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Supernatural is an American supernatural drama television series, created by Eric Kripke , which was first broadcast on September 13, 2005, on The WB, and is now part of The CW's lineup. Starring Jared Padalecki as Sam Winchester, and Jensen Acklesas Dean Winches ter, the series follows these two brothers as they hunt demons,ghosts, monsters and ot her supernatural beings in the world. The series is produced by Warner Bros. Telev ision, in association with Wonderland Sound and Vision. The current executive prod ucers are Eric Kripke, McG, and Robert Singer. Former executive producer Kim Manners d ied of lung cancer during production of the fourth season.[1] This series is filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia and surrounding areas, and was in development for nearly ten years, as creator Kripke spent several years unsucce ssfully pitching it. The pilot was viewed by an estimated 5.69 million viewers,[2] and the ratings of the first four episodes prompted The WB to pick up the series fo r a full season. Originally, Kripke planned the series for three seasons, but la ter expanded it to five. Thefifth season began airing on September 10, 2009, and c oncluded the series' main storyline;[3] however, The CW officially renewed the sho w for a sixth season on February 16, 2010.[4] On April 26, 2011, the show was renewed for a seventh season for the 2011 2012 season, which began on September 23, 2011.[5] On May 3, 2012,Supernatural was renewed for an eighth season by The CW with Jeremy Carverre placing Sera Gamble as co-showrunner with Robert Singer.[6][7] On February 11, 201 3, The CW renewed the series for a ninth season.[8] It premiered on October 8, 2013. [9] On July 22, 2013 The CW announced there was a spin-off of Supernatural in the work s, with the 20th episode of season nine serving as a back-door pilot.[10] Conception and creation[edit] Creator Eric Kripke feels that America's urban legends are "every bit as fleshed out as any world mythologies".[11] Before bringing Supernatural to television, creator Eric Kripke had been developing the series for nearly ten years,[12] having been fascinated with urban legends since h e was a child.[13]Although he had envisioned Supernatural as a movie,[14] he spent yea rs unsuccessfully pitching it as a series.[15] The concept went through several ph ases 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 va n "fighting the demons in search of the truth".[13][16] Kripke wanted it to be a r oad trip series, feeling that it was the "best vehicle to tell these stories bec ause it's pure, stripped down and uniquely American... These stories exist in th ese small towns all across the country, and it just makes so much sense to drive in and out of these stories."[13] Because he had previously written for The WB series T arzan, Kripke was offered the chance to pitch show ideas to the network, and use d the opportunity for Supernatural.[14] However, the network disliked his tabloid re porter idea, so Kripke successfully pitched his last-minute idea of the characte rs being brothers.[17] He decided to have the brothers be from Lawrence, Kansas, due to its closeness to Stull Cemetery, a location famous for its urban legends.[18] When it came time to name the two lead characters, Kripke decided on "Sal" and " Dean" as an homage to Jack Kerouac's road-trip novel On the Road. However, he felt t hat "Sal" was inappropriate for a main character, and changed the name to "Sam". [11] It was originally intended for the brothers' last name to be "Harrison" as a nod to actor Harrison Ford, as Kripke wanted Dean to have the "devil-may-care swag ger of Han Solo". However, there was a Sam Harrison living in Kansas, so the nam e had to be changed for legal reasons.[19] Combining his interest in the Winchester Mystery House and his desire to give the series the feel of "a modern-day Western" , Kripke settled on the surname of "Winchester". However, this also presented a problem. The first name of Sam and Dean's father was originally "Jack", and ther e was a Jack Winchester residing in Kansas, so Kripke was forced to change the c haracter's name to "John".[19] We say it's a modern American Western two gunslingers who ride into town, fight th e bad guys, kiss the girl and ride out into the sunset again. And we were always talking from the very beginning that if you're going to have cowboys, they need Growing a Eric trusty Kripke up, horse. Kripke on theconnected decision to television add the Impala.[20] shows that had signature cars, such a s The Dukes of Hazzard and Knight Rider. This prompted him to include one inSupernatur
al.[20] He originally intended for the car to be a '65 Mustang, but his neighbor con vinced him to change it to a '67 Impala, since "you can put a body in the trunk" a nd because "you want a car that, when people stop next to it at the lights, they lock their doors."[11] Kripke has commented, "It's a Rottweiler of a car, and I t hink it adds authenticity for fans of automobiles because of that, because it's not a pretty ride. It's an aggressive, muscular car, and I think that's what peo ple respond to, and why it fits so well into the tone of our show."[20] Kripke had previously pitched the series to Fox executive Peter Johnson, and whe n Johnson moved to Wonderland Sound and Vision as president of TV, he contacted Krip ke.[21] Johnson soon signed on as co-executive producer, as did Wonderland owner McG a s executive producer, with the production company set to make the pilot episode. Before it could be filmed, however, script issues needed to be dealt with. Orig inally, the brothers were not raised by their father, but rather by their aunt a nd uncle. Thus, when Dean comes to Sam for assistance in the pilot episode, he h as to convince him that the supernatural exists. However, Kripke realized that t his made the backstory too complicated, and reworked it with Peter Johnson so th at their father raised them to be hunters.[22] The script went through many additi onal revisions. One of the original ideas was for Sam's girlfriend Jessica being revealed as a demon, which prompts him to join Dean on the road; however, Kripk e felt it was more appropriate for Sam's motivation to be Jessica's death, so he had her killed in the same manner as Sam's mother, making them the "right booke nds".[23] Other revised concepts include Sam believing Dean to be a serial killer that murders their father,[24] and their father dying in Jessica's place.[25]Filmi ng for the pilot episode was greenlit after director David Nutter, who previousl y had worked with Kripke on Tarzan, signed on.[26][27]When the series was eventual ly picked up, the studio brought on Robert Singer as executive producer, as it w anted Kripke to work with someone with production experience. Co-executive produ cer John Shiban was also hired to help design the series mythology due to his pr evious work on The X-Files.[28] Kripke had the series planned out for three seasons, but later expanded it to five,[29] and hoped to end it there on a high note.[30] Writing[edit] The staff for the first season consisted of Kripke and five other writers, with assistants to help with researching urban legends.[14] Most of the work done in wr iting the series is very collaborative, with the writers often breaking up into groups. At the beginning of each season, the writers are brought together and pi tch out their ideas, which are then assigned to a specific writer to be develope d. Each story idea is outlined on a dry-erase board, with Kripke and Bob Singer making necessary changes. Afterward, the script is written,[31]and Kripke goes t hrough it to make sure it has the same tone as other episodes.[14] Kripke found th is task very difficult to do in the first season,[32] but he felt it became easier by the third season, as the staff came to "really understand the show's style". [32] 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 2 and An Ame rican Werewolf in London having bits of comedy mixed in. Commenting on the former, Kripke added, "It's the idea that horror can happen in your own backyard. How m any viewers have to worry about the vampire in the gothic castle?"[11] Other influ ences include The Two Sisters and Asian horror films The Eye, Ju-on, and Ring.[33] It's According Ericalways Kripke[29] tobeen creator a show Eric aboutfamily. Kripke, the show originally was intended to focus on t he weekly monsters, with Sam and Dean Winchester merely being "an engine to get us in and out of different horror movies every week".[34] His sole desire was to m erely "scare the crap out of people".[35] However, a few episodes in, Kripke and e xecutive producer Bob Singer noticed the onscreen chemistry between Jared Padaleck i and Jensen Ackles. This revelation caused them to change the series to focus more on the brothers than the monsters, basing the weekly monster around the storylin e they wanted for the Winchesters. According to Kripke, "...sometimes we don't e ven have the monster until way late in the break, once we get all the angst and the drama done first."[34] Unlike shows with "endless mythology" like Lost, Kripke prefers to keep Supernatural 's mythology simpler, saying, "It's so hard to go season after season after seas
on with a mystery and then provide an answer that's going to be satisfying." He prefers to have the series' structure like that of the earlier X-Files episodes, hav ing mythology-based episodes spread through many self-enclosed episodes Supernatur al usually having three self-enclosed episodes followed by a mythology episode. Wi th this format, viewers do not have to have previous knowledge of the mythology in order to watch the series, being able to "join the party at any time".[36] Effects[edit] Though companies were hired for work on the pilot episode such as Entity FX for th e visual effects[37] effects departments now work exclusively for the series.[38] Iv an Hayden is the visual effects supervisor, and works with many levels of the pr oduction staff. During pre-production, Hayden must go through the scripts, looki ng for possible visual effects. He then has a concept meeting with the writers, and after settling on the effect designs to use, coordinates with the special ef fects and stunt departments. Hayden is also present during filming to help the d irector make sure that the scenes are being filmed in the best way for the visua l effects, such as by ensuring that the actors are looking at the correct locati on where an effect will later be added. Afterward, he then meets with the editor s.[39] Another aspect of the visual effects department is coming up with rules and physics for each supernatural creature,[39] though the rules are often bent if it benefits the story.[38] In 2012, it was announced that Hayden will be working at the new Vancouver location of Encore for its VFX division.[40] Music[edit] Supernatural features a synthesized orchestral score, although traditional acousti c instruments such as guitars and cellos are used at times. Special instruments have also been used in specific episodes, such as "bluesy gospel music" played o n a broken-down piano in the faith-healing episode "Faith". Unlike other televis ion shows, the series features two composers: Christopher Lennertz and Jay Gruska.[4 1] Each composer scores every other episode, giving them extra time to write the s cores, which usually end up being around 30 minutes per episode. They write them es for their own episodes and characters and work with one another if there is o verlap between episodes. They try to base the music on the visuals of the episod e, such as in the episode "Dead in the Water", in which off-angle shots are acco mpanied by repetitive and discordant notes, and spoken words such as "water" and "die" are followed by a lower pitch to create a "gurgly" sound.[42] While there a re similarities in the scores for situations such as the brothers and their fath er, about a third of each episode's score is newly written for the series.[41] 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 thr eatened to quit when the network would not allow its inclusion. Most of the song s are from Kripke's private collection, although one of his favorite bands Led Zep pelin is too expensive to use. Some episode titles are references to Led Zeppelin songs.[43] The series has featured such bands as Blue Öyster Cult, Bad Company, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Rush, Boston, andAC/DC on more than one occasion. Multiple songs are usual ly used throughout each episode, and accompany "The Road So Far" sequences befor e select episodes that highlight a montage of past events. Although Kripke prefe rs to keep a fine line between the score and songs used, sometimes Lennertz and Gruska are required to write short sections of rock-like music to fill 15-to-20second gaps, as it would be too costly to acquire song rights. Usually on the la st episode of every season, the song "Carry On Wayward Son" by Kansas is played at the beginning.[44] Filming locations[edit] Though the pilot was filmed in Los Angeles, principal filming takes place in Vancouv er, British Columbia.[24] Thus, on-location filming usually takes place in the area. "Dead in the Water" was filmed at Buntzen Lake,[45] and the final scenes of "Simon Said" were filmed at Cleveland Dam.[46] Other locations used on the show are often r eused two or three times, with the art department making variations to conceal t his.[47] Heritage Park in Burnaby has been used as a cemetery in "Red Sky at Morning", and as the location of the gingerbread-house cottage in "Bedtime Stories".[48] Al so, Riverview Hospital in Coquitlam has served many functions for the series, including an asylum in "Asylum",[49] a hospital in "In My Time of Dying",[50] and a prison in
"Folsom Prison Blues".[50] The episode "Houses of the Holy" was filmed on location in Vancouver at St.Andrew's-Wesley United Church. Because episodes usually take place in the middle of nowhere, filming often takes place at an old military ba se. Having been shut down for years, the buildings have been removed, leaving ju st roads on which sets are erected, such as for crossroads scenes.[51] Online distribution[edit] Rather than having the series debut on television, The WB instead made the pilot episode available for online streaming through Yahoo!a week before it was set to premiere on the network as part of a promotional scheme.[52] Following the transit ion to The CW,Supernatural episodes were added to Apple's iTunes Store starting in Decem ber 2006, being one of the first CW series to be made available for sale online. [53] The following month, the network began streaming episodes of the series on it s website with limited commercial interruption, available for up to four weeks a fter the initial airings.[54] Beginning January 11, 2007, Australia's Network Tenals o began offering full episodes for download via their website, through a deal wi th Warner Bros. Television.[55] To combat piracy, Ten debuted the second season pr emiere five days before its initial broadcast in the country, making Supernatural th e first major network show available for free download in Australia before being aired. Subsequent episodes became available online just hours after being telev ised.[56] Around the same time, episodes were also made available for download on Microsoft's Xbox Live Marketplace.[57] In September 2008, Amazon.com launched its new on -demand TV service, with Supernatural being one of the many television shows availab le for sale.[58] DVD and Blu-ray disc releases[edit] Main article: List of Supernatural home video releases The first season of Supernatural was released as a six-disc Region 1 DVD box set in the US on September 5, 2006, three weeks before the premiere of the second seaso n. Including all 22 episodes of the first season, the set also featured DVD extr as such as commentaries for the episodes "Pilot" and "Phantom Traveler", deleted scenes, bloopers, featurettes, and a DVD-ROM sneak-peek at the second season.[5 9] The set was later packaged with the first season of Smallville as a "Season One Sta rter Pack", which was released on September 18, 2007.[60] For Region 2, the season was split into two parts, being released on May 22, 2006,[61] and August 21, 2006 ;[62] the complete set was released on October 2, 2006.[63] The second season was released as a six-disc Region 1 DVD box set in the US on S eptember 11, 2007,[64] two weeks before the premiere of the third season. Includin g all 22 episodes of the second season, the set also featured DVD extras such as episode commentaries, deleted scenes, bloopers, Jared Padalecki's original scre en test, and a featurette on the making of the season finale.[65]For Region 2, t he season was again divided into two parts, being released on May 14, 2007,[66] an d September 10, 2007;[67] the complete set was released on October 29, 2007.[68] The third season was released as a five-disc Region 1 DVD box set in the US on S eptember 2, 2008,[69] two weeks before the premiere of the fourth season, and was eventually released on Blu-ray on November 11, 2008.[70] Including all 16 episodes of the third season, the set featured limited DVD extras, having only bloopers and featurettes.[69] Also included was a digital copy of the season.[69] Best Buy carried a li mited only 26,500 available box set that included a GreenLight Collectibles 1:64 scale r eplica of a black 1967 Chevy Impala, the car used by the Winchesters throughout the series.[71] For Region 2, the season was released on August 25, 2008, this tim e only as a complete set,[72] and its Blu-ray counterpart debuted November 10, 200 8.[73] The fourth season was released in Region 1 as both a six-disc DVD box set and as a four-disc Blu-ray box set in the US on September 1, 2009, one week before the premiere of the fifth season. Including all 22 episodes of the fourth season, t he set featured commentaries, bloopers, extended and deleted scenes, and a featu rette on Supernatural's mythology.[74] Target bundled a bonus DVD of the Supernatural pane l at Comic-Con.[75] As with the first two seasons in Region 2, the fourth season w as also divided into two parts, being released on April 27, 2009,[76] and Septembe r 21, 2009;[77] the complete set and its Blu-ray counterpart were released on Nove mber 2, 2009.[78][79]
The fifth season was released with Part 1 in the United Kingdom (Region 2) on Ap ril 26, 2010.[80] Part 2 was released on July 12, 2010.[81] The complete release was on October 18, 2010.[82] In Australia, the first 7 seasons have been released on DVD, region 4 (including a season 1 5 box set) and on Blu-ray, region B. On 31st October 2012 a new boxset was released of seasons 1-7 to coincide with the release of the 7th season on D VD and Blu-ray.
al.[20] He originally intended for the car to be a '65 Mustang, but his neighbor con vinced him to change it to a '67 Impala, since "you can put a body in the trunk" a nd because "you want a car that, when people stop next to it at the lights, they lock their doors."[11] Kripke has commented, "It's a Rottweiler of a car, and I t hink it adds authenticity for fans of automobiles because of that, because it's not a pretty ride. It's an aggressive, muscular car, and I think that's what peo ple respond to, and why it fits so well into the tone of our show."[20] Kripke had previously pitched the series to Fox executive Peter Johnson, and whe n Johnson moved to Wonderland Sound and Vision as president of TV, he contacted Krip ke.[21] Johnson soon signed on as co-executive producer, as did Wonderland owner McG a s executive producer, with the production company set to make the pilot episode. Before it could be filmed, however, script issues needed to be dealt with. Orig inally, the brothers were not raised by their father, but rather by their aunt a nd uncle. Thus, when Dean comes to Sam for assistance in the pilot episode, he h as to convince him that the supernatural exists. However, Kripke realized that t his made the backstory too complicated, and reworked it with Peter Johnson so th at their father raised them to be hunters.[22] The script went through many additi onal revisions. One of the original ideas was for Sam's girlfriend Jessica being revealed as a demon, which prompts him to join Dean on the road; however, Kripk e felt it was more appropriate for Sam's motivation to be Jessica's death, so he had her killed in the same manner as Sam's mother, making them the "right booke nds".[23] Other revised concepts include Sam believing Dean to be a serial killer that murders their father,[24] and their father dying in Jessica's place.[25]Filmi ng for the pilot episode was greenlit after director David Nutter, who previousl y had worked with Kripke on Tarzan, signed on.[26][27]When the series was eventual ly picked up, the studio brought on Robert Singer as executive producer, as it w anted Kripke to work with someone with production experience. Co-executive produ cer John Shiban was also hired to help design the series mythology due to his pr evious work on The X-Files.[28] Kripke had the series planned out for three seasons, but later expanded it to five,[29] and hoped to end it there on a high note.[30] Writing[edit] The staff for the first season consisted of Kripke and five other writers, with assistants to help with researching urban legends.[14] Most of the work done in wr iting the series is very collaborative, with the writers often breaking up into groups. At the beginning of each season, the writers are brought together and pi tch out their ideas, which are then assigned to a specific writer to be develope d. Each story idea is outlined on a dry-erase board, with Kripke and Bob Singer making necessary changes. Afterward, the script is written,[31]and Kripke goes t hrough it to make sure it has the same tone as other episodes.[14] Kripke found th is task very difficult to do in the first season,[32] but he felt it became easier by the third season, as the staff came to "really understand the show's style". [32] 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 2 and An Ame rican Werewolf in London having bits of comedy mixed in. Commenting on the former, Kripke added, "It's the idea that horror can happen in your own backyard. How m any viewers have to worry about the vampire in the gothic castle?"[11] Other influ ences include The Two Sisters and Asian horror films The Eye, Ju-on, and Ring.[33] It's According Ericalways Kripke[29] tobeen creator a show Eric aboutfamily. Kripke, the show originally was intended to focus on t he weekly monsters, with Sam and Dean Winchester merely being "an engine to get us in and out of different horror movies every week".[34] His sole desire was to m erely "scare the crap out of people".[35] However, a few episodes in, Kripke and e xecutive producer Bob Singer noticed the onscreen chemistry between Jared Padaleck i and Jensen Ackles. This revelation caused them to change the series to focus more on the brothers than the monsters, basing the weekly monster around the storylin e they wanted for the Winchesters. According to Kripke, "...sometimes we don't e ven have the monster until way late in the break, once we get all the angst and the drama done first."[34] Unlike shows with "endless mythology" like Lost, Kripke prefers to keep Supernatural 's mythology simpler, saying, "It's so hard to go season after season after seas
on with a mystery and then provide an answer that's going to be satisfying." He prefers to have the series' structure like that of the earlier X-Files episodes, hav ing mythology-based episodes spread through many self-enclosed episodes Supernatur al usually having three self-enclosed episodes followed by a mythology episode. Wi th this format, viewers do not have to have previous knowledge of the mythology in order to watch the series, being able to "join the party at any time".[36] Effects[edit] Though companies were hired for work on the pilot episode such as Entity FX for th e visual effects[37] effects departments now work exclusively for the series.[38] Iv an Hayden is the visual effects supervisor, and works with many levels of the pr oduction staff. During pre-production, Hayden must go through the scripts, looki ng for possible visual effects. He then has a concept meeting with the writers, and after settling on the effect designs to use, coordinates with the special ef fects and stunt departments. Hayden is also present during filming to help the d irector make sure that the scenes are being filmed in the best way for the visua l effects, such as by ensuring that the actors are looking at the correct locati on where an effect will later be added. Afterward, he then meets with the editor s.[39] Another aspect of the visual effects department is coming up with rules and physics for each supernatural creature,[39] though the rules are often bent if it benefits the story.[38] In 2012, it was announced that Hayden will be working at the new Vancouver location of Encore for its VFX division.[40] Music[edit] Supernatural features a synthesized orchestral score, although traditional acousti c instruments such as guitars and cellos are used at times. Special instruments have also been used in specific episodes, such as "bluesy gospel music" played o n a broken-down piano in the faith-healing episode "Faith". Unlike other televis ion shows, the series features two composers: Christopher Lennertz and Jay Gruska.[4 1] Each composer scores every other episode, giving them extra time to write the s cores, which usually end up being around 30 minutes per episode. They write them es for their own episodes and characters and work with one another if there is o verlap between episodes. They try to base the music on the visuals of the episod e, such as in the episode "Dead in the Water", in which off-angle shots are acco mpanied by repetitive and discordant notes, and spoken words such as "water" and "die" are followed by a lower pitch to create a "gurgly" sound.[42] While there a re similarities in the scores for situations such as the brothers and their fath er, about a third of each episode's score is newly written for the series.[41] 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 thr eatened to quit when the network would not allow its inclusion. Most of the song s are from Kripke's private collection, although one of his favorite bands Led Zep pelin is too expensive to use. Some episode titles are references to Led Zeppelin songs.[43] The series has featured such bands as Blue Öyster Cult, Bad Company, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Rush, Boston, andAC/DC on more than one occasion. Multiple songs are usual ly used throughout each episode, and accompany "The Road So Far" sequences befor e select episodes that highlight a montage of past events. Although Kripke prefe rs to keep a fine line between the score and songs used, sometimes Lennertz and Gruska are required to write short sections of rock-like music to fill 15-to-20second gaps, as it would be too costly to acquire song rights. Usually on the la st episode of every season, the song "Carry On Wayward Son" by Kansas is played at the beginning.[44] Filming locations[edit] Though the pilot was filmed in Los Angeles, principal filming takes place in Vancouv er, British Columbia.[24] Thus, on-location filming usually takes place in the area. "Dead in the Water" was filmed at Buntzen Lake,[45] and the final scenes of "Simon Said" were filmed at Cleveland Dam.[46] Other locations used on the show are often r eused two or three times, with the art department making variations to conceal t his.[47] Heritage Park in Burnaby has been used as a cemetery in "Red Sky at Morning", and as the location of the gingerbread-house cottage in "Bedtime Stories".[48] Al so, Riverview Hospital in Coquitlam has served many functions for the series, including an asylum in "Asylum",[49] a hospital in "In My Time of Dying",[50] and a prison in
"Folsom Prison Blues".[50] The episode "Houses of the Holy" was filmed on location in Vancouver at St.Andrew's-Wesley United Church. Because episodes usually take place in the middle of nowhere, filming often takes place at an old military ba se. Having been shut down for years, the buildings have been removed, leaving ju st roads on which sets are erected, such as for crossroads scenes.[51] Online distribution[edit] Rather than having the series debut on television, The WB instead made the pilot episode available for online streaming through Yahoo!a week before it was set to premiere on the network as part of a promotional scheme.[52] Following the transit ion to The CW,Supernatural episodes were added to Apple's iTunes Store starting in Decem ber 2006, being one of the first CW series to be made available for sale online. [53] The following month, the network began streaming episodes of the series on it s website with limited commercial interruption, available for up to four weeks a fter the initial airings.[54] Beginning January 11, 2007, Australia's Network Tenals o began offering full episodes for download via their website, through a deal wi th Warner Bros. Television.[55] To combat piracy, Ten debuted the second season pr emiere five days before its initial broadcast in the country, making Supernatural th e first major network show available for free download in Australia before being aired. Subsequent episodes became available online just hours after being telev ised.[56] Around the same time, episodes were also made available for download on Microsoft's Xbox Live Marketplace.[57] In September 2008, Amazon.com launched its new on -demand TV service, with Supernatural being one of the many television shows availab le for sale.[58] DVD and Blu-ray disc releases[edit] Main article: List of Supernatural home video releases The first season of Supernatural was released as a six-disc Region 1 DVD box set in the US on September 5, 2006, three weeks before the premiere of the second seaso n. Including all 22 episodes of the first season, the set also featured DVD extr as such as commentaries for the episodes "Pilot" and "Phantom Traveler", deleted scenes, bloopers, featurettes, and a DVD-ROM sneak-peek at the second season.[5 9] The set was later packaged with the first season of Smallville as a "Season One Sta rter Pack", which was released on September 18, 2007.[60] For Region 2, the season was split into two parts, being released on May 22, 2006,[61] and August 21, 2006 ;[62] the complete set was released on October 2, 2006.[63] The second season was released as a six-disc Region 1 DVD box set in the US on S eptember 11, 2007,[64] two weeks before the premiere of the third season. Includin g all 22 episodes of the second season, the set also featured DVD extras such as episode commentaries, deleted scenes, bloopers, Jared Padalecki's original scre en test, and a featurette on the making of the season finale.[65]For Region 2, t he season was again divided into two parts, being released on May 14, 2007,[66] an d September 10, 2007;[67] the complete set was released on October 29, 2007.[68] The third season was released as a five-disc Region 1 DVD box set in the US on S eptember 2, 2008,[69] two weeks before the premiere of the fourth season, and was eventually released on Blu-ray on November 11, 2008.[70] Including all 16 episodes of the third season, the set featured limited DVD extras, having only bloopers and featurettes.[69] Also included was a digital copy of the season.[69] Best Buy carried a li mited only 26,500 available box set that included a GreenLight Collectibles 1:64 scale r eplica of a black 1967 Chevy Impala, the car used by the Winchesters throughout the series.[71] For Region 2, the season was released on August 25, 2008, this tim e only as a complete set,[72] and its Blu-ray counterpart debuted November 10, 200 8.[73] The fourth season was released in Region 1 as both a six-disc DVD box set and as a four-disc Blu-ray box set in the US on September 1, 2009, one week before the premiere of the fifth season. Including all 22 episodes of the fourth season, t he set featured commentaries, bloopers, extended and deleted scenes, and a featu rette on Supernatural's mythology.[74] Target bundled a bonus DVD of the Supernatural pane l at Comic-Con.[75] As with the first two seasons in Region 2, the fourth season w as also divided into two parts, being released on April 27, 2009,[76] and Septembe r 21, 2009;[77] the complete set and its Blu-ray counterpart were released on Nove mber 2, 2009.[78][79]
The fifth season was released with Part 1 in the United Kingdom (Region 2) on Ap ril 26, 2010.[80] Part 2 was released on July 12, 2010.[81] The complete release was on October 18, 2010.[82] In Australia, the first 7 seasons have been released on DVD, region 4 (including a season 1 5 box set) and on Blu-ray, region B. On 31st October 2012 a new boxset was released of seasons 1-7 to coincide with the release of the 7th season on D VD and Blu-ray.
