Riverdale showrunner Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa revealed at Comic-Con Sunday that the Season 4 premiere this fall will be a tribute to the late Luke Perry, titled "Chapter Fifty-Eight: In Memoriam."
Perry, who died in March at the age of 52 from a massive stroke, played Fred Andrews, Archie's dad, on Riverdale. The show’s premiere will feature Perry’s longtime friend and Beverly Hills 90210 co-star Shannen Doherty as a guest star.
Aguirre-Sacasa says that getting Doherty to guest star on Riverdale was "something that Luke wanted to happen since season 1." The series was able to persuade her to take part in a tribute episode that he admits they "would take our time" with, instead of rushing out following his death.
"They were such good friends, and when we were putting together this tribute episode, we wanted to make it as special as possible, and so we asked Shannen to do a pivotal, super-emotional role," Aguirre-Sacasa said, perVariety. "She read the script and immediately said 'yes.' It’s very impactful."
"The first episode back is basically a standalone episode, it's set on July 4th in Riverdale and it's a tribute to Luke, it's a tribute to the character of Fred," Aguirre-Sacasa toldTooFab. "We had the table read two weeks ago. I've been in television probably 12 or 13 years, I've never experienced a table read like that."
Riverdale returns to the CW for Season 4 on Oct. 9.
