Riverdale, the long-running teen drama, comes to an end after its seventh season wraps up.
The show, which is being produced by US broadcaster The CW, will wrap up in early 2023, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
First airing in 2017, Riverdale is a dark take on characters in Archie Comics. The comics in question, which began in 1942, follow a teenager named Archie and his group of friends as they navigate relationships, adventure, and the usual teenage ups and downs in the fictional town of Riverdale.
Riverdale, the series, took these characters and cast them as would-be detectives, with star KJ Apa’s Archie Andrews (and friends) vowing to uncover the evil lurking in this seemingly innocent town after a teenager is found dead.
In addition to Apa, key roles in the series have been played by Lili Reinhart, Camila Mendes, Cole Sprouse, Madelaine Petsch, Mädchen Amick, Charles Melton, Vanessa Morgan and the late Luke Perry.
The show was developed by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, who was not only Chief Creative Officer of Archie Comics, but also wrote for Glee, Looking and the remake of the horror hit Carrie.
Mark Pedowitz, Chairman and CEO of The CW, said of the show’s ending, “I really believe in giving long-running series a proper send-off. We want to make sure it gets it right.”
It’s not yet known if the show’s final season will be a 19-episode run, like its fourth and fifth were, or an abbreviated event-type season.
Analysis: Why is Riverdale ending?
The show was one of the few series spared by The CW, which canceled seven shows last week, including the Charmed and Roswell reboots, but it was clearly just a stay of execution.
According to The Hollywood Reporter’s cancellation details, Riverdale’s sixth season, which airs every Sunday on The CW, has averaged nearly half a million viewers; a quarter of the number it reaped in its second season.
The show’s popularity was also helped by The CW’s mega $1 billion deal with Netflix, which meant it debuted on the streamer at the same time. Now, however, that deal is ending as The CW’s parent companies Warner Bros and Paramount want to place shows on their own platforms, Paramount Plus and HBO Max, instead.
With no Netflix money to spend, The CW executives are cutting back their programming, as last week’s epic housecleaning showed.
The end of Riverdale and Leagues of Tomorrow being canceled after seven seasons leaves The Flash as The CW’s longest-running show, with an eighth season on the way.
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