Riverdale

Riverdale is an American teen drama television series based on the characters of Archie Comics. The series was adapted for The CW by Archie Comics' chief creative officer Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, and is produced by Warner Bros. Television and CBS Studios, in association with Berlanti Productions and Archie Comics. Originally conceived as a feature film adaptation for Warner Bros. Pictures, the idea 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 takes place in Vancouver, British Columbia.

The series features 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.

Riverdale debuted on January 26, 2017, to positive reviews. The fourth season premiered on October 9, 2019. In January 2020, The CW renewed the series for a fifth season which premiered on January 20, 2021. In February 2021, the series was renewed for a sixth season which is set to premiere on November 16, 2021.

= Premise = The series follows Archie Andrews' life in the small town of Riverdale and explores the darkness hidden behind its seemingly perfect image.

= Cast and characters =


 * KJ Apa as Archie Andrews: A high school football player who has a passion for music. He is best friends with Jughead Jones and Betty Cooper.
 * Lili Reinhart as Betty Cooper: A smart girl with a longtime crush on Archie, she becomes friends with Veronica Lodge to help upend her perfect life.
 * Camila Mendes as Veronica Lodge: A former wealthy socialite from New York City who moves to Riverdale and becomes friends with Archie, Betty, and Jughead.
 * Cole Sprouse as Jughead Jones: A philosophically inclined social outcast who is Archie's best friend.
 * Marisol Nichols as Hermione Lodge (née Gomez ): Veronica's mother, who has returned to Riverdale with her daughter following the incarceration of her husband Hiram Lodge.
 * Madelaine Petsch as Cheryl Blossom: A wealthy, entitled, and manipulative girl who is a classmate of Archie and his friends. Cheryl becomes romantically involved with Toni in season two.
 * Ashleigh Murray as Josie McCoy (seasons 1–4): The lead singer of Josie and the Pussycats and a classmate of Archie and his friends.
 * Mädchen Amick as Alice Cooper: Betty and Polly's mother, who is the editor of the local paper.
 * Luke Perry as Fred Andrews (seasons 1–3): Archie's father, who owns a construction company.
 * Mark Consuelos as Hiram Lodge (born Jaime Luna ) (season 2–present): Veronica's father, who was recently incarcerated for illegal activities.
 * Casey Cott as Kevin Keller (season 2–present; recurring season 1): An openly gay high school student who is friends with Archie, Betty and Veronica and is the son of Riverdale's sheriff.
 * Skeet Ulrich as F.P. Jones (season 2–5; recurring season 1): Jughead's estranged father and the leader of the Southside Serpents, a gang of criminals that live and operate on the fringes of Riverdale.
 * Charles Melton as Reggie Mantle (season 3–present; recurring season 2): Archie's long-time friend and rival, a football player at Riverdale High and town prankster. Reggie was originally played by Ross Butler in the first season, who left the series due to his commitments to filming 13 Reasons Why.
 * Vanessa Morgan as Toni Topaz (season 3–present; recurring season 2): A bisexual member of the Southside Serpents, who befriends Jughead in the second season. She is in a relationship with Cheryl.
 * Drew Ray Tanner as Fangs Fogarty (season 5; recurring season 2–4), a member of the Southside Serpents and Kevin's on-and-off again boyfriend.
 * Erinn Westbrook as Tabitha Tate (season 5): the ambitious, entrepreneurial granddaughter of Pop Tate, who has come to Riverdale to take over Pop's Chock’lit Shoppe in the hopes of franchising the iconic diner, even as the town around it struggles to survive.

Episodes
Main article: List of Riverdale episodes

Development
Warner Bros. began development on an Archie feature film in 2013, after a pitch from writer Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and director Jason Moore that would have placed Archie's gang into a teen comedy feature film in the John Hughes tradition. The duo brought the project to Warner Bros., where a VP recommended a more high-concept direction involving time travel or interdimensional portals, suggesting Louis C. K. to portray an older Archie. Dan Lin and Roy Lee became producers on the project, which eventually stalled as priorities shifted at the studio towards larger tentpole films, and was reimagined as a television series. The series Riverdale was originally in development at Fox, with the network landing the project in 2014 with a script deal plus penalty. However, Fox did not go forward with the project. In 2015, the show's development was moved to The CW, which officially ordered a pilot on January 29, 2016. On March 7, 2017, The CW announced that the series had been renewed for a second season. On April 2, 2018, The CW renewed the series for a third season, which premiered October 10, 2018. On January 31, 2019, The CW renewed the series for a fourth season, that was originally planned to consist of 22 episodes. However, season four got shortened to 19 episodes instead because production was suspended on March 11, 2020 as a direct result of the coronavirus pandemic. Only 19 of the 22 ordered episodes of the fourth season were completed before the coronavirus pandemic. The fourth season premiered on October 9, 2019.

"Chapter Forty-Nine: Fire Walk with Me" was the first to be dedicated to Luke Perry, who died two days before the episode aired.

On January 7, 2020, the series was renewed for a fifth season, which began a year later on January 20, 2021.

On February 3, 2021, the series was renewed for a sixth season which is set to premiere on November 16, 2021.

Casting
On February 9, 2016, Lili Reinhart and Cole Sprouse were cast as Betty Cooper and Jughead Jones, respectively. On February 24, 2016, KJ Apa was cast as Archie Andrews after a four-month worldwide talent search. Apa was one of the last to audition and landed the role just days later. Also that day, Ashleigh Murray was cast as Josie McCoy, the lead singer for the popular band Josie and the Pussycats, and Luke Perry and Madelaine Petsch were also added as Fred Andrews, Archie's father and Cheryl Blossom, respectively. Two days later, Camila Mendes was cast as Veronica Lodge marking her first acting role in a television show.

In March 2016, Marisol Nichols and Mädchen Amick joined the cast as Hermione Lodge and Alice Cooper, Veronica and Betty's mothers, respectively. A few days later, Ross Butler, Daniel Yang and Cody Kearsley were cast in the roles Reggie Mantle, Dilton Doiley and Moose Mason, respectively. The last actor to join the pilot was Casey Cott as Kevin Keller, the first openly gay character in Archie Comics history.

In April 2017, Mark Consuelos signed on for the second season to play Veronica Lodge's father, Hiram Lodge. The role was in second position to his existing role on Pitch but the cancellation of that series was announced on May 1, 2017. The next month, Charles Melton was cast to take over the role of Reggie from Ross Butler in season 2 due to his status as a series regular on 13 Reasons Why. Casey Cott, who played Kevin Keller, was promoted to a series regular. In July 2017, True Blood star Brit Morgan was cast in the recurring role of Penny Peabody, an attorney the Southside Serpents call in case of any run-ins with the law. In August 2017, Graham Phillips had been cast to play Nick St. Clair, Veronica's ex-boyfriend from New York.

In March 2018, Andy Cohen appeared in the sixteenth episode of the second season as himself. In the series, he and Hermione are friends. He previously offered her a role as a cast member on The Real Housewives of New York City; however, Hermione turned down the offer to keep things private for the Lodge family. In May 2018, Charles Melton and Vanessa Morgan, who play Reggie Mantle and Toni Topaz, respectively, would both be promoted to series regulars in the third season. By the time of New York Comic Con 2018, Gina Gershon and Trinity Likins, respectively, had been cast as Gladys Jones and Jellybean "J.B." Jones for the third season.

In November 2018, Kelly Ripa, the wife of Mark Consuelos, who portrays Hiram Lodge, was cast for a guest role as Hiram's mistress. Michael Consuelos, Kelly and Mark's son, was cast to make a guest appearance in a flashback episode as a younger Hiram. In October 2019, Ryan Robbins was cast as Fred Andrews' older brother Frank Andrews who appeared during the fourth season.

On February 23, 2020, it was announced that both Ulrich and Nichols would be leaving the series. However, in June 2020, Nichols revealed that after having a long talk with showrunner Sacasa, she would be staying on for season five. In September 2020, it was announced that Erinn Westbrook would join the show as a new regular character named Tabitha Tate, the granddaughter of Pop Tate who arrives in town to run her grandfather's malt shop and franchise from it. In January 2021, Chris Mason was cast in a recurring role for the fifth season as Chad Gekko, Veronica's Wall Street husband.

Filming
Filming of the pilot began on March 14, 2016, and ended on March 31 in Vancouver, British Columbia. Production on the remaining 12 episodes of season one began on September 7, 2016, in Vancouver. Sets include Pop Tate's Chock'lit Shoppe, a copy of the functioning diner used in the pilot that is so realistic a truck driver parked his 18-wheeler there, believing that it was open. Season two was also filmed in Vancouver and the nearby Fraser Valley. The aerial view of Riverdale is actually drawn from stock footage used in the series Pretty Little Liars and Gilmore Girls, and the landmark settings are the same used in both of the aforementioned series as well as in Hart of Dixie. Filming for the second season started on June 22, 2017, and concluded on March 27, 2018. Filming for the third season started on July 6, 2018.

Filming for the fourth season began on July 8, 2019 and was originally expected to end on April 4, 2020. Production was suspended on March 11, 2020 as a direct result of the coronavirus pandemic, after a person working on the show came in contact with a person who tested positive for COVID-19. Only 19 of the 22 ordered episodes of the fourth season were completed. Series writer Brian E. Paterson later confirmed that they would shoot the remaining two episodes of season four when it was safe to do so. The fourth season ultimately concluded with episode 19. The remaining three episodes intended for the season will be used for the start of the fifth season. The series will then feature a time jump after those episodes. Despite a later premiere, season five is not expected to have a shortened episode count.

Filming for the fifth season began on September 14, 2020. The following month, however, filming was suspended for a week due COVID-19 testing delays. Production on season five wrapped-up on June 1, 2021. The sixth season is scheduled to commence production on August 30, 2021, and conclude on June 1, 2022.

Homages to other films and television shows
Several reviewers have noted that the series' episode titles are often taken directly or slightly altered from the titles of older films. For example, De Elizabeth of Teen Vogue points out that Riverdale's pilot episode was named "River's Edge" after the 1986 film of the same name, and the season finale takes its name from 1997's The Sweet Hereafter. Executive producer Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa notes that this is a deliberate choice, in order to hint at what will happen in that episode. The episode "Chapter Four: The Last Picture Show" heavily features Rebel Without a Cause as well as other brief allusions to films including Candyman, American Graffiti, and Trog. References to the fictional setting of the Black Mirror episode "San Junipero" can be seen in season one as well as heard amongst dialogue in season two and three.

Additionally, Katie-Kouise Smith, of Popbuzz, notes that the opening credits for Riverdale mirror those of the Twin Peaks television series, and are intended as an homage to that series' co-creator, David Lynch.

Music
Musical performances are featured throughout the series, a blend of cover versions and originals. Songs performed in episodes are released as digital singles after broadcast; WaterTower Music released a digital compilation for season 1 songs on May 12, 2017; season 2 on May 18, 2018; season 3 on May 17, 2019; and season 4 on May 15, 2020.

An album of Blake Neely's scoring for season 1 was released on compact disc by La-La Land Records, and simultaneously on download by WaterTower Music, on July 18, 2017. The season 2 album with scores from Neely and Sherri Chung was released on compact disc by La-La Land Records on October 30, 2018 and on digital by WaterTower Music on November 16, 2018. A Halloween episode score soundtrack was released on digital on October 31, 2019. The scoring for seasons 3 and 4 were released on separate digitals albums on January 22, 2021.

WaterTower Music released the songs performed in the musical episodes on separates digitals albums. The Carrie: The Musical episode soundtrack was released on April 19, 2018, followed by a vinyl edition released at Urban Outfitters stores on July 13. The Heathers: The Musical episode soundtrack was released March 21, 2019. The Hedwig and the Angry Inch musical episode soundtrack was released on April 15, 2020.

Season 2
{{Track listing
 * collapsed   = yes
 * headline    = Riverdale: Season 2 (Original Television Score)
 * extra_column = Artist(s)

{{Source Wikipedia}}
 * title1  = I Froze - The Black Hood
 * extra1  = Blake Neely and Sherri Chung
 * length1 = 3:14
 * title2  = Code Breaking - Lodge Scheming
 * extra2  = Blake Neely and Sherri Chung
 * length2 = 3:06
 * title3  = Forming the Red Circle
 * extra3  = Blake Neely and Sherri Chung
 * length3 = 2:27
 * title4  = Make Good Decisions
 * extra4  = Blake Neely and Sherri Chung
 * length4 = 1:50
 * title5  = Asking Leniency
 * extra5  = Blake Neely and Sherri Chung
 * length5 = 1:41
 * title6  = Cheryl Committed
 * extra6  = Blake Neely and Sherri Chung
 * length6 = 2:24
 * title7  = I Was in Love Once
 * extra7  = Blake Neely and Sherri Chung
 * length7 = 2:22
 * title8  = Not a Killer
 * extra8  = Blake Neely and Sherri Chung
 * length8 = 2:26
 * title9  = Sent to the Southside
 * extra9  = Blake Neely and Sherri Chung
 * length9 = 3:40
 * title10 = Challenging the Ghoulies
 * extra10 = Blake Neely and Sherri Chung
 * length10 = 3:10
 * title11 = Like Romeo and Juliet
 * extra11 = Blake Neely and Sherri Chung
 * length11 = 2:32
 * title12 = Defeating the Black Hood
 * extra12 = Blake Neely and Sherri Chung
 * length12 = 1:56
 * title13 = Won't Let It Go
 * extra13 = Blake Neely and Sherri Chung
 * length13 = 1:41
 * title14  = Less Pony, More Snake - You Broke My Heart
 * extra14  = Blake Neely and Sherri Chung
 * length14 = 2:16
 * title15  = Dangerous Game
 * extra15  = Blake Neely and Sherri Chung
 * length15 = 3:04
 * title16  = Double Breakup
 * extra16  = Blake Neely and Sherri Chung
 * length16 = 2:30
 * title17 = Quiet the Darkness Inside
 * extra17 = Blake Neely and Sherri Chung
 * length17 = 2:49
 * title18 = Everything Falls Apart
 * extra18 = Blake Neely and Sherri Chung
 * length18 = 2:28
 * title19 = Or You Could Stay
 * extra19 = Blake Neely and Sherri Chung
 * length19 = 3:11
 * title20  = Darkness Begins to Fall
 * extra20  = Blake Neely and Sherri Chung
 * length20 = 2:54
 * title21  = Truth About Being Mayor
 * extra21  = Blake Neely and Sherri Chung
 * length21 = 2:45
 * title22  = The Cabin
 * extra22  = Blake Neely and Sherri Chung
 * length22 = 2:14
 * title23 = Challenging Hiram
 * extra23 = Blake Neely and Sherri Chung
 * length23 = 1:19
 * title24 = Just When You Felt Safe
 * extra24 = Blake Neely and Sherri Chung
 * length24 = 3:14
 * title25 = Archie Held Captive