CULTURE

Lucy Hale Is Such a Dreamer in the Trailer for the CW’s Katy Keene

And yet, it's a Riverdale spin-off.


Celebrity Sightings in New York City - March 26, 2019
James Devaney/GC Images

Could Katy Keene be the next Gossip Girl? It’s more than possible, judging by the trailer for the Lucy Hale-starring show, which is based on the Archie character of the same name. For one, the show is set in New York City and follows a group of well-dressed young adults trying to conquer Manhattan.

That not only includes Hale as Keene, an aspiring fashion designer with a love for tailored suits — yes, just like Blair Waldorf — and Pepper Smith, a socialite trying to be taken seriously à la Serena van der Woodsen, played by Saving Hope’s Julia Chan. “For a city that never sleeps, New York has a lot of dreamers,” Katy begins, before the trailer flashes the rest of their friend group aka Jorge, a bodega employee by day and drag queen named Ginger by night, played by Penny Dreadful’s Jonny Beauchamp, and aspiring musician Josie McCoy — the same one from Riverdale, played by the same actress Ashleigh Murray. While the other characters haven’t yet been revealed, they also include Archie resident socialite Alexandra Cabot played by American Vandal’s Camille Hyde, and her brother Alexander Cabot (Scream Queens’ Lucien Laviscount), who is desperate to have his dad respect him and hand down the family business.

If you’re wondering whether or not Katy Keene will have anything in common with Riverdale, aside from Josie, of course, the answer is yes. Even though the musical dramedy was described as “very different from Riverdale” by Riverdale creator Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, there is a good chance that some crossover moments will occur. “I think we really do want to tell a crossover,” Aguirre-Sacasa recently told Vanity Fair. “I think probably this year we’re more likely to do a Riverdale–Katy crossover than a Riverdale–Sabrina. But you know, we’re constantly talking about it.”

As for the timing, Katy Keene may very well take place half a decade after Riverdale. “I think it’s more likely that we will see Riverdale characters pop up in New York five years later,” Aguirre-Sacas told The Wrap. “We think that that might be a little more fun, and less confusing, than Josie going back in time to visit Riverdale.”

Sadly, there’s not yet a premiere date but as the trailer for Katy Keene promises, it’s “coming soon” to the CW.