'Riverdale' TV series exposes the darker side of 'Archie' comics

LOS ANGELES – It's only a matter of time before Dagwood Bumstead is jailed for embezzlement and Blondie must pay the bills by turning tricks in the living room. Until then, we have "Riverdale," a subversive take on the 75-year-old "Archie" franchise that has more in common with "Twin Peaks" than the Sunday funnies.

In the CW series, debuting Thursday, our ginger-haired hero has an affair with now hot-to-trot schoolteacher Miss Grundy, Josie & the Pussycats channel Fifth Harmony in a vamped-up version of "Sugar Sugar," classmate Kevin Keller is openly gay, and Betty and Veronica make out, in cheerleader outfits, no less.

Oh, and by the end of the first hour, there's a murder.

"Riverdale" seems determined to shatter our childhood memories, much in same way the "Wizard of Oz" sequel "Emerald City" did by hurling much more than flying monkeys in our face and "Grimm" has turned age-old fairy tales into unshakable nightmares.

Everything's just fine, says Cole Sprouse, who plays a cooler-than-thou Jughead.

"It always seemed like Archie and the cast were a little theater troupe that was included in a bunch of different scenarios and that the universe is wide and flexible enough for something like this to take place," said Sprouse, best known for starring with twin brother Dylan in the Disney Channel series "The Suite Life of Zack & Cody."

It isn't the first time Archie has had more than Reggie Mantle to worry about, at least not in the comic book universe. Way back in 1994, Archie was facing off against Marvel Comics vigilante the Punisher. But the big leap of faith happened with the 2013 publication of "Afterlife With Archie," a spinoff comic series in which the gang battled the undead. A story line the following year had our main protagonist killed off while foiling an assassination attempt of an openly gay friend.

"Even though Archie was in the middle of a zombie apocalypse, he was still the character we knew, a good kid trying to do the right thing, often messing up and making things worse before they got better," said Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, chief creative officer for Archie Comics. "That's sort of been the guiding force in all this, putting the characters in more adult, more edgy situations and having those situations test the integrity of the characters."

The television upgrade isn't all mayhem and murder. There are clever pop culture references to "Mad Men," Beyoncé and James Franco sprinkled throughout the first three episodes and, in a sly bit of casting, "Twin Peaks" veteran Madchen Amick and former "90210" bad boy Luke Perry play parents.

"When they said, 'We need a dead body,' I think I was the one they were talking about," joked Perry.

Still, watching Betty exact revenge on a bully in a steamy hot tub scene or a shirtless Archie dashing through the neighborhood for a late-night rendezvous with a half-dressed Grundy may disturb those who want their Riverdale students to remain as sweet and predictable as a milkshake at Pop Tate's Chock'lit Shoppe.

It's been four years since Archie Comics CEO Jon Goldwater first shook up the burg in print — and lived to brag about it.