Supernatural is an American television series created by Eric Kripke.

It was first
broadcast on September 13, 2005, on The WB, and subsequently became part of
successor network The CW's lineup. Starring Jared Padalecki as Sam
Winchester and Jensen Ackles as Dean Winchester, the series follows the two
brothers as they hunt demons, ghosts, monsters and other supernatural beings.
Along with Kripke, the series' executive producers included McG, Robert Singer, Phil
Sgriccia, Sera Gamble, Jeremy Carver, John Shiban, Ben Edlund and Adam Glass.
Former executive producer and director Kim Manners died during production of
the fourth season.[5] The series was produced by Kripke Enterprises, Wonderland
Sound and Vision, and Warner Bros. Television.

The series was filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia, and surrounding areas. It was
in development for nearly ten years, as creator Kripke spent several years
unsuccessfully pitching it. The pilot was viewed by an estimated 5.69 million viewers,
[6]
and the ratings of the first four episodes prompted The WB to pick up the series for
a full season. Kripke planned the series for three seasons but later expanded it to
five. The fifth season concluded the series' main storyline,[7] and Kripke departed the
series as showrunner.[8] The series continued on for 10 more seasons with new
showrunners, including Sera Gamble, Jeremy Carver, Robert Singer and Andrew
Dabb.[9] With its eleventh season, Supernatural became the longest-running American
live-action fantasy TV series.[10] The series was renewed for a fifteenth and final
season that consisted of 20 episodes,[11][12] and premiered on October 10, 2019.[13] The
series concluded on November 19, 2020, with 327 episodes aired.

Production
Conception and creation

Creator Eric Kripke feels that America's urban legends are

Before bringing Supernatural to television, creator Eric Kripke had been developing
the series for nearly ten years,[15] having been fascinated with urban legends since he
was a child.[16] He had originally envisioned Supernatural as a movie.[17] He later
developed it as a TV series and spent a few years pitching it before it was picked up
by The WB.[18] The concept went through several phases before becoming the
eventual product, shifting from the original idea of an anthology series to one of
tabloid reporters driving around the country in a van "fighting the demons in search of
the truth".[16][19] Kripke wanted it to be a road trip series, feeling that it was the "best
vehicle to tell these stories because it's pure, stripped down and uniquely American...
These stories exist in these small towns all across the country, and it just makes so
much sense to drive in and out of these stories."[16]
As he had previously written for The WB series Tarzan, Kripke was offered the
chance to pitch show ideas to the network and used the opportunity for Supernatural.
[17]
However, the network disliked his tabloid reporter idea, so Kripke successfully
pitched his last-minute idea of the characters being brothers.[20] He decided to have
the brothers be from Lawrence, Kansas, because of its closeness to Stull Cemetery,
a location famous for its urban legends.[21]

When it came time to name the two lead characters, Kripke decided on "Sal" and
"Dean" as an homage to Jack Kerouac's road-trip novel On the Road. However, he
felt that "Sal" was inappropriate for a main character and changed the name to
"Sam".[14] It was originally intended for the brothers' last name to be "Harrison" as a
nod to actor Harrison Ford, as Kripke wanted Dean to have the "devil-may-care
swagger of Han Solo". However, there was a Sam Harrison living in Kansas, so the
name had to be changed for legal reasons.[22] Combining his interest in
the Winchester Mystery House and his desire to give the series the feel of "a
modern-day Western", Kripke settled on the surname of "Winchester". Nonetheless,
this also presented a problem. The first name of Sam and Dean's father was
originally Jack, but there was a Jack Winchester residing in Kansas, so Kripke was
forced to change the character's name to John.[22]

Black '67 Impala, similar to the car in the series

Growing up, Kripke connected to television shows that had signature cars, such
as The Dukes of Hazzard and Knight Rider. This prompted him to include one
in Supernatural.[23] "We say it's a modern American Western – two gunslingers who
ride into town, fight the bad guys, kiss the girl and ride out into the sunset again. And
we were always talking from the very beginning that if you're going to have cowboys,
they need a trusty horse."[23] He originally intended for the car to be a '65 Mustang, but
his neighbor convinced him to change it to a '67 Impala, since "you can put a body in
the trunk" and because "you want a car that, when people stop next to it at the lights,
they lock their doors."[14] Kripke has commented, "It's a Rottweiler of a car, and I think
it adds authenticity for fans of automobiles because of that, because it's not a pretty
ride. It's an aggressive, muscular car, and I think that's what people respond to, and
why it fits so well into the tone of our show."[23]

Kripke had previously pitched the series to Fox executive Peter Johnson, and when
Johnson moved to Wonderland Sound and Vision as president of TV, he contacted
Kripke.[24] Johnson soon signed on as co-executive producer, as did Wonderland
owner McG as executive producer, with the production company set to make the pilot
episode. Before it could be filmed, however, script issues needed to be dealt with.
Originally, the brothers were not raised by their father, but rather by their aunt and
uncle. Thus, when Dean comes to Sam for assistance in the pilot episode, he has to
convince him that the supernatural exists. However, Kripke realized that this made
the backstory too complicated and reworked it with Peter Johnson so that their father
raised them to be hunters.[25]

The script went through many additional revisions. One of the original ideas was for
Sam's girlfriend Jessica to be revealed as a demon, which prompts him to join Dean
on the road; however, Kripke felt it was more appropriate for Sam's motivation to be
Jessica's death, so he had her killed in the same manner as Sam's mother, making
them the "right bookends".[26] Other revised concepts include Sam believing Dean to
be a serial killer who murders their father[27] and their father dying in Jessica's place.
[28]
Filming for the pilot episode was greenlit after director David Nutter, who previously
had worked with Kripke on Tarzan, signed on.[29] When the series was eventually
picked up, the studio brought in Robert Singer as executive producer, as it wanted
Kripke to work with someone with production experience. Due to his previous work
on The X-Files, co-executive producer John Shiban was also hired to help design the
series mythology.[30] Kripke had the series planned out for three seasons but later
expanded it to five[31] and hoped to end it there on a high note.[32]