On paper, the concept sounds a bit mad: What if the freckled-faced teens of the wholesome “Archie” comics were wrapped up in a seedy murder mystery? And yet the CW's “Riverdale,” which premieres Jan. 26, is arguably one of the most anticipated new series of 2017.

Ever since the debut of the “Riverdale” pilot at San Diego Comic-Con last summer, fans have been buzzing about this “Twin Peaks” meets “Dawson's Creek” drama.

Gone are the cartoonish glances and cross-hatched sideburns. The new Archie — as embodied by K.J. Apa — is ripped.

In fact, everyone in Riverdale — “The town with pep!” — has changed. Betty Cooper (Lili Reinhart) pops Adderall, Veronica Lodge's (Camila Mendes) family is in ruins, Ms. Grundy (Sarah Habel) is no longer a senior citizen but a “Lolita”-sunglasses-wearing cougar and ... oh yeah, Archie's dad is Luke Perry.

The plot picks up after the death of a Riverdale High student and teeters between teen drama and murder mystery for the rest of the season. “We always try to tell a story that works both as an ‘Archie' story and as a noir, David Lynch-ian kind of story,” said Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, series creator and executive producer.

Aguirre-Sacasa's eclectic work history laid the groundwork for the unique series. As a playwright, he wrote the book for Duncan Sheik's musical adaptation of “American Psycho.” He's also worked on several TV series, including “Big Love,” “Looking” and “Glee,” and after 11 years writing comic books, he was named the chief creative officer for Archie Comics.

“Our show is not that different from the core of ‘Archie' from the 1940s or the 1950s. Archie, in the comics, was a good kid who always tried to do his best, frequently screwed up, made things worse before he made them better, and then learned a lesson. The Archie on our show is actually like that as well.”

Executive producer Greg Berlanti, who oversees the CW comic book adaptations of “Arrow” and “The Flash,” can trace his “Archie” influences all the way back to his days working on “Dawson's Creek.”

“This is one of the few instances where I'm working on something where it is actually (one of) the roots of the comic-book love triangle,” Berlanti said. “The original Dawson-Joey-Pacey was Betty-Archie-Veronica.”

But no matter how timeless the central themes may be — and despite the addition of the first openly gay character from the “Archie” comics in Kevin Keller (Casey Cott) — the producers felt that the source material still needed an update for modern audiences.

“A lot of these comic books were written in a time where the bulk of people reading them and writing them were white,” Berlanti said. “That's not the world we live in anymore.”

Veronica Lodge is played by Latino actress Mendes, and local Riverdale band Josie and the Pussycats is an all-black trio led by Ashleigh Murray — and, yes, they will play pep rallies that go full-tilt “Friday Night Lights.”

The relationship between Betty and Veronica has also been tweaked. While the love triangle remains intact, “Riverdale” has turned the trope slightly askew, refocusing more on the friendship between the two women and not their desire for Archie.

“I'm not interested in stories about girls fighting with each other,” executive producer Sarah Schechter said. “That, to me, feels really antiquated, and it's certainly not helpful. It doesn't feel real to the depth of my relationship with other women as a woman. We were never interested in making them frenemies. They're both complicated women.”

The show is not aimed just at teens, with the adult population sprinkled with faces that will be familiar to parents, including Madchen Amick (“Twin Peaks”) as Betty's harridan mom, Skeet Ulrich (“Scream”) as leader of Riverdale's criminal element and Molly Ringwald as Archie's mother.

“I think there's a reason why ‘Riverdale' plays really well to adults, because we were all teenagers, and I think we all still feel a little bit of that: ‘Who are we, and how do we define ourselves, and what's important to us?' It's an ongoing process,” Schechter said. “A part of you is a teenager forever.”

meredith.woerner@latimes.com