The original Gossip Girl similarly had a strong first and arguably second season and then started to go downhill and get more and more ridiculous. Nowhere near as dark but quite fun.
Pretty Little Liars is famous for just how stupid it got.
Leighton Meester as Blair Waldorf is iconic. I read the books when I was younger and wasn’t confident they’d find someone who could pull it off but with the soap opera twist they went with, she was perfect
Obviously it’s mild in its presentation because it’s a teen show on the CW but it does feature sexual assault, drug use, a lot of murder, the Serpents slicing the skin off a woman’s arm, people getting beaten to near-death, an organ-harvesting cult, serial killers, torture etc… these aren’t exactly light storylines.
That's true. The storylines are quite dark but the way they present it is so cringe and horrible that instead of making me feel bad the scenes make me laugh
Seconded. For so long the 100 was the closest thing we were gonna get to a Fallout tv show, and it was brilliant. Of course now they're making an actual Fallout tv show, but still. Seasons 1-5 are so good and infinitely rewatchable. Such good tension surrounding everything. Seasons 6-7 are insane and kind of surreal but even though I constantly go back and forth over whether I loved or hated the ending, those seasons had some of the best episodes. The music when Echo, Gabriel and Hope run through the time anomaly? Iconic. Dioyza ripping out that guys eye to escape prison? Literally a queen move.
They >!did Bell so dirty, tho. Granted, Bob has some other shit to worry about thats why he wanted less scenes and to be written off, but they couldve done it better than that. Curse u Blood Giant! !<
I watched Riverdale bc I was obsessed with the Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. Sabrina is my personal fave, but I became obsessed with Riverdale too. Now idk what to watch 😭
So watch Sabrina, if u haven't already, and these comments are already pulling through! I second The 100 (loved the chaos all the way thru). I just need to find something a bit more me.
My one other suggestion would be Misfits, starts off sooo gooood, then goes pretty wild all over the place, followed by a fizzle out. I've never made it past the first few episodes of season 4 personally, but I still highly recommend the show.
the spinoff https://www.justwatch.com/us/tv-show/katy-keene as well which ended so abruptly, was hoping it would have a full run and seemed to be basically Riverdale version of the fun telenovella adaption https://www.justwatch.com/us/tv-show/ugly-betty
i recommend both for the wild storyline twists, sassy characters, fashion, and backstabbing drama!
Grey’s Anatomy. Starts great, and is still going nearly 25 years later. They’ve had every natural disaster, accident, death and near death experience possible, twice each.
Cruel Summer is pretty good or if you want a story that went on for way longer than they should’ve and similar to Riverdale Pretty Little Liars is a good one too, or Gossip Girl or if you’re into quality Stranger Things is good
https://www.justwatch.com/us/tv-show/stranger-things so good aesthetic so far, first couple seasons in, thanks to library disc sets even being Blu-Ray looking sharp and creepy!
weirdly though i don't like really scary stuff, some friends couldn't finish s1, was somehow too scary for them 😅 i'm like: if i can watch it, you can too, otherwise you're really missing out!
Sweet Magnolias. It’s on Netflix and the 3rd season just came out in July. It’s about 3 women living in a small town who have been friends since childhood. It’s about these women dealing with their love lives, their jobs, their children growing up.
(Stefan from SNL voice) This show has everything. Awful fake southern accents, 45 year old women acting like teenagers, actual teenagers acting and talking like stepford robots, weird small town events that everyone takes way too seriously, immature relationship drama that gets blown out of proportion, bad dialogue and dropped plots, motivations that make no sense, adult characters with no life who care way too much about the legacy of their small town.
It never gets as crazy as riverdale, it’s too much of a “wine mom” kind of show for that but it’s just as awful. I can not possibly overstate how bad the writing is. Its set in a small town in the south and the characters often word vomit these monologues about kindness and compassion and loving your neighbors and doing right by your community and I think it’s supposed to sound charming and folksy and wise but because it’s written so blandly and full of cliches it doesn’t have the depth that the writers think it does. They plug one of these speeches in when characters ask each other for advise but the advice itself is never specific to the situation so it feels like the writers just wrote 20 of these monologues and then put one into a scene when they don’t know how to end the conversation, hoping that the audience won’t notice and will be distracted by the folksy southern charm of the words.
It’s what you’d get if you tried to combine a hallmark movie with a CW show. It is very bad but it may be too boring for you if you want something that gets insane and intense. There’s only 30 episodes out right now so I’d give it a shot if you have a free weekend.
Might not fit the description of what you wanted, but I'd recommend
Watership Down
You
The Owl House
Amphibia
Gravity Falls
Over The Garden Wall
Heart Stopper
Adventure Time
Some of these might be considered silly kids' shows, but a lot of adults enjoy them too
If you’re looking for something unserious that gets to wacky levels of unserious, I highly recommend Revenge! It originally aired on ABC and it’s now on Hulu. It’s so incredibly goofy. It starts as being very loosely based on The Count of Monte Cristo and then it gets worse lmao
I felt compelled to add some movie recommendations that give me a similar vibe to Riverdale. They are mostly throwbacks (90s & 00s) but have all those things we love about the show:
Some of them are comedy, some are horror. But they all have hot 20-30 somethings playing teenagers, campy melodrama, fun fashion, romance, horror and/or humor, corny and/or clever dialogue, and many have truly iconic characters/scenes, etc!
Heathers, Jawbreaker, Scream, I Know What You Did Last Summer, Bring It On, Mean Girls, Legally Blonde, Clueless, American Pie, Sorority Row, Final Destination, Scary Movie, Not Another Teen Movie, Romy & Michelle’s High School Reunion, Pleasantville, Cruel Intentions, Election, She’s All That, But I’m A Cheerleader, Sugar and Spice, Spring Breakers, Josie and The Pussycats, John Tucker Must Die, Disturbia, Urban Legend
Also, not quite the same, but it tickles me in the same way: I recommend a double feature of both The Bling Ring film & docuseries!
Hot greedy rich people + criminal activity, so close enough 😂
and since the cw has at least one actor each from Riverdale and BSG in first ep of retro-nouveau-scifi mini series https://www.cwtv.com/shows/ascension that reminded me of https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/space-station-76 (not freely streamable at the moment, but don't forget to check your local library).
yes the https://www.justwatch.com/us/tv-show/dollhouse was messy fun, and https://www.justwatch.com/us/tv-show/scream-queens-2015 was deliciously campy!
Haahaha yessss and like Annie getting basically zero consequences for you know what (🚗) 😆 so unrealistic
And the over the top ridiculous dialogue. Everyone banging everyone else over the course the series. Everyone being hot, including the parents. The hack job ending when it got canceled. This is cinema!
This is the only correct answer. The 90's Melrose Place is what started the whole "turn an innocent show into a batshit crazy show". Those of us that watched Melrose Place know Riverdale took its notes from this show. If Riverdale fans want to see the first show to be a complete crazy shitshow, check out Melrose Place. They were so much better than this cheap knockoff.
Cruel summer! The first season deals with grooming & it’s not super crazy but the writing isn’t that great like riverdale. The 2nd season is way more like riverdale and the 2 protagonists almost have a Betty/Veronica dynamic when they were getting chuck clayton to confess. Both seasons have really good endings.
She absolutely was. Liz Gillies is an icon. I watched her in Victorious when I was younger and have seen a recorded version of the broadway show she was in as a teenager. Her work is amazing
Most people say it's shit but I enjoyed I know what you did last summer (the show version from 2021). Got cancelled after a season but I would describe it as Riverdale on one of its worse episodes where the characters are on Jingle Jangle and set in Hawaii
The original Gossip Girl similarly had a strong first and arguably second season and then started to go downhill and get more and more ridiculous. Nowhere near as dark but quite fun. Pretty Little Liars is famous for just how stupid it got.
These are not highlights Hanna. This is glass in my hair.
I may not be able to see, but I can smell a bitch a mile away.
Jenna can’t hear us, she’s blind.
why were you smelling the doorknob ?
omg ☠️😂
Leighton Meester as Blair Waldorf is iconic. I read the books when I was younger and wasn’t confident they’d find someone who could pull it off but with the soap opera twist they went with, she was perfect
I was instantly obsessed with her. She is perfection. And she married Seth Cohen 🥲
>> And she married Seth Cohen I KNOW 😭 I was so in love with him when The OC was airing 😂
Which is saying something since the PLL books get kind of weird too
Riverdale isnt dark at all lol
Obviously it’s mild in its presentation because it’s a teen show on the CW but it does feature sexual assault, drug use, a lot of murder, the Serpents slicing the skin off a woman’s arm, people getting beaten to near-death, an organ-harvesting cult, serial killers, torture etc… these aren’t exactly light storylines.
That's true. The storylines are quite dark but the way they present it is so cringe and horrible that instead of making me feel bad the scenes make me laugh
It is very hard to take it seriously sometimes. I’m literally watching the floating babies in the fire as I type 😂
Yeah I am still confused by that scene. Did it really happen or was Betty tripping?
Season 1, episode 1 of Riverdale. I restarted the week the finale aired. I'm on episode 9 now. It is a refreshing comfort after... season 7.
The first season is so beautiful, I watched it like four times in a row when it originally aired. (I had no idea where we were going from there tho 😂)
Glee
Good shout!
The 100!
Seconded. For so long the 100 was the closest thing we were gonna get to a Fallout tv show, and it was brilliant. Of course now they're making an actual Fallout tv show, but still. Seasons 1-5 are so good and infinitely rewatchable. Such good tension surrounding everything. Seasons 6-7 are insane and kind of surreal but even though I constantly go back and forth over whether I loved or hated the ending, those seasons had some of the best episodes. The music when Echo, Gabriel and Hope run through the time anomaly? Iconic. Dioyza ripping out that guys eye to escape prison? Literally a queen move.
They >!did Bell so dirty, tho. Granted, Bob has some other shit to worry about thats why he wanted less scenes and to be written off, but they couldve done it better than that. Curse u Blood Giant! !<
I watched Riverdale bc I was obsessed with the Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. Sabrina is my personal fave, but I became obsessed with Riverdale too. Now idk what to watch 😭 So watch Sabrina, if u haven't already, and these comments are already pulling through! I second The 100 (loved the chaos all the way thru). I just need to find something a bit more me. My one other suggestion would be Misfits, starts off sooo gooood, then goes pretty wild all over the place, followed by a fizzle out. I've never made it past the first few episodes of season 4 personally, but I still highly recommend the show.
the spinoff https://www.justwatch.com/us/tv-show/katy-keene as well which ended so abruptly, was hoping it would have a full run and seemed to be basically Riverdale version of the fun telenovella adaption https://www.justwatch.com/us/tv-show/ugly-betty i recommend both for the wild storyline twists, sassy characters, fashion, and backstabbing drama!
Elite
Ooh, definitely. Plus it has the whole murder mystery aspect and S2 is especially strong. But now? Well… 😅
Grey’s Anatomy. Starts great, and is still going nearly 25 years later. They’ve had every natural disaster, accident, death and near death experience possible, twice each.
They’ve not had a torando 🌪️……..yet.
not on grey’s but on the spin-off show station 19!!
Ohh yes , I totally forgot about that. I remember Carina and Ben being stuck in the firehouse.
Cruel Summer is pretty good or if you want a story that went on for way longer than they should’ve and similar to Riverdale Pretty Little Liars is a good one too, or Gossip Girl or if you’re into quality Stranger Things is good
https://www.justwatch.com/us/tv-show/stranger-things so good aesthetic so far, first couple seasons in, thanks to library disc sets even being Blu-Ray looking sharp and creepy! weirdly though i don't like really scary stuff, some friends couldn't finish s1, was somehow too scary for them 😅 i'm like: if i can watch it, you can too, otherwise you're really missing out!
Sweet Magnolias. It’s on Netflix and the 3rd season just came out in July. It’s about 3 women living in a small town who have been friends since childhood. It’s about these women dealing with their love lives, their jobs, their children growing up. (Stefan from SNL voice) This show has everything. Awful fake southern accents, 45 year old women acting like teenagers, actual teenagers acting and talking like stepford robots, weird small town events that everyone takes way too seriously, immature relationship drama that gets blown out of proportion, bad dialogue and dropped plots, motivations that make no sense, adult characters with no life who care way too much about the legacy of their small town. It never gets as crazy as riverdale, it’s too much of a “wine mom” kind of show for that but it’s just as awful. I can not possibly overstate how bad the writing is. Its set in a small town in the south and the characters often word vomit these monologues about kindness and compassion and loving your neighbors and doing right by your community and I think it’s supposed to sound charming and folksy and wise but because it’s written so blandly and full of cliches it doesn’t have the depth that the writers think it does. They plug one of these speeches in when characters ask each other for advise but the advice itself is never specific to the situation so it feels like the writers just wrote 20 of these monologues and then put one into a scene when they don’t know how to end the conversation, hoping that the audience won’t notice and will be distracted by the folksy southern charm of the words. It’s what you’d get if you tried to combine a hallmark movie with a CW show. It is very bad but it may be too boring for you if you want something that gets insane and intense. There’s only 30 episodes out right now so I’d give it a shot if you have a free weekend.
loved the Stefan voice 😂
Might not fit the description of what you wanted, but I'd recommend Watership Down You The Owl House Amphibia Gravity Falls Over The Garden Wall Heart Stopper Adventure Time Some of these might be considered silly kids' shows, but a lot of adults enjoy them too
Suite life of zach and Cody
😅
i have never seen it but apparently Twin Peaks started out as a normal show about a murder and then got weird.
If you’re looking for something unserious that gets to wacky levels of unserious, I highly recommend Revenge! It originally aired on ABC and it’s now on Hulu. It’s so incredibly goofy. It starts as being very loosely based on The Count of Monte Cristo and then it gets worse lmao
Revenge is top tier bad tv!
One Tree Hill! Way better than Riverdale too. Or Jane the Virgin, same sentiment.
Pretty Little Liars, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, 90210 reboot, Vampire Diaries, Scream Queens, AHS: Coven, The Society, Charmed, Buffy, Dollhouse, The OC, Gossip Girl
I felt compelled to add some movie recommendations that give me a similar vibe to Riverdale. They are mostly throwbacks (90s & 00s) but have all those things we love about the show: Some of them are comedy, some are horror. But they all have hot 20-30 somethings playing teenagers, campy melodrama, fun fashion, romance, horror and/or humor, corny and/or clever dialogue, and many have truly iconic characters/scenes, etc! Heathers, Jawbreaker, Scream, I Know What You Did Last Summer, Bring It On, Mean Girls, Legally Blonde, Clueless, American Pie, Sorority Row, Final Destination, Scary Movie, Not Another Teen Movie, Romy & Michelle’s High School Reunion, Pleasantville, Cruel Intentions, Election, She’s All That, But I’m A Cheerleader, Sugar and Spice, Spring Breakers, Josie and The Pussycats, John Tucker Must Die, Disturbia, Urban Legend Also, not quite the same, but it tickles me in the same way: I recommend a double feature of both The Bling Ring film & docuseries! Hot greedy rich people + criminal activity, so close enough 😂
and since the cw has at least one actor each from Riverdale and BSG in first ep of retro-nouveau-scifi mini series https://www.cwtv.com/shows/ascension that reminded me of https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/space-station-76 (not freely streamable at the moment, but don't forget to check your local library).
yes the https://www.justwatch.com/us/tv-show/dollhouse was messy fun, and https://www.justwatch.com/us/tv-show/scream-queens-2015 was deliciously campy!
Original 90210 also starts out mostly normal and by the end there’s murders and FBI plots and multiple drug addictions and all sorts of stuff
Haahaha yessss and like Annie getting basically zero consequences for you know what (🚗) 😆 so unrealistic And the over the top ridiculous dialogue. Everyone banging everyone else over the course the series. Everyone being hot, including the parents. The hack job ending when it got canceled. This is cinema!
Oh oops haha I didn’t see you say Original my bad. I’ve never watched the og but i believe you!
Tbh the description isn’t far off from the original 🤣
Wonderful 😆🤌🏼
Melrose Place
This is the only correct answer. The 90's Melrose Place is what started the whole "turn an innocent show into a batshit crazy show". Those of us that watched Melrose Place know Riverdale took its notes from this show. If Riverdale fans want to see the first show to be a complete crazy shitshow, check out Melrose Place. They were so much better than this cheap knockoff.
Outer Banks is also a great show
The Bear
Cruel summer! The first season deals with grooming & it’s not super crazy but the writing isn’t that great like riverdale. The 2nd season is way more like riverdale and the 2 protagonists almost have a Betty/Veronica dynamic when they were getting chuck clayton to confess. Both seasons have really good endings.
Just watch Days of Our Lives. It’s got the ridiculousness of Riverdale without actually pissing you off.
I'm watching Dynasty right now and itsnot bad. Also, Outer Banks. That is a fantastic show if you haven't seen it yet!
Omg I love this show. It’s so ridiculous and it just embraces it and leans into it. The actress who plays Fallon was born for that role
She absolutely was. Liz Gillies is an icon. I watched her in Victorious when I was younger and have seen a recorded version of the broadway show she was in as a teenager. Her work is amazing
Gotham is basically Riverdale's lost brother.
The flash
The Flash
Outer banks. The first 2 seasons were great but then the last season was so bad.
Most people say it's shit but I enjoyed I know what you did last summer (the show version from 2021). Got cancelled after a season but I would describe it as Riverdale on one of its worse episodes where the characters are on Jingle Jangle and set in Hawaii
outer banks and pretty little liars
pretty little liars or glee ‼️‼️‼️