David Farnor | On 11, Jul 2020

BBC iPlayer has picked up the UK rights to Katy Keene, just days after the show has been cancelled by The CW.

Based on Archie’s Comics, the Riverdale spin-off follows the lives of four New Yorkers each with dreams to make it big in the worlds of fashion, Broadway, music and the arts. The 13-episode series witnesses the highs and lows of fashion designer Katy Keene (Lucy Hale), singer/songwriter Josie McCoy (Ashleigh Murray), performer Jorge Lopez/Ginger (Jonny Beauchamp), and ‘It Girl’ Pepper Smith (Julia Chan) – as they chase their dreams together in The Big Apple.

As these aspiring artists take on the runway, the recording studio, Broadway, and the NYC social scene, they will find more than just a career in the big city – they’ll find long-lasting friendship.

Music plays a huge role in the series, with musical performances from the cast as they express through song and dance the fun, excitement and fear of making it big in New York City.

The series was cancelled earlier this week by The CW, after it failed to pick up a sizeable audience despite its loose connection to the hit show Riverdale. Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, another other Archie adaptation that started at The CW before heading to Netflix exclusively , has also been confirmed to be ending after its upcoming fourth season.

Katy Keene will premiere in the UK on BBC iPlayer on 25th July.
 

Katy Keene is available on BBC iPlayer until July 2021

 

Ashleigh Murray’s Josie to star in Riverdale musical spin-off

6th February 2019

Ashleigh Murray will be one of the leads in Riverdale’s latest spin-off, which has been ordered to pilot.

Murray, who has won lots of fans thanks to her role in The CW’s teen drama, has repeatedly stolen scenes as Josie, leader of the singing group Josie and the Pussycats. When The CW revealed that a pilot for a new spin-off was in the works, following Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, and that it would involve music, the addition of Josie no doubt seemed like a natural step for the project, given Josie and the Pussycats’ notoriety and existing screen history.

Katy Keene will follow the titular fashion legend wannabe, another notable figure in Archie Comics, as she and her friends try to make it in New York City, hoping to realise their dreams as artists on Broadway, on the runway and in the recording studio.

Keene, which is written by Riverdale showrunner Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa – plus Michael Grassi, who will also EP alongside Greg Berlanti, Sarah Schechter, and Jon Goldwater – will take place several years after Riverdale, and pick up with Josie McCoy as a 20-something looking to make a name for herself as the next Diana Ross.

If the show is then ordered to series in full, Murray will leave Riverdale to play Josie full-time in her own seres. There are no plans for crossovers, The CW president Mark Pedowtiz noted recently, saying: “Katy Keene actually takes place years after Riverdale High School. So, at the moment, there are no plans to do [crossovers]. And, if any of those Riverdale characters should come to Katy Keene, they will come as an older self.”

 

A new Riverdale spin-off series is on the way

24th January 2019

The CW has ordered a new spin-off series from Riverdale, in case Chilling Adventures of Sabrina wasn’t enough.

The show, which is based on the Archie Comics, stars KJ Apa, Lili Reinhart, Camilla Mendes and Cole Sprouse as Archie Andrews, Betty Cooper, Veronica and Jughead, a group of young stars who have become household names for fans, thanks to their charismatic performances and a show that blends trashy teen drama with buckets of style and atmosphere. The series was so successful that it spawns Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, which Netflix ultimately picked up for two seasons of updated Sabrina the Teenage Witch antics.

With that series going down equally well – read our review of Season 1 here – The CW is once again returning to Riverdale for another project, with a pilot order given to Katy Keene. The fashion legend wannabe, another notable figure in Archie Comics, will get her own TV outing alongside three other iconic Archie Comics. The show will follow the lives and loves of the friends, as they try to make it in New York City, hoping to realise their dreams as artists of making it on Broadway, on the runway and in the recording studio.

Yes, this new Riverdale spin-off will be a musical as well as a comedy-drama. Keene will be written by Riverdale showrunner Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa plus Michael Grassi, who will also EP alongside Greg Berlanti, Sarah Schechter, and Jon Goldwater.

It’s one of a number of pilots announced by The CW this week, including Jane the Novela, an anthology series in the tradition of Jane the Virgin, with each season based on a different fictional novel “written by” Gina Rodriguez’s character in the comedy, and narrated by her. The first chapter will take place at a Napa Valley Vineyard, with Jane writer Valentina Garza penning and exec-producing the show, alongside Jane showrunner Jennie Snyder Urman and, Rodriguez.

The Lost Boys film will also be the basis for a new pilot, which will introduce us to sunny seaside Santa Carla, “home to a beautiful boardwalk, all the cotton candy you can eat… and a secret underworld of vampires”. That will be written by Heather Mitchell, who will be an EP n the project alongside Rob Thomas, Dan Etheridge, Mike Karz, and Bill Bindley.

The final pilot announced this week includes a new Nancy Drew project, which is yet to have a title. They all join the Batwoman pilot officially ordered at the start of the year, following Ruby Rose’s popular appearance as the superhero in the DC Arrowverse crossover event, Elseworlds, last month.

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