New life for classic comedy characters?

The characters of the “The Dick Van Dyke Show” may soon be back in New Rochelle for the first time in almost 40 years.

Carl Reiner, the creator and co-star of the classic 1960s comedy, is working on a script that places the characters in a modern setting.

“I’m about four pages into it,” Reiner said Monday, the day after he announced the tentative project as the show was honored at the first TV Land Awards, the cable network’s celebration of some of TV’s most enduring series.

The awards show will be televised March 12.

“Folks are always asking me, ‘What would these people be doing today?’ and it’s a very intriguing idea,” Reiner said.

The Emmy-winning series was set behind the scenes of a mythical New York City variety program, “The Alan Brady Show.” Van Dyke played head writer Rob Petrie. Rose Marie and the late Morey Amsterdam portrayed his wisecracking co-writers Sally Rogers and Buddy Sorrell. At home in New Rochelle, Mary Tyler Moore played Petrie’s loving wife, Laura, while Reiner was conceited performer Alan Brady.

Reiner loosely based the show, which aired from 1961 to 1966, on his experiences as a writer and actor working for Sid Caesar in the 1950s.

Van Dyke, Moore, Marie and Larry Matthews, who played son Richie Petrie, were present Sunday night at the awards show at the Hollywood Palladium, and expressed tentative interest.

Reiner said of the “Dick Van Dyke Show” script, “I was afraid I would never get around to doing this, so by announcing it, now I have to finish writing it.”