Cape Town – Riverdale seen on M-Net (DStv 101) is dedicating the remainder of the third season of the series to Luke Perry (52) who died on Monday after suffering a massive stroke.
The latest episode, that was broadcast on Wednesday in the United States, added an "In Memoriam" card to the end-credits. M-Net also added its own full-screen slides on the M-Net and M-Net City (DStv 115) channels before and after the episode that aired.
Production on Riverdale shut down for a few days to give the cast and crew time to grieve. Showrunner Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa announced that the remainder of the latest season will be dedicated to Luke Perry.
It's not yet clear what will happen to the character or how Luke's death will impact the storyline and whether the character of Fred will be written out, killed off or recast.
In Wednesday's episode – the 14th episode of the third season – Fred saved his son Archie's life after another bot Ricky tried to kill him with a knife.
"Tonight's episode of Riverdale finds Fred doing what he does best – helping Archie. It is dedicated to Luke, as all episodes will be for the rest of our run," wrote Roberto.
The second season of Riverdale is currently broadcast on M-Net City (DStv 115) with the third season on M-Net (DStv 101).
South Africa and M-Net are 7 episodes behind the United States on Riverdale, meaning the episode with the "In Memoriam" card attached to the episode will be broadcast in Africa on M-Net at the end of April.
(Photos supplied: M-Net)