Sabrina’s (probably) not coming to Riverdale, because she’s getting her own TV series

Sabrina the Teenage Witch might take a trip to Riverdale, but she probably won’t be a permanent resident, because she’ll have her own show.

The mystery of whether or not Archie Comics would summon up Sabrina the Teenage Witch for Riverdale has (mostly) been solved. It looks like the answer is closer to no rather than yes as of today, because Archie Comics has casually announced that instead, it and the CW are working together to bring her to the small screen (again) for 2018-19, but not as the supernatural comedy we remember from the ’90s.

Instead, Archie Comics has confirmed that the basis for the show will be Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, and the show will just add a The in front to differentiate. That title might change between now and the show premiering, though. It works well as a comic book title, but as a TV show, it might sound like an old-fashioned serial. (Hey, what about Greendale? Too close to Riverdale?)

What the announcement does not include is whether or not the show will actually move back to the ’60s as the source comic does. It does, however, say that the plan is for this show to be “a companion to [Riverdale],” which seems to support the interpretation that Sabrina’s show will also be set in the modern day.

Additionally, the question might really be now whether or not Riverdale tries the old backdoor-pilot strategy to launch Sabrina. It still doesn’t seem like it’s necessarily the wisest idea to bring her in, as I argued earlier this month. If the idea is more just to have Sabrina make some cameo appearances rather than spending a full episode introducing her and giving her plot lines in Riverdale, that’s slightly more workable, if only slightly so.

Additionally, the announcement does not confirm any cast news. If the idea is to put her in Riverdale‘s second season, which is still filming as of yesterday according to a fan photo taken on Twitter … then it seems a bit strange to not confirm anything in that respect.

Next: Book-Thirsty Thursday: Chilling Adventures of Sabrina

For now, it seems wise to read Archie Comics’ use of companion to mean “companion in tone and drama-level” rather than “Sabrina and Riverdale exist in the exact same universe.”