The Fox network has given the go-ahead for a pilot episode of a series called Riverdale, described as “a bold, subversive take on Archie, Betty, Veronica and their friends, exploring the surreality of small-town life — the darkness and weirdness bubbling beneath Riverdale’s wholesome façade.” Some of the talent connected to the project have some experience with that sort of thing. Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa writes Afterlife With Archie, was on the writing staff of Glee, and combined both pursuits in the special comic series Archie Meets Glee. Producer Greg Berlanti has previously squired Green Arrow, The Flash and Supergirl to the small screen.

This won’t be the first live-action Archie TV series pilot. It’ll be at least the fourth.

In 1964, there was a sitcom with a lot of familiar TV faces (William Schallert, Roland Winters, Mary Grace Canfield, Jean Vanderpyl) playing various Riverdale parents and teachers; John Simpson played Archie.

In 1978 there was a sketch-based series starring David Caruso as Archie and Derrell Maury as Jughead. Essentially the same cast reconvened for a slightly different variety-show-style pilot.

Archie: To Riverdale and Back Again was broadcast in 1990 and released on VHS tape. It aged the teen characters into their 20s, a precursor of sorts to the recent Life With Archie magazine.

In 2012, a four-minute faux trailer for a realistic Archie film called Riverdale was posted on Youtube. It won a Canadian Comedy Award for Funniest Web Clip, but seems remarkably like what the forthcoming Fox pilot Riverdale appears to be going for in earnest.