Katy Keeneis here to bring a little sunshine back to the Archie-verse.
Katy Keeneis stepping out of the noir shadows ofRiverdaleand into the spotlight, teases co-creatorMichael Grassi.
Were entering worlds like fashion, music, Broadway, drag.
Barbara Nitke/The CW
Its a show about dreamers.
If you were really in the know, you knew Katy Keene.
The same way thatRiverdaleis retro andSabrinas retro,Katy Keeneis retro as well.
Its set in New York.
We call it the New York of the imagination.
Its not exactly reality.
But I would say that though theyre very different shows tonally, they have that in common.
They exist in their own special bubble.Our touchstones are everything fromMarvelous Mrs. MaiseltoGirlstoSex in the CitytoFametoA Chorus Line.
It was all these retro touchstones.
BothRiverdale andSabrinahave elements of the supernatural, as well as pulpier mystery elements at their heart.
We want something optimistic.
We did, too, but we felt like wed done such strong genre.
We were doing that withRiverdale,and we wanted to do something different.
Its timeless, but you have said that its five years ahead timeline-wise fromRiverdale.
That sometimes was challenging in a universe where we were also dealing with murders and cults and gargoyle kings.
We really wanted to tell, what is it like to move to New York and pursue music?
IfRiverdalesa show about being in high school,Katy Keenesa little bit more grown up.
We often talk about it as a second coming-of-age story.
It is such a tremendous, big element of the show, and its so important.
Its almost like theres not a problem she cant solve by designing an outfit for one of her friends.
Katys always at her sewing machine.
Its really magical to see, not only the characters come to life, but all of this wardrobe.
Jorges (Jonny Beauchamp) journey in the pilot reminds me a lot of Pauls story fromA Chorus Line.
We think ofKaty Keeneas an origin story.
None of these characters have made it yet, and this is about the climb.
Its not about the mountaintop.
She had been working as a waitress.
When Ashleigh told us about that, that was like, thats Josies story in New York.
Thats the story of moving to New York, trying to be an artist.
We did want it to be music and Broadway and writing and filmmaking.
Youll see, their world keeps getting bigger.
When we landed on Josie, the show unlocked for us.
Their friendships will be tested in huge, primal ways throughout the season.
Itll be really inspiring to see how theyre all there for each other.AGUIRRE-SACASA:Its such a romance.
Its a literal romance with love interests.
Its a romance with New York.
And going through all these crises and dancing.
Katy Keenepremieres Thursday, Feb. 6 at 8 p.m. on The CW.
