Creator Eric Kripke only had a five year plan in place when he first started Supernatural, and his plan culminated in the Winchester brothers prevent the apocalypse at the end of season 5. So when the show was renewed for a sixth season, Kripke stepped down and long-time producer Sera Gamble became the new showrunner. While the show hasn't been as consistently strong in the first half of the sixth season as it has been in others - probably understandable since it needed time to reinvent itself - the episodes have gotten much better as the season progressed. With the return of Sam's soul at the end of the midseason finale episode, the rest of the season is shaping up to be terrific.
But what does that mean for a seventh season of Supernatural? Supernatural's move to Friday nights - alongside Smallville once again after spending last season with The Vampire Diaries as its lead-in - has proven to be a smart move. The show isn't suffering on Friday nights. In fact, it's thriving. This has prompted Supernatural's devoted fans to start whispering about the possibility of a seventh season for the series.
Coming out of The CW's Television Critics Association midseason press tour today was good news for Supernatural fans. E!Online spoke with CW president Dawn Ostroff, who said that:
"We haven't officially picked anything up yet, but [Supernatural] is creatively doing so well—and it's doing better on Friday night than it was on Thursday night—so I can't imagine we won't pick it up."
The network boss praised season-six show runner Sera Gamble, noting, "Sera's done a fantastic job this year. She's done an excellent job creatively."
"Our network team works with the Supernatural team very closely," says Ostroff, but the two sides have not yet engaged in any talks about a season-seven myth arc. "No, it's too far out. We haven't started talking about next year, but I'd be shocked if we didn't pick it up."
It was also recently revealed that the show's stars, Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki, had extended their six year contracts for an additional year.
In addition to this vote of confidence from Ostroff is the fact that Supernatural's devoted fan base has consistently proven its love for the show. In fact, in late 2010 Supernatural beat out five other shows to win its first ever cover on TV Guide in the first annual fan favorites cover poll run by the magazine. It was also announced today that Supernatural would appear at Paley Fest 2011, a big coup for the show which hasn't appeared at Paley Fest since its first season.
Fans of Supernatural will tell you that the show doesn't get nearly the recognition it deserves (and I would be joining them), but the possibility of a seventh season will please them greatly.
clarissa @ tvovermind.com
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7TH SEASDN FOR SUPERNATURAL? There really is a God!!!