Even the Riverdale cast thinks the show is ridiculous

Riverdale is one of the most ridiculous shows on television – and the cast is well aware of that.

"I think it’s important to acknowledge that our show is made fun of a lot. People see clips taken out of context. By 2019, 'Riverdale Cringe' videos had become a genre online, be they TikTok reactions to particularly funny lines of dialogue or YouTube compilations of strange moments from the show. and are like, What? I thought this was about teenagers," Lili Reinhart explained to Vulture. "And we thought so as well—in season one. But it’s really not been easy to feel that you’re the butt of a joke."

The series, based on the classic Archie comics characters, started out with a Lynchian, whodunnit premise with a murder-mystery solved by a group of teens. The show took a different turn after season 2, becoming a paranormal fantasy that brings people back from the dead and gives every single main character their own superpowers, all while semi-frequently having them break out into song and dance.

The cast includes KJ Apa as Archie, Reinhart as Betty, Camila Mendes as Veronica, Cole Sprouse as Jughead, Madelaine Petsch as Cheryl, Mädchen Amick as Alice, Charles Melton as Reggie, and Vanessa Morgan as Toni.

Continued Reinhart: "We all want to be actors; we’re passionate about what we do. So when the absurdity of our show became a talking point, it was difficult. It is What the fuck? That’s the whole point. When we’re doing our table reads and something ridiculous happens, Roberto is laughing because he understands the absurdity and the campiness."

"If you watched our show like you watch an anime, a lot of it would make more sense," Sprouse added.

Lauren Milici is a Senior Entertainment Writer for GamesRadar+ based in New York City. She previously reported on breaking news for The Independent's Indy100 and created TV and film listicles for Ranker. Her work has been published in Fandom, Nerdist, Paste Magazine, Vulture, PopSugar, Fangoria, and more.