It will be interesting to see if “Riverdale’’ manages to become a hit. The CW series, a drama about a small-town murder featuring characters modeled after those in the Archie comic books, premiered on Thursday, and it got a slow start in the ratings.
The advance hype was significant, and the CW clearly had high expectations, but the airing drew only about 1.3 million viewers.
Perhaps the young CW audience isn’t receptive to a regular old teen soap opera of the “Dawson’s Creek’’ and “Gossip Girl’’ variety, since most of the network’s current shows have some kind of supernatural or superhero element. “The Flash,’’ “Arrow,’’ “The 100,’’ “The Vampire Diaries,’’ “Supernatural,’’ “iZombie,’’ “Supergirl’’ — they’re all a long way from “One Tree Hill.’’ Maybe the kids are more into “Wham!’’ and “Bam!’’ than “XOXO’’ right now?
The first episodes of “Riverdale’’ were mildly entertaining, but it was never quite clear to me why the wannabe noir — about the death of a teen boy, whose body is discovered in the river — was linked to the Archie comics in the first place.
Show creator Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa works very hard to evolve the original characters, so that Betty and Veronica are more than just a sweet blonde and a rich brunette. Betty has a cruel mother, and Veronica is trying to be a good person after years as a queen bee. Archie is now an emo dude with six-pack abs who’s having an affair with music teacher Ms. Grundy. They’re more contemporary types than the dated stick figures from the strip. But then why not just give these characters different names and forget about the whole Archie thing?
The answer is attention and marketing, of course. “Riverdale’’ has gotten a lot more press because it’s linked to a well-known franchise. Still, as proven in recent years by failed reboots such as “Rush Hour,’’ “Ironside,’’ “Charlie’s Angels,’’ “Bionic Woman,’’ “Minority Report,’’ and “Uncle Buck,’’ there are no guarantees. What’s in a name? Sometimes nothing special.
Matthew Gilbert can be reached at gilbert@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @MatthewGilbert.
