Supernaturalremains one of the CW’s most successful television series, but its spin-off,The Winchesters,failed to capture the same magic. Created by Eric Kripke,Supernaturalpremiered in 2005and ran for an impressive 15 seasons, making it one of the longest-running fantasy TV series of all time. Following the adventures of monster-hunting brothers Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean (Jensen Ackles) Winchester,Supernaturaldeveloped a passionate fanbase who continue to sell out convention halls even today.
As one of the network’s most popular shows, the CW attempted severalspinoffs ofSupernatural,but none of them met with much success. After two live-action spin-off attempts that never made it off the ground,The Winchesterswas finally ordered to series, but it unfortunately only lasted one season before being canceled.The show centered on Sam and Dean’s parents,John Winchester (Drake Rodger) and Mary Campbell (Meg Donnelly), and told the story of how they met and fell in love.
The Winchesters Was Canceled Due To Low Viewership & Changes At The CW
The 2023 Writers Strike Complicated Matters, Too
AlthoughThe Winchestershad the most-watched series debut on the CW for the 2022-2023 season, the viewership consistently went down over the following episodes. WhenThe Winchestersdebuted in October of 2022,the CW was undergoing a major shakeup.The network was acquired by Nexstar Media Group, which wished to focus more on an older viewing demographic and began to shift away from scripted programming. With its focus on unscripted content and sports, the CW canceled several of its scripted shows, includingThe Winchesters.
After the show’s initial cancellation, executive producers Jensen Ackles, Danneel Ackles, andSupernaturalwriter Robbie Thompson tried to find another home for the show, but were unsuccessful.The 2023 Writers Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA strikes certainly didn’t help matters,beginning two months after the first and only season ofThe Winchesterscame to a close. This made the search for another home for the show even more difficult, and it was announced in June 2023 thatThe Winchesterswould not be returning.
The Winchesters Failed To Recapture The Magic Of Supernatural
While several factors contributed toThe Winchesters’cancellation, the show’s ultimate downfall was that it failed to connect with fans the way thatSupernaturalhad. With its ensemble cast of characters,The Winchesterscould never quite capture the tone ofSupernatural.Sam and Dean Winchester were always the backbone ofSupernatural,but the show also managed to achieve the perfect blend of horror, humor, and heart.Supernatural’sseries finalemay have been divisive, but the show remains beloved by its fans even five years after its ending.
WhileThe Winchesterstried to blend horror and comedy, the humor often failed to land, andthe show lacked the effortless charm ofSupernatural.John and Mary were obviously the focus ofThe Winchesters,but they were not as compelling as Sam and Dean, and the show added too many other characters into the mix too quickly.The Winchestersbrought everything together in an interesting way in the end, but it was ultimately too little, too late.
Many Supernatural Fans Dislike John Winchester, & Mary’s Not Particularly Beloved Either
For manySupernaturalfans,John Winchester (Jeffrey Dean Morgan)was never a particularly popular character. After Mary Winchester’s (Samantha Smith) death, as seen in theSupernaturalpilot, John embarked on a quest to hunt down the yellow-eyed demon that killed his wife. He introduced Sam and Dean to the terrifying world of monsters when they were children, often leaving them alone while he went on hunts. In short,John was not a good father to Sam and Dean,and many fans were not particularly interested in his backstory (or Mary’s, for that matter).
ManySupernaturalfans, myself included, would have preferred to follow characters like Sheriffs Jody (Kim Rhodes) and Donna (Briana Buckmaster) in the proposedWayward Sistersspin-off based on the season 13 episode of the same name.
Supernaturalbegan with Sam and Dean Winchester as its only main characters, and the show would not have lasted nearly as long without them. Even aftercharacters like Castiel (Misha Collins) and Crowley (Mark Sheppard)joined the cast,Sam and Dean remained the heart and soul of the show.From Bobby (Jim Beaver) and Rufus (Steven Williams) to Jody and Donna,Supernaturalhad so many secondary characters that would have made more compelling leads than John and Mary Winchester.
The Winchesters Didn’t Live Up To The Quality Of Supernatural
Despite some interesting ideas and new characters,The Winchesterswas simply not as good asSupernaturalin terms of quality. Most of the main characters delivered decent performances, but the humor often came across as cheesy, andthe show felt geared toward a younger audience overall.At its best,Supernaturalcould be incredibly cleverin addition to being funny and scary, butThe Winchestersnever achieved the same level of storytelling.
To be fair,Supernaturalwas a difficult show to live up to. After all, how many shows could successfully pull off episodes like “The French Mistake” or “Scoobynatural” as well asSupernatural? It was always unfair to assumeThe Winchesterswas going to be the same asSupernatural.Still, from the special effects to the hunts to the humor,The Winchestersfelt like a poor imitation of a significantly better show.While the ending ofThe Winchestersmade up for some of its flaws, the show’s writing and production never came together as well as they could have.
The Supernatural Spinoff Risked Breaking Canon, Hurting Its Reputation Among Fans
The Winchesters Upheld Canon In The End, But It Seemed To Break It At First
One element that kept someSupernaturalfans from tuning intoThe Winchesterswas its apparent departure from the established canon of the original series.Supernaturalhad already explored John and Mary’s backstory, andThe Winchestersappeared to contradict much of that storyline. According toSupernatural,John Winchester was not introduced to the world of monster hunting until after his wife was killedby the yellow-eyed demon Azazel (Fredric Lehne). InThe Winchesters,however, Mary brings John into that world soon after they meet for the first time.
InThe Winchestersseries finale, Dean visits from Heaven to reveal that the entire season takes place in an alternate reality within theSupernaturalmultiverse.Supernaturalhad already revealed the existence of the multiverse, and Dean began exploring alternate realities while he was in Heaven. With this explanation,The Winchestersdoes not technically breakSupernaturalcanon, but some fans didn’t make it to this final reveal.The Winchesterswas advertised as a prequel about Sam and Dean’s parents, but it’s ultimately a tale from a different side of theSupernaturalmultiverse.
Supernatural
Cast
Supernatural is a television series that follows brothers Sam and Dean Winchester, who were raised by their father to hunt and combat supernatural entities after losing their mother to a demonic force. Traversing the American landscape in their ‘67 Chevy Impala, they face numerous paranormal threats.
The Winchesters
The Winchesters is a prequel series to Supernatural created by Eric Kripke. It follows monster hunters John Winchester (Drake Rodger) and Mary Campbell (Meg Donnelly) as they search for their missing parents in the years before the birth of their sons Sam and Dean. The Winchesters is narrated by Jensen Ackles, who serves as the show’s executive producer, and also stars Tom Welling as Samuel Campbell.
