Josie and the Pussycats, the animated series based on Archie Comics‘s characters of the same name, premiered 50 years ago today, on September 12, 1970. While the character of Josie McCoy had debuted in the comics in 1962, it wasn’t until 1969 that she became a pop star, backed by the Pussycats, Melody Valentine and Valerie Brown. Given the timing, it seems plausible that the Josie and the Pussycats reinvention of Josie’s comic was inspired by the desire to create an animated series, since it was during the 1968-69 TV series that The Archie Show debuted on CBS. That one hailed from Filmation Studios, and after it became a hit (and spun off a hit singe in the form of “Sugar, Sugar”), Hanna-Barbera wanted in on the Archie brand.