
Sabrina was added in the second season was later spun off into her own show, which likewise ran for many years under different titles.
Another set of Archie Comics characters, Josie & The Pussycats, were also brought to animation and aired back-to-back with The Archie Show and subsequent seasons, however, that show was produced by Hanna-Barbera, so there was no connection between the two. However, in the pages of Archie Comics, both shows were promoted together.
In 1981, Filmation delivered a new school-based series, this time to NBC– Hero High, part of the Kids Super Power Hour. There are conflicting reports that this may have originated as a superhero version of Archie. According to some, Filmation developed Hero High that way only to find out that the studio had let the rights to the Archie characters lapse, forcing them to retool it. Others close to the production deny that it was ever intended as an update of Archie.
The Archie characters returned to Saturday mornings in 1987, however, they were de-aged to middle school students on The New Archies. This series was produced by DIC Animation and aired on NBC. Despite referring to the characters as “The New Archies,” they didn’t actually play in a band called The Archies in this iteration.
In 1990, NBC aired the live-action TV movie Archie: Return to Riverdale depicting the gang as adults who come back to their hometown. Somewhat like the Brady Bunch TV movies, this version took the classic, innocent characters and saddled them with mature problems. This was intended as a pilot for a potential ongoing series that never materialized. Among the cast was Lauren Holly as Betty. Holly later achieved success, co-starring in Dumb and Dumber, and on the TV series Picket Fences and NCIS.
And of course, there is the deconstructionist modern teen soap opera Riverdale, which was once one of The CW’s top shows but should have been put out of its misery years ago.
The Archie Show, Archie’s Funhouse, and Sabrina the Teenage Witch were released in their entirety on DVD in 2007-08. But honestly, this is one of those shows where if you can find a few clips on Youtube, that’s all you need. Very much like the actual Archie comics, these are light, episodic gags. Once you watch a couple, you’ve pretty much seen them all. But the music is still pretty great!
Were you a fan of Filmation’s animated adaptations of Archie?
*NOTE: I know some people might be thinking that “The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don’t Be Late)” might also qualify as having been a #1 song from a cartoon, however, it was released in 1958 and did indeed hit #1. BUT Alvin & the Chipmunks wouldn’t be turned into cartoons until 1961 on The Alvin Show, so the single predated the cartoon by three years.
