Riverdale season 6 will launch with five special episodes later in 2021
The fifth season of the hit teen drama still has more episodes left to air.
The second half of Riverdale's fifth season hasn't even begun airing yet – but we already know that the hit teen drama will be returning for its sixth run before the end of 2021.
American network The CW has announced that the next season will launch with five special episodes this autumn, before continuing with the rest of its episodes at a later date.
The five episodes will air throughout November, according to CW Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Mark Pedowitz, who described the strategy as "event-ized programming."
"We will have completed production [on season five] at the end of June, beginning of early July, so there will be enough of a hiatus so they will come back at some time in early September, fully rested,” Pedowitz said.
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He added that it would not be possible to record a full season in time for a 2021 air date, hence the new approach.
And he said this was all part of a strategy to eventually return the channel's schedule back to where it was pre-pandemic.
"While the industry and the country are gradually opening, we expect it will take us until Fall 2022 to get back to a regular schedule," he said.
The episodes will air in the US on Tuesday evenings rather than in their usual Wednesday slot – but there's no word yet on when they will arrive on Netflix for UK viewers.
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It was announced at the end of April that the remainder of the fifth season will air on The CW from Wednesday 11th August, picking up where it left off before the enforced mid-season hiatus.
Season five originally began on 20th January, kicking off with a prom sequence that had originally been intended for season four.
Riverdale is streaming now on Netflix. Looking for something else to watch? Check out our guide to the best series on Netflix and best movies on Netflix, or visit our TV Guide. Plus, our Drama hub has all the latest news.
Authors
Patrick Cremona is the Senior Film Writer at Radio Times, and looks after all the latest film releases both in cinemas and on streaming. He has been with the website since October 2019, and in that time has interviewed a host of big name stars and reviewed a diverse range of movies.
