Archie: To Riverdale and Back Again (released on video as Archie: Return to Riverdale in the United States and Archie's Weekend Reunion in Australia) was a live-action television movie featuring the Archie characters all grown up and have different careers. It premiered as an NBC Sunday night TV movie on May 6, 1990.
Plot[]
Fifteen years has passed since the Archie gang graduated from Riverdale High School. Archie became a successful lawyer, Jughead is now a divorced psychiatrist with a son named Jordan, Reggie owns a health club, Betty is a grade school teacher and a budding romance novelist and Veronica is... well Veronica; she now lives in Paris, France. Also Moose and Midge have gotten married and become chiropractors. They also have a son, Max, who hits it off with Jordan. And Big Ethel is now a successful model.
Together, they have all been invited back to Riverdale to attend a weekend high school reunion at Riverdale High.
During that time, amazing things have been happening:
- Betty & Veronica still has feelings for Archie even though Betty has a bossy boyfriend, Veronica was married & divorced four times and Archie has a fiancee. Betty's boyfriend and Archie's fiancee became a couple by the end of the movie.
- Jughead has gotten over his fear of Big Ethel at the first site of her.
- Pop Tate is on the verge of being evicted by Reggie and Veronica's father Hiram Lodge due to Reggie's gym expansion. But eventually the Riverdale alumni, got together with Pop while Veronica reasons with her Dad and saves the diner. Reggie's gym blows up by a bomb that was supposed to be for Archie.
In the end, the gang decides to stay or come back to Riverdale. Archie's a bachelor again, Jughead returns to town after briefly leaving, Betty stays to hopefully teach there and write romance novels and Veronica decides not to go back to Paris and try to work things out with her father. The movie ends with Pop taking a picture of the gang.
Cast[]
- Christopher Rich as Archie Andrews
- Lauren Holly as Betty Cooper
- Karen Kopins as Veronica Lodge
- Sam Whipple as Forsythe P. "Jughead" Jones
- Gary Kroeger as Reggie Mantle
- Jeff Hochendoner as Moose Mason
- Debi Derryberry as Midge Mason
- Cindy Ambuehl as Big Ethel Muggs
- Mike Nussbaum as Pop Tate
- Fran Ryan as Miss Grundy
- David Doyle as Mr. Weatherbee
- J.D. Hall as Coach Clayton
- James Noble as Hiram Lodge
- Billy Corben as Jordan "Jughead Junior" Jones
- Aeryk Egan as Max Mason
- Matt McCoy as Robert Miller
- Christina Haag as Pam
Trivia[]
- The movie was a big ratings loser despite great acting from the performers.
- The movie was released on VHS in 1997 from New Horizons Home Video under the title of Archie: Return to Riverdale.