What You Probably Didn't Know About Supernatural

While "Supernatural" stands out today as a series about two brothers hunting monsters and saving the world, that wasn't the idea that series creator Eric Kripke had in mind when he first imagined the series. He originally wanted it to be an anthology, similar to shows like "The Twilight Zone" or "American Horror Story," but with a direct connection to distinctly American urban legends. After recognizing that Hollywood wasn't into that at the time, Kripke decided to change course, hoping to tell the story of two journalists as they "[fought] demons in search of the truth." If that sounds a lot like "Kolchak: The Night Stalker," that's because that series heavily influenced both "Supernatural" and "The X-Files," the two most popular paranormal shows on television.

Eventually, Kripke settled on the idea of "two estranged brothers in their '67 Chevy Impala, navigating the back roads of America," and thus was born the series we know today as "Supernatural." Of course, there were a few other changes that Kripke needed to make before our heroes became Sam and Dean Winchester, such as changing Sam's original name "Sal" into "Sam," their father's name from "Jack" to "John," and the boy's original last name of "Harrison" (in honor of Harrison Ford himself) to "Winchester," which had spookier connotations. But don't worry, Kripke kept most of those names for future use in naming his son Jack Harrison Kripke.

On the first episode of the recent rewatch podcast, "Supernatural Then and Now," hosts Rob Benedict and Richard Speight, Jr.–who played Chuck Shirley and the Trickster on the show, respectively–interviewed series stars Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles about their experience of getting the roles of Sam and Dean Winchester. In the episode, they explain how they "read together for the first time" for the parts of Sam and Dean, and that they were the only two chosen to audition in front of network executives for the parts of the Winchester brothers. It didn't take more than a chemistry read for the two of them to get the parts. The rest is history. 

It's hard to imagine anyone else playing Sam and Dean other than Padalecki and Ackles, who had starred in "Gilmore Girls" and "Smallville" respectively before their time on "Supernatural," and apparently Eric Kripke and the others behind the series felt the same. There's no question that playing the same characters for 15 seasons straight could have eventually turned stale, but Padalecki and Ackles remained strong throughout the entire series, with a brotherly chemistry that kept fans invested for years. It's no wonder that they've continued to work together even after the series' run.

It's no surprise that "Supernatural" went through multiple showrunners during its 15-season tenure on the CW. What is surprising is how often the new showrunners made the show feel different than before–adding new characters and further expanding the mythology as they went–and the frequency with which executive producers would be swapped out. Everyone knows that series creator Eric Kripke had a basic plan for where he wanted the Winchesters' story to go, which fans affectionately call "The Kripke Era," from the hunt for their mother's killer all the way to the Apocalypse. These are some of the best episodes of the series.

After Kripke stepped down as showrunner, writer Sera Gamble took over for Seasons 6 and 7, focusing more on monster lore and introducing the concept of Purgatory. By the time Season 8 came around, writer Jeremy Carver returned to the series to guide the ship alongside longtime producer Robert Singer all the way through Season 11. During this time, they established further mythology surrounding the Men of Letters, the Mark of Cain, and the Darkness that seemed like it would bring the series to its natural close. Still, it kept going. (It's called "Supernatural" for a reason). After Carver's second exit from the show, Robert Singer and longtime writer/producer Andrew Dabb took the reins for the final four seasons, introducing new characters, resurrecting old ones, and sending the boys off in a bittersweet finale.

Speaking of excluding Mark A. Sheppard, many of "Supernatural's" best episodes include their anniversary episodes or other special milestones that highlight the show's unique capabilities. Unfortunately, many of these episodes excluded some of the show's most popular main cast members. While the show's 100th episode, "Point of No Return," features the show's entire cast (which makes sense given that it takes place smack-dab in the middle of the Apocalypse story), this isn't true for some of the bigger milestones. Some of the show's "special" episodes, including "Baby," the animated "Scoobynatural," and even the 300th episode "Lebanon," feature Misha Collins' Castiel in a limited capacity.

The 200th episode, on the other hand, entitled "Fan Fiction," features Sam and Dean investigating an all-girls school that's putting on "Supernatural: The Musical," which honors all the years that came before. Although Misha Collins fought for a role in the 200th episode, only Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki appear, with the writers kicking Collins and Sheppard to the curb. But hey, at least the other characters were referenced. This isn't even to mention the series finale "Carry On," which features only vague references to Castiel and Alexander Calvert's Jack by fan-favorite character Bobby Singer.

With such a large catalog of characters on the series, it makes sense that coming up with names would be really hard. Many characters on the show are thus actually named after members of the crew. And no, we're not talking about the alternate versions of cast and crew members Genevieve Padalecki, Eric Kripke, Robert Singer, Serge Ladouceur, and Sera Gamble that appeared in "The French Mistake." Rather, these are characters specifically named after real people. The obvious one, of course, is the character of Bobby Singer, the boy's official surrogate father, who was named after the series' longtime executive producer and co-showrunner Robert Singer. But he's not the only one. 

The character of Chuck Shurley wrote all the "Supernatural" books on the show under the pseudonym of "Carver Edlund," which was a combination of the names of show writers Jeremy Carver (who would later become showrunner) and Ben Edlund. Even writer Jenny Klein got her own character named after her in Season 7, who was sadly killed by Crowley the following year. The hunter Tara in Season 9's "First Born" is named after the crew member Tara Larsen. Even the unofficial Supernatural Wiki admin Jules Wilkinson had two different characters named after her throughout the show's run.

Throughout the series, the Winchesters travel all across the United States of America, and while they don't make it to all 50 states, they get pretty close. However, between their central Kansas hometown of Lawrence where their mother died to their Men of Letters headquarters (and new home) in the town of Lebanon, it's clear that the Winchesters spend the bulk of their time in Kansas. The final Season 5 showdown between the Winchesters and the Devil even took place in Lawrence's most haunted boneyard, Stull Cemetery. Apparently what Dorothy once said is true, "there's no place like home," and Kansas is the ultimate home for the Winchesters.

It's also fitting that their home state of Kansas would also be the namesake of the popular classic rock band of the same name, especially since their most famous track, "Carry On Wayward Son," is "Supernatural's" unofficial theme song. The band's greatest hit has been featured in every season of the show (occasionally even more than once), and was the signature tune that Dean drove to across Heaven in the series finale. While the band was originally supposed to appear in "Carry On," they've managed to make appearances at various "Supernatural" panels and are set to reunite with Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki on Ackles' directorial episode of Padalecki's new series "Walker."

"The family business" line has been a "Supernatural" staple ever since Dean first uttered the words to Sam in the second episode. It would end up being a more accurate description than either brother (or actor) then realized. Of course, Jared Padalecki met his wife Genevieve (Ruby) on the set of the show during its fourth season. The two eventually married and began a family (parodied in "The French Mistake"). Jensen Ackles' wife Danneel also appeared in five episodes of the show as an angel named Anael. She even shared a flashback scene with Genevieve Padalecki's Ruby in Season 15's "Destiny's Child."

But Ackles and Padalecki's wives weren't the only family members who joined up as the show went on. Jensen Ackles' father, Alan Ackles, secured two roles on the show, and both in episodes directed by his son. He played the Minneapolis Detective Pike in "Heartache" and voiced a newscaster in "Weekend at Bobby's." Ackles' mother, sister, and in-laws all had smaller roles in the series as well. With how often the cast and crew of the show have referred to the series as a family, there's no question that "Supernatural" is a family affair. 

After 15 seasons, "Supernatural" officially ended in November 2020 with its series finale "Carry On." Although the show had been wrapped up in the previous episode, the series finale was the boy's final send-off as they officially closed their family business. Many fans were disappointed with the series' final bow, though series creator Eric Kripke (who served as an executive consultant on the series post-Season 5) has said that "it's the best possible ending for the show." It's good to know that the show's architect believed that to be true, though it's still up for debate, with many believing that the Season 5 finale should've actually been the Winchester's goodbye. 

Of course, the original ending for the series was pretty different. Kripke has stated that the Season 5 finale (and his send-off episode) "Swan Song" was about "80%" of what his ideal ending would have been. Apparently, from what he told Entertainment Weekly, the way he would've ended the series would've been a lot darker. "...It was a horror movie and it was going to have a horror movie ending," Kripke said. Given the show's horror roots, what more could we expect from the man who created Sam and Dean Winchester in the first place?