Supernatural creator Eric Kripke is sticking by his word that his CW thriller will bow out next May after five seasons. Sort of.
“I did set out [to] tell a five-season storyline,” the exec maintains. “Quite frankly, I never expected [the show] to make it to five years. But now that we’re in our fifth year, I have every intention of ending the story with a bang and not drawing it out or watering it down.”
Relax, Supe Nazis. Here’s that catch I promised you…“That having been said,” Kripke continues, “I’m looking at this season as the last chapter in this particular story. That doesn’t mean there can’t be a new story. Buffy did it. The X-Files did it. You close a chapter on a big mythology storyline and then you begin a new one.
“One of the things I like about this show is we don’t draw out mysteries endlessly,” he adds. “We’ll answer a bunch of questions this season and then pose some new ones next season.”
Of course, that’s assuming there is a next season. The CW has yet to renew Supernatural for a sixth go-’round. And even if the show does come back, would Kripke still be involved? “I don’t know,” hedges Supe’s fearless leader, who doesn’t have a deal in place beyond season 5. “I’m going to cross that bridge when I get to it.”
What say you, Supe fans? Would you prefer to see Sam and Dean go out with a bang next May? Or are you cool with the show continuing on and running the risk of limping to the finish line like The X-Files and Buffy? And the even bigger question: Is there Supernatural life after Kripke? Sound off below!
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Just keep going.. You know that Sam and dean will eventually kill lucifer some how. All they have to do is have some intense story line with the Angels in heaven trying to take over where lucifer failed. They’ve already established the angels aren’t exactly comletely good.. Personally I see the series getting better every season
I wish they would -because it’d be great to see- but you can’t kill Lucifer. Not even fictionally. Not if you want the story to be taken seriously. Some might disagree, but that’s how I feel.
They can’t kill Lucifer, they will send him back to hell, but I do believe they have a few good seasons left. This is one of the few tv shows I actually DVR and find time to watch it. I think that it is great, but we must realize all good things come to an end, sometime.
What Eric is getting wrong is that XFiles did the continuation with new characters OH SO BADLY.
Had BOTH Mulder and Scully left, yes, it could possibly have worked, and could have been like the Star Trek Franchise with a whole new cast. But XF just tried have its cake and eat it too by blend the old (scully) with the new (the other guys no one remembers) and it failed miserably on every level, despite really, really good actors. Chris Carter was just insane and he created an embarassment.
The only way this could work is if they change out the cast entirely. But mostly, it sounds like the CW is just intent on running it into the ground.
I know the actors are signed through season six and if the CW wants to run this into the ground, that’s their perogative. But I’d really rather see Supernatural go out on a high quality note rather than limp pitifully to end like the X-Files did.
/agree
X-Files did it, and it was a travesty. I’m torn on SN, though. As much as I would hate to lose my Thursday night addiction, I’d also hate to see the series have a watered-down, lame, forgettable ending.
I agree!As much as I am obsessed with Supernatural,Id rather see it go out in a BANG then fizzle away into a really horrible nothing.
Buffy certainly didn’t limp to the finish line.
Agree with you there. Where The X-Files did tumble over the finish line, Buffy had a definitive, satisfying final season. Buffy certainly ended with a bang.
I agree Buffy ended wonderfully and Supernatural could easily go to 7 seasons i know I’d tune in.
BTW, Buffy Season 8 still lives on in comic book form
Your right, it crawled!
obviously, you didn’t watch it!
I agree 100%-Buffy ended with a bang!
I can understand why people find Season 6 to be weak, but I personally find it to be one of the stronger seasons (at least better than 4, and maybe 3).
I love Supernatural and I really want more seasons. Okay, at least a season 6. Supernatural is one of the shows with such a high quality and I hope Kripke will continue his work. If not – the important thing is that dean&sam gonna stay. I think supernatural can end with a bang in 2011. or 2012.
No matter how much I love Supernatural, i would rather see it go out with a glorious bang than fade out with a whimper as is happening with Smallville.
The funny thing about Smallville is that it had a rough few seasons around SEason 6-7…then it rebounded in Season 8 and now it appears it’s finally going to be awesome again in Season 9 and finish really strong. So it really depends on how they handle it. Really, we should have gotten SEasons 8-9 plotlines for Smallville 2 years ago
I’m a huge Smallville fan. But it didn’t rebound in season 8. It rebounded in the first HALF of season 8. Then it went absolutely mental, like a soap opera. It’s like the new creative team think that everything should be unbelievable in order to be part of Superman’s story. Frankly, as interesting as some things about season 9 sound at this point… I have no confidence whatsoever that it will be anything but a ridiculous soap opera again.
Must say, I would prefer for Supernatural to end this season, then Vampire Diaries be pushed back to Supernaturals timeslot. This would allow Smallville to regain it’s normal slot. Even if Smallville does normal tv numbers, it will be picked up for season 10.
Depends… if Kripke doesn’t return I don’t know how I would feel about the show continuing without him. Buffy and X Files didn’t exactly end on the highest note….
if supernatural has to end, it has to end. but hell yeah, i want more.
I dont want supernatural to end smallville and supernatural are the best shows on tv and take them away then the cw has nothing.but if it should end what about a supernatural movie
I would go see a Supernatural movie
but only if Jared and Jensen play Sam and Dean.
I’m with Dezy….I would be sad to see Supernatural go but it should go out in style…not to it’s wheezing last breath!
I totally agree with you 100%. If it has to end, it has to end but I love the show so much that I would watch the show even if it wasn’t at it’s best.
Buffy did not limp on! I cant believe you had the cheek to say that
I’m thinking as long as Sam and Dean remain the focus of the show (or somehow manage to get back in the focus, if you prefer saying it that way), it’ll be awesome to see SPN go on after season 5. In fact, I’m excited about the prospect of the angel-demon-war plotline ending.
In fact, I’m excited about the prospect of the angel-demon-war plotline ending.
If you don’t mind my saying this yes I do want that plotline to end too. I loved the show as it was in the first two seasons with just the two brothers being the core of it. I welcome the show’s evolvement if it means more seasons, but the brothers bond is what I loved in the first place, so yes I’d love the angels-demons war to end this year too.
Exactly! I haven’t been a fan of the demon-angel-devil thing since, uhm, the beginning. What drew me in was the first two seasons of the actually mysteries. Sure, there have been some thrown in during the whole demon thing (the Christmas episode was great) but still, I wish it would go back to it’s roots. That very first episode still makes me jump, and I’ve watched it on DVD over and over again.
All this talk about Buffy reminds me of the spin off Angel. I liked Angel but the last episode made me mad because it was the start of the Apocolypse in the show. I guess what I’m saying is I don’t like cliffhangers and not knowing what’s gonna happen. if SN can end it with no cliffhangers in this season, I’m fine with that.
Go out with a BANG! Please no long fade out, like other Shows. And I don’t think that X-Files or Buffy really rebooted themselves for the good. It is just a slow and painfull show death. But I go with Kripke, I trust him to the right thing…
I personally do feel that Buffy limped to the finish line, so as much as I love Supernatural and would want it to go on as long as it can, I can’t help but fear that if it goes longer than the planned 5 years, something could go very wrong. And then we’ll end up with a horrible last season.
That being said I’m pretty sure that there should be a season 6, so I’m hoping that the writers manage to come up with something epic. Kripke’s gotta stay! The CW better make him stay!
going out with a bang would be wonderful. But it would be nice to see how the boys deal with life after ending the apocalypse (because let’s face it, we all know they will). It would be good to see them go back to the simple roots of the show.
I love Supernatural, but I want it to go out gloriously. We need a satisfying ending. Not the crap that’s happening with Smallville (why in the world is that show still around???)
I’ve been asking myself that same question for ages.
Smallville = suck (in my opinion)
A lot of people still really love Smallville. Why do you feel the need to bash another show on a post about Supernatural? I love both shows. I agree that Smallville stumbled a bit after sEason 5 and I could have done without a bunch of Season 6-7. But I enjoyed Season 8 and I really excited to see the show finish strong in SEason 9. Speak for yourself.
Smallville sucks? HELLO? This is not even about Smallville.There are so many flaws in your opinion I don’t even know where to start criticizing…
I’m sorry, was Smallville mentioned in this article? No. So there’s really no need to bash it when it still has a lot of fans.
He bashed Smallville in a post about Supernatural because Smallville has dragged on about 4 seasons too long and he doesn’t want Supernatural to do that too. I used to LOVE Smallville, but I just can’t watch it anymore, and I get some people still do like it, but it is certainly not as many people that were fans of seasons 1-5.
Would Supernatural really drag on though? If they continue with the Heaven and Hell storyline, then yeah. Kripke already made it clear that this story line will conclude this season. So season six would just be a reinvention of the original. As long as they keep to the Supernatural that we know and love, a.k.a. Sam, Dean, Metallicar, witty writing and interesting plots, we could get at least one or two more seasons.
As for Kripke. Yes I would love to see him stick with the show, since it’s his baby. But everyone who is a part of the show has been there since the beginning, and they know how Kripke thinks, (WWKD would probably be a popular mantra at Supernatural Inc.) and the show would continue without a hitch.
I want it to end while it’s on top. Too many shows these days go on for too long. 24, Buffy and Smallville should have ended after the 5th season, X-Files should have ended after the 7th and even that was pushing it. It’ nice to see that at least ABC and the producers of LOST had the sense to decide that the 6th season should be the last
Nothing good happened on X-Files after the 6th season! And even that’s pushing it in my (huge fan of the earlier seasons) opinion.
X-Files stopped being relevant with Mulder was no longer involved. To just turn it around so that Scully was the believer and the Terminator dude was the skeptic was just lazy.
And, whilst the UPN years of Buffy are not my favourite seasons I don’t think it limped out. It definitely went out with a bang – it just moved in a direction a lot of fans weren’t happy with.
I will watch till the bitter end no matter how it Supernatural goes out. I’ve been with it since The Pilot and I’ll NEVER stop watching. If the ends at Season Five or Season twenty five is not relevant. If Kripke is the showrunner for the entire time or not… so be it. I’m a fan of the show. For better or worse I’ll be one untill the bittersweet ending.
REPLIED TO THE WRONG PERSON, I REPLIED TO MEL WANTED TO REPLY TO YOU. SILLY ME BUT HERE IT IS.
You’re made of awesome. Absolutely yes, me too. I’m in it till the very last minute. Jensen and Jared have put their heart and soul into this. The show is a smash hit and it’s not tied or glued to one person. Let it go on forever.
The selfish side of me wants my beloved show to go on forever and ever and ever and ever and ever. But without Eric Kripke……. I don’t know
I’ve experienced seeing a show I truly LOVED went down in the gutter once the big honchos left to do other projects, and I don’t want to see that happen to Supernatural. The best of both worlds is to have Kripke stay on if a 6th season DOES happen. Coz I believe in Kripke. The show can’t go wrong in his hands.
You’re made of awesome. Absolutely yes, me too. I’m in it till the very last minute. Jensen and Jared have put their heart and soul into this. The show is a smash hit and it’s not tied or glued to one person. Let it go on forever.
Is it just my imagination or has Supernatural gone more “mainstream” now? Back in the day, they would go 2 SEASONS without getting a mention ANYWHERE in TV critic land. I remember having to sign a SAVE SPN petition every single season… and now we haven’t even started Season 5 yet and there’s already talks of a probable 6th season
re:Mel’s last comment-
YES. SPN has gone mainstream and I hate that. I really want to see it end after five seasons. I think it has steadily gotten further and further away from it’s roots since S3. (and I think a lot of it happened because Kripke changed the storyline because of the strike) As much as I have been screaming to anyone that will listen that “Supernatural is an amazing show!!” now that it has gotten more “popular” it has definitely taken a different direction and become more mainstream. I wish the angel/demon war storyline would have ended last season so that Kripke could bring it back to urban legends/myths in S5 and back to the brothers. Then it could end RIGHT.
Buffy did not limp to the finish-line. And as far as The X-Files, season 8 breathed new life into the series and ended with a compelling storyline. If Supernatural can avoid an X-Files season 9 debacle then it will be okay.
I’m sorry, but I thought the last season of Buffy was TERRBILE. AWFUL. It’s the only season I don’t own on DVD so I can pretend it never happened.
that made me sol(smile out loud)
Uh… Buffy did NOT limp to the end. Season 6 and 7 are some of the best moments in TV. Period.
Buffy’s last two seasons were very weak, but contained some of the series’ best moments. and frankly, that last episode was more than satisfying. A more appropriate ending for Supernatural would emulate Angel’s ending – have them go out fighting. That’s why we like those guys!
Yeah–I always pictured the end of the show to have the brothers in the Impala driving off into the sunset to continue the good fight. Hopefully Kripke will do something like that.
The Angel series finale set-up such an awesome next season that I still feel robbed that we didn’t get to see it.
Dude angel was the best thing about buffy
I’ve loved Supernatural from the first episode. It has only gotten better each season, BUT I’d much rather see it go out with a bang then a whimper. The X-Files became a sad joke of its former self and I would hate to see that happen to Supernatural. Let this great show end properly and don’t drag its rotting corpse around like Weekend at Bernies. Let Kripe create another amazing show for the CW instead of pushing this one past what he intented or worse, going on without him.
AGREED
Having never seen Buffy or Xfiles, I can’t say whether or not they declined in storyline. What I do know is that any long running tv show is going to have at least one season that totally sucks, but Supernatural has never had that happen. I would love to see it go on for a few more seasons and have complete faith in the writers that they can continue to bring on excellent shows every week. As for Eric, he may move on to other things, but I don’t think he’ll ever completely bow out of SPN. It’s his baby.
I think it all depends on whether Kripke stays and the boys want to go on, really. If they’re good to go and there’s an interesting story to tell … why not? If not, then it’s fine if it ends. As long as it doesn’t peter out like X-Files did. That was a disappointment. Buffy, however, had one hell of an ending. No fading there.
I’ll reserve judgement until we know whether it’s gonna happen or not.
Agreed. If Kripke, Jensen, & Jared are there, so am I. But if one leaves, it’s a different show with the same name, and I’d rather remember it as the awesomeness it is.
And Buffy was fantastic! I’m in shock that people could see as anything else.
I have ambivalent feelings about how Buffy ended. I wasn’t crazy about the last season’s storyline with all of the potential slayers getting involved.
I want it to end with a bang Please Please CW let Season 5 be the final season. Let a tv show end when the creator wants it to end. I want this show to end while its still good kripe had a 5 year plan let him do that
Buffy was awesome in it’s last two seasons! “Conversations with Dead People?” “Him?” “Lies My Parents Told Me?” THE MUSICAL EPISODE?! Season 7 had a weaker arc but great individuals, while Season 6 was the best all-around season, hands down. I would love to see Supernatural reboot itself and add some new characters (and not the pseudo- regular garbage they pulled with Katie Cassidy and Lauren Cohen in Season 3).
Far too many show have gone on far much longer than they should of CW please please dont make this show go beyond a fifth season. Kripe has stated for god knows how long he had a 5 year plan so am asking please let this show end when its suppose to and this is this season
What can be bigger than they are doing now? The next mystery will be quite lame.
Kripke could always showcase the hunters in the rest of the world and how the Winchesters fit in that world.
No, end the show on top. I refuse to see one of the greatest shows in that genre become a laughing stock. GO OUT ON TOP KRIPKE, YOU DESERVE IT!
I would love to see Supernatural go on for another 10 seasons if that’s possible. The actors are great, the show is successful. The writters certainly have ideas and they have prooved it so far. Never a boring episode.
As for life without Kripke it happens to the best of us. If he can’t go on I’m sure someone could pick up where he left off. I would certainly watch. I hope he wants to go on of course, but I love the show and Jensen and Jared too much to not watch.
Season 7 of Buffy wasn’t actually pretty good compared to season 6 which was total crap.
The X-Files and Buffy both started off extremely strong. The X-Files gradually became worse while Buffy had a huge drop off after pure genius of season 2 and 3.
Supernatural has maintained it’s quality throughout and has gotten better as the series progressed. I know it only has 4 seasons, but the show still can have many successful seasons.
I have to disagree – some of Buffy’s best episodes came from season 4 onwards. Hush, Something Blue, A New Man, Pangs, New Moon Rising, The Body, Once More With Feeling and those are the ones I can think of off the top of my head. Season 4 is my absolute favourite. Spike with a chip in his head? Priceless.
Oops, I meant to say “was actually pretty good.”
They should end it after 5. It’s a great show and I’ll miss it, but I’ve found with a lot of shows something goes “missing” after 5 seasons. X-files is a perfect example. Buffy to a lesser degree (the 6th season was good, but I found the 7th season dragged) Smallville is an exception, but only because they introduced Doomsday in the 8th (season 6 & 7 were weak)