The Archies (1960's Animated Classic Shows) (1 Viewer)

[Mark Y]

Well, except for the syndicated package which aired on WGN in Chicago in the mid-1970s, under the umbrella title "The Archies." It included "The Archie Show," "Archie's TV Funnies," "Archie's Funhouse," and "The U.S. Of Archie." Each half-hour had the same opening title (a redubbed "Archie's Funhouse" opening with -- get this -- a "rap" by Dallas McKennon as Archie dubbed over the original audio) and each episode had its original closing credits, but I believe with different audio dubbed over them. I believe the Family Channel later (much later) aired a similar package, which now included half-hour cutdowns of "The Archie/Sabrina Hour" (retitled "The Archie/Sabrina Surprise Package"), which wasn't included in the earlier syndicated package because that series hadn't been produced yet. The FC shows had their original openings, but it was still listed as "The Archies."

This is all by way of explanation...of course, "The Archie Show" is "The Archie Show." I'm looking forward to it.

(The syndicated "Archie" made more sense than the syndicated "Groovy Goolies And Friends" or the syndicated "Banana Splits And Friends." At least the various "Archie" shows included were all different --incarnations-- of the same series, with the same characters, as opposed to a randomly selected hodgepodge of various cartoons done by the same studio.)

 

[Mark Lx]

A lot of Marks on this thread.

Yeah, I'm going to get it too. I just didn't understand the history of it. I watched what I assumed were reruns around 1977 which were half hour shows featuring music and cartoons. Thought it was called "The Archies" but really can't remember.

I read the comics before I ever saw the cartoons. I've now actually got several Archie comics from the 40s (most acquired over 20 years ago when they weren't so expensive, though ebay has pleasantly considerably lowered the price of collectables) and the first digest from '73.

 

[Mark Talmadge]

Hehe ... I remember the chase scenes in particular and the ever glorious chase songs ... I used to watch the series in first run and re-runs as well ... I like how there are others complaining about a series that we've all been waiting for ... I'll be first in line on the day of its release ... ehehe ...

 

[Xenia Stathakopoulou]

Wow, all the extras for the set have been announced over at andymangels.com.They include art galleries, a reproduction of an old everythings archie comic,a jukebox feature to listen to all the songs from the series , and a 12 page booklet, and an interview from Lou Scheimer.I was on the fence about buying this, since I already have 1 of those best of dvds that came out a while back, but with all these bonuses and the good enough price i preordered it.

 

[Xenia Stathakopoulou]

Ive recieved my copy early from a certain online retailer, and ive written an amateur mini dvd review at gac forums in the archie thread,in the termite terrace trading post board.

 

[Dean C]

A big Archie Comic fan. I remember the others who made an appearance. Chuck&Nancy, Midge&Moose, Big Ethel, Dilton Doiley

The 2 coaches Kleats and Clayton, Pop Tate, and Miss Grundy, Prof Flutesnoot, Mr Weatherbee, Mr Svenson, and Mrs Beazley.

We never saw alot of Betty's parents or Veronica's Mom, but ton of Mr Lodge, Never saw Jughead or Reggie's parents. Coach Clayton turned out to be Father of Chuck or Charles.

 

[Mark Talmadge]

Has anyone bought the set yet and can offer opinions on the set?

 

[Xenia Stathakopoulou]

Mark, I have it,its a very well put together set.It has slightly better transfers than the best of dvds, the audio is also slightly more " clean sounding than the best ofs.These all appear to be unedited , only minor problem with the set, episode 9 song and dance is taken from a vhs transfer because the materials were in bad shape.The documentary is ok, but nothing a big archie fan wouldnt know.The jukebox feature is pretty cool taking you to the song in whatever episode its at. The music and effects tracks extra is hilarious, I dont know how to explain why its funny, but youll understand when you see it.My favorite extra is the little booklet which doubles as an old archie comic , and an episode guide inside as well.Theres even pictures of the voice actors in the booklet! The booklet also mentions more archie series in 2008 ! I highly recommend the set.Its only 19.99 right now at amazon.

 

[Mark Talmadge]

I just noticed the same problem with that episode you mentioned. You'd think that Genius would have cleaned up that dance act so that it wasn't so blurry ...

 

[streeter]

I very much enjoy the Archie comics, but barely remember the series. Is it much like the comics?

 

[Mark Talmadge]

Some of the future shows/seasons were basically repeats of the first season, The Archies. I'm just curious which show they're going to release as their next title in the series.

 

[Xenia Stathakopoulou]

Mark, Im pretty sure theyll release the series that came after this one.Which is the archie comedy hour.

 

[Mark Y]

I have this set and it's wonderful. However (and I've only watched a few shows and scanned through most of the rest, and I only have a 1986 Montgomery Ward TV) I thought the previous "Nostalgia Ventures" DVDs were a hair better...I did seem to notice that the audio track on the theme song seems to fade up slightly late on the new set. But anyway, I am glad to have this and it is an excellent job overall. (Incidentally, the episode with the VHS transfer on the song segment was previously issued on one of the earlier NV DVDs, where that segment is replaced with a different one from another episode.)

I'm a little hazy on the chronology myself, and I'm not exactly sure how it all fits together. I find those "Archie's Funhouse" clips (on the earlier stand-alone DVDs) a little weird...was that version of the show a compilation of new and old segments? If so, that would explain it.

I seem to recall the various incarnations of the show being something like this:

Archie (1968-1969) (just released)
The Archie Comedy Hour (1969-70) (Any new material in here? Did "Sabrina" debut here?)
Sabrina The Teenage Witch/Sabrina And The Groovy Goolies/The Groovy Goolies
Archie's Funhouse
Archie's TV Funnies
Everything's Archie (repeat segments of "Archie" from 1968-69)
U.S. Of Archie (1974-1975)
The Archie/Sabrina Comedy Hour (1977-1978) (later split into two separate shows; NM DVDs have one half-hour cut-down with the title shown as "The Archie/Sabrina Surprise Package")

The various Archie shows were syndicated briefly around 1976-1977. From my memory, they did not include the Sabrina-related shows nor the Groovy Goolies (the Groovy Goolies were syndicated separately along with a bunch of other 70s Filmation properties). This pre-dated "The Archie/Sabrina Comedy Hour," so those shows weren't in there either.

 

[Mark Talmadge]

I got lucky and had a 10% coupon at Best Buy to purchase this first set and I have to say I've actually missed this show. It would be nice to buy this one on HD-DVD. It would be rather awesome. At any rate, I hope they hurry up and release the following shows as quick as they can. Here are the order of the different shows;

 

[Xenia Stathakopoulou]

Mark, it wont be too long till the next release.The little booklet that came with the set says, more archie in 2008 !

 

[Jon Martin]

About the show, did "Sugar Sugar" ever appear on the cartoon? It wasn't on any of these episodes.

 

[Mark Y]

Both the "Archie" and "Sabrina" segments from "The New Archie/Sabrina Hour" were newly produced in 1977 for that series. They were not repeated from earlier seasons.

Thanks for the chronology, Mark!