SUPERNATURAL Secrets from Paley Fest

On March 12, the cast and creative crew of the long-running CW series Supernatural made a return visit to the annual PaleyFest, being greeted by an exuberant crowd of fans at the Saban Theatre in the heart of Beverly Hills.

Opening the evening on behalf of its host, the Paley Center for Media, was Debra Birnbaum, Editor-in-Chief of TV Guide. She spoke to an excited crowd about the overwhelming fan response to the first-ever reader-determined magazine cover, which Supernatural won, and she also gave a spoiler on the upcoming Fan Favorite cover story for the magazine for which the boys of Supernatural had just recently completed a photo shoot.

Before the big night got started, though, the Paley Center aired a clip from their extensive library: an old black & white reel from the old Dinah Shore show, featuring the legendary actress and singer proclaiming the qualities of the Chevrolet in song. This was
obviously done in honor of the Chevy Impala that is driven by the Winchester brothers in the series.

Moderator Maureen Ryan was then introduced to the stage and rather than discuss the virtues of the show and the various reasons for the fans’ love of the show, she recited the lyrics to the classic Pink Floyd rock song “Wish You Were Here” and quickly followed with an invitation to Executive Producer Sera Gamble to take the stage. Being greeted to thunderous applause seemed to take Ms. Gamble by surprise, but she rebounded, introducing a highlights reel of scenes from this current season as well as an extended look at clips from the ‘meta’ episode (known as “The French Mistake”) and a sneak peek at the upcoming western episode that will be
aired this spring.

After that wonderful video, the panel got started in earnest with Executive Producer and Director Ben Edlund being called to the stage followed by cast members Jim Beaver, Misha Collins, Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki and then Executive Producer Sera Gamble returned to the stage followed closely by series creator Eric Kripke.

In talking about “The French Mistake” – since it was featured in the highlight reel – Ben and Eric explained that the idea for the episode came about from a discussion about doing “a movie within a movie” and then it just took on a life of its own, becoming what was aired. However, the legal department for the network was concerned they could not show the ‘behind the scenes’ aspects of a Warner Bros. show; but due to the episode already being in production, they couldn’t stop the crew and cast from continuing with it (thankfully).

When asked if any of the cast had been apprehensive about the ‘meta’ episode, Jensen mentioned that he had a “slight hesitation” because “I’m not that interesting” which erupted into a comical jab from his cast mate Jared who jokingly agreed, causing Jensento frown and the audience to erupt with “ah’s” and then guffaws.

Misha then joked that he wanted the “Misha” in that alternate universe to be a “total douchebag,” but that idea was nixed so Misha played him as a “watered-down douchebag” instead. For those unfamiliar with Misha, he has a very unique and sarcastic sense of humor and this comment had the audience in stitches.

The conversation then turned to Jim and the direction his character took in the previous seasons when Bobby was in and out of the wheelchair. He explained, “I showed up one season and they said, ‘sit down,’ and then the next season, they said ‘stand up’ — and I’m a pretty good actor, so I did!” That was followed by a little friendly ribbing about Bobby kissing Crowley (recurring guest actor Mark Sheppard), about which Jim sarcastically stated, “42 years in this business and on my tombstone it’s going to say, “He kissed Crowley’.”

Then Jensen was asked if he would like to direct again and he enthusiastically said yes, following with “it was a good kind of challenge” for him and that “it was like throwing myself into the deep end.” Ben agreed since he is directing his first episode and has found it to also be a challenge – but a good one. Jared agreed, saying it was a refreshing change having him direct because “Ben doesn’t just tell me where to stand, but also tells me what Sam should be feeling and thinking about” during particular scenes.

Some of the other highlights from the panel were:

1. Sera stating that “Sam getting his soul back and Dean spending a year with Lisa and her son” were some of the changes and twists that the fans ‘didn’t see coming’ that the creative team wasn’t sure would totally work, but they did;

2. Ben pitched the idea for the fairies episode and while the creative team wasn’t sure about the idea, Eric stated “Ben hasn’t failed us yet” so they went for it and ironically enough, the line stated by Dean during the episode – “fight the fairies” – ended up as a trend topic on Twitter;

3. They get into some surreal conversations in the writers’ room, lapsing into a “crazy whirlwind” of subjects; and,

4. There are no storylines that are too dark or too silly because, as Jensen pointed out, “after wearing ski boots on a Japanese game show” – there isn’t anything sillier than that.

The actors were then asked if there are any characters they miss since so many have died in the course of the show. Jared stated he “does and doesn’t miss Soulless Sam” because it was such a different way to play Sam; to which Jensen stated he “didn’t know how to play Dean opposite Soulless Sam because it was so different from the character I’ve played opposite all these years.”

When asked if there is anything he would like to have done over on the show, Eric quipped that in “every episode there is something that I didn’t like,” even pointing out specific dialogue in the pilot that he is still not happy with.

Without giving too much away, the creative team stated that the fans will see more of the heavenly war that Castiel is engaged in, and it was revealed that the episode Ben is currently directing is actually Castiel-centric, which was met with a rousing round of applause by the appreciative audience.

As the microphones were turned over to the fans for their questions, the most interesting item discussed was the origins of the Bobby Singer character. Eric explained that Missouri Moseley (Loretta Devine) had to unfortunately be replaced due to Ms. Devine being cast in a film. The creative team had to scramble for a new character to work with the Winchester brothers, coming up with a grizzled, older hunting buddy of John Winchester. This character, in fact, was created especially for Jim because Robert Singer, Executive Producer of the series, was a big fan of Jim’s work. The character’s name was originally intended to be Bobby Manners – in honor of Robert and the late Kim Manners (who was one of the show’s other Executive Producers and Directors who passed away); but there was a real Bobby Manners located somewhere in the Midwest, making it necessary for Eric to come up with a new name. As it so happened,Robert wasn’t on set one day and Eric decided on the name of Bobby Singer for this new character and the name stuck.

Regrettably, the time had come to end the panel with the final fan questions being answered and the throngs of fans advancing on the stage in the hopes of getting autographs; but the creative team and actors needed to catch a flight back to Vancouver, which is where the show is filmed, and they were unable to stay.

Supernatural returns with all new episodes Friday, April 15 at 9/8 on the CW.