HARBOR SPRINGS, Mich. — This small town in a corner of Little Traverse Bay has seen zero homicides this year and last year, and in fact, Police Chief Kyle Knight says he doesn’t believe there is one on record ever.
But fans of “Riverdale” — The CW’s campy, edgy and corpse-filled TV take on Archie, Betty, Veronica, Jughead and other beloved characters from the classic comic book series — may recognize the northern Michigan town across the bay from Petoskey as none other than the “murder capital of the world” itself while driving down its quintessential American small-town Main Street.
It’s likely by some happy accident that royalty-free aerial footage over the downtown of Harbor Springs, a bayside resort town of less than 1,300 residents, became the first shot of the hit series. At its peak, “Riverdale” reached 2.3 million live viewers, according to ratings tracker The Nielsen Co. Drops of the most recent season typically land among the top 10 shows on Netflix, and it’s spun out numerous memes on social media. The show that’s in the midst of airing the last episodes of its seven-season run airs at 9 p.m. ET Wednesdays on The CW.
The creators of “Riverdale” aren’t the only ones to have noticed Harbor Springs’ charms. The Hallmark Channel’s website had a livestream of the downtown’s Christmas lights and tree featured along with a few other festive towns last winter as a part of its “Countdown to Christmas.”