We have bad news for fans of the “Supernatural” prequel series “The Winchesters.” Deadline is reporting that attempts by producers to find a new home for the series following its cancellation at The CW have failed. It now appears that Season 1 will also be its last.
“Supernatural” star Jensen Ackles, who served as an executive producer on “The Winchesters,” has been leading a robust social media campaign to #SaveTheWinchesters since the show became a victim of a behind-the-scenes change of direction at the network, which is reported to be focusing more on reality TV and other lower-cost forms of programming compared to the relatively high expense of shows in the “Supernatural” vein.
Ackles himself took to Twitter to announce the news, although interestingly, his tweet still holds out hope for the series’ future. “To all of you who watched, followed, and supported this story, THANK YOU,” Ackles wrote before praising the series’ cast and crew. He continued on to say, “But as they say…timing is everything. With a massive Network shift coupled with an industry strike…welp…that’s some unfortunate timing. Sleep well dear @WinchestersOnCW …until we meet again. Somewhere down the road.”
TV fans are well aware that it’s possible for canceled shows to be resurrected somewhere in the streaming landscape, and “The Winchesters” had several promising connections in that regard. But none of them managed to materialize in order to save the series.
Max, Netflix, and Amazon Studios all apparently passed on a Season 2 of The Winchesters
The news might be especially tough for fans since “The Winchesters” seemed to have a good possibility of finding a streaming home away from The CW for a Season 2. As noted by Deadline, three major streamers — Max, Amazon Prime, and Netflix — all either have behind-the-scenes connections with the series or, in the case of Netflix, have been the streaming home to parent show “Supernatural.” Alas, it appears that none of them stepped in to save the series from cancellation.
Jensen Ackles was clearly psyched for the show to continue: “There’s a lot of story to tell here and there’s a huge fan base that is very actively engaged and willing to support it,” he told Entertainment Weekly shortly after the initial cancellation was announced. But that enthusiasm and those prior associations ultimately weren’t enough to save “The Winchesters.”
