How ‘Supernatural’ Outlived The WB and Learned the Secret to Immortality 

Supernatural” premiered on The WB on September 13, 2005, few could have imagined that the show would not only outlive the network that birthed it, but also go on to survive the exits of three showrunners and two network presidents to become the longest-running sci-fi series in U.S. television history. It also has the distinction of being the only show from The WB’s lineup that’s still on the air, following the network’s transition into The CW in 2006. Stars Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles have also remained with the series throughout its run, long after most leading men would’ve thrown in the towel (see: Chris Meloni, Michael Weatherly, David Caruso, William Petersen et al).

“As long as ratings stay stable, and they want to do the show, and I’m still in the chair, I’m going to be their biggest supporter to continue,” CW president Mark Pedowitz says. “I think ‘Supernatural’ is going to be around in some form long after I move off this chair, and the best thing I can do for the guys, and for the studio, and for the showrunners is basically make sure we don’t mess them up.”

Much like its protagonists — monster-hunting brothers Sam (Padalecki) and Dean (Ackles), who have quite literally been to heaven, hell and everywhere in between over the course of the show’s run — “Supernatural” has time and again proven its resilience in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds, becoming an anchor of The CW’s lineup. “People really forget what a bubble show ‘Supernatural’ was in those first four years,” notes series creator Eric Kripke. “We would have these incredible end-of-season meetings every year with the network where the public intent of the meeting was ‘pitch us your thoughts for the following season,’ but the implied intent of the meeting was ‘plead to us why we should keep you around for another year.\'”

Kripke admits that it took several seasons before he felt like the show was on solid ground; The WB amalgamated with UPN to become The CW in September 2006, when the show was just about to embark on its second season, and Season 3 was abbreviated to 16 episodes because of the Writers Guild strike that stretched from November 2007 to February 2008.

“In my wildest dreams, I was hoping we would get to a fourth season. Sure enough, it was probably right around the fourth season that I think we finally started to relax and realize that we had a certain amount of stability,” Kripke says. “And that was the introduction of Misha Collins [as the angel Castiel], and that was the time that I probably started sleeping at night. But I’ll tell you one thing, the fact that we always felt we were on the edge and one breath from extinction was really good for the show creatively in those early years. We took risks that we probably wouldn’t have taken had we felt more stable. We used to say in the writers’ room all the time, ‘Look, we’re getting canceled next year, so smoke them if you got them.’ We really encouraged everyone to take big swings because we really, sincerely believed that we were about to be canceled, and so why not spend all the story you could spend? And I think that led to a lot of exciting moments.”

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After Season 5, Kripke left the show to develop other projects, and showrunner duties passed to writer and executive producer Sera Gamble for Seasons 6 and 7. She was succeeded by Jeremy Carver, who stayed with the series through Season 11, before handing over the reins to Andrew Dabb for Season 12. Through it all, the show has maintained a steady audience — now standing as the fourth highest-rated show on the network behind superhero series “The Flash,” “Arrow” and “DC’s Legends of Tomorrow.”

As actors, Padalecki and Ackles concede that they’re used to a certain amount of career uncertainty, but the transition from The WB to The CW was undeniably unnerving — in part because both stars had history with The WB and Warner Bros. Television, the studio that produces the show: Padalecki with a role on “Gilmore Girls” for its first five seasons, and Ackles with recurring stints on “Dawson’s Creek” and “Smallville.”

“I started with the WB officially in 2000, straight out of high school, and in all honesty I was so wet behind the ears and green,” says Padalecki. “I basically just made sure to learn my lines and show up on time and hit my marks. I didn’t know about what a studio was, what a network was, the part they played.”

As for Ackles, “‘Supernatural’ started the last year of The WB, and I was kind of surprised that the network was going through such a change,” he says. “I had no idea. I was just kind of working as usual and at that point in my career, I was a lot less involved or even paying attention to the politics behind the network, and all that goes into that, so I was just happy to have a job at that point.”

Padalecki agrees, “I think I was just concerned; I had a TV show, I was so excited and I loved the character, and I loved the writers, and I loved the stories I got to tell and my co-star, and I was having fun up in Vancouver, and I think it was a lot of fear in general in that first season… I think right towards the end of our filming season [they] made the decision.”

After the merger between UPN and The WB, UPN president Dawn Ostroff was chosen to lead the fledgling CW network, with The WB’s David Janollari exiting the company. While The WB’s programming was typified by a mixture of high-concept genre shows like “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and “Smallville” and more family-friendly fare like “Gilmore” and “7th Heaven,” UPN and, by extension, Ostroff’s version of The CW, skewed more towards soapy, scandalous series like “Gossip Girl” and a short-lived “Melrose Place” reboot.

Kripke recalls of the transition, “It’s a strange announcement to hear that the network you’re on is going to be discontinued at the end of this year … [Executive producer] Bob Singer and I looked at each other, and we were like, ‘did we kill the network?’ It’s an odd situation and obviously creates a lot of insecurity. I do remember that [Warner Bros. studio president] Peter Roth and everyone at Warner Bros. was really great about reassuring us that we would be surviving the transition into The CW. But look, any change is rocky, and obviously, it all worked out great, but it takes a bit of adjustment, because, suddenly, there’s a new network president, and Dawn was terrific, but we had to get to know her. She came to love the show, and we came to greatly appreciate her support, but it took a minute.”

Ostroff left The CW in 2011, and Pedowitz says he was already a fan of “Supernatural” when he assumed control of the network.

“Prior to my coming to CW, I was a normal television watcher in the sense I would watch an episode periodically,” he says. “I was always intrigued by the show, but I had another job at ABC Studios. The only time you binged in those days was if someone gave you the whole set of DVDs.”

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The show had been bounced around The CW’s schedule for much of its run, and had been relegated to Friday nights when Pedowitz joined the network.

“It’s generally where shows go to die, and we stayed there and not only did we not die, we actually survived and somewhat thrived,” Ackles notes. “And then I think when Mark came in and took over for Dawn, he looked at the numbers and looked at what was working and said, ‘Why is this show on Friday nights? Not only is it working there, let’s give it some prime real estate and see how much better it can be.\'”

It was the emergence of “Arrow,” The CW’s first foray into a grittier brand of superhero series, that gave “Supernatural” a new lease on life.

“We didn’t have anything compatible for ‘Arrow,’ and we thought there was still life in the show, and we thought what better way to do it than by giving it the time period after ‘Arrow’?” Pedowitz says. “And as luck would sometimes have it, a confluence of events happened. The first Netflix deal was done, so all the past seasons went up, and all of a sudden, you saw an influx of viewers that had not seen the show before.”

In fact, all of The CW’s most successful series have enjoyed scheduling stints with the show, Pedowitz points out: “‘Supernatural’ was paired with ‘Vampire Diaries’ for its first season; ‘Supernatural’ was paired with ‘Arrow’ for its first season. ‘Supernatural’ was paired with ‘The Flash’ for its first season. ‘Supernatural’ is now back on Thursday at nine, and we believe it’ll be a great boost to ‘Legends of Tomorrow.’ So ‘Supernatural,’ in a weird way, even though it’s the lead-out, has had a direct impact on some of our bigger hits.”

The show is now one of the most popular on social media, regularly selling out conventions around the world. “I would much rather have our devoted fan base than 20 million people just casually watching,” Padalecki says. “The word of mouth has been a huge part of ‘Supernatural.’ I feel like sometimes people [think], ‘hey, that show has 20 million people, we don’t need to talk about it,’ but when there’s something that you feel like, ‘hey, this has two million people, I want my friends to know about it, I’m not going to assume that they know about it.\'”

After so many seasons of feeling “on the verge of unemployment all the time,” Ackles says Pedowitz and Roth have given him a true sense of security.

“It’s an incredible support group that we have, not only the network but with the studio as well. I wish I could work with Mark and Peter for the rest of my life — I’d be happy. They’re just quality, smart people and they’re champions for our show and have been for many years now, and it is a huge vote of confidence to have your bosses in your corner,” Ackles says. “Peter’s been saying we’re halfway there since episode 100 and then we get to 200 and he’s like ‘oh, still halfway there,’ so he’s obviously stoked that the show’s still going on. The fact that Mark says that we’ll keep going as long as we’re happy… I don’t even know how to qualify that. It’s awesome, especially when it has to do with a program that I’m so proud of and a story that I still enjoy telling and a character that I still love playing.”

Both Ackles and Padalecki insist they’re not putting an expiration date on the series. “Jared and I talked and we’re going to just keep going,” Ackles says. “He and I, we talk about getting to episode 300 and that’s just another milestone… and then when we get there, we’ll keep going and see what the next milestone is. One of the many reasons we’ve managed to get to where we are is, I don’t think we really set parameters or limits or any obstacles. It’s just like, ‘Let’s keep our heads down and let’s just do the best work that we can and hopefully, people will continue to watch and we can keep telling these stories.”

Says Kripke, “I’m proud that it’s the last surviving WB show, but I’m also really proud that it’s just a sign of how durable ‘Supernatural’ has turned out to be. And obviously, the show itself is the thing I’m most proud of.”

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I watched this show on & off since S1. I never could escaped from it. I bet Kripke put a deal with the King of Hell somewhere subliminally inside the pilot and cast a spell on J2M, so they’ll look hot & sexy forever. I am doomed.

I am a television-a-holic. I watching a lot of shows from NBC, CBS, ABC and HBO, every day in every week, I had my favorite shows, like The good wife, Mentalist,etc. Back 2005, I flipped over to CW then called WB, I watched a little bit of Supernatural , I loved it, but my daughter was just born, I could not find a time to keep watching. After 10 years later, my daughter introduced this show to me, I was like okay to watch it through Netflix, after then till now, I was so addicted to this show, I gave up all of my favorite shows, and just watch Supernatural. I have watched 11 seasons for two times, I am now in 3rd times and in season 6. I love SPN because it shows family values, sacrifices, trusts and adventures. I just wish that this show will keep going for many years. and Jared, Jensen, Misha and Mark are still love to play the characters. Also I love those actors who are so devoting to this show. most of TV/movie actors, when years go by, they lost their look and shape. If you look at J2, they are still in good shape and still good looking guys.

as long as you boys are on. my wife and I will be watching. My girlfriend at that time introduced me to the show back in 2004 when we first went out. we got married in 2009 and still were addicted to the show. My son was born in 2010, now 6 yrs old watches the show with us. You boys been there with us from the beginning. Thank you.

That would be hard considering the pilot aired in 2005.

My sons told me about this show, but I could never catch it when it was on its scheduled night. My boyfriend and I actually started watching it on Netflix and binged the episodes literally until after midnight or later. We had to get up for work in the morning, but we just kept on watching. So happy they do not have an end date!

I’ve watched a lot of tv-shows over the years but Supernatural holds a special place in my heart. I haven’t stopped watching it since I started back in season 2 and I will continue to do so for as long as it lasts, so I’m really happy that the show gets picked up season after season. The greatest thing is that the last seasons are just as amazing as the first several seasons, I would say at times even better, the writers always manage to come up with something unexpected and interesting. The Winchester brothers and their love and devotion to each other are of course the core of the show, it’s what glues the show together. Castiel has also been an amazing addition since season 4 and I love to see him on the show as well. But I also would like to say that the casting for the supporting characters is always top notch: Mark Sheppard, Ruth Connell, Mark Pellegrino and many others are just amazing.

I really hope the show keeps going for many years!

Thanks for a great article, Sam and Dean and their adventures and love for each other has been a source of great entertainment this last decade. Jared and Jensen seem like super sweet and cool guys and I’m love that they and their show are being celebrated. Not to mention Baby!

Love the stories, characters and good natured humour. It has consistently been one of my favourite shows from the moment I started watching back in season 2.

Big thank you to all the cast, crew and anyone else who’s played a part in keeping the show on air.

Sorry, I can’t join in the fangirling about SPN. It was good during S1 through 3. Back then Supernatural was whip-smart and genuinely scary. The downhill slide started when Eric Kripke bowed to pressure from then network chief Dawn Oslof to hire Misha Collins, one of the great non-actors of our time. cassbutt took the focus away from the Winchesters and Kripke jumped ship not long after. It was as if he didn’t trust his own creation. Prior to introducing those stupid angels Kripke boasted that “Heaven was working through the hunters and there will never be angels on the show.” He backtracked from that, didn’t he?

Kripke couldn’t have been worried that the WB would cancel SPN if he refused to hire Collins. At the time SPN was the most highly regarded and the highest rated show on the WB. The network keeps it on the air because they intend to milk very last bit of profit out of it. When that happens they will drop that train wreck like a bad habit.

Unless you want to call professional critics in the business, experienced show runners, and million of viewers idiots for validating Misha and gave him multiple acting awards, 8 years longevity on the show, and a large fan base; I really don’t see the need to jump into an argument with you regarding the “non-actor” remark.

If you would like to know Castiel’s performance on show (regarding ratings or whatever) please let me know and i’ll gladly share w u my analysis. I played with statistics a while back and still had the records.

If you just dislike the character then to each and their own you’re entitled to your opinion. The show started with Sam and Dean and their focus is still on the brothers, always has been and perhaps always will be. However, truth to be told, a lot of viewers jumped on the SPN band wagon when they discovered Castiel, myself included.

I had the exact opposite reaction. Season 1 through 3 were good but I didn’t really love the show until Misha Collins walked through those barn doors as the Angel Castiel. That was spectacular! I have come to love the entire cast but Misha Collins is what makes the show worth watching for me.

Unless you want to call professional critics in the business, experienced show runners, and million of viewers idiots for validating Misha and gave him multiple acting awards, 8 years longevity on the show, and a large fan base; I really don’t see the need to jump into an argument with you regarding the “non-actor” remark.

If you would like to know Castiel’s performance on show (regarding ratings or whatever) please let me know and i’ll gladly share w u my analysis. I played with statistics a while back and still had the records.

If you just dislike the character then to each and their own you’re entitled to your opinion. The show started with Sam and Dean and their focus is still on the brothers, always has been and perhaps always will be. However, truth to be told, a lot of viewers jumped on the SPN band wagon when they discovered Castiel, myself included.

I came for the show, but I stayed for the cast. We are dedicated fans for a reason. I’ve never met such a friendly, giving cast as these guys. Their conventions are wicked expensive, but their sweetness make it worth saving all year for. I can’t wait for season 12 and hope they keep going for many years.

I literally stumbled over the pilot while channel surfing one nite. Looked interesting, so I gave it a shot. 4 yrs later I nearly fell off my chair with the intro of Castiel. Angels! Best kept secret for a primiere ever. Who knew I’d be sitting, counting the days till S12 premiere. TY Mr. Kripke for creating the SPN universe, Dean, Sam and Cas plus all the other great chars that have come and gone. Pray for another 12 seasons!

It is the only show I watch. If it is ever cancelled, I will be in mourning. TV will become extinct for me.

It is my favorite show ever too and I will keep watching it no matter what. I hope I get to go to a convention soon too. I love the show and it has made my life better and happier

I’m so so happy Supernatural is staying on .my husband had never watched it till I bought the box set for myself and he come in one day with I was watching some of the older ones I’d missed .Now he’s hooked too .thanks to all the crew for making such a great show .I love this show and will watch as long as you make ’em .so you keep making and we’ll keep watching ..thanks

I am so glad they did, I love the show, have for years and want to see much more of it. My favorite show ever.

Dean’s character has some of the ‘best lines’ on all of TV. My wife and I started watching Supernatural on TNT in syndication and be came addicted to it. We watch it every day and have seen each episode numerous times. The main actors are great but they have super guest stars also, with Felicia Day as one of my top favorites. We now watch it on CW when new episodes run.

This show is like a fine wine. You appreciate it more with age and it maintains all of its splendor over time. #SupernaturalRocks

Supernatural is a great show. Fan-stuff aside, the actors are good and the show is interesting. Lots of humor mixed in with the drama and scare.

The Winchester brothers tell a tale of love, trust, heartache, family, and adventure. A+

I used to watch this show and even participated in some of the online fan groups – until I left when I realized the fans were, ah, more than a little crazy. They basically split down to:

I Hate Sam – he’s mean to Dean and here’s my 900 page dissertation explaining why.

I Hate Dean – he’s mean to Sam and I made a Hitler video and posted it to youtube to prove it.

I Hate Castiel – he’s forcing his way in between Sam and Dean and he ruins every single episode he’s in. every single episode. Don’t think I’ve forgotten what he said after the third commercial break in season 7, episode 12! Unbelieveable!!!!!

Those folks were only matched by these groups:

I Love Misha, but Hate Jared & Jensen – You know they’re both mean to Mischa and jealous. I wish they’d get fired so Mischa could have the show. The show was nothing without him!

I LOVE Jared & Jensen, but HATE Misha – He’s being jammed down viewer’s throats even though no one, NO ONE, likes or wants him. The show is about Jared and Jensen and only them!!!

I have it on good authority from someone on the set that Jared and Jensen and Misha are all secret lovers group and their wives are all just beards and children just adopted as cover ups. People are saying…

And these folks: Oh look, they killed yet another female character…..good, I hate it when the girls come between the boys.

I guess with that kind of damaged and deranged loyalty this show just may last forever.

Hah, man.. I do admit, there are some crazy people in the fandom. Jensen, Jared, and Misha are seriously some of the sweetest guys you could ever hope to meet, though. Love them all – bloody talented group and a great dynamic between all three!

That is one of the funniest things I’ve read in a long time. I enjoy watching the show and will continue to do so, but I think fans in all things are crazy. The word literally is short for fanatical.

i love this show :0 yea gave me more dont stop

Anytime I’ve attempted to watch this, I’ve lost interest within minutes.

Love the show been with it from the start. On of my number one shows I never miss.

great article! I am REALLY looking forward to season 12 and beyond. I particularly love what Kripke said about the show finding stability after adding Castiel. That’s such a cool, wonderful thing for him to say and it makes me really happy. Jensen, Jared, and Misha are all so vital to the show. Love my spn family!

“Sure enough, it was probably right around the fourth season that I think we finally started to relax and realize that we had a certain amount of stability,” Kripke says. “And that was the introduction of Misha Collins [as the angel Castiel], and that was the time that I probably started sleeping at night.”

This makes me immeasurably happy, Mr. Kripke. Thank you for creating not only a wonderful show, but wonderful characters like Dean, Sam, and Cas who mean so much to us. And thank you especially for acknowledging how important Misha is to the show – season 4 was when I went from casually enjoying the show to being a huge fan, and I’ve never looked back. CW, if you keep Jensen, Jared, and Misha I’ll happily watch another 12 seasons.

Ditto, about season 4 really hooking me. Love Misha as Castiel. He is definitely the character that keeps me watching. I am always so excited to see his name in the credits. I love the dynamic between Dean and Castiel especially. Team Free Will has kept me watching and I’m so excited for season 12 and hopefully many more years to come!

And the show definitely spans generations. My mom and aunt watch it too!

Yeah, Castiel really grabbed my attention from the second he came onscreen. Great actor, very nuanced and multilayered character, wonderful chemistry with Dean and Sam! I’m definitely a big fan of the dynamic between Dean and Castiel – that scene in the season 11 finale between them was great – and I love the Team Free Will trio too. They’re unbeatable. :)

I started watching ‘Supernatural’ recently.. And I don’t live in the US.. So Thank you to everyone whoever came up with ‘Supernatural’ and to everyone who helped along the way! Cause you didn’t just make the longest running show or one which has highest ratings. You made a Family!!

Jensen and Jared are the luckiest actors on the planet. Neither has any real talent, and if Supernatural were on any other network it would have been cancelled mid first season due to low ratings. Had that happened Jensen and Jared would be back in Texas selling shoes or insurance. Instead their multi millionaires! Jared wants to punish waitstaff who fail to acknowledge his, er, “celebrity,” and Jensen is most likely voting for Donald Trump. What a pair of great guys!

Mostly I’m very busy. So if I get a chance to go out for a coffee or a meal then I expect to have a good time. I’m going to pay for my meals. I’m going to pay SERVICE CHARGE and I’m also going to leave a tip. I expect a very good service cause that’s their job! Cause one day when I do my job, I want to do it to the highest level. Giving everyone priority no matter how my day was. That’s my job. If I can’t do that, then I have no business being there.. And don’t act like you won’t get pissed if someone treats you less when you did nothing to deserve it. If you are a guy, you’d most probably take your gang and beat someone up for messing with you. So if you don’t like the show, shut up! If you don’t love Jared and the rest of the crew (Which would be absurd considering they are all so lovely people) then Back off! Jared just voiced up his opinion. He did it in the goodness of his heart to show to stand up for your opinions and to keep fighting! You would stand up for your family and friends right? Supernatural is part of our family as well! So the fans stood up for him. So just back off!

Ivy, you don’t know squat about these guys and quite honestly you just sound like you’re jealous of them. Meanwhile, the “waitstaff” you refer to was called out for repeatedly making disparaging remarks about not only Jensen and Jared, but other customers as well. You are quite correct that they didn’t announce themselves as “celebrities” because they weren’t trying to receive preferential treatment. All they asked for was the common courtesy that should be given to *any* customer who patronizes that establishment and instead of that they had to deal with her rude, bigoted and spiteful remarks all evening. Don’t speak of things you know nothing about, and that includes who Jensen will or will not be voting for this November.

Aren’t you a bitter ugly human Ivy. Is someone a failed actor? No worries I’m sure your personality has a lot to do with it. This smacks of someone who has not been successful in the industry. I’m sure you have all the talent – LOL. They are actually a great pair of guys and the people who watch them and the show continue to enjoy it.

I actually auditioned Ivy once for a non-speaking role, featured extra, but she couldn’t even pull that off. She insisted on complaining about the other actors and saying how useless they were and how she deserved the spotlight. LOL, j/k, but I can imagine it :P

I so agree! Supernatural is a show that I’m sure now has 2 generations watching this together. My kid was too young to watch when it started but 2 years ago (she was 17) she was curious, it was on Netflix, so I thought what the heck? I started her on the pilot and we never looked back. I took her to her first Convention in Minneapolis this past August and it will now be what we do EVERY SUMMER from now till they stop! The stories just get better and better, and season 12 looks like it’s going to be a bang-up show…AGAIN!! Love the Winchesters and they can just keep ’em coming!

Love this article and interviews so much! Well deserved and a HUGE congratulations to Supernatural, the best tv series ever existed for the past 12 years! Thank you very much for giving this show, the actors and crew the attention they deserved. Seriously can’t wait for Season 12 to start!

Well congratulations and well deserved! Through all its seasons and storylines, numerous characters and plot points, this show never bored me, and I never grew tired of it. The relationship of the Winchester brothers has been the heart and soul of the show, and as well as a solid line-up of supporting characters…some of which have transferred to main…like Castiel and Crowley.

A big thank you to Jensen Ackles, Jared Padalecki, Misha Collins, as well as the rest of the cast and crew who have worked soo hard on behalf of us the fans.

I feel the longevity of Supernatural is due to each episode being an ‘onion’…you have to peel back each layer in order to get the total message for each season…a few ‘crumbs’ are dropped…but you must pull them all together (may take several more episodes or seasons) in order to see the big picture. The whole endeavor is superb (acting, writing, production, etc.).

I would point out that this article is incorrect that Supernatural is the longest running sci fi tv series. For a single series, that would be Doctor Who(which has had a run of over 50 years), and Star Trek, if you count all incarnations as one series, including the upcoming Discovery, will have a run of 51 years next year. I did not realize, however, Supernatural premiered on the WB, which I used to watch as well.

Even if the article had said that (reading comprehension is your friend), there are many reasons not to include Doctor Who, not least because of its long hiatus between Old Who and NuWho, the fact that it was a half-hour children’s serial in its first incarnation (in which case, Sesame Street wins hands-down), and the fact that it rebooted itself completely every few years. I’m sure the debate will continue, but merely mentioning their show is hardly the slam dunk conversation ender Who fans would like it to be.

It said American sci-fi show. And though Star Trek may be the longest franchise, each incarnation is a separate series.

Brad, Supernatural qualifies as longest-running since it has been airing continuously and there was a break for Doctor Who before New Who returned and the Star Trek series count as separate series. (I love both of these, too!)

I can sleep better since Castiel was introduced too, Kripke.

Supernatural is great. I wish more people would give it a try.

It’s not a die ce fiction show–it’s a mixture of fantasy and horror.,there no science fiction in the series.