Riverdale

Riverdale
Genre	Teen drama Mystery Musical
Developed by	Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa
Original language	English
No. of seasons	7
No. of Episodes	137
Production
Producer(s)	J.B. Moranville
Running time	60 minutes (inc. commercials)
Production company(s)	Berlanti Productions Archie Comics CBS Television Studios Warner Bros. Television
Distributor	Warner Bros. Television Distribution
Release
Original network	The CW
Original release	January 26, 2017 – August 23, 2023
Chronology
Related shows	Chilling Adventures of Sabrina Katy Keene

Riverdale is an American mystery teen drama television series that premiered on The CW on January 26, 2017.

The series has two spin-off series, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, which premiered on Netflix in October 2018; and Katy Keene, which aired on The CW from February to May 2020.

On January 7, 2020, Riverdale was renewed for a fifth season, which premiered on January 20, 2021. On February 3, 2021, Riverdale was renewed for a sixth season, that premiered on November 16, 2021. On March 22, 2022, the series was renewed for a seventh season, served as the series' last.

Summary

The show features an ensemble cast based on the characters of Archie Comics, with KJ Apa in the role of Archie Andrews, Lili Reinhart as Betty Cooper, his next door neighbor who has a crush on him, Camila Mendes as Veronica Lodge, his new love interest and Cole Sprouse as Jughead Jones, his ex-best friend and the narrator of the show. The show also features Ashleigh Murray as Josie McCoy, the lead singer of the Pussycats, and Madelaine Petsch as Cheryl Blossom, the twin sister of Jason Blossom, who is at the center of the series' mystery. Other characters in the show include Fred Andrews, Alice Cooper and Hermione Lodge, the parents of Archie, Betty, and Veronica respectively.

The series follows Archie Andrews' life in the small town of Riverdale while exploring the darkness hidden behind its seemingly perfect image.

Cast

Main

• KJ Apa as Archie Andrews
• Lili Reinhart as Betty Cooper
• Camila Mendes as Veronica Lodge
• Cole Sprouse as Jughead Jones
• Marisol Nichols as Hermione Lodge
• Madelaine Petsch as Cheryl Blossom
• Ashleigh Murray as Josie McCoy (starring seasons 1-3, special guest season 4 and 5)
• Mädchen Amick as Alice Cooper
• Luke Perry as Fred Andrews (seasons 1-3)
• Casey Cott as Kevin Keller (recurring season 1; starring seasons 2-7)
• Skeet Ulrich as FP Jones (recurring season 1; starring seasons 2-5)
• Mark Consuelos as Hiram Lodge (seasons 2-Season 5)
• Charles Melton as Reggie Mantle (recurring season 2; starring seasons 3-7)
• Vanessa Morgan as Toni Topaz (recurring season 2; starring seasons 3-7)
• Drew Ray Tunner as Fangs Fogarty (recurring seasons 2-4; starring seasons 5-7)
• Erinn Westbrook as Tabitha Tate (seasons 5-6, Guest Star Season 7)

Series overview

Season	No. of episodes	Originally aired		Time slot	Average ratings
		First aired	Last aired		Rating (18-49)	Viewers (millions)
1	13	January 26, 2017	May 11, 2017	Thursdays 9e/8c	0.4	1.04
2	22	October 11, 2017	May 16, 2018	Wednesdays 8e/7c	0.5	1.37
3	22	October 10, 2018	May 15, 2019		0.4	1.05
4	19	October 9, 2019	May 6, 2020		0.2	0.73
5	19	January 20, 2021	October 6, 2021		0.1	0.46
6	22	November 16, 2021	2022	Tuesdays 9e/8c	TBD
				Sundays 8e/7c
7	20	March 29, 2023	August 23, 2023				0.46
Wednesday 9e/8c

Production

Development

Warner Bros. began development on an Archie feature film in 2013, after a pitch from writer Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and director Jason Moore that would place Archie's gang into a teen comedy feature film in the John Hughes tradition. Dan Lin and Roy Lee became producers on the project, which eventually stalled as priorities shifted at Warner Bros. towards larger tentpole films and was reimagined as a television series. Riverdale was originally in development at Fox, with the network landing the project in 2014 with a script deal plus penalty. However, Fox did not go forward with the project. In 2015, the show's development was moved to The CW, which officially ordered a pilot on January 29, 2016. On March 7, 2017, The CW announced that the series had been renewed for a second season.

Reception

Critical Reception

The first season of Riverdale has received generally positive reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, it has a fresh rating of 89% based on 51 reviews, with a weighted average of 7.3/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Riverdale offers an amusingly self-aware reimagining of its classic source material that proves eerie, odd, daring, and above all addictive." On Metacritic, the season has a normalized score of 67 out of 100 based on 35 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Dave Nemetz of TVLine gave the series a "B+" saying that it turned, "out to be an artfully crafted, instantly engaging teen soap with loads of potential."

Some writers have criticized the series for its handling of minority characters. While reviewing the first season, Kadeen Griffiths of Bustle declared "the show marginalizes and ignores the [people of color] in the cast to the point where they may as well not be there." In an article for Vulture, Angelica Jade Bastien discussed the show's treatment of Josie and the Pussycats (who are each played by African Americans), noting, "They're not characters so much as they are a vehicle for a Message. Josie and her fellow pussycats are positioned to communicate the message that Riverdale is more modern and inclusive than teen dramas of the past, even though it has yet to prove it beyond its casting." Monique Jones of Ebony noted, "Despite the show's multi-racial casting choices, it seems like Riverdale is still a mostly white town." She also expressed fondness for the relationship between Archie Andrews and Valerie Brown, but declared "Archie shouldn't be what makes Valerie interesting to us".

Gallery

External links

• Riverdale on Riverdale/Sabrina Fandom
• Riverdale on Wikipedia