Spoilers Riverdale

[Christopher]

Original comics: Jughead's family not rich. Don't remember them saying how he got the nickname though.

It was literally because his head was shaped like a jug -- tall and cylindrical with ears that stuck out like handles. In the '40s when the character was created, it was also a slang term for a donkey or a foolish person. So it's a nickname akin to "Goofy" or "Dizzy" or something like that.

Cheryl Blossom's parents are normal, even nice. Both kids though are utter spoiled brats.

Also, Jason isn't dead.

 

[Timewalker]

Also, Jason isn't dead.

The basic thing about Jason and Cheryl is that they attend Pembroke, a snooty private school for the ultra-rich. The kids attending Riverdale High are referred to as "townies", and Jason and Cheryl are frowned on by their peers because they like two specific "townies" - Jason is into Veronica and Cheryl likes Archie.

I never got the impression that this attraction is particularly mutual. Of course Archie is girl-crazy, but in the end he always goes back to Veronica, and it's the same with her - she enjoys flirting with other guys, but always ends up with Archie. The rest of the gang are simply not on the Blossoms' radar.

 

[T'Bonz]

Actually, in the comics, Jason was after Betty. God knows why...what a mismatch!

The Blossom parents made appearances in the comics. Mom is a redhead like Cheryl.

Yeah, Jughead's mom (and Big Ethel in fact), got makeovers. Both were kinda ugly/frumpish originally.

Edit: Thanks, Christopher. Hadn't run into that info before, surprisingly.

 

[Timewalker]

Actually, in the comics, Jason was after Betty. God knows why...what a mismatch!

The Blossom parents made appearances in the comics. Mom is a redhead like Cheryl.

Yeah, Jughead's mom (and Big Ethel in fact), got makeovers. Both were kinda ugly/frumpish originally.

Edit: Thanks, Christopher. Hadn't run into that info before, surprisingly.

As I mentioned, my reading material is the comic digests, not whatever current "official" comics are around. In the digests, Jason wants Veronica. Betty basically doesn't exist for him. The Blossom parents have never shown up in any stories I've seen. Ethel has been drawn numerous ways over the years, and she was called "Big" Ethel because she was tall, not because she was overweight.

At this point I'm wondering if the series will branch out further and include Sabrina, Li'l Jinx, Alex & Alexandra (the Pussycats' brother-sister managers), and Bingo & Samantha. Given how awful they've dealt with some characters, Li'l Jinx would probably turn out to be a pre-teen hooker, or something...

 

[Guy Gardener]

1. Sabrina is Wicca, without powers, but keeps talking about spirituality, nature and the goddess.

2. Mom and Dad think Polly is batshit insane, because she told them about her adventures with Sabrina a real witch with real magical powers, and that is why she is locked away in a bedlam

 

[Christopher]

Edit: Thanks, Christopher. Hadn't run into that info before, surprisingly.

I only found out recently myself. I was curious about the origin of "Jughead," so I looked it up.

 

[T'Bonz]

As I mentioned, my reading material is the comic digests, not whatever current "official" comics are around. In the diges...

Same here. I've never seen him go after Veronica. It's always Betty.

 

[Timewalker]

Same here. I've never seen him go after Veronica. It's always Betty.

If I had a scanner, I could provide evidence to show I'm not wrong about this. There's a story in which Jason and Cheryl are being scolded by a couple of their Pembroke classmates for associating with "townies", so they concoct a plan to slip into Riverdale without being followed. There's an elaborate ruse/car switch decoy attempt in a parkade, they think they've pulled it off, and are met by the Pembroke kids - who point out that they didn't need to go through all that effort, considering how predictable they are.

It's in one of the Archie's Double Digest issues, I think, although there are more to go through for the exact citation than I have time for at the moment. There's an explicit line of dialogue that states Jason "has the hots for Veronica."

The storyline may be different in more recent comics, but the ones I'm talking about have Veronica as the one Jason wants.

 

[Allyn Gibson]

This is what Wikipedia says of Jason's romantic interests:

Despite Jason's views, he is mainly attracted to Betty Cooper rather than Veronica Lodge, who is much closer to his social status. The two occasionally date, which sometimes makes Archie jealous. He was once seen "practicing" asking Betty out in front of a mirror. In very rare instances, he professes an interest for Veronica, Cheryl's rival. However, a possible relationship with either of them is hindered by his clique’s disdain for "townies".

So, I'd say that you're both right about Jason -- he's been interested in both Betty and Veronica.

 

[Guy Gardener]

EVEN I'm interested in both Betty and Veronica.

Eventually I'm going to have to pick one of them, but right now let a boy dream.

 

[Timewalker]

This is what Wikipedia says of Jason's romantic interests:



So, I'd say that you're both right about Jason -- he's been interested in both Betty and Veronica.

Obviously Wikipedia isn't taking much notice of the older timeline.

 

[T'Bonz]

I believe you, Timewalker. But I can only recollect one Jason-Veronica story and many Jason-Betty ones.

It's a comic, so of course there will be inconsistencies and such.

 

[Enterprise is Great]

The CW renews Riverdale

 

[tenmei]

Good to hear - as my shows Ive enjoyed have either lost my interest or rapidly diminished through finishing or cancellation, one show to take through to next season is always a welcome.

 

[Christopher]

It's a comic, so of course there will be inconsistencies and such.

I would say, rather, "It's a series that's been running continuously for 76 years, so of course there will be inconsistencies and such." That would be true of such an enduring series in any medium.

 

[T'Bonz]

That too.

 

[Christopher]

I just think it's rather unfair to the comics medium to imply that its standards of consistency are intrinsically lower than those of other media. You can find varying degrees of self-consistency in any medium. By now we should have decisively killed off the myth that comics are innately inferior.

 

[T'Bonz]

Fair enough. It wasn't my intent to diss comics, but I can see how it could have been taken that way.

 

[Gryffindorian]

I would say, rather, "It's a series that's been running continuously for 76 years, so of course there will be inconsistencies and such." That would be true of such an enduring series in any medium.

Kinda like Popeye the Sailor Man. It began as a comic strip. I remember watching the TV cartoons when I was a kid in the 1980s. It's gone through so many incarnations throughout the decades, like how Bluto eventually became Brutus. Then there's the Robin Williams live-action movie.

I'm looking at some of these actors who play the parents on the show - Madchen Amick, Skeet Ulrich, Robin Givens ... They're not terribly old, and not too long ago, they played teens and twenty-somethings themselves. How did they get cast into these roles? I'm not implying that actors have to be ancient to play parents on television, but I wonder if this is just a common practice by CW shows to cast mostly young and good-looking celebrities, considering the network has a young demographic audience after all.

 

[Timewalker]

Kinda like Popeye the Sailor Man. It began as a comic strip. I remember watching the TV cartoons when I was a kid in the 1980s. It's gone through so many incarnations throughout the decades, like how Bluto eventually became Brutus. Then there's the Robin Williams live-action movie.

I'm looking at some of these actors who play the parents on the show - Madchen Amick, Skeet Ulrich, Robin Givens ... They're not terribly old, and not too long ago, they played teens and twenty-somethings themselves. How did they get cast into these roles? I'm not implying that actors have to be ancient to play parents on television, but I wonder if this is just a common practice by CW shows to cast mostly young and good-looking celebrities, considering the network has a young demographic audience after all.

Madchen Amick was in Twin Peaks, over 25 years ago. She's definitely old enough to play one of the parents in Riverdale.