"The Archie Show" (1968) TV series 1968-1969

Director:

Hal Sutherland

Writers:

John L. Goldwater (characters)
Bob Ogle (writer)

Release Date:

14 September 1968 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Comedy | Family

Plot Keywords:

Teenage Girl | Television | Surrealism | Teenage Boy | Archie Comics

Cast

Dal McKennon	...	Archie Andrews / Hot Dog / Mr. Weatherbee / Pop / Mr. Lodge / Coach Cleats (voice)
Howard Morris	...	Jughead Jones / Big Moose / Dilton Doiley (voice)
Jane Webb	...	Betty Cooper / Veronica Lodge / Miss Grundy / Big Ethel (voice)
John Erwin	...	Reggie Mantle (voice)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Ron Dante	...	Archie (singing voice) (uncredited)
Toni Wine	...	Betty / Veronica (singing voice) (uncredited)

Directed by
Hal Sutherland

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
John L. Goldwater		characters
Bob Ogle		writer

Produced by
Norm Prescott	....	producer
Lou Scheimer	....	producer

Original Music by
Ray Ellis

Art Direction by
Don Christensen

Art Department
Oscar Dufau	....	storyboard artist
Jan Green	....	storyboard artist
Sherman Labby	....	storyboard artist
Gary Lund	....	storyboard artist
Michael O'Connor	....	storyboard artist (1968) (as Mike O'Conner)

Camera and Electrical Department
Sergio Antonio Alcázar	....	camera operator (1968)
Roger Brown	....	camera supervisor (1968)
Ron Lapeer	....	camera operator (1968)
Ray Lee	....	camera supervisor (1968)
Gary Milton	....	camera operator (1968)
Roger Sims	....	camera operator (1968)

Animation Department
Robert Bentley	....	animator (as Bob Bentley)
Bob Bransford	....	animator
Betty Brooks	....	ink and paint supervisor (1968)
James Brummett	....	animator (as Jim Brummett)
Martha Buckley	....	ink and paint supervisor (1968)
Bob Carr	....	animator
Butch Davis	....	animator
James Davis	....	layout artist (as Jim Davis)
Judy Drake	....	animator
Venetia Epler	....	background artist
Otto Feuer	....	animator
Martin Forte	....	background artist
Jack Foster	....	animator
Ed Friedman	....	animator
Rene Garcia	....	background artist
Bill Geach	....	background artist
George Grandpré	....	animator (1968) (as Geo Grandpre)
Ann Guenther	....	background artist
Bill Hajee	....	animator
Dick Hall	....	animator
Maurice Harvey	....	background artist
Jack Healey	....	background artist
Ken Hultgren	....	layout artist
Bill Hutten	....	animator
Jim Jones	....	background artist (1968)
Les Kaluza	....	animator
Ervin L. Kaplan	....	background designer (1968) (as Erv Kaplan)
Pat Keppler	....	background artist (as Patricia Frye)
Paul Krukowski	....	animator
Marsh Lamore	....	animator (as Marshall Lamore)
Ted Littlefield	....	background artist
Art Lozzi	....	background artist
Lorraine Marue	....	background artist (as Lorraine Morgan)
Bob Matz	....	animator
Bill McArdle	....	background artist
Norm McCabe	....	animator
Murray McClellan	....	animator
Tom McDonald	....	animator
Joan Orbison	....	animator
Chic Otterstrom	....	animator
Jack Ozark	....	animator
Jane Philippi	....	checking supervisor (1968)
Bill Pratt	....	animator
Virgil Raddatz	....	animator
Len Redman	....	animator
Bill Reed	....	animator
Len Rogers	....	animator
Virgil Ross	....	animator
Barbara Smith	....	background artist
Ralph Somerville	....	animator
Ken Southworth	....	animator
Dave Tendlar	....	animator
Reuben Timmins	....	animator
Bob Trochim	....	animator
Marion Turk	....	checking supervisor (1968)
Russ von Neida	....	animator
Kay Wright	....	layout artist
Paul Xander	....	background artist
Xenia	....	animator

Editorial Department
June Gilham	....	negative cutter
Joseph Simon	....	editorial (1968)

Music Department
Don Kirshner	....	music supervisor

Other crew
Rock Benedetto	....	production coordinator (as Rock Benedict)
Rudy Larriva	....	associate director
Don Towsley	....	associate director

Production Companies

• Filmation Associates
• The Archie Company

Distributors

• Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) (1968) (USA) (TV)
• Genius Products (2007) (USA) (DVD)
• Hallmark Entertainment
• Paramount Television
• Vitt Media International
• Warner Bros. Television

Other Companies

• Continental Baking  sponsors
• Einfeld-Mahana  sound effects
• Mattel Toys  sponsors

Runtime:

30 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:TV-Y7

Company:

Filmation Associates

Movie Connections:

Featured in Bee Movie (2007)

Highest Rated Cartoon Show

"The Archie Show" was the highest-rated Saturday morning cartoon show in TV history. As I recall, it had a 75 share which will never again be repeated what with today's quality (or lack thereof) and all sorts of other entertainment sources that weren't even imagined in 1968.

I read Archie magazines a lot back then so it was a real rush to see that they were finally getting their own TV show. I also thought that the rock group The Archies were just going to be a group with the cartoon characters singing goofy little songs....

The show featured two full-length stories which were well-written, funny and tasteful. In between cartoons, there would be some one-liners, then a dance segment followed by a song by The Archies, which turned out to be a real rock group fronted by Ron Dante who to this day remains a force in the music business as a producer, songwriter and is still recording and going on oldies tours.

Jeff Barry wrote and produced a huge percentage of The Archies songs, including the mega-hit "Sugar Sugar" which not only knocked-off "Honky-Tonk Women" by the Rolling Stones, but stayed on top of the Billboard chart for another month afterward. Jeff Barry is currently in the Songwriters Hall of Fame. For anyone to hear The Archies today would think it's good 60's-70's rock.

One drawback is that I think the animation could have been done a little better. They also could have changed the characters so that they didn't make the exact same motions all the time (Betty must be dizzy banging that tambourine around)....

Also, they should never have changed the format of the show. The way this season was set-up, it was perfect. I'm sure it would have lasted a lot longer. Just look at Skooby Doo. They never messed with the format and it was on for years.

Look for DVD's of various forms of Archie and his friends at Archie Comics' site and at other online locations.