Riverdale's Heathers musical is the latest failed TV attempt to pay tribute to the 1989 cult classic

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Riverdale "didn't even try" with its musical tribute, says Hanh Nguyen, pointing out that it joins last year's Paramount Network TV adaptation of Heathers in failing to successfully bring the 1989 dark comedy film to television. "There’s no real attempt at presenting the Heathers plot at all, and all of the stage show’s songs are performed out of context," Nguyen says of Riverdale's second musical. "This is less of an homage and more of a Frankenstein creation, giving incoherent life to stitched-together elements. This is not an indictment on the quality of Riverdale overall; it knows the pulpy shtick that works for its audience. It just isn’t interested in giving the audience any understanding of Heathers beyond monochromatic outfits and croquet mallets." ALSO: Riverdale's Heathers musical was really about tackling school shootings in America.