The Pop’s restaurant is definitely closing its doors: Riverdale will end its run on The CW at the end of its upcoming seventh season, TVLine has learned.
“I’m a big proponent of trying to give shows that have had long runs a proper send off,” CW President and CEO Mark Pedowitz said in an executive call Thursday. “We had a long conversation with [executive producer] Robert [Aguirre-Sacasa] yesterday, who is delighted with this news, and we will treat the show as it deserves…. We want to make sure it goes the right way.
“I think they, too, felt that seven years is the right length of time,” Pedowitz added. “As a fan myself, I want to do what’s right for the show.”
Riverdale was renewed for season 7 in March, along with other CW dramas the flash, all american, Superman and Lois, Walker, Kung Fu and Nancy Drew. Season 6 currently airs Sundays at 8/7c; Season 7 is slated for mid-season, to air in 2023. An episode count is yet to be determined, but Pedowitz said he “doesn’t believe it will be a shortened season.” (To see The CW’s just-released Fall 2022 schedule, click here.)
This TV season (which includes three Season 5 latecomers), Riverdale averages 560,000 total viewers with DVR Live+7 playback taken into account. the outpost, In the dark and Dynasty.
Riverdale joined a number of CW dramas on the chopping block: the network was also removed Dynasty, Charm, Noemie, 4400, In the dark and Roswell, New Mexico Last week – In the dark and Roswell still have new seasons premiering this summer – with the previously canceled batman and Legends of tomorrow. The atypical “bloodbath” of The CW’s cancellations this season is likely due to the network’s rumored upcoming sale (perhaps to affiliate Nexstar) and thus its uncertain future.
Season 6 of Riverdale kicked off last fall with a five-episode “Rivervale” event that saw Archie and company face a macabre series of supernatural adventures, with Kiernan Shipka stopping to reprise his Netflix role as teenage witch Sabrina Spellman. He then returned in March with a new timeslot and a new enemy in Percival Pickens (Chris O’Shea), the posh newcomer who has quickly taken over the city with his mysterious mind-control powers. But don’t worry: Archie, Betty, Jughead and Cheryl soon learned that they had their own mysterious powers.
Are you sorry to hear Riverdale end? What do you want to see in the latest episodes? Take a stand in the comments and share your thoughts.