The CW’s “Riverdale” pilot, based on Archie Comics, casts Betty Cooper and Jughead Jones — and one is a Disney Channel alum — plus, more in today’s television news roundup . . .
Casting News:
The CW’s pilot “Riverdale,” based on the Archie Comics, has cast characters Jughead Jones and Betty Cooper. Former Disney Channel star Cole Sprouse will play Jughead Jones, and Lili Reinhart will play Betty.
“Riverdale” is set in the present day and follows Archie and his friends attempt to survive small-town life. Reinhart’s Betty Cooper is the ideal daughter with a crush on Archie, her best friend, who gets sick of being picture perfect and turns to her new friend Veronica for advice. Sprouse’s Jughead Jones is the former best friend of Archie’s who is still prickly about what has come between them.
The casting was first reported by Deadline, though Sprouse — who rose to fame early, alongside his twin brother on Adam Sandler’s “Big Daddy” and then Disney’s “Suite Life of Zack & Cody” — took to Twitter to announce the news to his more than two million followers:
Thanks for being patient while I stepped away. I’m pleased to announce my return to acting. Catch me on Riverdale as pic.twitter.com/AQqWIqNtdi
— Cole C. Sprouse (@colesprouse) February 9, 2016
Disney Junior’s “Doc McStuffins” has netted a handful of guest stars for its fourth season, including Anthony Anderson, Molly Ringwald, Ellen Pompeo, Gabourey Sidibe, Vanessa Williams and Ludacris who will all lend their voices to the animated show, which follows a young aspiring doctor who runs a clinic for stuffed animals and toys from her backyard.
Since it premiered in 2012, the show has had other celebrity guests including Michelle Obama, Audra McDonald, Geena Davis, Ty Burrell, David Copperfield, Taye Diggs, Patton Oswalt, Molly Shannon, Jeffrey Tambor, Tony Hale, Lisa Loeb and more.
Patti LaBelle will be an advisor on Season 10 “The Voice” for Christina Aguilera’s team. The news was posted on the singing competition’s Twitter on Tuesday. LaBelle joins advisor Miley Cyrus, who will also be on “The Voice” for battle rounds this upcoming season, which debuts Feb. 29.
Executive News:
BET Networks announced today that Brie Miranda Bryant has been tapped as senior vice president of unscripted, original programming.
Bryant was most recently the vice president of development and production at Comcast NBCUniversal’s Oxygen Media. Her new role will have her responsible for overseeing all unscripted development and production for the network.
“Brie is a talented creative executive with a knack for identifying complex, real life experiences and transforming them into rich and nuanced stories that audiences can’t get enough of,” said Zola Mashariki, executive vice president, head of original programming. “Her ability to stay ahead of pop culture trends makes her the perfect person to lead our unscripted team.”
