It’s been on the air for a whopping decade and a half, but Supernatural is due to round up its record-breaking run next year at the end of its fifteenth season. The CW’s monster-hunting series – the longest-running sci-fi/fantasy show in U.S. TV history, don’t you know – was announced to be ending earlier today, shocking the devoted fanbase and eliciting those usual cries of “about time” when a long-running program ends.
The news first came from stars Jensen Ackles, Jared Padalecki and Misha Collins in a post they all shared on social media. The more typical press release from the show’s producers has now arrived though, with Supernatural‘s EPs Robert Singer and Andrew Dabb saying the following in a joint statement:
“Firstly, we would like to thank all the people who have been involved with the show both in front of and behind the camera. For us it has been an experience of a lifetime. The support we have had from both Warner Bros Television and The CW has been incredible. We’d like to give special thanks to [stars] Jensen [Ackles], Jared [Padalecki] and Misha [Collins] for making this journey so special. It is now most important to us to give these characters that we love the send off they deserve.”
With the completion of its 20-episode fifteenth season, Supernatural will have aired 327 installments. It had become such a network mainstay that we thought The CW was happy to let it continue for as long as possible and honestly, we’re not entirely sure if it was a network decision to cancel it or one made by the cast and crew themselves.
Either way, this is the second tentpole show that The CW will be losing in the coming year. Following Supernatural, Arrow was the longest-serving series on the network and that’s coming to a close as well after its eighth season this fall. The Arrowverse is expected to continue, with new entries like Batwoman on the way, but CW execs will no doubt be keen to look for their next big hit that can one day give Supernatural‘s incredible lifespan a run for its money.