''Riverdale'' is a
Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
prime time
Prime time or the peak time is the block of broadcast programming taking place during the middle of the evening for a television show. It is mostly targeted towards adults (and sometimes families). It is used by the major television networks to ...
soap opera
A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...
which ran for three seasons from 1997 to 2000. The series was set in the
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
community of
Riverdale. It focused on a variety of characters and their interactions in everyday life. 94 half-hour episodes were produced.
''Riverdale'' was developed by the producers of the
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
soap opera ''
Coronation Street
''Coronation Street'' is an English soap opera created by Granada Television and shown on ITV since 9 December 1960. The programme centres around a cobbled, terraced street in Weatherfield, a fictional town based on inner-city Salford.
Origi ...
'' and produced by
Epitome Pictures Inc. in association with
CBC Television
CBC Television (also known as CBC TV) is a Canadian English-language broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster. The network began operations on September 6, 1952. Its French-l ...
. ''Riverdale'' was the first soap to play in primetime on CBC since ''
Dallas
Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...
'' several years earlier.
Characters
* Wally Wowczuk (played by Chris Benson)
* Jimmy Snow (played by
Christian Potenza
Christian Potenza (born December 23, 1972) is a Canadian actor and comedian. He is best known for voicing Jude Lizowski on ''6teen'' and Chris McLean in the ''Total Drama'' franchise.
Career
He has been on television since 1997, when he first ...
)
* Maurice Long (played by Dave Nichols)
* Ben MacKenzie (played by
Christopher Shyer
Christopher Shyer (sometimes credited as Chris Shyer) is a Canadian-American actor who has appeared in over 50 film and television roles.
Acting career
Shyer has appeared in multiple guest roles on television since 1994, including: '' Viper'', ' ...
and Hamish McEwan)
* Joan MacKenzie (played by Marion Gilsenan)
* Jerome "Tiny" Sheffield (played by Martin Roach)
* Costas Stavros (played by
Paul Soles
Paul Robert Soles (August 11, 1930 – May 26, 2021) was a Canadian actor and television personality. He led the voice cast in such series as ''The Marvel Super Heroes'' (1966), voiced the title character in ''Spider-Man'' (1967), and portraye ...
)
* Chrisa Stavros (played by Maria Ricossa)
* Patrick MacKenzie (played by Alex Campbell)
* Charles MacKenzie (played by Stewart Arnott)
* Alice Sweeney (played by
Lynne Griffin
Lynne Griffin (born 17 September 1952) is a Canadian actress. She is known for her work in film, television and stage, particularly her appearances in the horror films '' Black Christmas'' (1974) and ''Curtains'' (1983), and a recurring role on ...
)
* George Pattillo (played by Hugo Dann)
* Gordo Johnson (played by
Merwin Mondesir
Merwin Mondesir (born February 21, 1976) is a Canadian actor. He is of Saint Lucian descent. He resides in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Selected filmography
Film
* 1997 '' Critical Care'' as Head Injury
* 2000 ''Steal This Movie!'' as Private Kend ...
)
* Stan Wilkes (played by Ken James)
* Gloria Wilkes (played by
Jayne Eastwood
Jayne Eastwood (born December 17, 1946), also credited as Jane Easton or Jane Eastwood, is a Canadian actress and comedian. She is best known for her film roles as Anna-Marie Biddlecoff in the comedy film ''Finders Keepers'' (1984), Judy the Wai ...
)
* Jenni Hernandez (played by
Yanna McIntosh
Yanna McIntosh (born 1970), sometimes credited as Yanna MacIntosh, is a Jamaican-born Canadian television, movie and theatrical actress.
Early life
McIntosh attended the University of Toronto and the Institute for Advanced Theater Training at Ha ...
)
* Mike Hayes (played by
Tyrone Benskin
Tyrone Benskin (born 29 December 1958) is an English-Canadian actor, theatre director and politician. He was elected Member of Parliament in the Jeanne-Le Ber riding, in Montreal, Quebec, in the 2011 Canadian federal election and served as an M ...
)
* Jake Rose (played by Tom Melissis)
* Robin Hayes (played by
Ashley Brown
Ashley Brown (born February 3, 1982) is an American singer and actress who is best known for playing the titular character in the United States national tour and Broadway productions of '' Mary Poppins''.
Early life
Brown was born February 3, 19 ...
)
* Cassie Coulter (played by
Melissa Thomson
Melissa is a female given name. The name comes from the Greek language, Greek word μέλισσα (''mélissa''), "bee", which in turn comes from μέλι (''meli''), "honey". In Hittite language, Hittite, ''melit'' signifies "honey".
''Meliss ...
)
* Stephanie Long (played by Diana Reis)
* Irene Stavros (played by
Melissa DiMarco
Melissa DiMarco is a Canadian actress, producer, and television personality. She has made acting appearances in feature films and television. She is best known for her role as Daphne Hatzilakos in the teen drama series '' Degrassi: The Next Gene ...
)
* Caroline Walker (played by Nicole Hughes)
* Terry Walker (played by Matt Cooke)
* Michelle Martin (played by Michelle Martin and
Jennifer Podemski
Jennifer Podemski (born January 1, 1974) is a First Nations (Canadian) film and television actress and producer.
Her acting credits include starring roles in the television series '' Tin Star'', ''The Rez'', '' Riverdale'', ''Moccasin Flats'', ...
)
* Katie MacKenzie (played by Jessica Greco)
* Shawn Ritchie (played by
Kris Holden-Ried
Kris Holden-Ried (born August 1, 1973) is a Canadian actor.
Early life and pentathlon
Holden-Ried was born in Pickering, Ontario. He studied at Montreal's Concordia University School of Business. He was a champion competitor in riding and fen ...
)
* Gilmour (played by
Gilmour the dog)
* Doug Wilkes (played by Simon Fraser)
See also
*
Degrassi (franchise)
''Degrassi'' is a Canadian television franchise created by Kit Hood and Linda Schuyler in 1979. It is centred on a multigenerational teen drama about an ensemble cast of teenagers attending the namesake Toronto school as they navigate their ad ...
External links
*
Production company website{{Playing With Time, Inc. and Epitome Pictures
Canadian television soap operas
CBC Television original programming
1997 Canadian television series debuts
1990s Canadian drama television series
2000 Canadian television series endings
2000s Canadian drama television series
Television shows set in Toronto
Television shows filmed in Toronto