Review of The Archie Situation Comedy Musical Variety Show

I saw this show back in 1978 and never saw it again though I often dreamed about it. It left a lasting impression. Thank heavens that someone recently put it on Youtube. The memories came flooding back. This was basically a variety show along the lines of Donny and Marie, using the Archie characters. There were songs, long skits and quick joke skits. The comedy wasn't that great. The gags were mostly of the "groaner" variety. Still, to see the characters come to life was a real treat. Also, they added Big Moose and Midge to the Archies rock band. I did notice a few odd things. Moose was considerably less "stupid" on the show. I don't think he even said "D'uh!" once. Reggie seemed more neurotic than nasty. Archie seemed a bit uptight and not as likable as in the comics. The Jughead version on this show seemed to like girls which is considerably different than the Jughead I grew up with. The skits dealt with the gang having to dissect frogs in Miss Grundy's class, Archie and Betty debating an important decision (the kind they never even hinted at in the comics), Archie debating with his dad (Gordon Jump-AKA Arthur Carlson from WKRP in Cincinnati!) about his freedom to buy a car and Veronica misplacing a set of tickets. There were lots of quick jokes in between and a few songs. The main one was called (I think) "Smile on Your Face". There was one in which Betty sang of how unfair it was that Archie preferred Veronica to her. It was almost like a musical soap opera. My favorite was called "Gotta Break Our Date Tonight" in which the gang took turns calling each other to either set up or break a date for the evening. It was very creative. The show was a pilot (actually the second pilot) for what would have been an Archie TV series but it never happened (sadly). The show then seemed to disappear completely. There would later be a (disappointing) TV movie in 1990 based on the comic strip but the characters were all grown up by then and a lot of changes had occurred. This show, although not perfect, is a real treat for anyone who grew up reading the comics and digests. It is also a good artifact of 1970s entertainment. culture.