MovieChat Forums > Riverdale (2017) Discussion > why CW?

why CW?

posted 8 years ago by mehrjadidi
4 replies | jump to latest

any network I be open to but just not the CW. they make the weirdest casting choices and make half the characters gay/BI. but one thing I like about their gay characters is that they don't make it a big deal of it like in most shows being gay means every issue you have is about you being gay(the rel O'Neals,glee,the new normal) and how you deal with gay problems.

honestly also the tone doesn't feel at all like Archie, its seems like they were aiming for Archie weird mysteries trying to be edgy. plus the characters don't seem at all like their comic counter part? and whats with this season long arc about a dead body?

As soon as I heard riverdale I figured it would be a more light hearted episodic series with live action Archie characters. I was soo far off cause I never figured anyone who reads Archie would want a show like this.

so just to put it simply the tone feels wrong for the source material, the characters seem really badly casted for the source material but it looks like it due to the overall tone they are going for, and lastly the story about a dead boy being the main story arc seems like the worse idea for an live action Archie tv show.

I'll watch the first few episodes to give this a fair shot and if it turns out to be a great show then great but it's not gonna be because they made a show for the Archie fans it's gonna be because they made a show they wanted (teen drama) and it just so happens to share the names of Archie characters.

[–] zyrah-88144 8 years ago

The show was first pitched on FOX around 2014. FOX wanted it to be a Supernatural show. Then came 2015. It wasn't ordered to pilot on FOX and the producers decided to pitch it on CW. It became a teen soap to fit the network. Why not light hearted you ask? Cause CW's recent light toned teen soaps like Carrie Diaires flopped hard. This show separates itself from CW's otehr teen soaps by being more dark,gritty and risque.
Why not a comedy? CW doesn't do sitcoms. Why not a dramedy like Jane and CEG?
CW got those IP for far less and they're a CBS productions. CBS produced shows are given more leeway on CW despite the bad ratings to satisfy the co-owned status of the network(WB & CBS). Riverdale is a WB production which means it has greater expectations on the network so it has to do well and not get JTV numbers. Riverdale will also be sold abroad. If they went the route you are suggesting, it would be boring for the foreign markets. Also Archie is not popular abroad unlike Sabrina. Trying to go for the old Archie is a bad idea as those audience is only on US and they're really old crowd. CW wants this show to appeal more especially those non-Archie comics readers. Note that CW have not once mentioned Archie comics in their TV promos for this show and uses Gossip Girl/Vampire Diaries instead. CW wants the young female crowd for this show.

[–] mehrjadidi 8 years ago

literally everything you said is about behind the scenes studio *beep* and how they wanted a certain teen drama show on their network. wtf they didn't even want Archie and like you said they are even avoiding mentioning the comics in their tv promos(the comics had ads for the show thou) everything you mention is just a list of reasons why this show shouldn't exist cause like how I ended my post with, this could be a great show but it just isn't Archie so why even share characters and settings?

this should not have Archie's name on it and maybe we should never get a Archie life action tv show cause studios would just nitpick it apart.

[–] prydain17 8 years ago

You're just a little bit off... FOX didn't ask for the show to be supernatural. At the time they were just thinking of including slight supernatural themes as a nod to Archie Horror and I'm assuming they were already considering introducing Sabrina. But the conceit of the show has always been "Archie meets David Lynch", which just means weird, not necessarily the paranormal.

Now that the show is at The CW they have not flat out denied that there will ever be anything supernatural. If the show is a hit and CW wants a Sabrina spin-off we'll have another Arrow on our hands... That show started out avoiding anything supernatural/sci-fi until Flash arrived.

___

"No! He is imprinted on you like a gay duckling. If you don't wean him off you slowly, he'll die."

[–] XGothicLoveX 8 years ago

Archie comics are actually huge around the world. I grew up in Europe and would read all of them.