The CW CEO Reveals Why Riverdale is Ending With Season 7

The CW's CEO revealed why Riverdale is ending with Season 7. It's a season of changing winds over at the network. The heavyweight show will bow out next season and Mark Pedowitz thinks "seven years is the right amount." He told Variety that the network intends to send Riverdale out on a high note. With the 2022 fall season coming into form, it's been a series of high-profile goodbyes on the network. Mainstays like Legends of Tomorrow are already coming to a close and network anchor The Flash only has one season left. So, fans of these properties have been jonesing for some answers about why these changes are taking place. Dynasty, Naomi, and others also faced cancellation this year. 

So, you can understand a measure of fandom anxiety as a period of change begins. Moving forward, Pedowitz explained, "We encouraged all of those producers to try to treat their finales as if they could be series finales. We wanted to do the right thing by the series and by the fans."

"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," he continued. "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."

Pedowitz added, "We have not declared how many episodes yet. But I do not believe it will be a shortened season. It goes back to what I said earlier: I am a big believer in attempting to give series that have had long runs and appropriate send off."

Series star Cole Sprouse thought that they might end up in this very place. "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," the star previously told Entertainment Tonight late last year. "But the world of Riverdale is open-ended enough to kind of flex alongside that."

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