Archie's Weird Mysteries
Archie's Weird Mysteries (French: Archie, mystères et compagnie) is a 1999-2000 French/American animated television series based on the characters by Archie Comics.[1] The series premise revolves around a Riverdale High physics lab gone awry, making the town of Riverdale a "magnet" for B movie-style monsters. All the main characters solve strange mysteries in a format similar to both Scooby-Doo and The X-Files. The series is distributed as meeting the FCC's educational and informational children's programming ("E/I") requirements, and is used by commercial stations in the United States to meet this government guideline. Produced by Les Studios Tex and DIC Productions, L.P., the series was initially shown mornings on the PAX network, often with infomercials bookending the program. The series eventually premiered in France on M6 on January 19, 2000.
| Archie's Weird Mysteries Archie, mystères et compagnie | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Mystery Horror Science fiction |
| Based on | |
| Developed by | Jymn Magon Brian Swenlin Michael Patrick Dobkins |
| Voices of | Andy Rannells America Young Camille Schmidt Chris Lundquist Paul Sosso Tony Wike Ben Beck Ryle Smith Jerry Longe John Michael Lee |
| Country of origin | France United States |
| Original languages | English French |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 40 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | Andy Heyward Robby London Michael Maliani Richard Goldwater Charles W. Grimes Tony DeRosa-Grund Michael Silberkleit |
| Running time | 22–24 minutes |
| Production companies | Riverdale Productions and Kent/QMA Les Studios Tex DIC Productions, L.P. |
| Distributor | United States DIC Entertainment Internationally Buena Vista International Television |
| Release | |
| Original network | PAX (United States) M6 (France) |
| Audio format | Dolby Surround |
| First shown in | United States |
| Original release | October 2, 1999 – February 22, 2000 |
Voice cast
Main
- Andrew Rannells as Archie Andrews, a redheaded student at Riverdale High, reporter for the school newspaper.
- America Young as Betty Cooper, a smart girl-next-door who is sweet, caring, and the head of the cheerleading squad. She is in love with Archie and is best friends with Veronica.
- Camille Schmidt as Veronica Lodge, a beautiful, popular and rich girl who is best friends with Betty, who she also shares a rivalry with for Archie's affection.
- Chris Lundquist as Jughead Jones, a funny, quirky and geeky guy who loves food and is Archie's best friend. He does not like girls except for Betty, and he and Veronica are usually at each other's throats.
- Paul Sosso as Reggie Mantle, a self-confident, popular, rich jock who has a crush on Veronica and is frenemies with Archie. He's the uncle of a girl named Amy who is revealed to be his niece.
- Ben Beck as Dilton Doiley, a nerdy genius who is friends with Archie, Jughead, Moose, and Betty. He usually helps the gang save the day.
Supporting
- Tony Wike as Mr. Waldo Weatherbee, the Principal of Riverdale High.
- Moose Mason - High school jock and Archie, Jughead, Dilton and Betty friend and boyfriend of Midge.
- Lucinda - Practices voodoo magic; provides advice to Archie when he needs it regarding the supernatural; creates potions for those individuals in love.
- Ryle Smith as Pop Tate, the owner and operator of the "Pop Tate Chock'lit Shoppe" shop where Archie's friends hang out and friend with Archie and the gang.
- Mr. Fisk - CEO of ZoomCo who, after discovering that his Zoom energy drink contains a mutant formula that causes some people to mutate into monsters, tries to bribe and stop Archie from telling the world on national TV. He convinces Archie not to go to press as doing so would destroy his company and many new jobs for Riverdale.
- Jerry Longe as Dr. Beaumont, the caretaker and owner of an odds/supernatural/curiosity store. Provides advice to Archie and friends as he solves Weird Mysteries.
- Longe also voices Smithers, Veronica's cynical butler. He is aware of the supernatural but only shows any interest in waiting on Veronica.
- John Michael Lee as Mr. Hiram Lodge, Veronica's father who is disapproving of Archie.
- Ms. Geraldine Grundy - Also known as "Ms. Grundy". The teacher of Archie, Veronica, Betty, Jughead and Reggie. She has feelings for Mr. Weatherbee.
Episodes
| Nº | Title | Written by | Air date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Attack of the Killer Spuds" | Brian Swenlin | 2 October 1999 | |
| Jughead wins a trophy after watching a television marathon, unaware it's actually an alien potato capable of creating copies of its victims. | ||||
| 2 | "Driven to Distraction" | Michael Patrick Dobkins | 9 October 1999 | |
| In the interest of his car, Archie buys a pair of fuzzy dice from a mysterious shop with no knowledge what the effect the dice will have on his car and what it could mean for his friends, who he has been ignoring. | ||||
| 3 | "Me! Me! Me!" | Michael Patrick Dobkins | 16 October 1999 | |
| Veronica does nothing but whine and get others to do her work, so her father asks her to help clean up some artifacts for a new exhibit. Among them is a wish granting totem, which Veronica accidentally uses to turn all of Riverdale into duplicates of herself. | ||||
| 4 | "Invisible Archie" | Brian Swenlin | 23 October 1999 | |
| Archie and Reggie are unhappy with Betty and Veronica's new muscle-bound interest. Reggie suggests that they use Dilton's new physique enhancing formula on themselves. Instead of the desired result, they both turn invisible! | ||||
| 5 | "Attack of the 50-Foot Veronica" | Jymn Magon | 30 October 1999 | |
| Veronica is hit by Dilton's growth ray, turning her into a giant. However, she refuses to shrink back, thinking everybody's calling her fat. | ||||
| 6 | "The Haunting of Riverdale" | Michael Patrick Dobkins | 6 November 1999 | |
| The ghost of Riverdale's old librarian comes back to haunt the town. Jughead refuses to help having bad past experiences with her. | ||||
| 7 | "Curse of the Mummy" | Brian Swenlin | 13 November 1999 | |
| Archie procrastinates way too much, all to the point where he breaks into the Museum to get his report done, evoking a Pharaoh's curse. | ||||
| 8 | "Fleas Release Me" | Jymn Magon | 20 November 1999 | |
| Tired of Reggie's werewolf pranks, Archie allows the local sheriff to arrest him. However, it seems a real werewolf is attacking, with Reggie being the prime suspect. | ||||
| 9 | "The Jughead Incident" | Michael Patrick Dobkins | 27 November 1999 | |
| A pair of government agents come to Riverdale, thinking Jughead is an alien. | ||||
| 10 | "Virtually Evil" | Brian Swenlin | 4 December 1999 | |
| Archie's constant bragging gets him and his friends in trouble in a new virtual reality game. | ||||
| 11 | "Zombies of Love" | Jymn Magon | 11 December 1999 | |
| Veronica wants Archie to pay more attention to her, so she gets a hold of a magic potion. Now Archie won't leave her alone. | ||||
| 12 | "Brain of Terror" | Brian Swenlin | 18 December 1999 | |
| Moose needs a passing grade, so he uses Dilton's new experiment to boost his intelligence. | ||||
| 13 | "Twisted Youth" | Michael Patrick Dobkins (story) Dick Shimm (teleplay) | 25 December 1999 | |
| The faculty at Riverdale High turn adults into teenagers after drinking a new brand of bottled water. What's even stranger is that young Ms. Grundy is interested in Reggie! | ||||
| 14 | "Monster in the Night" | Brian Swenlin | 31 December 1999 | |
| A monstrous man of incredible strength is making evening appearances in Riverdale. Archie's investigation leads him to uncover the side effects of a new energy drink being tested on unsuspecting citizens of Riverdale. | ||||
| 15 | "Mega-Mall of Horrors" | Don Gillies | 7 January 2000 | |
| A new mall opens up in Riverdale, with everyone but Jughead wanting to buy more and more. Now the more the teens buy, the less they realize their friends have become window mannequins. | ||||
| 16 | "Compu-Terror" | Jymn Magon | 17 January 2000 | |
| After hurting himself, Archie reluctantly lets Reggie write the weird mysteries articles. However, an evil genie now possess the laptop Reggie uses, turning his fake stories real. | ||||
| 17 | "Misfortune Hunters" | Jymn Magon | 19 January 2000 | |
| Betty loves to do good deeds without rewards. Which she quickly regrets when a pair of treasure hunters trick her into releasing a gargoyle. | ||||
| 18 | "Ship of Ghouls" | Brian Swenlin | 20 January 2000 | |
| A legendary medallion has possessed Reggie and made him obsessed with retrieving an underwater treasure guarded by ghouls determined to keep it there. | ||||
| 19 | "Something Is Haunting Riverdale High" | Michael Patrick Dobkins | 21 January 2000 | |
| Midge, Dilton, and Ethel aren't exactly the most popular of kids, so no one thinks much of it when they go missing. However, when Archie is rendered invisible and untouchable by one of Dilton's inventions, he finds that he must work with them to stop the haywire machine from turning Riverdale into a ghost town! | ||||
| 20 | "Supreme Girl vs. Dr. Arachnid" | Michael Patrick Dobkins | 24 January 2000 | |
| Veronica loves to dish out gossip, no matter the cost. Which puts her and Archie in the middle of the Superheroine Supreme Girl's attempts at stopping her nemesis, Dr. Arachnid. | ||||
| 21 | "Reggie or Not" | Jymn Magon | 25 January 2000 | |
| Reggie is abducted by aliens, who leave a much kinder clone in his place. | ||||
| 22 | "It Lives in the Sewers" | Michael A. Medlock | 26 January 2000 | |
| Archie and the gang go down into the sewers to find a mysterious monster. Only to find out, it's Jughead's pet alligator Peanut, mutated by a chemical waste spill. | ||||
| 23 | "Dream Girl" | Michael Patrick Dobkins | 27 January 2000 | |
| Feeling brushed off, Archie falls in love with a girl he sees in his dreams. And she wants him to stay. | ||||
| 24 | "Green-Eyed Monster" | Jymn Magon | 28 January 2000 | |
| A new girl named Dorsa Finn arrives in town and shows interest in Archie. As it turns out, Dorsa is actually a local sea monster. | ||||
| 25 | "Cinemadness" | James W. Bates | 31 January 2000 | |
| Reggie refuses to help others, which he quickly regrets when movie monsters fill the town. | ||||
| 26 | "Beware of the Glob!" | Michael Patrick Dobkins (story) Frank Santopadre (teleplay) | 1 February 2000 | |
| Part of Dilton's new experiment is accidentally mixed in with the lunchroom's tapioca, creating a massive blob. | ||||
| 27 | "The Day the Earth Moved" | Dick Shimm | 2 February 2000 | |
| Archie refuses to continue his family traditions, until he learns it is the only thing preventing a giant worm from destroying Riverdale. | ||||
| 28 | "Dance of the Killer Bees" | Brian Swenlin | 3 February 2000 | |
| With prom around the corner, Big Ethel enlists Archie's help upon finding a swarm of humanoid bees. | ||||
| 29 | "Extra Terror-estrial" | Jymn Magon | 4 February 2000 | |
| Betty believes a cute alien is harmless and only wants to go home. But the others quickly realize, that isn't the case. | ||||
| 30 | "The Christmas Phantom" | Michael Patrick Dobkins (story) Phil Harnage (teleplay) | 8 February 2000 | |
| The department store's newest Santa Claus, Archie, is the only one in the mood to celebrate the holidays. But a phantom from an unbelievable source just might fix that. | ||||
| 31 | "Scarlet Night" | Brian Swenlin | 9 February 2000 | |
| Part 1 of 3: Veronica has a strange dream in which she isn't afraid of a vampire but is terrified of a redhaired girl she sees. | ||||
| 32 | "I Was a Teenage Vampire" | Brian Swenlin | 10 February 2000 | |
| Part 2 of 3: Scarlet's master, Count Medlock, is unearthed and seeking to complete a prophecy that will bring the enternal night by transforming the Endor into a vampire like them. | ||||
| 33 | "Halloween of Horror" | Brian Swenlin | 11 February 2000 | |
| Part 3 of 3: Archie and his friends gather for the Lodge's annual Halloween party, but menaces thought to be gone forever threaten to ruin the night. | ||||
| 34 | "Archie's Date with Fate" | Michael Patrick Dobkins | 14 February 2000 | |
| Part 1 of 3: After using one of Dilton's two time machines, Archie finds himself living the same day over and over. Only to find out local thug Vinny stole the other, using it to commit crimes all over Riverdale. At the same time, Archie is offered to Europe on a scholarship. | ||||
| 35 | "Alternate Riverdales" | Michael Patrick Dobkins | 15 February 2000 | |
| Part 2 of 3: Vinny's future self returns and teams up with his younger self to take revenge on Archie. Being the only one unaffected by the time changes, Archie has to stop Vinny before he becomes ruler of Riverdale. With Reggie's continuing pranks causing both Betty and Veronica to hate him, Archie considers revenge. | ||||
| 36 | "Teen Out of Time" | Michael Patrick Dobkins | 16 February 2000 | |
| Part 3 of 3: Believing no one person can make a difference, as well as feeling isolated from all his friends, Archie decides to take the Europe Scholarship. However, a mysterious somebody tells him to put on the time belt, which he'll need to stop Future Vinny from unleashing a T-Rex on Riverdale. | ||||
| 37 | "Invasion of the Cockroaches" | Jymn Magon | 17 February 2000 | |
| Pop Tate revitalizes his restaurant to cater to adults, but when all of the adults in the town sprout antennas and talk like robots, he finds that he might need the help of his former customers to save the town. | ||||
| 38 | "The Incredible Shrinking Teens" | Don Gillies | 18 February 2000 | |
| While visiting a mad scientist convention, Archie and Jughead are accidentally zapped inside a shrinking booth and have to struggle for survival while being two inches tall in Jughead's messy room. | ||||
| 39 | "Little Chock'Lit Shoppe of Horrors" | Jymn Magon | 21 February 2000 | |
| Wanting to keep up with the new restaurant, Pop Tate allows Dilton to automate the Chock'Lit Shoppe. Unfortunately, the main processor used takes over the place. | ||||
| 40 | "Big Monster on Campus" | Michael Patrick Dobkins | 22 February 2000 | |
| Moose tries to prove he's more than just muscle when a rival team's star player outshines him, only for Archie to discover he's a robot. | ||||
Selected monsters, ghosts, and other supernatural characters
- a sea monster, who lives in an old Riverdale swimming hole
- a mummy in a museum exhibit
- werewolf sheriff
- mad scientists
- a 50-foot Veronica
- vampires
- giant beetle
- UFOs
- zombies
- "Stanley 9000" (a artificially intelligent talking processor)
- mutant crocodile
- man-eating worm
- super smart rats
- super smart teen (in "Brain of Terror")
- giant cockroaches
- Tapioca Pudding Glob
- alien potatoes
- insane artificial intelligence in Archie's car alarm ,also in Archie's Car Named Betsy.
- ancient wish-granting artifacts gone haywire
- Ghost of Quiet Violet - she used to be a very strict librarian when Jughead was young. She completely scared Jughead away so much when he was young that he stopped going to the library. As a ghost, she haunts the library.
- monster "Archie" – Archie gets turned into a monster when he drinks a new energy drink called "Zoom".
- monster "Stevenson" – Stevenson, a health and workout advocate, gets turned into a monster when he drinks a new energy drink called "Zoom".
- genie - escapes from an urn in Dr. Beaumont's store into Archie's laptop. Reggie, in turn, uses the laptop and is granted three wishes; after which, the Genie is set free and begins to wreak havoc on the city.
- Reggie Droid - After Reggie points out to two aliens who've abducted him that his friends will know he's missing, the aliens make a droid clone to cover up Reggie's absence, but to ensure his friends find him, Reggie lies about his personality traits, thus creating a nice version of himself. In case of discovery and revealing his creators to other Earthlings, the droid has a nuclear bomb inside him.
- Evil Trogs' Leader and his Trogs in "Virtually Evil"
- Mega-Mall of Horrors.
- Maria Nacht - she haunted Archie, Betty, Veronica, and Jughead in their dreams
- Arnie - haunted Big Ethel in her dreams.
- Evil Sentient Humanoid-Like Talking Bees.
Broadcast
United States
The series first ran in the United States on PAX, and was the first newly-produced animated feature to first air on the network. It was planned to air alongside fellow-DIC programme Sherlock Holmes in the 22nd Century as part of an hour-long block,[2] but the latter show instead aired on Fox Kids, leaving Archie to air alongside other DIC shows on the channel's Cloud Nine block. It later moved to a daily-slot on the network and remained on PAX until late-2000.
In 2001, the show began to air on syndicated television stations throughout the United States, as a way to comply with their mandatory E/I regulations. The series would later be part of the syndicated DIC Kids Network block beginning in 2003, also to comply with E/I regulations.
From 2012-2018, the show reran on Qubo.
France
Archie, Mystère Et Compagnie first ran on M6 on January 19, 2000 as part of the channel's M6 Kid strand, and later reran on Disney Channel and Toon Disney in the country.
Production notes
The theme song was written and performed by Mike Piccirillo. Musical underscore composers were Mike Piccirillo and Jean-Michel Guirao. The Riverdale vampires story arc episodes were put together and released on VHS as Archie and the Riverdale Vampires. The voice cast was provided by the Omaha Theater Company for Young People of Omaha, Nebraska.
Comics
An ashcan comic book tie-in also titled Archie's Weird Mysteries, written by Paul Castiglia, pencilled by Bill Golliher, inked by Rick Koslowski and colored by Stephanie Cofell (née Vozzo) was published in 1999. This led into a February 2000 launch for an ongoing, regular-sized series (also titled Archie's Weird Mysteries) with the same creative team. "Weird" was dropped from the title with issue 25 (signaling the end of the tie-in with the television series) and the series was canceled with issue 34 after 10 issues of doing straight mystery stories with no supernatural or science-fiction components.[3]
Home media releases
United States
| VHS/DVD name | Episodes | Distributor | Release date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Archie and the Riverdale Vampires | Attack of the Killer Spuds Scarlet Night I Was a Teenage Vampire Halloween of Horror |
Universal Studios Home Video | August 30, 2000 |
| Monster Bash Fun Pack | August 28, 2004 | ||
| Spells Spell Trouble! | Archie's Date with Fate Me! Me! Me! Invisible Archie The Incredible Shrinking Teens |
NCircle Entertainment | August 26, 2008 |
| The Haunting of Riverdale | Scarlet Night I Was a Teenage Vampire Halloween of Horror The Haunting of Riverdale | ||
| The Best of Archie's Weird Mysteries | Mill Creek Entertainment | February 22, 2012 | |
| Archie's Weird Mysteries: The Complete Series[4] | All 40 episodes of the series | ||
| Archie's Weird Mysteries: The Complete Series (3-disc re-release)[5] | All 40 episodes of the series | June 6, 2017 |
United Kingdom
| VHS/DVD name | Episodes | Distributor | Release date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Volume 1[6] | Attack of the Killer Spuds Me! Me! Me! Driven to Distraction Attack of the 50-Foot Veronica |
Anchor Bay UK | June 28, 2004 |
| Volume 1[7] | Extra Terror-Estrial Big Monster on Campus |
Avenue Entertainment | July 5, 2005 |
| Volume 2[8] | Me! Me! Me! Archie’s Date with Fate |
Australia
All the Australian DVDs were released by MRA Entertainment.
| VHS/DVD name | Episodes | Release date |
|---|---|---|
| Volume 1 | Attack of the Killer Spuds Me! Me! Me! Driven to Distraction |
2005 |
| Volume 2 | Attack of the 50-Foot Veronica Invisible Archie The Haunting of Riverdale |
2005 |
| Volume 3 | Curse of the Mummy Fleas Release Me Mega-Mall of Horrors |
2005 |
| Volume 4 | The Jughead Incident Virtually Evil Zombies of Love |
2005 |
| Volume 5 | Brain of Terror Twisted Youth Compu-Terror |
2005 |
| Volume 6 | Monster in the Night Misfortune Hunters Ship of Ghouls |
2005 |
The Archies in Jugman
In 2002, DIC produced a TV-movie as part of their DIC Movie Toons series, titled The Archies in Jugman.[9] It originally premiered on television on Nickelodeon on November 3, 2002 and was released on DVD and VHS shortly afterward by MGM Home Entertainment, followed on with international airings on Disney Channel and Toon Disney. The movie features the same character designs (but with different clothes, different looks) as this series, as well as most of the same crew and voice cast, and the similar theme of weird events happening in Riverdale.
References
- Holtz, Allan (2012). American Newspaper Comics: An Encyclopedic Reference Guide. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press. pp. 63–64. ISBN 9780472117567.
- https://variety.com/1999/tv/news/dic-sells-archie-holmes-to-pax-1117493065/
- https://www.facebook.com/paul.castiglia/posts/10154977813579008?comment_id=10154978034624008¬if_t=mentions_comment¬if_id=1468369412466162
- "Archie's Weird Mysteries DVD news: Announcement for The Complete Series and The Best Of". TVShowsOnDVD.com. 2007-05-25. Archived from the original on 2012-03-10. Retrieved 2013-10-09.
- 'The Complete Series' Returns to DVD, Haunting Stores this June Archived 2017-04-19 at the Wayback Machine
- "Archies Weird Mysteries - Volume 1 [DVD]: Amazon.co.uk: Ben Beck, John Michael Lee, Jerry Longe, Chris Lundquist, Andrew Rannells, Camille Schmidt, Ryle Smith, Paul Sosso, Tony Wike, America Young, James W. Bates: Film & TV". Amazon.co.uk. Retrieved 2013-10-09.
- "Archie's Weird Mysteries - Vol. 1 [DVD]: Amazon.co.uk: Archie's Weird Mysteries: Film & TV". Amazon.co.uk. Retrieved 2013-10-09.
- "Archie's Weird Mysteries, Vol. 2 [DVD]: Amazon.co.uk: Film & TV". Amazon.co.uk. 2005-07-05. Retrieved 2013-10-09.
- Lenburg, Jeff (2009). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons (3rd ed.). New York: Checkmark Books. p. 257. ISBN 978-0-8160-6600-1.
External links
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