
TV SERIES · 2005–2020 · USA
Supernatural
- Created by
- Eric Kripke
- Network
- The WB, The CW
- Seasons
- 15
- Episodes
- 327
- Studio
- Kripke Enterprises, Supernatural Pictures, Wonderland Sound and Vision
34 archived facts 6 topics 1 source Last reviewed Sep 2026
When they were boys, Sam and Dean Winchester lost their mother to a mysterious and demonic supernatural force. Subsequently, their father raised them to be soldiers. He taught them about the paranormal evil that lives in the dark corners and on the back roads of America ... and he taught them how to kill it. Now, the Winchester brothers crisscross the country in their '67 Chevy Impala, battling every kind of…
Summary: TMDB
14 Facts From the Making of Supernatural
- #017
Eric Kripke spent more than a decade developing the concept that became Supernatural before Warner Bros. picked up the series.
- #018
A family road trip Kripke took at age nine inspired the creation of Supernatural and gave him a passion for the genre.
- #019
John Bellairs's Gothic novel The House with a Clock in Its Walls (1973) influenced Kripke's concept for Supernatural, especially its blend of mystery, family dynamics and folklore.
- #020
Jack Kerouac's 1957 novel On the Road was another inspiration for Kripke's Supernatural concept.
- #021
Supernatural was greenlit in January 2005, with Wonderland Sound and Vision producing the pilot episode. Joseph McGinty "McG" Nichol and Peter Johnson served as executive producers on the pilot.
- #022
Before filming began on Supernatural, the script was heavily revised: the brothers were originally to be raised by an aunt and uncle, with Sam unaware of the supernatural world, until Kripke and Johnson changed the story so their father raised them as hunters.
- #023
Supernatural was originally planned for three seasons, but Kripke later expanded the storyline to five seasons, hoping to end the show on a high note.
- #024
Supernatural had four showrunner eras: Eric Kripke led seasons 1–5, Sera Gamble seasons 6–7, Jeremy Carver seasons 8–11, and Andrew Dabb and Singer together seasons 12–15.
- #025
Eric Kripke stepped down as showrunner in favor of Sera Gamble for Supernatural's sixth season, stayed on as an executive consultant for one more season, and then left to work on Revolution (2012–2014).
- #026
To keep the framework Eric Kripke established, Supernatural's later showrunners were all chosen from the series' existing writing staff.
- #028
Supernatural was renewed 14 times, and although its live viewership did not match the Big Four American television networks, the show survived changes in network leadership, the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike and six time-slot changes.
- #029
Supernatural was originally meant to end with its fifth season, but a rise in viewership brought a renewal in February 2010.
- #030
The CW president Mark Pedowitz said Supernatural would keep being produced while its ratings stayed stable, and the choice to end the series came from its lead actors rather than the network.
- #031
On March 22, 2019, Jared Padalecki, Jensen Ackles and Misha Collins announced that the fifteenth season of Supernatural would be its last, and production was suspended from March 13 to August 18, 2020, because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sources & editorial notes
Reference databases
Sources for the entries on this page
Information from external sources is independently selected, consolidated and edited by Arka Evren. Sources are listed for verification and further reading. Encyclopedia text is used under its licence (CC BY-SA). How we work
