Riverdale
Oh to go back to Riverdale‘s heydays. The Archie Comics series became an overnight global sensation thanks to an international streaming deal that saw it distributed on Netflix worldwide, making The CW’s little, unique mystery drama a much heavier hitter than anyone anticipated.
The show became as big as a popular Netflix original (because it essentially was outside of the US) and that gave the creative team incentive to make the murder mystery drama even more bonkers with each passing season. It’s run hasn’t been smooth in the slightest (with some very odd storylines along the way) but it has been far more successful than it would have been if it had just been just another network TV hit.
The novelty did wear off about five seasons in, but Riverdale‘s success saw it get two more season renewals. With the sale of The CW to Nexstar and their new vision for it, combined with the dwindling viewing figures on The CW and perhaps even the cast’s eagerness to move on, the show is bowing out with its seventh and final season.
That seventh and final season is currently airing on The CW on Wednesday nights (or streaming on Netflix internationally each Thursday morning) and it will conclude in August. After that, it will premiere on Netflix in the US.