DL045: Archie, Bankrupt 1 – Scrabble

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Bankrupt Rumor:

Archie Comics:

Archie Andrews is an old time radio show that ran from 1943-1953. It was based on the popular Archie comic strip by Bob Montana, which was published in newspapers from 1941-1975. The comic strip was based on Montana’s hometown, his own high school life, and the friends he’d made there. Jughead and Moose were based on his friends, Skinny Linehan and Arnold Daggett.

In the story, Jughead is Archie’s childhood friend. Moose, although not too bright, is a star athlete at Riverdale High School and Archie is often his teammate. Reggie is Archie’s main rival (competition), both in sports and in romance. Speaking of Archie’s love life, there is an on-going love triangle between Betty, Veronica and Archie. Archie originally tried to get the attention of Betty, the girl next door, but she just saw him as an annoying nuisance. Then when Veronica moved to town, Archie started dating her. This got Betty jealous, and the two girls started competing for his love. Archie considers Veronica his girlfriend, and Betty a close friend, but he still wants Betty to be there for him as backup, just in case Veronica ever breaks up with him. You can meet the characters in the comic strip/radio show at this website: http://archiecomics.com/characters/

Rumor has it…

For the next 6 episodes of Dramatic Listening, we’ll be listening to the radio episode, Bankrupt Rumor. A rumor is interesting information that gets people talking. It gets passed around from person to person. Some people forget some facts and other story-tellers add to the story to make it even more interesting. As a result, rumors are stories we might hear about people we know, but we don’t know if they are true or not. This particular rumor is about bankruptcy – that is when a person or a business loses all their money and cannot pay their debts. As we listen in on conversations in Archie’s home and between Archie and his friends, we begin to see how the rumor got started, and how it grew…

Explaining the rules of Scrabble:

In this episode, Part 1 of Bankrupt Rumor, Archie’s mom is teaching Archie’s dad how to play a popular new game at the time, Scrabble.

The Cast:

• ARCHIE: Main character, a teenage boy who can’t stay out of trouble
• JUGHEAD: Archie’s best friend
• BETTY: Friends with Archie and Jughead; wishes Archie would notice her
• VERONICA: Archie’s girlfriend, and daughter of Mr. Lodge
• FRED: Archie’s father
• MARY: Archie’s mother
• LODGE: Mr. Lodge
• PRINGLE: Owner of local drugstore
• MAN: Nosy neighbor
• WOMAN 1: Nosy neighbor
• WOMAN 2: Nosy neighbor

What do you think?

Can you understand why Fred doesn’t want to play Scrabble? He’s been working at the office all day, and now his wife expects him to be sociable. He’s likely been interacting with people all day, but his wife hasn’t. Then, on top of that, his wife wants him to try something new, something he doesn’t know. He’s probably afraid of making a fool of himself. But his whole attitude about the game changed when he found out he was good at it. Have you ever been like Fred? What have you tried that you found out you were good at? Please leave a comment below.