yes!! this is what i've been telling people all over instagram!! you can hate it but give it a try or the spn universe will be dead and buried and never to be seen on actual TV ever again.
So I’ve seen a lot of discourse surrounding The Winchesters the supernatural prequel series and I have decided to put in my two cents because why not. For reference I have a degree in marketing and public relations and took multiple media studies courses while I was in college. If you needed some reason to take my word on this topic and know it has some legitimacy and that it’s not just an opinion piece.
The Winchesters has been controversial from its conception. I’ll be honest with you I wasn’t even interested in it when it first was announced. However the reality here is if it fails that’s it that’s the end of the supernatural universe. If you don’t want to watch it by all means don’t watch something you’re not interested in. But if you’re wishing for it to fail and crash and burn let me spell out the reality there for you.
If the prequel fails there will be no continuation no fix it, no empty rescue, no heaven break out. Well why? Well because we’re working with tv which is at its core a business. The CW and Warner Bros have invested a lot of money into The Winchesters and trusting CMP to give them a product that will be profitable. You often don’t get multiple chances with TV business. CMP is working directly with Warner Bros and The Winchesters is their first project. If The Winchesters fails and doesn’t bring in the money or viewership it’s supposed to it will not get picked up for the back half of their season and it will get cancelled. The network is not likely to continue to support a universe that didn’t make them money or a production company who’s first major project flopped. So you can kiss away your dreams of more supernatural projects.
Supernatural already has two spin offs (Bloodlines and Wayward Sisters) that got canceled before they could even start. Both of these coming during supernaturals initial run when supernatural was at its peak popularity. So a spin off prequel is a risk for a network that didn’t see viability in two past spin offs. But they do see it here. They do see potential and with a successful prequel we are opening up a whole world of possibilities within the supernatural universe. But if it fails and crashes and burns as so many people wish it to, that’s it. That’s the end.
Some of you might say: But If this fails can’t we just show them we want a different show in the supernatural universe? No. Simply the investors and higher ups are going to look at numbers and when they see numbers that don’t match their monetary projections they are going to abandon that universe completely and write it off as not profitable. They will move on to something else. And these investors won’t be looking at your tweets and tumblr posts saying oh we don’t want this we want something better. They will not care. This is a money game for them and they will put their time and energy into what makes them money. Jensen saying hate watch it wasn’t completely a joke. The numbers are what matter to the network not the reasoning behind watching or not watching.
This is the ground we need to build off of to get to where we want to end up. If you want a future for the Supernatural universe and want the possibility for a finale fix it, for a empty rescue, for a heaven breakout, this is where we need to start and it needs your support. We need The Winchesters to succeed. I’m writing this not to try to convince anyone who might not be interested but to explain to those of you wishing it’s downfall the ramifications of this failing.
-laur