Supernatural season 13: Jensen Ackles, Jared Padalecki series not approaching the end … yet

For everyone wondering where our annual Supernatural longevity update is from the TCA Summer Press Tour, here it is!

Every year at the panel, someone asks whether or not the Jared Padalecki / Jensen Ackles series is nearing the end, and the answer is almost always the same: If the boys want to keep making it and the ratings are still good, there’s no reason to shut it down. Well, the boys are still into the show, and the ratings remain solid. Consider programming head Mark Pedowitz’s response to the question this year at TCA the same as almost every other. He confirmed today that there could be more of the show to come, so we’ll wait and see what happens this year.

Personally, we don’t think that there is any immediate cause for concern on the future of the show based solely on one thing: All of the promotion Supernatural has received over the past six months. Think about this: Has there ever been a time when the show’s been given more time in the spotlight? Kansas opened for the cast at San Diego Comic-Con, there were huge showcases including life-sized Funko Pop! figures on the show floor, and there is an upcoming crossover episode featuring Scooby-Doo of all things. This is one of the weirdest, most incredible ideas for an episode to date, though we say that as someone who loves Scooby, well aware that there are probably other people out there who do not feel the same. (Also, we don’t want to forget that the two guys had a chance to appear on Conan to promote the show further and have a little bit of fun.)

Personally, we’d love to see at least two more years beyond this one to get Supernatural to a season 15, especially if the spin-off series Wayward Sisters actually happens. That gives a couple of years for the cast and crew to create some crossovers and expand the mythology of the world even further. Also, that gives time to do the Arrow crossover — there was a point when we thought that this was a joke between Jensen, Jared, and Stephen Amell, but we actually do think that it could end up happening now. We don’t think that anyone within either show takes things so seriously that they wouldn’t want to mess with canon; if anyone else, you can always just get Amell to appear over on Supernatural and sell the whole appearance as some sort of odd fever-dream after Dean stays up way too late watching superhero shows.

Overall, we anticipate more good stuff coming in season 13. Misha Collins is back, there’ll be some appearances from familiar show faces from the past, and there is a new Big Bad on the way.

What do you want to see on Supernatural season 13? Be sure to share in the comments! Meanwhile, click here to get some additional news and insight now on the series. (Photo: The CW.)