Along with Kripke, the series' executive producers included McG, Robert Singer, Phil Sgriccia, Sera Gamble, Jeremy Carver, John Shiban, Ben Edlund and Adam Glass.

[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".

"[35] The tone of Supernatural was heavily influenced by films such as Poltergeist—having the horror happen in a family setting rather than remote location—and Evil Dead II and An American Werewolf in London—having bits of comedy mixed in.

[43] While original scores are used throughout episodes, another important aspect of the series' music is the use of classic rock, over which creator Eric Kripke threatened to quit when the network would not allow its inclusion.

[45] The series has featured such bands as Blue Öyster Cult, Bad Company, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Rush, Boston, Triumph and AC/DC on more than one occasion.

To combat piracy, Ten debuted the second-season premiere five days before its initial broadcast in the country, making Supernatural the first major network show available for free download in Australia before being aired.

However, The CW requested that another female be added, so the character Bela Talbot, a self-centered thief who sells occult objects to wealthy clients and who was already intended to appear in multiple episodes, was upgraded to a series regular.

Though Wisdom's character is eventually killed, McNiven and Fuller continue their roles into the fifth season and are joined by Mark Pellegrino as the recently released but fallen archangel Lucifer.

Crowley appears in three episodes of season 5 to help the Winchesters seal Lucifer back in the Cage, believing that once he destroys humanity he will target all demonkind next.

[90] Season 7 introduces Kevin Tran the prophet (played by Osric Chau), who translates the word of God to help the Winchesters stop the Leviathans, which leads to their destruction.

After hacking into Frank's hard drive and learning about the existence of monsters, Charlie becomes an ally of the Winchesters and occasionally helps them out with technical problems and hunts.

Season 10 introduces the antagonistic witch Rowena MacLeod (portrayed by Ruth Connell), who is later revealed to be the mother of Crowley, who was previously named Fergus.

The rest of the season follows the brothers as they work with Castiel to stop Lilith's plan of breaking the 66 seals, which would allow the fallen archangel Lucifer to walk the Earth free once again.

As Jack sides with Mary and the humans against the angels, the Winchesters and Castiel gather the ingredients for a spell to open the portal to hell while Lucifer tries to reestablish himself as king of heaven.

The last of the original bullets is used to kill the demon Azazel in the season 2 finale "All Hell Breaks Loose: Part 2", fulfilling the Winchesters' lifelong goal.

Before the series debuted, the network placed signs for the show at gas station pumps, and gave out rubber glow-in-the-dark bracelets at New York and Los Angeles movie theaters.

[54] Also, coffee cup sleeves revealed the image of a "terrified woman seemingly pinned to a ceiling" when heated[126] were distributed to 500 cafes throughout New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles.

A fourth miniseries, Caledonia (named Supernatural: The Dogs of Edinburgh in the UK), by Brian Wood and Grant Bond, dealt with Sam Winchester's trip to the United Kingdom during the Stanford years.

And on October 1, 2011, ECW Press released the book TV Goes to Hell: An Unofficial Road Map of Supernatural (ISBN 1770410201), which explores topics such as folklore, religion, gender and sexuality, comedy, and music through essays from a number of contributors.

After their first season debut in "Hell House" (episode 17 written by Trey Callaway), the growing popularity of "amateur spook-hunters" Ed Zeddmore and Harry Spangler prompted Kripke to consider a spin-off series for the characters.

[145] Though Kripke announced their plans to produce "some new material, either webisodes, potentially cell phone content or basically an off-network Ghostfacers series" at the 2008 Comic-Con,[146] the economic downturn delayed production until 2009.

[150] The anime consisted of 22 half-hour episodes; while the storyline covered the first two seasons of the live-action series, it also includes original content exploring the Winchesters' childhoods and expanding upon secondary characters.

[160] An official rewatch podcast titled Supernatural: Then and Now debuted on January 24, 2022, and is hosted by Rob Benedict and Richard Speight Jr., who played Chuck and Gabriel on the series.

[242] However, Daniel Bettridge of Den of Geek believed that the writer's strike hindered the season, with many issues being left unresolved and the finale feeling "a little rushed".

[243] While Diana Steenbergen of IGN liked that there was a season-long story arc with Dean's demonic deal, she believed that viewers would know that the pact would not be resolved until the finale, making the self-enclosed episodes feel like they are "treading water, waiting for the main storyline to resume".

[247] Before the premiere of the fifth season, Rolling Stone listed the series as one of "The 50 Best Reasons to Watch TV", citing Sam and Dean Winchester as the "Bo and Luke Duke of demon hunting".

19 in the "25 Best Cult TV Shows from the Past 25 Years", saying, "Supernatural began with a pretty straightforward premise – hot guys kill spooky things – but it didn't stay that way for long.

The characters have literally been to hell and back, and along the way, they have woven a complicated and compelling mythology filled with friends (angel Castiel), recurring foes (demon Crowley), and inside jokes (Wincest!).

The writers have referenced this several times in the series,[258] including the 200th episode, which makes references to Wincest, Destiel, and Sastiel (the romantic pairing of Sam Winchester and Castiel).

The day, which coincided with the duo participating in local charity events, also recognized Supernatural for, as the declaration proclaimed, "bringing the best fans in the world" to the city.