Riverdale is an American television series based on the characters of Archie Comics. The series was adapted for the CW Network by Archie Comics' chief creative officer Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa. It is produced by Warner Bros. Television and CBS Studios, in association with Berlanti Productions and Archie Comics.

First conceived as a feature film adaptation for Warner Bros. Pictures, the project was re-imagined as a television series for Fox. In 2015, development on the project moved to The CW, where the series was ordered for a pilot. Filming took place in Vancouver, British Columbia.

The series featured an ensemble cast based on the characters of Archie Comics, with KJ Apa in the role of Archie Andrews, Lili Reinhart as Betty Cooper, Camila Mendes as Veronica Lodge, and Cole Sprouse as Jughead Jones, the series' narrator. After a teenager is murdered within the town of Riverdale, a group of teenagers try to unravel the evils lurking within the town.

Riverdale premiered on January 26, 2017, to positive reviews throughout its first few seasons, while the later seasons were criticized for the writing, direction, lack of coherent storylines and a perceived decline in quality. The series ran for seven seasons until August 23, 2023.

Cast and characters

KJ Apa as Archie Andrews: A former high school football player who has a passion for music. After graduating, he fought as an Army sergeant and is now a JROTC instructor at his old high school. He is deeply involved in protecting his community from any danger. He is childhood best friends with his next door neighbor, Betty Cooper, and best friends with Jughead Jones. He once dated Veronica Lodge in high school, but they broke up. He later begins a relationship with Betty, to whom he proposes in the season six finale. He also becomes invulnerable after surviving a bomb explosion. In season seven in the 1950s, he discovers a passion for poetry he settles down in Modesto, as a construction worker and amateur writer, where he meets a girl and starts a family with her. When he dies, he is buried in Riverdale next to his father. Lili Reinhart as Betty Cooper: A smart woman who is best friends with Archie, who she has a longtime crush on. She becomes friends with Veronica Lodge when she moves to town. In high school, she dates Jughead, with whom she runs the school paper. She breaks up with Jughead before going away to college. She becomes an FBI agent and operates from Riverdale. She gradually develops a relationship with Archie and becomes engaged to him in the season 6 finale. In the 1950s in season 7, after exploring her sexuality and finding her independence, she settles in New York, where she runs her own women's magazine and adopts her daughter, Carla. Camila Mendes as Veronica Lodge: A former "it girl" of Manhattan, she moves to Riverdale at the beginning of the series. She hopes to become a better person after reflecting on the turmoil in her life after her father is convicted and sent to prison. She is ambitious and wants to succeed, but also works to be humble and avoid trouble. She dates Archie and later Reggie in high school. In season five, she is revealed to have had an extremely successful career on Wall Street, which she had to give up because of a marriage to an abusive husband. Later she divorces and kills him. She briefly reunites with Archie but it ends quickly and she starts seeing Reggie again, though they eventually break up too. In season 6, she orders a hit on her father and later gains the power to generate poison. In the 1950s Veronica discovers a love for movies and after running the local theater, she moves to Hollywood, becomes a successful producer, and is even buried in the Hollywood Forever Cemetery after she dies. Cole Sprouse as Jughead Jones: A philosophically inclined social outcast who is Archie's best friend and Betty's ex-boyfriend. He was the former leader of the Southside Serpents gang. He went on to become a published writer, English teacher, and an advisor at the Blue and Gold high school newspaper. He struggled with alcoholism but eventually got sober and started dating Tabitha Tate. In season 6, he developed the power to read minds and was key to defeating Percival Pickens. In the 1950s, he briefly dates Veronica while developing a passion for comic books, and goes on to create his company called Jughead's Mad House. Sprouse also portrays Narrator Jughead, who prevents the Riverdale and Rivervale timelines from merging. Marisol Nichols as Hermione Lodge (seasons 1–5; guest, seasons 6–7): Veronica's mother, who returned to Riverdale with her daughter following the incarceration of her husband Hiram Lodge. She is now a reality star on Real Housewives of New York after leaving Hiram. She had feelings for Fred as a teenager and again when she returned to Riverdale. Madelaine Petsch as Cheryl Blossom: A wealthy, traumatized, and sometimes manipulative woman who was a classmate of Archie and his friends. She grew up in an abusive and controlling family all while dealing with the murder of her brother, Jason Blossom. She comes out as a lesbian in the second season, dates Toni throughout the rest of high school, until they broke up after graduation because of Toni's disapproving family. She forgoes college to stay in Riverdale and atone for her family's sins by turning their business around. In Season 6, she reconnects with her childhood crush Heather, who helps her develop her fire power and discover she's a witch, but they break up when Heather discovers Toni is Cheryl's soulmate. In season 7, she reunites with Toni in the 1950s, and they move to California, where they have a son named Dale. Cheryl becomes a successful painter and eventually dies of old age after living a happy life. Ashleigh Murray as Josie McCoy (seasons 1–4; guest, seasons 5 and 7): The lead singer of Josie and the Pussycats and a former classmate of Archie, whom she briefly dates, and his friends. She leaves at the end of season 3 to pursue her music, though she briefly returns in the season 4 premiere for Archie's father's funeral; this allowed Murray's character to join Katy Keene, the third spin off in the Riverdale universe. She is now a multi-platinum superstar. In Season 7, she is a successful musician and actor. Mädchen Amick as Alice Cooper (née Smith): Betty and Polly's mother, who was the editor of the local paper. She is now a reporter for the Riverdale news and is raising Polly's twin children following Polly's murder in season 5, she is also shown to be less abusive having redeemed herself. Prior to his leaving in season 5, she was in a relationship with FP Jones. In season 6, she is brainwashed by Percival Pickens to do his bidding, and in Season 7, she is very controlling of Betty, but eventually learns to let go. She became a stewardess, where she met a man on a flight and ended up marrying him and travelling the world. Luke Perry as Fred Andrews (seasons 1–3): Archie's father, who owned a construction company. He was in love with Veronica's mother as a teenager and briefly reunites with her when she returns to Riverdale. He dies at the start of season 4 in a car accident due to Perry's real life death. Mark Consuelos as Hiram Lodge (born Jaime Luna) (seasons 2–5; guest, seasons 6–7): Veronica's father, who was recently incarcerated for illegal activities. In season 2 he moves to Riverdale, continuing his illegal activities and gangster ways. He was later killed in season 6 when Veronica ordered a hit on him. Casey Cott as Kevin Keller (seasons 2–7; recurring season 1): An openly gay former Riverdale high school student who is friends with Archie, Betty, Veronica and Jughead and is the son of Riverdale's sheriff. He returns to Riverdale becoming a teacher after not making it in Broadway in New York and abandons the son he planned to have with Toni and Fangs. He later files for sole custody over baby Anthony eventually giving this up to create peace. He reunites with his high school boyfriend Moose in season 6, but in Season 7, he meets Clay Walker in the 1950s and falls in love with him. They move to New York, where Kevin starts an off-Broadway theater company, and spend their life together before they died of old age. Skeet Ulrich as F.P. Jones (seasons 2–5; recurring season 1): Jughead's formerly estranged father and the former leader of the Southside Serpents, a gang of criminals that live and operate on the fringes of Riverdale. He was once the sheriff but left Riverdale to take Jughead's sister Jellybean back to Toledo to her mother. Prior to his leaving, he was in a relationship with Alice Cooper. Charles Melton as Reggie Mantle (seasons 3–7; recurring season 2): Archie's long-time friend and rival, a former football player at Riverdale High and town prankster who has dyslexia. He is now the owner of his family's car dealership and the high school football coach as well as Veronica's boyfriend. Reggie was originally played by Ross Butler in the first season, who left the series due to his commitments to filming 13 Reasons Why. Butler returned as a version of Reggie from an alternate universe in "Chapter One Hundred: The Jughead Paradox" from season six. Reggie and Veronica break up in season 6 following the opening of their casino. In the season 6 finale he takes sole ownership of the casino. In the 1950s, Reggie grew up on a farm and has a passion for basketball. He has a crush on Betty but it does not go anywhere. After high school, he went on to play for the Lakers, then returned to coach Riverdale's high school basketball team. He had a wife and two sons.

Vanessa Morgan as Toni Topaz (seasons 3–7; recurring season 2): A bisexual member of the Southside Serpents, who becomes friends with Jughead when he starts Southside High in season 2. She dated Cheryl throughout high school, but they broke up after graduation. She went to High Smith College and got a social work degree, which she used to become the guidance counselor at Riverdale High. She went on to become the leader of the Serpents, and was the surrogate mother for Kevin and Fangs, but later started dating Fangs after they broke up. She spent Season 6 tied up in a custody case for their son Anthony, which resulted in her marrying Fangs. In season 7, she was a vocal activist and aspiring photographer. She reunited with Cheryl, and spent the rest of her life with her out in California, where they raised their son, Dale, and continued their activism. Drew Ray Tanner as Fangs Fogarty (seasons 5–7; recurring season 2–4): a member of the Southside Serpents and Kevin's former on-and-off again boyfriend. After breaking up with Kevin, he develops a relationship with Toni and they get married to strengthen their side of the custody battle for the son the three of them planned to have together in Season 6. However, in Season 7, he only has eyes for Midge, getting her pregnant and trying to kickstart a music career to win her parents' approval to marry her. They marry and have a daughter, but he dies young just as his music career is starting to take off. Erinn Westbrook as Tabitha Tate (seasons 5–7x01, special guest 7x08 onwards): Pop Tate's granddaughter, who moves to Riverdale to take over the family diner after Pop retires. She befriends Jughead and supports him on his sobriety journey, and they eventually begin dating. In season 6, she develops time travelling powers and learns she's Riverdale's Guardian Angel. She uses the last of her life and powers to send everyone back to the 1950s for the final season, while she tries to untangle and fix all the timelines. She returns to give everyone back their memories, but is unable to return them back to the present and cannot stay with them. Her 1950s counterpart moves back to Chicago, where she goes to business and law school, and becomes a civil rights advocate.

Episodes

Production Development