8 Campy Soap Shows Like Riverdale and Where to Watch Them

Riverdale cast below the show's logo and next to a red arrow pointing to the Gossip Girl cast.
Fatima Castillo
By Fatima CastilloFilm & TV Writer

Riverdale cast below the show's logo and next to a red arrow pointing to the Gossip Girl cast.
  • Primary Subject: TV shows like Riverdale streaming guide.
  • Key Update: Popular teen dramas and campy soaps like Riverdale are streaming now!
  • Status: Top recommendations and their streaming platforms.
  • Last Verified: June 12, 2026
  • Quick Answer: Shows like The Chilling Adventures, Pretty Little Liars, and Gossip Girl are currently streaming on major platforms such as Netflix, HBO Max, and Hulu.

If you are missing the absolute chaos, small-town murders, musical episodes, and unhinged dialogue of Riverdale, you aren't alone. Fortunately, the world of television is packed with campy, melodramatic soap operas that match its specific brand of delightful madness.

Here is our list of the best campy soap shows like Riverdale and exactly where you can watch them in the US.

The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina

The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina happens to be set in the same universe as Riverdale (just across the Sweetwater River in Greendale), and was developed by the same showrunner, Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa. The only difference is that Sabrina's life has always been supernatural from the very beginning.

On her 16th birthday, half-mortal, half-witch Sabrina Spellman must reconcile her dual nature while fighting the evil forces that threaten her family and the daylight world.

Pretty Little Liars

Four estranged friends reunite after their clique leader goes missing, only to find themselves blackmailed and threatened with their own secrets by a mysterious texter who simply identifies as "A."

Long before Archie Andrews fought a bear, Pretty Little Liars pioneered the modern unhinged teen mystery soap genre, exploring the same formula: high schoolers dressing like runway models, clueless parents, endless murder investigations, and town secrets that defy all logic.

The Magicians

Think of The Magicians as Riverdale if the characters went to college and actually had real magic. The Magicians masterfully balances high-stakes apocalyptic horror with pure, unadulterated camp, self-aware humor, and out-of-the-blue musical numbers.

The Magicians follows a group of young adults attending a secret academy to train their magical abilities, only to discover that the whimsical fantasy world from their childhood storybooks is real, yet poses a catastrophic threat to humanity in their reality.

Scream Queens

A university campus and its ultra-exclusive Kappa Kappa Tau sorority are terrorized by a serial killer clad in a Red Devil mascot costume. Created by Ryan Murphy, Scream Queens turns the dials of camp up to eleven while sharing a similar vibe to Riverdale for its cinematography, satirical dialogue, and sacrificing realism for the glorious aesthetic.

Much like how Cheryl Blossom commands Riverdale High with an iron fist, Chanel Oberlin (Emma Roberts) leads her sorority minions with a fla

The Royals

A scandalous, fictionalized look at a modern-day British family operating in luxury and political schemes, The Royals swaps small-town Americana for London palaces and yet shares the addictive, trashy soap-opera DNA that keeps fans on the edge of their seats. Whether it's secret twins, murder conspiracies, over-the-top monologues, and typical teen drama, The Royals turns it up a notch!

Insatiable

Insatiable matches Riverdale in its sheer unpredictability. Just when you think you know where the story is going, Insatiable takes an incredibly dark and campy turn involving accidental murders and cover-ups.

A disgraced attorney-turned-pageant-coach takes on a bullied, vengeful teenager as his client, only for the duo to spiral into a chaotic world of crime and pageantry.

Gossip Girl

Gossip Girl follows privileged Upper East Side teens who find out that their every move, scandal, and heartbreak is tracked by an anonymous, ruthless blogger. Gossip Girl walked so shows like Riverdale could run, essentially. This series essentially established the articulate, fashion-forward teenagers that Riverdale perfected, complete with webbed romances and dramatic family betrayals on the get-go.

Scream: TV Series

The first two seasons of Scream: TV Series share similar elements to Riverdale season 1, with a literal slasher mask. But don't mistake this for the same timeline as the Scream movie franchise. In fact, these two are considered in separate, alternate universes.

In the series, a cyberbullying incident in the town of Lakewood serves as the catalyst for a brutal murder, opening up a window to the community's troubled past and a new string of killers...

Keep it locked on EpicStream, your go-to site for film, TV, and celebrity coverage!