Buffy
Okay, WWBD. What would Buffy do? Huh?
When Supernatural started, comparison to the successful Joss Whedon shows Buffy and Angel were inevitable. Like them, Supernatural featured ordinary people fighting the Supernatural, and it also aired on The WB where Buffy had started and Angel had aired until it finished in 2003. An early review of the Pilot described Supernatural as "new X-Files meets the OC, meets Buffy type show from the WB" Source (yeah we have no idea where The O.C fits in either !)
Supernatural is set in in a world where Buffy exists - as a TV show - as we find out when Ghostfacer Ed Zeddmore references it in 1.17 Hell House.
Supernatural certainly attracted many viewers who had also been fans of the Whedon show. This can particularly be seen in Supernatural/Buffy Crossover crossover fanworks. The pairing of Dean with the rogue slayer Faith.
Buffy fandom invented the term Jossed - to be jossed is to have fan theories or events in Fanfic be invalidated by new canon in the Show. By contrast Kripked was a term coined in Supernatural fandom to refer to having fan theories supported by canon. See also Fan Fic Cliches
The most significant crossover between the series is Ben Edlund. Ben started working with Joss on Firefly before moving to Angel for the last couple of seasons. He wrote and directed the Hugo nominated episode Smile Time aka the one where Angel gets turned into a puppet.
Keith R.A. DeCandido has written tie-in novels fro both Supernatural and Buffy.
Many actors from Buffy and Angel have appeared on Supernatural - the first were Amy Acker who appeared in 1.03 Dead in the Water and Julie Benz was in 1.12 Faith. Following Amber Benson's appearance as Lenore in 2007, EP Bob Singer said "I thought Buffy had a great cast, and we used Amber Benson. I’d like to get Spike [James Marsters] on our show. I never thought I would particularly like Buffy, but my wife got me hooked on it, and I was hooked on him. Plus, that series was so well written. It was so smart." Source
Other Whedon alumni who have appeared on Supernatural are:
| Character | Actor/Actress | Role on Supernatural |
| Tara in Buffy | Amber Benson | Lenore |
| Cordelia Chase in Buffy and Angel | Charisma Carpenter | Maggie Stark |
| Spike in Buffy and Angel | James Marsters | Don Stark |
| Kaylee in Firefly | Jewel Staite | Amy Pond |
| Vocah in Angel and M'Fashnik Demon in Buffy | Todd Stashwick | Dracula |
| Harmony Kendall in Buffy and Angel | Mercedes McNab | Lucy |
| Winfred Burkle/Illyria in Angel | Amy Acker | Andrea Barr |
| Darla in Buffy and Angel | Julie Benz | Layla Rourke |
| Badger in Firefly | Mark Sheppard | Crowley |
| Sam Ryan in Angel | Jeffrey Dean Morgan | John Winchester |
| Masked Teen in Buffy | Aldis Hodge | Jake Talley |
| Tommy in Angel | Ridge Canipe | young Dean Winchester |
| Jape in Buffy | Rob Benedict | Chuck Shurley |
| Zachary Kralik and Rack in Buffy | Jeff Kober | Randall |
| Deputy Mayor Allan Finch in Buffy | Jack Plotnick | Ian |
| Gib Cain in Buffy and Sahjhan in Angel | Jack Conley | Sheriff Al Britton |
| David Kirby in Buffy | Chad Lindberg | Ash |
| Linwood Murrow in Angel | John Rubenstein | Charlie The Magician |
| Vi in Buffy | Felicia Day | Charlene Bradbury |
| Ranse Burgess in Firefly | Frederic Lehne | Azazel |
| Vivian in Angel | Brittany Ishibashi | Maggie Zeddmore |
| Dealer vampire in Angel | Henri Lubatti | Bobby's Reaper |
| Tara (vampire) in Buffy | Tamara Braun | Cindy Cassity |
| Margaret in Angel | Annie Wersching | Susan Thompson |
| Roy in Buffy | Bryan Cuprill | George |
| Behemoth Lorne in Angel | David Mattey | Luther Garland |
| Boone in Angel | Mark Rolston | Alastair |
| Cynthia York in Angel | Aimee Garcia | Nancy Fitzgerald |
| Vaughne in Buffy | Megalyn Echikunwoke | Cassie Robinson |
| Richard Wilkins in Buffy | Harry Groener | Professor Morrison |
