The CW cancels Riverdale, its favorite child

The teen drama series will end with its seventh season

By Gabrielle Sanchez  |  May 19, 2022 | 3:36pm
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The CW cancels Riverdale, its favorite child
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Cole Sprouse, Camila Mendes, Lili Reinhart, Lili Reinhart, and KJ Apa Photo: Matt Winkelmeyer

In the tidal wave of cancellations over at The CW, the company finally took aim at its landmark series, Riverdale. The series will end with its forthcoming seventh season.

The series started as a teen show adjacent to the Archie Comics, set in the seemingly innocent town of Riverdale (although currently in the series, it’s Rivervale). In its last few seasons, the writing for the show has gone completely off the rails, with outlandish dimension traveling storylines, murders left and right, bombs (?), and enough conspiracies to fill a dossier. What started as a slam dunk for the network has since only seen dips in viewership, with less than half a million viewers tuning in each week.

Riverdale stars KJ Apa, Lili Reinhart, Camila Mendes, Cole Sprouse, Madelaine Petsch, Mädchen Amick, Casey Cott, Charles Melton, and Vanessa Morgan. The series first premiered in 2017, and has been helmed by showrunner Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa.

With Riverdale’s cancellation, it now joins the slate of recently canceled series over at The CW, including Legends Of Tomorrow, Batwoman, Naomi, Legacies, Dynasty, Charmed, Roswell, New Mexico, In The Dark, and 4400. This comes ahead of the company’s potential impending sale to Nexstar.

“I realize [the cancellation] pattern was different from years past and can see why it came as a bit of a shock to fans,” The CW CEO Mark Pedowitz recently said of the cancellations. “None of these were easy decisions. We had long conversations with our studios and parent companies, and everyone recognized this was a time of transition for The CW. Difficult financial and strategic decisions were made at every level.”

However, with enough advance notice, Pedowitz hopes Riverdale can go out with a bang.

“I am a big believer of giving series that have had a long run an appropriate send-off. We had a long conversation with Roberto [Aguirre-Sacasa] yesterday and he is thrilled with the decision,” Pedowitz says. “We are going to treat the show in the manner it deserves. It’s been an iconic pop culture star and we want to make sure that it goes out the right way.”

 
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