'Supernatural' Fights Lack of Promotion and Horrible Time Slot

"Supernatural" is one of my favorite TV shows but it seems to be lacking the promotion that it needs. A recent article that I read "Supernatural Keeps Fighting" by Mark Price, online at The Detroit Free Press that was published Wednesday, Feb 27th, details the fans enthusiam with the show and terrible Thursday time slot that it has. However, since this article was published Supernatural has been replaced by Reaper (which is also a good sci-fi genra show) at least for the time being until new episodes air in April.

In my opinion, I think Supernatural should have been left on Tuesday night instead of moving it to Thursday night following Smallville. Although it's "Supernatural's" third season the show has barely received any promotion especially when you compare it with the new show "Gossip Girl". From what I've noticed most established shows (meaning they have more than one season) such as "Smallville", "Everybody Hates Chris", "Supernatural", "Girlfriends" and "The Game" were given only a bare minimum of promotion while the new shows where almost over promoted. The exceptions seem to be "America's Next Top Model" and "One Tree Hill" who have received a good amount of promotion of their new seasons.

'Supernatural' Keeps Fighting
CW's Horror Show Has Rabid Fans, Lousy Thursday Time Slot
by Mark Price (bold mine)
The Detroit Free Press
McClatchy Newspapers


If there ever was a show begging to be canceled, it's one that shares a time slot with hits like "Lost" and "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation."

So, producer-writer Eric Kripke won't sugarcoat the fact that his series, "Supernatural," confronts a firing squad at 9p.m. each Thursday on the CW Network. He'd rather talk about the fact that the show - in its third season and apparently headed for a fourth - has becom the kind of sleeper cult hit that ususally doesn't get noticed until it's canceled.

"The first time I realized we were on the level with 'Star Trek' Trekkies was when I heard of a fan convention," Kripke says in a recent phone interview. "Fans were gathering in different towns, having meetings and seminars to discuss the inner psychology of the characters. It blew my mind that the show had gotten to that level."

It's a status 'Supernatural" couldn't help but earn, considering that it has a plot that reimagines "The Exoricist," with two gun-loving brothers from Kansas who drive from one possession to the next in a revved-up '67 Chevy Impala. The characters, Sam and Dean Winchester (played by Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles), have such a following that the show has a fan magazine, a series of comic books and paperback novels, a book of mythology, calendars, a role-playing game and official season guides. Fans have created dozens of Web sites devoted to the show, characters and the actors.

For now, Kripke says the greatest challenge the show faces is the same one that countless other cult hits face: poor ratings. "Supernatural" averages about 3 million viewers - one-fifth the number watching hits like "Losts". "I feel 'Supernatural' is a show on the precipice. With a few more pushes, it could cross over from cult hit to real hit," Kripke says. "The problem is, so few people know about it. We're on a smaller network that doesn't have a lot of money for promotion."

On the upside, he says the CW is so young that his 3 million viewers make the show one of the network's hits. That has him optimistic that a fourth season is likely. That, and the fact that "Supernatural" has become a success in the most unexpected places. "From what I'm told, we have as many, if not more, viewers in Russia," says Kripke, "and we are huge in Asian countries> Horror translates well in cultures that have rich spiritual folklore."