Riverdale Star KJ Apa Reacts to Series Cancellation

Last week, The CW revealed its 2022-2023 broadcast schedule as part of the network's Upfronts presentation, and that revelation included some big news when it came to one of The CW's most popular shows. Riverdale will return at midseason for Season 7, but that seventh season will be the series' last. Now, series star KJ Apa is reacting to the news, admitting that it will be difficult to say goodbye to playing Archie Andrews, but he also thinks that it's the perfect time to end the series.

"I feel sad, you know, it's going to be really hard to say goodbye to Archie, to Riverdale, to the sets, to our crew," Apa told Entertainment Tonight. "We've created so many memories on this show, for both ourselves and for the fans, so it's going to be hard."

"I think it's perfect," he said about now being the time for the series to end. "All great things have to come to an end. I feel good about it."

The idea that Riverdale's seventh season could be its last isn't an entirely new concept for fans. Earlier this year, Jughead actor Cole Sprouse suggested that the stars of the series were ready to wrap Riverdale and its mysteries up "with a bow".

"I'm not a creative force behind [Riverdale. I actually have no creative control," Sprouse said of working on the series. "We show up, receive the scripts often the day of, and we're asked to shoot."

"I think just in a straight-up legal sense, contractually it started at seven seasons, which is a pretty standard contract for film and television, so I don't know what happens after that," Sprouse previously told Entertainment Tonight late last year. "But the world of Riverdale is open-ended enough to kind of flex alongside that."

The CW network president Mark Pedowitz opened up to Variety last week about why Season 7 was the perfect time to end Riverdale, nothing that "seven years is the right amount" and that he wants the series to go out on a nigh note.

"We had a long conversation with Roberto [Aguirre-Sacasa, Riverdale executive producer and Archie Comics chief creative officer] yesterday, who's thrilled by this news," Pedowitz said. "And we're going to treat the show in the manner it deserves. It was an iconic pop culture star, and we want to make sure it goes out the right way and that is the decision. I think they choose that seven years is the right amount, and we want to do the right thing. That's a personal thing. As a fan myself, I do want to do what's right for the show,"

Riverdale is currently airing its sixth season. It airs Sundays at 8/7c on The CW.