SciFi Stream

Good news for “Supernatural” fans: Of the five returning fall genre shows, only The CW series starring Jared Padelecki and Jensen Ackles has a bigger audience over last year. In a review of Fast National ratings from Nielsen Media Research by SyFy Portal, over the first 10 active weeks of the 2008-09 television season, “Supernatural” has earned a 2.2 rating/3 share on average. That’s up nearly 16 percent from the 1.9/3 average “Supernatural” earned during the first 10 active weeks of the 2007-08 season. Four other shows weren’t so lucky, however. ABC’s “Pushing Daisies,” NBC’s “Heroes” and “Chuck,” and The CW’s “Smallville,” all have smaller average overnight audiences from the previous year, and nearly all of them are being beat by new genre shows. “Pushing Daisies” had …

A reported big reveal in time for November sweeps not only gave “Supernatural” its best rating of the season, but its biggest audience in at least two years Thursday. The CW drama earned a 2.5 rating/4 share in Fast National ratings from Nielsen Media Research, up nearly 9 percent from its already large audience last week, and up nearly 14 percent of its season average after nine episodes. Last season, “Supernatural” reached a high of just 2.2/3 following “Smallville,” but either topped or matched that high over the first four episodes of this season. After a couple weak outings in mid-October, “Supernatural” returned to form by Halloween, and has been blowing all of its previous numbers out of the water. “Smallville,” as a lead-in, hasn’t done too badly either. Thursday’s episode …

Every game has its pawn and in the impending apocalypse the pawn is Anna Milton. It’s Sam and Dean’s job to save her … but from whom exactly? “I Know What You Did Last Summer” opens with a young woman, Anna, in a mental institution. She explains to her doctor that Lilith is trying to break the seals to let Lucifer out of hell. If she succeeds in breaking 66 of 600 possible seals, it’s all over but the crying. While the doc thinks poor Anna is a nut job, Sam and Dean later find out she’s tuned into “angel radio.” It seems Anna can hear the conversations of the angels and she knows what’s coming. The demons are hot and heavy on her trail (as evidenced by an orderly with flashy black eyes) and Anna’s scared. She breaks free of the orderly and the mental hospital by using telekinesis to slam a …

A boy turns invisible to spy on naked women in the shower. A geeky guy gets his girl. The scrawniest kid in town bullies the bullies (and almost manages to kill Dean). A teddy bear tries to commit suicide. No, it’s not a visit to Bizarro World, it’s just the latest episode of “Supernatural.” Episode eight, titled “Wishful Thinking,” has Sam and Dean investigating odd occurrences in the sleepy little town of Concrete, Wash. Here, it seems, a wishing well within a Chinese restaurant has actually acquired the ability to make dreams come true. The Winchesters arrive in time to interview the first victim of the shower stalker. The woman thinks she’s encountered a ghost. As the boys speak with her (at the Chinese restaurant, by the way), Sam’s eyes are drawn to a beautiful brunette who is fawning …

This story contains MINOR SPOILERS for the Oct. 23 episode of “Supernatural.” Anyone who listened to SyFy Radio last week learned what some fans think of William Shatner (hint: he’s a dick). But Eric Kripke, executive producer of The CW’s “Supernatural,” wanted to assure fans that Jensen Ackles’ character of Dean Winchester was nothing like the old Capt. Kirk. Apparently, fans have been a little upset by how Dean was acting in the Oct. 23 episode, and Kripke wanted to set the record straight. “So, I’ve never before responded directly to the fandom’s comments about an episode, and I don’t plan on making a habit of it, but I couldn’t resist dropping in a though about the episode ‘Yellow Fever,’” Kripke said. “Which is this: Dean is not a dick.” The rare public insight about a …

This week’s “Supernatural” had all the things that long-time fans have come to know and love. There was music, snarky lines, outright humor and important threads that tied the story to the overall arc for the season. Plus, Bobby finally got to drive the Impala. “Yellow Fever” starts out with Dean running down a dark street in sheer terror. A dog snarls and snaps in the background. Dean runs smack into a homeless guy’s shopping cart and warns the man to run or he’ll get killed. A pan of the camera and we see what has the brave Dean Winchester shaking in his men-in-black shoes – it’s a Yorkie, topped off with a cute, little pink bow. Just what the heck is going on here? Scan back 43 hours. Dean and Sam arrive in Rock Ridge, Co., to investigate a string of strange deaths. The latest involves a …

The folks behind “Supernatural” pulled out all the stops for the Halloween tribute episode this year. Shot completely in black and white, “Monster Movie” was a refreshing change of pace from the apocalyptic gravity of season four to date. The episode opens as Sam and Dean arrive in a small Pennsylvanian town to check out a suspicious murder. It seems the only witness to the crime swears it was a vampire that did the killing. The victim, a woman, was in fact bitten and has the fang marks on her cold body to prove it. Sliding into their usual undercover form, the Winchesters assume the roles of FBI agents Angus and Young (yes, of AC/DC fame) so they can inspect the body and poke around town undaunted. Since Oktoberfest happens to be taking place, the boys find a rather lively atmosphere despite …

Can a creature with pure, unadulterated evil inside of it resist and remain good? That’s the question the Winchester boys try to answer in “Metamorphosis.” The fourth episode of season four has Sam and Dean drawing parallels between Sam’s own sad tale and that of the human about to turn into a rugaru they are hunting. The episode starts out with a bang as Dean finally discovers what Sam and Ruby are up to. When he realizes Sam has been sneaking around behind his back, using his powers and hanging out with the demon, he is pissed. The fact Sam can exorcise demons with his mind really wigs out older brother who says, “If I didn’t know you … I would want to hunt you.” Dean’s distaste takes a backburner when they receive a call from a fellow hunter and friend, Travis. It seems Travis has been on …

“Supernatural” fans are in for quite a ride as the popular series kicks off its fourth season Sept. 18. Actor Jim Beaver, who plays Bobby Singer, said viewers should brace themselves for even more of the unexpected. In an exclusive interview with Rabid Doll, Beaver said fans can count on “twists that folks aren’t going to be expecting at all.” Although Beaver wouldn’t elaborate too much on this season’s plotlines, he did spill the beans on one surprise that even caught him off guard. “I get to drive the Impala,” he said. “I was shocked when I saw that scene coming up!” Beaver said there’s no doubt Dean, played by Jensen Ackles, will be upset, but he’s certain forgiveness will be forthcoming. “I think Dean will forgive Bobby, because it was in the process of saving Dean’s life.” Still, the car …

The CW duo of “Smallville” and “Supernatural” stayed mostly stable in its audience through its second week as both shows seem to be tracking stronger than last year. “Smallville” earned a 2.6 rating/4 share, according to Fast National ratings from Nielsen Media Research, down just slightly from the previous week. What’s interesting is that KItchen Nightmares” did so horribly for Fox that “Smallville” almost beat it to move out of the basement of the 8 p.m. hour. “Supernatural” kept things going in the second hour, according to Zap2it, with an estimated 2.2/4 for the hour, losing only a few percent of the “Smallville” audience. This time the distance between The CW and Fox was a little greater, but not by much. Both shows are keeping very stable audiences. Early Stability Index …

The season premieres of “Smallville” and “Supernatural” should be enough to make the brass of The CW happy as they both posted respectable numbers Thursday night. “Smallville” earned a 2.7 rating/5 share, according to Fast National ratings from Nielsen Media Research, slightly about its average from last season, but still nearly 13 percent off its highest rating last year. While it finished behind reruns and reality shows mostly from the other networks, “Smallville” isn’t too far off of the audience tuning in for “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.” That Fox show has been struggling out of the gate, picking up just a 3.5/6 this past week, according to Zap2it, which is by far a series low, and only 30 percent more than “Smallville’s” audience. “Supernatural” also did well …

No single television series ran away with the 2008 SyFy Genre Awards as a wide variety of shows were honored with at least one trophy in the annual virtual awards. “Supernatural” was the big winner with two awards including Best Actor/Television for Jensen Ackles and Best Series/Television, the two categories the show was nominated for. Supernatural.tv also won for Best Web Site, beating out past winners including GateWorld and Whedonesque. Outside of “Supernatural,” awards were spread out between “Battlestar Galactica,” “Doctor Who,” “Heroes,” “Lost,” “Smallville,” and “Torchwood.” Mary McDonnell may have been snubbed for an Emmy nomination for her role as President Laura Roslin in “Battlestar Galactica,” but she won the Best Actress/Television category. In the supporting …