'Riverdale' Is Ending With Seventh And Final Season On The CW

Here's to the epic highs and lows of the series that made Archie cool again.
Lili Reinhart as Betty Cooper, KJ Apa as Archie Andrews, and Camila Mendes as Veronica Lodge in "Riverdale."
Lili Reinhart as Betty Cooper, KJ Apa as Archie Andrews, and Camila Mendes as Veronica Lodge in "Riverdale."
Kailey Schwerman/The CW

One town can only suffer through so many bear attacks, jingle-jangle drug drops, underground fight rings, serial killers, teen-run speakeasies and inexplicable musical sequences.

Riverdale” is coming to what we can only assume will be a gloriously unhinged end on the CW, the network announced Thursday ahead of its upfront presentation to advertisers.

The seventh and final season will arrive during the network’s 2022-2023 midseason sometime next year.

“I’m a big believer in giving series that have long runs an appropriate sendoff,” the network’s CEO, Mark Pedowitz, said, according to The Hollywood Reporter. “It is an iconic pop culture star, and We want to make sure it goes out the right way.”

“I think they, too, felt that seven years is the right amount,” Pedowitz added. “As a fan myself, I do want to do what is right for the show.”

“Riverdale,” which introduced Archie Comics characters to a new generation, is currently airing its sixth season, which has somehow manages to weave both superpowers and time travel into the fabric of the teen series.

Premiering in 2017, the show became a breakout smash hit for the CW, making instant stars out of its young cast, including KJ Apa, Lili Reinhart, Cole Sprouse, Camila Mendes, Madelaine Petsch, Ashleigh Murray and Casey Cott.

The refreshingly dark take on the classic comic figure was so successful that it launched several spinoffs within a shared universe, including Netflix’s “Chilling Adventures of Sabrina” and “Katy Keene,” which aired on the CW for a single season. Showrunner Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, who inked a major deal with Warner Bros., the studio behind the CW hit, is reportedly developing another spinoff within the Archieverse.

In recent days, the CW has axed a handful of other fan-favorite series, including “Legends of Tomorrow,” “Batwoman,” “Dynasty,” “Legacies,” “Charmed,” “Roswell: New Mexico,” “In The Dark,” and “4400” due to financial considerations.

Corporate owners ViacomCBS and WarnerMedia are reportedly looking to sell the broadcast network, which has never been profitable on its own. The CW has primarily stayed afloat by securing lucrative foreign sales and deals with streaming services like Netflix for their relatively low-cost series.

Three new series based on existing CW properties will debut this year ― “Gotham Knights,” “Walker: Independence” and the “Supernatural” prequel “The Winchesters.” Among returning shows are “All American,” “All American: Homecoming,” “Superman & Lois,” “Nancy Drew,” “Stargirl,” “Kung Fu” and “The Flash,” which stands as the longest-running series at the network.

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