Riverdale and Chilling Adventures of Sabrina's Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa is reluctant to take credit for TV's moody teen trend

Los Angeles Times

"Moody, mordant and retro are all the rage in teen TV," declares the Los Angeles Times in describing "the Riverdale effect." Riverdale's success has inspired shows like Aguirre-Sacasa's Chilling Adventures of Sabrina to take the darkness to the next level. "When the CW first existed there were shows like Gossip Girl, Dawson’s Creek and One Tree Hill, and there had always been on the CW a strong teen drama,” says Aguirre-Sacasa. “But at the moment when Riverdale came, I think the CW moved toward superhero shows, and there was a little bit of a gap there that Riverdale benefited from.” Aguirre-Sacasa is, however, reluctant to take credit for the new trend in teen TV. “If there’s even a sense that Riverdale has inspired some of these shows, it’s so humbling,” he says. “It feels like we’re a part of a proud tradition of teen dramas, and some have been more earnest, some have been more traditional and some have been more wistful, but it’s nice to be a part of that.”

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