‘Riverdale,’ based on the beloved Archie Comics characters, picked up by Fox

Riverdale, N.Y., is going Hollywood.

And so are all the Archie Comics characters who have lived there in an eerie time warp since 1939 — high school students forever.

Fox has picked up a script deal for a one-hour drama called "Riverdale," a live action series that's based on the cast of the Archie comics.

No details yet on casting or when it might go on the air.

But this won’t be your grandfater’s Riverdale High School.

The show, written by former "Glee" scribe Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and produced by Greg Berlanti (the geek behind "The Flash" and "Arrow"), is being billed as a "bold, subversive take" on the love triangle among all-American boy Archie Andrews, the girl-next-door Betty and her spoiled socialite rival Veronica.

Could the self-absorbed but basically decent Veronica finally cross the line and become a mean girl?

The show will also feature Archie’s rich-boy frenemy Reggie Mantle and Archie’s best pal Jughead Jones, who personified the term “dude” back when the rest of America thought it only applied to rookies on a ranch.

And it will include Kevin Keller, a popular gay character who was a latecomer to Riverdale High.

So expect the hijinks at Riverdale High to skew older and darker than the milkshake-and-malts drama that has driven the family-friendly comics for 75 years.

"This is something we've been working on for a while now, figuring out the best way to bring these characters to life for what will be, essentially, the first time," Aguirre-Sacasa said in a statement.

The last time Archie tried for a TV gig was in 1990, when the television movie “Archie: To Riverdale and Back” was broadcast as a potential pilot for a series.

No one liked it very much and the series idea was dropped.

Archie did have a successful 10-year run on radio, 1943-1953, and the phantom “band” The Archies had several huge hits and a life of their own in the 1960s.

'Looking' Star Raul Castillo Joins The CW's 'Riverdale'

Looking star Raul Castillo is moving to Riverdale.

The actor has joined The CW's upcoming Archie comics adaptation in a recurring role, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.

Set in present day, Riverdale offers a subversive take on Archie (K.J. Apa), Betty (Lili Reinhart), Veronica (Camila Mendes), Jughead Jones (Cole Sprouse), Josie (Ashleigh Murray) and their friends. The midseason drama takes a closer look at the surrealism of small-town life — the darkness and weirdness bubbling beneath Riverdale's wholesome facade.

Castillo will play Oscar, a serious, successful songwriter from New York who is also a visiting professor at Carson College, located in Riverdale. Cool and exacting, Oscar agrees to audition Archie in the hopes of possibly mentoring the aspiring singer-songwriter — but does Archie have true musical chops? Castillo will make his series debut in episode five.

Best known for his role as Richie on the acclaimed HBO comedy Looking, Castillo's other credits include Gotham, Easy and the Ricky Gervais film Special Correspondents. He is repped by CAA, TMT Entertainment Group and attorney Rick Genow.

Riverdale hails from executive producers Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, Greg Berlanti, Sarah Schechter and Jon Goldwater. The series is produced by Warner Bros. Television in association with Berlanti Productions.

Riverdale is set to bow midseason on The CW.

Did the Gang meet The Punisher?

I am catching up on this show now. It's a fun, modern take on the world of Archie. Jughead is indeed the centerpiece of the show, and he wears "the hat".
Also the guy in the article Linda quoted above is literally in two short scenes in one episode. If he's recurring, it's not very regularly (I still have 3 episodes to go).