SPNews

It’s no surprise, but The Vampire Diaries is a strong lead-in for Supernatural. The first week ratings for SPN showed great growth according to Entertainment Weekly. “Supernatural grew 35 percent in women 18-34 (1.5 vs. 2.0) and 38 percent (2.9 million vs. 4 million) in total viewers.”

Friday the 13th, Part 2 has been slated for an August 13, 2010 release. No word yet on whether Jared’s on board, but I think it’s a given (MUST)…even if he doesn’t last long.

We want to give an appreciative nod to AfterElton for this hysterical Facebook recap of The End. Check it out here.

Misha filmed a TV movie over the summer called Stonehenge Apocalypse.

When a group of archaeologists dig up a human skeleton near the historical monument of STONEHENGE, an ancient piece of machinery hidden beneath the bedrock is discovered. Not knowing what it could be the workers accidentally trigger the mechanism and start a chain of events that may very well end the world as we know it.

No release date yet, but as soon as we know the right bat time and bat channel, we’ll let you know.

MINOR SPOILER: Ever wondered what SPN would look like as a sitcom? According to Ausiello at TV Guide we’re going to find out! “You’ll find out in episode 8. Laugh track and all.” The episode is called "Are You There God. It's me, Sam Winchester."

Over on The CW Source: The ultimate unofficial SOURCE for news and gossip about The CW they’ve announced the winners of the Sourcies Awards. Supernatural slayed the competition, sweeping 18 awards! Here they are:

“Sam and Dean dominated Best Friends Forever Moment, Best Fight, Most Heartbreaking Moment and Most Dramatic Meltdown. Bobby Singer took Best Recurring Character and The Voice of Wisdom Award (although he only just squeaked by over Haley for that one.) Ruby got some recognition -- although most of it was bad. You awarded her and Sam the Most Unexpected Hookup title, crowned her hte queen of the I Love To Hate You Award, and reveled in her death in the Best Finally! It's About Time! Moment. Castiel dominated the Best Newcomer category, and Alastair took the Best Villain honors. The boys got some individual awards as well: You celebrated Sam's silky locks in the Best Hair category, and marveled at how far he fell in the Biggest WTF? Moment. Dean got recognition with the Best Kiss (lucky Anna!), and you declared his reaction to the fluffy little kitty the Funniest Moment. The show as a whole took Best Special Episode, Biggest Family Drama and Best Cliffhanger.”

Finally, we’ll leave you with a couple snapshots and a teaser trailer for this week’s Fallen Idol episode which bring Paris Hilton to SPN. For those of you who are worried Kripke says, “It’s a fun, irreverent episode about modern celebrity. [Fans] should withhold judgment until they see it.” I, for one, am looking forward to a light episode and if they kill her I'll be really happy.

Adjunct Interests

I know, stupid title. But...

One night a couple of weeks ago, I kept waking up with memories of odd dreams. I dreamed of this blogging and of my fellow SPN Sisters, and of some woman who wanted to blog here but I had to figure out how because we weren't going to make her a permanent member.

At one point--I think it was at 4:48 a.m. when I carried the door-scratching cat down to the bathroom--I thought, "Adjunct interests. I've got to blog about that!"

And guess what? When I went to log it on the schedule, I found I'd somehow skipped a week, and had no topic for today! How fortuitous!

I just love when things fall into place like that.

Okay. Adjunct interests. Like I said, weird title, but I felt I had to be true to the dream inspiration.

When fans are passionate about something like a TV show, they create a demand for more. Smart powers-that-be seek to fulfill that demand through tie-in products and events. Supernatural is no different.

Some official products include:

Supernatural Magazine

Each month, either in your mailbox or on the newsstand, you can find this big, glossy magazine full of interviews, articles, analysis, and reminders of past episodes. Lots of insider information. Lots of typos, too, but we won't mention that.






Tie-in novels

When you can't get enough of Sam and Dean's adventures, you can turn to these novels that describe some of the "episodes" that never make it to screen.











Official Season Companions

These are kind of like extended versions of the magazine. They break down each episode in a full season, talking about the legends that inspired the story, and interviewing all of the players--big and small--who build the Supernatural world. The Season 3 companion goes on sale next week.







John's Journal

This book is modeled after John Winchester's "real" journal (real in the context of the show) and has exorcisms, notes about jobs and monsters and the boys' childhoods. Talk about diving into the meaty details...







We've already talked about some of the other stuff spawned by Supernatural:


With a bit of investment, you can travel around the country to see our favorite stars and guest stars speak on stage, and get personal autographs and photos with them. Some conventions are specific to the show, some are more genre-oriented, with several fandoms intermingling, and some are gigantic fests, like Comic-Con.


There are two sets of comic book prequels so far: "Origins" and "Rising Son." Ask your local comic book store to order them, or find them online.

And, as discussed in yesterday's review, you can find fan-centric essays combined in such volumes as In the Hunt: Unauthorized Essays on Supernatural.

Then, of course, there's actual merchandise. Some official, like mugs and calendars you can obtain via The WB, or posters, patches, and T-shirts offered by places like Creation Entertainment. Some unofficial, like you'll find at Zazzle and Café Press. There's some pretty clever stuff out there, and you can find everything from bumper stickers to thongs.

Sometimes, this demand for more leads fans to broader interests. My favorite, most personal example is Jason Manns. I don't spend a lot of time surfing for new stuff on the show and its people. But a while back, a friend linked me to a video that shows Jensen Ackles singing "Crazy Love" at a friend's wedding. The video was posted on the accompaniest's MySpace. Wondering how I knew the song, I went to iTunes to see who had also recorded it (turns out it's like, eleventy-hundred people) and saw that Jason Manns had an album. I listened, loved, and bought, and he quickly became my favorite singer/musician.

I'm not the only one. His popularity has grown since that video got passed around, and he's been asked to do concerts at Supernatural conventions (including the one I'm going to next week!). Steve Carlson is another singer/musician who has gained the same benefit of being friends with Jensen Ackles.

Trivia note: In the episode "Lazarus Rising," when Dean gets into the Impala and there's an iPod hooked up, the music playing is one of Jason's songs.

Another ripple in the pool of entertainment comes from the "six degrees" phenomenon. Casual watchers of any particular show might have a vague feeling that some guest star looks familiar, but passionate fans will recognize them right away:

"Hey, the son was Michael in 'Something Wicked,' season one! And his dad was in 'A Very Supernatural Christmas'!" (The Mentalist, 1.12)

"I'm so watching Leverage. The computer guru thief is played by Jake! You know, the guy who knifed Sam in the back!"

"I don't care if Kristin at E! Online can't recommend Harper's Island. Can you believe it's got Jim Beaver (Bobby) and Katie Cassidy (Ruby season 3) and Gina Holden (That Haley Girl, "Wendigo") and Chris Gauthier (Ronald Reznick, "we're not working for the Mandroid!") and Amber Borycki (Sophie Carlton, "Dead in the Water") and Julia Anderson (hooker at bar in "Sin City") and Ben Cotton (some Businessman in "The Magnificent Seven" I don't know) and Anna Mae Routledge ("we're walking, we're walking, and we're not touching that" in "Long-Distance Call") and Sean Rogerson (maybe fileted by a hooker from God in "Houses of the Holy," and can you believe I just looked all that up?"

Some upstart TV shows get a bigger percentage of their following than they know from people like us, who love a show so much we'll follow its stars and guest stars and even extras just to see what they're doing now.

It works for movies, too, as we've attested to before. How many of us would have seen Friday the 13th last week without the draw of Jared Padalecki, or even known about Ten Inch Hero (starring Jensen Ackles, now available for rent at Blockbuster and to preorder for purchase here)?

Because of my love of Supernatural, I wound up here!

So what "adjunct interests" have you developed due to your love of the show?

Friday the 13th

Friday the 13th just had the biggest gross for a slasher film opening…in history! That’s right, Jared’s movie is a record breaker. I, for one, think he had something to do with this feat, because, really, the hockey-masked killer has been going downhill ever since part eight, Jason Takes Manhattan. And although some fun was had with Freddy vs. Jason and Jason X (aka Jason in space) the second best thing about this new Friday the 13th is that the creators got back to the basics.

For those of you unfamiliar with the 1980 original, Jason wasn’t actually the killer. Mrs. Voorhees, deliciously played by the toothy Betsy Palmer, was taking her revenge on camp counselors because she felt their negligence was responsible for her son’s drowning death. In truth, Jason didn’t start killing until part deux and, believe it or not, he officially donned the red-marked hockey mask in part three. What this updated version of the franchise--called a “reboot” by producers--did best was condense the mythology of the first three films and bring this new starter up to wham-bam modern standards while still paying tribute to its history and diligent fans. In actuality, this is number TWELVE in the Voorhees filmography. However, storywise it’s starting a new chapter, and if the current box office boom is any indication, the series not only has fresh blood, but a long future of slasher success.

As reviews go, I’ll keep it simple. Friday the 13th 2009 follows every slasher film’s formula of sex, drugs, drinking, breasts and blood. The story opens with a quick black and white recap. It’s June 13, 1980 and Mama Voorhees is in a life or death battle with the lone surviving counselor at Camp Crystal Lake, but she loses her head (literally) and Jason (Derek Mears) is none too pleased. Twenty-some years later, five backpackers are hiking through the Crystal Lake area looking for a treasure trove of pot plants. Among the young and the restless is Whitney Miller (Amanda Righetti), a woman who feels guilty for leaving her cancer stricken mother for a short weekend away with her boyfriend. Amidst laughter and lewdness the group is quickly and brutally dispatched by a killer sporting a sac mask. “And that’s just the intro” one moviegoer gasped.

Six weeks later, Clay Miller (our boy Jared) shows up in town looking shaggy and sexy, with some serious sideburns. He’s there to find his missing sister Whitney. They’ve been on the outs for years, but when she didn’t show up for their mom’s funeral he knew something was gravely wrong. Conscience-stricken for leaving his family when he was seventeen, Clay wants desperately to discover what happened to his kid sister, but a local tells him she’s most likely dead. People don’t disappear, they die. During his search, Clay crosses paths with a group of young adults who’ve arrived in Crystal Lake to party hardy. Rich bitch Travis (Travis Van Winkle) is showing off his daddy’s cabin and his “friends” are all too happy to lap up the luxury, but girlfriend Jenna (Danielle Panabaker) is quickly seeing him for the douche he really is. One-by-one they all start dying--many of the deaths reminiscent of the first three films--and Jenna and Clay fight to survive. I’ll not detail the body count or spoil who lives and dies, but I will say this…biggest fright…Jared’s gorgeous face…wood chipper blades.

Now that I’ve left you with that haunting thought, let me just say I know critics are harshing on this reimagining, but I personally enjoyed it. I found it humorous, creative, scary and I especially liked that it gave homage to its predecessors. My only criticism is that the tension didn’t really build to squirm-in-your-seat intensity, opening withstanding, and they didn’t utilize the classic ki-ki-ki- ma-ma-ma soundtrack well enough.

Obviously, my favorite thing was Jared. In addition to being ridiculously easy on the eyes, his acting experience on Supernatural made him seem much more credible, he elevated the cast and he was a strong adversary for Jason. Had Jared been wimpy or whiny I would’ve taken serious issue, but the powers-that-be were smart enough to recognize and utilize his heroism. I happily look forward to watching him as the leading man in other films because I think the success of Friday the 13th will give him more opportunities.