With Scooby-Doo, Where Are You Now! premiering Friday, October 29th on The CW, YEM is taking a look at other young adult shows and films that involve solving mysteries or stopping villains:
Riverdale
The series features an ensemble cast based on the Archie Comics characters, with KJ Apa in the role of Archie Andrews, Lili Reinhart as Betty Cooper, Camila Mendes as Veronica Lodge, and Cole Sprouse as Jughead Jones, who is also the show’s narrator. Riverdale’s group of teenagers must investigate the mysterious deaths that plague their small town, while not getting themselves killed in the process.
Season 6 of Riverdale will debut on The CW on November 16th. You can also find the show on Netflix. For those who haven’t heard, there is a crossover with The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina taking place this upcoming season, and Kiernan Shipka will reprise her role as Sabrina Spellman on the show! YEM already has all the info you need to know right here:
https://youngentertainmentmag.com/kiernan-shipkas-sabrina-bringing-a-killer-crossover-to-riverdale/
Josie and the Pussycats
Besides being part of the Riverdale and Archie Comics universe, “Josie” has been getting mixed up in strange adventures, spy capers, and mysteries for nearly 60 years. Starting out as an Archie comic in 1963, the characters soon evolved into a Saturday morning Hanna-Barbera cartoon in the early 1970s. Hanna-Barbera Productions even created a real-life incarnation of the pop girl-group based on the cartoon, who then released music that appeared on the show. After a few years on TV, the series was repackaged as Josie and the Pussycats in Outer Space for a couple more years, before just continuing on as a comic series until 1982. The franchise then arrived on the big screen in the live-action 2001 film Josie and the Pussycats, which has lived on with a cult following ever since. Riverdalebrought the group back to television when Josie McCoy began appearing on the show in 2017. Josie and the Pussycats are also no stranger to Scooby-Doo either, having appeared in the 2nd season of The New Scooby-Doo Movies in an episode titled, “The Haunted Showboat.”
Nancy Drew
Nancy Drew started as a fictional book character that first appeared back in 1930. She’s a sleuth that will do whatever it takes to get to the bottom of a mystery. Nancy is often assisted in solving mysteries by her two closest friends: cousins Bess Marvin and George Fayne. Initially created as a female counterpart to the guys in the Hardy Boys book series, since then her stories have taken on a life of their own. Over 80 million copies of her books have been sold worldwide and have been translated into more than 45 languages. Nancy Drew is featured in five films, three television shows, and a number of popular computer games. You can currently catch the latest Nancy Drew TV series on The CW, which recently premiered its third season. Not to mention, YEM had the pleasure of interviewing Sophia Lillis, who played Nancy Drew in the 2019 film, Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase:
https://youngentertainmentmag.com/sophia-lillis-talks-playing-nancy-drew/
The Hardy Boys
For nearly a century, The Hardy Boys have been delighting generations of fans with their mystery books, TV shows, and video games. More than 350 books have been written about Frank and Joe, with over 70 million books having been sold worldwide. Six different Hardy Boys television shows have existed, with the latest show currently streaming on Hulu. Season 1 of The Hardy Boys is currently available in its entirety, and the 2nd season of The Hardy Boys will premiere on Hulu next year, according to reports. YEM has previously discussed the long history of The Hardy Boys in further detail here:
https://youngentertainmentmag.com/brush-up-on-the-history-of-the-hardy-boys/
Stranger Things
The hit Netflix show is the epitome of a mysterious science fiction show, centering around young adults. Set in the 1980s in Hawkins, Indiana, when a young boy disappears, his mother, a police chief, and his friends must confront terrifying supernatural forces in order to get him back. A girl with psychokinetic abilities appears, who goes by the name Eleven (played by Millie Bobby Brown). If that wasn’t enough, the characters end up battling entities from the realm of the Upside Down, along with so much more. The show is investigative, sometimes scary, and filled with dramatic twists and turns. You can watch Stranger Things on Netflix, with Season 4 premiering in 2022.
Secrets of Sulpher Springs
Often thought of as Disney’s version of Stranger Things, Secrets of Sulpher Springs is a compelling time-traveling mystery series in its own right. After his dad gets a new job, 12-year-old Griffin Campbell and his family move into the run-down, former Tremont Hotel in Sulphur Springs, Louisiana. The place is said to be haunted by the ghost of Savannah Dillon, a camper from the previously nearby Tremont Camp, who disappeared thirty years earlier. With his new best friend Harper along with him, Griffin and Harper discover a portal that takes the two back in time to 1990, where they try to meet and find out what happened to Savannah Dillon. As the mystery unravels, Griffin and Harper find out about their own parent’s connections to Savannah 30 years earlier, while also trying to save Savannah from whatever happened to her in 1990. The show ends Season 1 on a cliffhanger, setting up Season 2 on a high note.
The first season of Secrets of Sulphur Springs is currently streaming on Disney+ and available in DisneyNow. Season 2 has reportedly already completed filming and is scheduled to premiere next year. Be sure to check out YEM’s interview with actor Landon Gordon, who plays Griffin’s younger brother Wyatt Campbell on the show:
Also, check out this recently released Disney teaser trailer for Secrets of Sulphur Springs season two!
