When it comes to horror themed or related shows,it’s been awhile for the WB.”Angel” ended last year,and of course they lost “Buffy” to UPN years ago.Then there was the high hopes they had for “Dark Shadows”, an update of the old vampire television show.Unfortunately,things fell apart faster than a paper bridge,and the show never saw the light of day,and was eventually scrapped altogether.This fall, they will try their hand at a new supernatural/horror themed television series aptly titled “SUPERNATURAL”.The series stars “House of Wax” and “Cry Wolf” star Jared Paledicki and “Smallville”‘s Jensen Ackles who play as brothers who road trip around the country in their ’69 Chevy Impala,carrying on their missing father’s quest to seek and destroy the evil supernatural forces responsible for their mother’s slaying twenty years ago.
Director David Nutter,and filmmakers McG and Eric Kripke who was behind the awful (atleast in my opinion) “Boogeyman” are the brains behind the series.
The WB hasn’t had many horror/supernatural themed series but the three that they have had ranged from pretty good to good.”Buffy” started on the WB and was an awesome show with a huge following,as well as “Angel” which while not as popular as “Buffy” was,still had a very solid core audience and lastly “Charmed” which I personally dug in it’s very early days but we all know the total disgrace it has broken down into now.The premise for the series is quite an interesting one,with a lot of potential. But the question with this show is,can Paledecki and Ackles perform well enough to attain and keep the viewers attention for an entire hour?
I for one am not a fan of “Smallville” at all, so I can’t speak on Ackles acting ability since I don’t watch the show, but Paledecki came off as sort of annoying and unenthused in “House of Wax”.But oddly enough, that kind of attitude might work for this show since he is after all playing a kid with a missing dad and a dead mom who always has to be on guard from the evils of the supernatural realm.Not much room for jollies and smiles in the life of someone like that.and I’ve yet to see “Cry Wolf” which opens in September,so he might have done better in that film.
Personally,I would’ve casted two much more well known actors in both roles,but the WB seemingly is doing the in house thing with this series by casting within the ranks of actors who have already solidified themselves on current WB dramas.”Supernatural” out of the three horror/SCI-FI shows which will premier this fall,the other two being ABC’s “Invasion” and “Nightstalker” has the most potential,which means chances are,it won’t live up to even half of it.But theres reason to have faith,since the WB has managed to put together some great horror/drama/thriller series in the past.Hopefully “SUPERNATURAL” will be another one to add to the list.It’s currently locked into the Tuesday night slot at 9/8 central this September.
