Archie Comics is the comic book publisher and brand named for its best known character, Archie Andrews (created in 1941). Countless comic book titles, past and present, feature the Archie characters, who include girlfriends Betty Cooper and Veronica Lodge, rival Reggie Mantle, and gluttonous best friend Jughead Jones. Other notable titles from the company have starred Josie and the Pussycats and Sabrina the Teenage Witch, and the company was the exclusive US publisher of Sonic the Hedgehog comics from 1992 to 2017.

Filmation produced a long-running animated TV Archie franchise, beginning in 1968, with a different format each year through 1978. The cartoon introduced the fictional band "The Archies," and their song "Sugar, Sugar" became a #1 hit in real life.

Little Archie, first published in 1956, predated Muppet Babies in the concept of reworking established characters as children. Live action adaptations include the CW drama Riverdale, the 1990s sitcom Sabrina the Teenage Witch (and later darker Netflix series The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina), and the Riverdale spin-off Katy Keene.

Appearances[]

• On Sesame Street, in a segment produced by Filmation, an animated Jughead Jones (voiced by Howard Morris) talks about the letter J, telling a wild story full of "J" words to demonstrate. (First: Episode 0231)

• During The New Archies Saturday morning run on NBC, the Fraggles appeared together in a print ad with the cast, alongside Foofur, Tummi and Zummi Gummi, The Smurfs, ALF, and Alvin & the Chipmunks.

In TV bumpers for that season with the Muppet version of Uncle Traveling Matt, he referred to The New Archies as The New Archery.

References[]

• Archie at Riverdale High #3 (1972) is on the Hooper's Store newsstand in Episode 0627.

• Archie comics are among the items for sale in Hooper's Store (as seen in Episode 0832).

• David uses an Archie digest to demonstrate "big" and "little" books in Episode 0966.

• A lunchbox featuring the Archies was seen at the Sleaze Brothers (F)Unfair in Follow That Bird. Depicted are band members Archie, Betty, Jughead, Veronica, and Reggie, as well as Jughead's pet Hot Dog.

Muppet Mentions[]

Print[]

• The cover gag for Reggie and Me #124 (July 1980) has the Archie characters watching The Muppet Movie on TV.

• In a story originally featured in Jughead #101 (October 1997), Jughead, trying to avoid listening to the paper Dilton keeps reading to him, stuffs bananas in his ears. When Pop Tate asks Jughead why he's doing that, Archie responds "He can't hear you, Pop! He's got bananas in his ears!", referencing Ernie and Bert's "banana in my ear" sketch.

• The story "E-Z as A-B-C" (Betty and Veronica Double Digest #96, 2001) features the gang finding a collectibles store featuring puppets from their favorite childhood series Alphabet Street. While counterparts of most of the Sesame Street cast are included, the art by veteran Archie artist Bob Bolling, and a tendency to mix and match traits, renders them distinctly un-Muppety. The group includes Big Turkey (who frightens Mr. Blooper when popping out of a trashcan), the ravenous Candy Monster (beloved by Jughead), the unhygienic Elmer the Slob, and bickering friends Gary and Larry. In the end, Veronica buys the puppets for everyone.

Television[]

• When Josie and the Pussycats crossed over to The New Scooby-Doo Movies episode "The Haunted Showboat," Melody said of the vessel the gang was following into a cave, "He didn't even say, 'Open, Sesame Street!"

• In the Sabrina the Teenage Witch episode "Sabrina Through the Looking Glass," Harvey used his puppet monkey for a school presentation with Sabrina. After class ended, Harvey mentions the project was a success with help from his puppet monkey. At that moment, Libby walks past them and said "Hey guys, can you tell me how to get to Sesame Street?"

• In the Sabrina episode "Five Easy Pieces of Libby," Sabrina unwittingly turns Libby into a puzzle with pieces missing, forcing her to go on a quest to put Libby back together before it's too late. While finding the last piece in Libby's room with the Quizmaster, Sabrina reads the last clue from the scroll, "One of these things is not like the other." The Quizmaster starts to sing, "One of these things just doesn't belong. Can you guess..." and then stops when Sabrina gives him a weird stare.

• In the Riverdale​ episode "Chapter Twenty: Tales from the Darkside," Cheryl Blossom says "Out of the way, Bert and Ernie" as she pushes Archie and Jughead out of her path.

Connections[]

• Ashanti appeared in the Sabrina the Teenage Witch episode "Call Me Crazy"
• Backstreet Boys appeared in the Sabrina the Teenage Witch episode "The Band Episode"
• Ruth Buzzi played Delilah in the Sabrina the Teenage Witch episode "Good Will Haunting"
• Aaron Carter appeared in the Sabrina the Teenage Witch episode "Beach Blanket Bizarro"
• Alyson Court voiced Veronica Lodge on The New Archies (1987-1988)
• Alan Cumming played Wyatt Frame in Josie and the Pussycats (2001)
• Carson Daly played himself in Josie and the Pussycats (2001)
• Rosario Dawson played Valerie Brown in Josie and the Pussycats (2001)
• Dom DeLuise played Mortimer in the Sabrina the Teenage Witch episode "The Pom Pom Incident" (1998)
• Barbara Eden played Great Aunt Irma in three Sabrina the Teenage Witch episodes (2002-2003)
• Donald Faison played D.J. in Josie and the Pussycats (2001)
• Thomas Fountain was lead puppeteer for Salem the Cat for the Sabrina the Teenage Witch series and TV movies
• Soleil Moon Frye played Roxie King on Sabrina the Teenage Witch (2000-2003)
• Seth Green played Travis in Josie and the Pussycats (2001)
• Gary Halvorson directed 28 episodes of Sabrina the Teenage Witch (1996-1999)
• Melissa Joan Hart played Sabrina Spellman on Sabrina, The Teenage Witch (1996-2003) and TV movies, and also voiced Hilda and Zelda Spellman on Sabrina: The Animated Series.
• Casey Kasem voiced Alexander Cabot on Josie and the Pussycats
• Cheryl Ladd provided the singing voice for Melody on Josie and the Pussycats
• Ross Lynch played Harvey Kinkle on Chilling Adventures of Sabrina
• Cameron McDonald played Mr. Svenson on Riverdale (3 episodes, 2017)
• *NSYNC appeared in the Sabrina the Teenage Witch episode "Sabrina and the Pirates"
• Marisol Nichols played Hermione Lodge on Riverdale
• Gary Owens played "Guy Who Thinks He's Gary Owens" in the Sabrina the Teenage Witch episode "Good Will Haunting"
• Penn and Teller played Drell (4 episodes) and Skippy (2 episodes) respectively on Sabrina the Teenage Witch (1996-1997)
• Bernadette Peters played Mrs. Fresia on Katy Keene
• Bronson Pinchot played Principal Hawthorne on Chilling Adventures of Sabrina
• Caroline Rhea played Hilda Spellman on Sabrina the Teenage Witch
• Nell Scovell created and produced Sabrina the Teenage Witch, and wrote a number of episodes
• Cole Sprouse played Jughead Jones on Riverdale
• Tabitha St. Germain voiced Hilda Spellman on Sabrina: Secrets of a Teenage Witch and additional characters on Sabrina the Animated Series
• Cree Summer played Chloe Flan in Sabrina the Animated Series
• Mr. T voiced an alien in the Sabrina the Animated Series episode "Witchwrecked"
• Ashley Tisdale played Sabrina Spellman on the animated series Sabrina: Secrets of a Teenage Witch
• Randy Travis appeared in the Sabrina the Teenage Witch episode "The True Adventures of Rudy Kazootie"
• Usher appeared in the Sabrina the Teenage Witch episode "I Think I Love You"
• Dick Van Dyke played Duke in the Sabrina the Teenage Witch episode "Welcome Back, Duke" (2000)
• Chuck Vinson directed two Sabrina the Teenage Witch episodes (1997-1998)
• Raquel Welch played Aunt Vesta in the Sabrina the Teenage Witch episode "Third Aunt From the Sun"
• George Wendt played Mike Shelby on Sabrina the Teenage Witch (6 episodes, 2001-2002)
• Henry Winkler directed two Sabrina the Teenage Witch episodes (2000-2002)
• "Weird Al" Yankovic played himself in Sabrina the Animated Series