Partway through season 5, Riverdale has officially gotten the renewal for a sixth season at The CW. This week, it was announced that the network was getting a head start on their 2021-2022 slate with a slew of early renewals for several of their ongoing television shows. Although a time jump will be featured in Riverdale season 5, that doesn't mean the end of the series is coming soon, as the show was included with The CW's list of renewals.

"Though we're just a few weeks into the new season, we wanted to get a strategic head start on next season with these early renewals, which allows our production teams to start laying out story arcs and hiring staff, and at the same time, continues to provide us with a strong, stable schedule to build on for next season," Mark Pedowitz, CW Chairman and CEO, said in a statement.

Based on the characters of Archie Comics, Riverdale first debuted on The CW in 2017. It is set in the small town of Riverdale with the characters exploring the darkness hidden behind the seemingly perfect town. Chilling Adventures of Sabrina and Katy Keene were related shows that shared the Riverdale universe, although both of those series have since been canceled. Fortunately for Riverdale fans, the original show is clearly still going very strong.

Developed by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, the series stars KJ Apa as Archie Andrews, Lili Reinhart as Betty Cooper, Camila Mendes as Veronica Lodge, and Cole Sprouse as the narrator, Jughead Jones. Madeleine Petsch, Ashleigh Murray, Casey Cott, Charles Melton, and Vanessa Morgan also star. Five seasons in, the show has consistently garnered positive reviews and high viewership for the network.

Riverdale is set to make a seven-year time jump in its current fifth season. The fast-forward will take our favorite characters out of high school with everyone pursuing separate endeavors. A sneak peek teaser at the time jump has recently been released, providing a look at what these characters are up to seven years after graduation, including Archie as a war veteran, Jughead as a struggling writer, Veronica getting married, and Betty joining the FBI.

The graduation episode of Riverdale also included a surprise cameo from the late Luke Perry. From 2017 until his death in 2019, Perry played Archie's father, Fred Andrews, on the high school drama series. Following Perry's death, it was explained on Riverdale that Fred had died as a way of writing Perry out of the show. In the latest episode of the series, Archie dreamt of his father being there for him at graduation using footage from a previous episode of the series.

It's certainly not going to be quite the same Riverdale after the time jump, but by ordering another season, it also seems clear that The CW is happy with the show's new direction. Season 6 of Riverdale is expected to arrive on the network's 2021-2022 slate. Other renewed shows at The CW include The Flash, All American, Dynasty, Legacies, and Batwoman. This news comes to us from TV Line.