cancellations

The CW Cancels Riverdale Spinoff Katy Keene After One Gloriously Gay Season

Photo: GC Images

Looks like Miss Katy Keene won’t be making the time jump with their friends at Riverdale. On Thursday, July 2, The Hollywood Reporter announced that Katy Keene, the CW’s first attempt at a spinoff of their massively successful Riverdale franchise, has been cancelled after one season. Produced by Greg Berlanti, Katy Keene was left off The CW’s mass renewal list earlier this year, leaving the show’s fate to be determined by its performance on the streaming platform HBO Max. Unlike other freshman series like Batwoman and Nancy Drew, Katy Keene wasn’t able to draw enough of a streaming audience, leading it to become the only show to be axed by the CW this season. It’s somewhat surprising given the initial faith the network exhibited in the series, ordering 13 episodes before the pilot even aired. The short-lived series starred Lucy Hale as Katy Keene, a beloved character from the Archie comic universe, and her journey as an aspiring designer trying to make it in the Big Apple. In it’s 13 episode run, the series was unabashedly queer featuring drag performances, gay threesomes, and multiple songs from Kiss of the Spider Woman, while also employing a number of celebrated NYC theater actors including Nathan Lee Graham, Daphne Rubin-Vega, and the one and only Bernadette Peters. Sigh, another tough blow for the NYC theater community.

The CW Cancels Riverdale Spinoff Katy Keene After One Season