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« News and Reviews by M R Reed
Rushing to Judgment about Supernatural and the CW Schedule Change
First off let me state that I support what the writers are striking to achieve.
I'm sure by now we have all heard about the changes in the CW Schedule that involve Supernatural. What is worrying me the most right now as a viewer and a fan of Supernatural is all the 'rushing to judgment' I see going in reaction to this and how just possibly all the strong reaction that is going on might do more harm than good for Supernatural and its fans/viewers.
I would like to invite anyone whose first reaction is to take action against the CW or to have a tough response to them to take time to consider this other perspective that I am offering before you join any campaign or action against the CW.
You see it isn't always all about ratings or success of a series. A struggling smaller network like the CW can't afford to keep a series going that is not something advertisers want to pay premium dollars for to advertise in.
The one thing that Supernatural has going for it right now (outside of having an amazing cast and production crew) is the fact that high level advertisers are still willing to buy advertising space while the show is airing, even in reruns. Just this past week there were several advertisment for Saturn automobiles and that is a great thing for the show. It says that advertisers know it reaches a large market.
In my opinion this might be another reason why the CW may be holding off on repeats of Supernatural for a while. It's very possible that they don't want to damage Supernatural's ability to draw in high level advertising money. And we as viewers don't want that either let me tell you this right now.
The more the show can draw in high level advertising money the more money the CW will have to contribute to their share of the production budget which for Supernatural is roughly about $2 million per episode (and sometimes higher for episodes with large scale special effects involved). That's something like $22 milion per season and that is just for this season. Next season the budget may go even higher if there are salary increases for cast and production crew, increase in the cost of products and services needed to produce the episodes and so on.
It's just posssible that The CW is saavy enough to know that by holding off on running the episodes to death during the strike, they will be able to use them to the best advantage of the series and the network. Having them later on to offer in the scheduling line up and having those episodes still have a measure of 'freshness' to them, might mean the high level advertisers will be willing to put out more dollars for advertising space during the airing of the episodes.
More money in the advertising space means more money to set aside to keep Supernatural in production for future seasons.
Just because there is no announcement of repeats being aired later on in the schedule doesn't necessarily mean the execs don't care about the show.
In fact it would seem to me that the CW is utilizing the last four episodes of Supernatural in a way that shows that they might have a great deal of faith in the series. February Sweeps are during the weeks that the last 4 new episodes of Supernatural are airing. This is a very critical time for networks to gain advertising money. They put their heaviest hitters and their top of line thoroughbreds in the their stable on the line in this kind of race to draw the most attention and ratings.
So it's very possible that the CW is in fact counting on Supernatural to help keep the netlet going and that's an awful big responsibility to put on it's shoulders, but maybe like us the execs at the CW think that Sam and Dean Winchester can hold their own and make things happen. That they know and respect the fact that Supernatural is one of the finest thoroughbreds and 'winners' in their stable of TV series.
So that's why I say that fans who are getting up in arms and talk about writing letters and sending salt are possibly only going to hurt the show and the chances for the rest of us to have Supernatural come back.
Right now if people will only look at the larger picture, they might just see that it's entirely possible that the CW has a great respect for the power of Supernatural and what it can accomplish for them as a network.
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Jan 5, 2008 2:32 PM
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LT, let me just first off own up to avoid the 'hypocrite' label...I am definitely guilty as charged of "flying off the handle" as it were, I do admit to having sort of a knee-jerk reaction concerning our show and the CW, LOL. But I also openly admit that I'm far from knowledgeable about what goes on with the business of networks - marketing, advertising, budgets...stuff like you mentioned. You seem to possess that knowledge, and I hope with all my heart that everything you said is the way things really are over at the CW, what's really going through the excecutives' heads with the lack of promotion and especially the new schedule.
I kinda went off last night and posted a, umm, well, a rant, LOL - SORRY! But in light of all you've said I'm going to go back and post a new comment recommending those who read it to check out your blog, perhaps we may end up downgrading our hurricane to a tropical depression - depression that our show won't be on for long while. But I think I definitely speak for us all when I say we REALLY do hope you've got the right take on all this. Thanks for your insight. 
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Jan 5, 2008 3:11 PM
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Well said, Lady!
With as passionate a fanbase as this wonderful show has, it's difficult for everyone not to immediately go to General Quarters at the mere hint of adversity, be it the addition of new female cast members or putting the show on temporary hiatus.
I just want to give everyone a group hug and say, "Relaaaaaaaaxxxxxx." Let's just enjoy watching Reaper go up against Lost for a few weeks. It's always SN swimming upstream and fighting the good fight against Goliaths like Grey's and CSI. Now we can all take a well-deserved respite and enjoy the SN first run episodes we have left, get them good ratings, and take a break when Lost is re-introduced. I believe Lost has only eight new episodes to air, and then I'm confident we'll have our SN back, even if only in repeats.
Hiatus does not mean cancellation. Let's not panic until we hear the "C" word directly from the CW. SN has been getting good ratings this year. The Kripke feels confident of a fourth season, and so do I.
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Jan 5, 2008 3:16 PM
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Thank you, Lady Talon! I have been working my own way of writing to try and stem the panic and the frustration. Thank you for the words and sentiments. The passion of the Supernatural fans works both in our favor and against it sometimes. Until the WGA strikes a fair deal for all of it's writers, there will be some changes to the schedules of all the networks. The thing we need to remember is to keep up the POSITIVE and SUPPORTIVE part of our fandom.
Bickering with studios and casting blame upon studio exectives is not the way to handle things. The WGA has peacefully continued to try to work with AMPTP. We the fans have given our support in the pencil campaign and others.
We want Supernatural back ... then we need our writers back. Let's continue to support them. As Lady Talon eloquently said - something that I too noticed - look at who our advertisers are now, as opposed to the ones that we had during the same time last year. We've got some bigger NATIONAL ones now, not just advertisements for other CW shows. THIS is a positive thing.
Cool heads, a look at the WHOLE picture, and faith - in The Kripke, if nothing else. Remember the interview with a fan that reported to us that The Kripke was more positive (back in November) about Season 4 than he ever was about Season 3? Until we hear differently, let's just see how it goes.
And if it's our perogative to not watch reality based or game shows in our support of the writers on strike ... well, maybe that's an effective message to the CW heads as well.
Thanks Lady Talon ... sorry ... didn't mean to write a ramble as a comment.
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Jan 5, 2008 4:24 PM
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I will confess Lady that your thoughts did occur to me. I did think that they were putting Reaper against Lost to perhaps watch it sink.
However, I don't trust them. Unless and until I hear officially what the future of SN is, I shall not be hopeful. Like I said in my own blog, 'I may be having a knee jerk reaction or simply a reaction to a jerk's knee'.
But I'm not saying send them salt. I'm just saying I don't trust them. They will do what they want to do and there's a not a thing we can do otherwise, except stop watching everything on their network. I know that my opinion is unpopular but that's it.
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Jan 5, 2008 4:45 PM
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LT - Nicely put. I do hope that you are correct in what the CW's strategy is. February is sweeps time and it makes me feel better that they are airing the last episodes at that time.
I think a lot of the knee-jerk reaction is due to past history with the way SN has been treated and in my opinion it is a legitimate fear.
I do however have hope based on Kripke's comments on a fourth season and the fact that the ratings have been steady and better than other CW shows.
Thanks again for your take on this!
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Jan 5, 2008 6:11 PM
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Lady: I agree with you completely that it does pay to maintain a calm perspective but, at the same time, I think it's good to rattle a few CW cages now and again. While the whole Jo debacle wasn't their fault, I shudder to think what might have happened had we not voiced our displeasure over that scenario!
Also, thank you for your thoughts about the advertising; that certainly provides a logical perspective on how the network execs probably think. However, this is something that I've puzzled over a lot lately--since most of us now pay for some type of television service, why the heck are we still being subjected to advertising?! 
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Jan 5, 2008 7:22 PM
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I agree there must be some good business reason not to show reruns of SPN - it's one of CW's best shows and they know it. But I think the reason is that Ostroff is taking advantage of the fact that SPN fans won't abandon the show no matter what she does. So she can, and will, promote other shows at their expense. She has stated that she hopes viewers will give shows like 'Gossip Girl' a chance while their favorite shows are in reruns. Why isn't she giving SPN the same chance to garner new viewers? As for possibly losing advertising money, I was hoping SPN would go back to the Pilot and show a 'best of' series of reruns. Promoted right, that could draw in new viewers and re-energize current fans dying to share their love of the show. There's no way around it. Pre-empting Supernatural is a mistake.
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Jan 5, 2008 8:34 PM
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I agree w/ everything you said here,Wonderer. I think they're taking advantage of the fanbase and I think that sucks out loud. I would have watched a repeat of Supernatural over a first-run of Lost; now, after the new episodes of SN are over, I'll probably just let my daughter watch Lost in real time instead of taping it. Maybe they're trying to attract the Supernatural fanbase to Reaper, but if that's the plan, IMO, this is not the way to go about it. I tried Reaper, thought it was okay, but just couldn't seem to care enough about the characters. You don't win viewers over from one show to another show by taking away their "baby"-I don't know about the business side of things either, but this just feels wrong.
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Jan 5, 2008 9:45 PM
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I was hoping SPN would go back to the Pilot and show a 'best of' series of reruns. Promoted right, that could draw in new viewers and re-energize current fans dying to share their love of the show. There's no way around it. Pre-empting Supernatural is a mistake.
I agree totally, Wonderer, there may be some market motive behind the action that I don't fully understand, but if they really wanted to do the best thing for SN and pay the cast/crew/fans back for all the "yeoman's work" the show has done since the CW became a network, they'd do exactly what you stated above. I'll keep it to myself, but I didn't trust the CW before and overall, I still don't.
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Jan 5, 2008 10:00 PM
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Thank you for the blog, LadyTalon. I know that the news has me focused on the negative, and I'm glad to have a chance to discuss the positive. I did notice that they saved the episodes for February sweeps, which had made me feel a little better!
And when it comes to our show, I like to focus on the positive!!
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Jan 5, 2008 10:18 PM
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Why is it that no one will believe me when I say that these executives skipped school the day that Common Sense was taught. Well they also skipped the day that Logic was taught as well...hmm.
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Jan 5, 2008 10:49 PM
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Dear LadyTalon,
thank you for your constuctive, informative, and calmming blog. Everything you have said makes sense and I, being one of those guilty of immediate panic, I will stand by what you have said that we need to give the CW the benefit of the doubt that they are preserving Supernatural rather than shelving it. I hope you are right and I still would like to hear an official announcement, but will keep your words close to heart when I think about the negative possibilities.
I feel so bad for Jared as well. He sold his house in L.A. and bought the home he had been renting for the last 2 years, in Vancouver with the belief and hope that he would be based there for a least another couple of years. Now his house in Vancouver is closed up, he house no home in LA and the poor boys don't know when they are going back to work.
Anyway, there you go. Roll on February.
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Jan 5, 2008 11:12 PM
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ladytalon- Thank you for one of the most well thought out posts, in a long time regarding this subject.
Sure it's the CW, and yeah they mess things up. But seriously this is not the end of the world, and we could do more harm than good with the overreacting.
Everyone chill out and relax.
What would they repeat? the first seven all over again? that would lower the season average, and that would mean less advertising dollars...
Hiatus doesn't=death like it used to...
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Jan 5, 2008 11:24 PM
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I hope and pray you are right. I don't understand the network's actions most of the time. To me it is clear that Supernatural is the one quality program they have and it should be a given to be renewed.
If they want to hold the repeat episodes for later, then why don't they announce that and calm the panic? I, for one, watch every airing of Supernatural, even tho I have every episode recorded on DVD and I am sure I am not the only one. It is a ritual in my house, Thursday night... Supernatural! You never know when they might sneak in a new preview! LOL
That said, too many programs in the past have been cancelled when they had loyal fanbases and high quality. I would think with all the fan support and the vast amount of merchandise, not to mention the depth and originality of the show that Supernatural would be on their schedule for a very long time.
Let's hope they get their act together and truly promote this show. It hurts to always feel like the unwanted step-child. Supernatural Rocks! Dawn, please tell me you are listening!
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Jan 5, 2008 11:56 PM
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