People’s Choice Awards: Riverdale Wins Drama Show of 2020

The People’s Choice Awards took place Sunday night, celebrating fan-chosen favorites across the pop culture spectrum from the past year. Among those things honored were shows in the drama genre and when all the votes were counted it was The CW‘s Riverdale that was announced as The Drama Show of 2020, as chosen by fans.

Inspired by Archie Comics, Riverdale follows the stories of friends Archie Andrews (KJ Apa), Betty Cooper (Lili Reinhart), Veronica Lodge (Camila Mendes) and Jughead Jones (Cole Sprouse) as they navigate life in the small town of Riverdale — life which frequently holds dark secrets just behind the town’s quaint appearance. The series’ fifth season is set to debut in January 2021 and will see a time-jump — after some of the elements of season four that didn’t make it to screen due to COVID-19 production shutdowns are dealt with first.

“It’s funny, we had shot almost two-thirds of episode 20, which was going to be our prom episode. And we looked at that footage and tried to see if there was a way we could cobble together that episode,” Aguirre-Sacasa explained back in May. “We actually had shot the prom, where a lot of very dramatic things happen, but we still hadn’t shot some big character moments between Archie and Veronica and Betty and Jughead. So, we kind of just couldn’t do that.”

“However, when I saw the cut of 19, what’s great about it is all of the kids are in one big story together united against Mr. Honey. And it does end on a pretty shocking, disturbing cliffhanger,” Aguirre-Sacasa continued. “So, it sort of was like, “Oh wait a minute, this could be a great season finale” and then prom would be a great season premiere next year. So, it worked out in kind of the best way possible given everything. Obviously we would have loved to have finished the full season, and the last three episodes are fantastic. But to me, this one is fun. It’s a special conceit and it brings everyone together, which I think people love.”

Following the wrap up of senior year, the series is set to jump forward in time.

“Season 5 we’re actually doing, I believe, a seven-year time jump into the future so we’re not going to be teenagers anymore,” Reinhart, who plays Betty Cooper on the series, revealed in an interview last month. “I’m really psyched about it. I think it’ll be nice to play an adult. But I also really appreciate that Roberto [Aguirre-Sacasa], our showrunner, was like, ‘Yeah, let’s revamp.’ You know, we’re not just stuck in high school for seven seasons.”

Also nominated in the Drama Show of 2020 category was Grey’s Anatomy — which won for The Show of 2020 — Law & Order: SVU, Outer Banks, Ozark, Power, The Walking Dead, and This is Us.

Are you excited for Riverdale‘s People’s Choice Awards Win? Let us know in the comments.