The Winchesters: Supernatural prequel series cancelled after 1 season

A couple months ago, Robbie Thompson – showrunner of the Supernatural prequel series The Winchesters – expressed uncertainty as to whether or not his show was going to get a second season now that The CW is being retooled. Now it’s official: The CW has cancelled The Winchesters after just one season.

Kung Fu has also been cancelled after three seasons. The CW provided the following statement to Variety: “As we reimagine the new CW, we had to make some tough programming decisions. We thank our partners at Warner Bros. and the casts and creative teams of Kung Fu and The Winchesters for all their hard work, creativity and dedication.“

The Winchesters‘ chance of continuing appeared to drop in a major way once Mark Pedowitz left as head of the network. Supernatural was already in its sixth season when Pedowitz joined The CW, but he was an established fan who had seen every episode to date. And as the series continued through the 15 season run that Pedowitz enabled, the network head was so supportive that Supernatural stars Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles – who played monster-hunting brothers Sam and Dean Winchester on the show – came to think of him as “the other Winchester”. Pedowitz was still the head of The CW when The Winchesters was ordered, but last year Nexstar Media Group acquired a controlling interest in the network and Pedowitz exited his post. Nexstar let it be known that they were planning to develop their own slate of programming and only expected to have “a couple” of The CW’s current shows continue on. And The Winchesters (and Kung Fu) didn’t make the cut.

The Winchesters is told from the perspective of narrator Dean Winchester, voiced by Ackles. The aim with this show is to tell

the epic, untold love story of how John met Mary and how they put it all on the line to not only save their love but the entire world. When John returns home from fighting in Vietnam, a mysterious encounter sparks a new mission to trace his father’s past. In his journey, he crosses paths with 19-year-old demon hunter Mary, who is also searching for answers after the disappearance of her own father. Together, the two join forces with young hunter-in-training Latika and easygoing hunter Carlos to uncover the hidden truths about both their families. Their investigation leads them to a rare book emporium, whose owner Ada takes an interest in the occult and could provide the missing pieces to their puzzle. But secrets run deep for both the Winchesters and Campbells, and despite the best efforts of John’s mother Millie to protect her son from pursuing a dangerous life of demon hunting, John and Mary are both determined to work together to uphold their families’ legacies while beginning to form a family of their own.

The show stars Meg Donnelly (American Housewife) as Mary, who “has been fighting the forces of darkness since she was a child. After losing someone close to her, the hardened hunter considers quitting the family business – until her father’s disappearance and the arrival of newcomer John Winchester forces her to lead a new team”; Drake Rodger (The In Between) as John Winchester, who has “recently returned from Vietnam. The selfless and clearheaded John finds a new mission back home, where traces of his father’s past lead him to a secret organization and a whole new war as a hunter”; Nida Khurshid (Station 19) as Latika Desai, “Fiercely intelligent and braver than she believes, Latika Desai is a young hunter-in-training whose research and problem-solving skills help her face her fears in battling dark forces”; newcomer Jonathan “Jojo” Fleites as Carlos Cervantez. “Easygoing and confident, Carlos is a natural when it comes to fighting demons and a boost of positivity for the team as it takes on more serious threats”; Demetria McKinney (Tyler Perry’s House of Payne) as Ada Monroe, “a studious and sharp bookstore owner who also takes interest in the mysteries of the occult”; Bridget Regan as pirate radio DJ Rockin’ Roxy, who is “hijacking the airwaves of Lawrence, Kansas to broadcast a wicked new sound”; and Bianca Kajlich (Halloween: Resurrection) as Millie, a “hard-working and tough and has done the bulk of parenting in her family for the past 15 years. She has always worried John, a Vietnam veteran, would take after his father and wanted to prevent him from pursuing a dangerous life. She is now coming to grips with the fact that this is exactly what John plans to do.”

The Winchesters came from Warner Bros Television and CBS Studios. Glen Winter (Supergirl) directed and executive produced the pilot episode. This show was executive produced by Jensen Ackles and his wife Danneel through their company Chaos Machine Productions. Thompson and Winter were also executive producers.

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