Eric Kripke

Eric Kripke at the TCA press tour 2007.

Opening of the original pitch for Supernatural posted by Eric Kripke

Plot ideas brainstorm from early SPN source

Plot ideas brainstorm from early SPN

Eric Kripke is Series Creator and Executive Consultant. He was the showrunner for seasons 1-5. He stayed in a writer/executive producer role for season six and has been executive consultant since season seven. Kripke originally pitched the show as "Star Wars in truck stop America" (Source).

Kripke on the genesis of the series from 2008:

Kripke: At one point I wanted to do an anthology show. Another time, I wanted to do a series about a reporter who works for a tabloid magazine, pretty much a rip-off of the original Kolchak: The Night Stalker. And then, finally, just through development with the studio, settled on this idea of telling these stories in the format of this Route 66: Great American Road Trip with these two brothers.

TV.com: Well, it worked well.

Kripke: It's sort of funny how it all worked out. I literally had scribbled [the idea] in a notebook the day before my meeting with the studio, and then I came into the studio and had pitched them my reporter idea. And they didn't like it. They said, "What else do you got?" I didn't have anything. So, I tap danced and said, "Well, I got this great idea about two brothers on a road trip." They loved it, and it ended up being the show. So, it's funny how that works out.

Supernatural pitch August 30, 2004 - This was Kripke's pitch for Supernatural describing the main characters and concept and the tone and themes of the series. The family is called the Harrisons, and Sam and Dean grew up with relatives after their mother was killed in a car accident that their father claimed was caused something evil.
A substantially different draft of the script for the Pilot based on the original pitch and featuring the Harrisons.
Script of the Pilot (Production Draft)
Network Arenas June 3 2005. An overview of the first five episodes of season one.

Kripke talks about casting Jared and Jensen:

When we started casting, we had archetypes in mind, which were Han Solo and Luke Skywalker. We were really looking for Sam to be empathetic, kind, and likeable, and really the audience surrogate. The person who the audience would most see themselves as and really carry the story through their eyes. And that required a really unique likeability. For Dean, we were looking for Han Solo. We were looking for devil-may-care, charismatic, a little rough around the edges, a little edgy, says things that are not always the kindest thing, as long as they're funny. And that was really what we started out with.

And Jared and Jensen both just so inhabited those parts, and then proceeded to blow us away with how dimensionalized they were. For Jensen, the level of emotion and totally flawed, screwed-to-hell psyche that he brings to Dean, we really are enamored with. This idea that on the surface here's this Han Solo devil-may-care persona, but when you really scratch beneath the surface, you see that anyone who has that persona has it because they are just so messed up, and that you would have to be so screwed up and damaged to be the person who always jumps first off a cliff.

So, he really brought Dean to life in a really three-dimensional way, and Jared did the same thing with Sam. Yes, Sam was likeable, and the audience surrogate and all the things he was supposed to be, but also angry, and disaffected, and, at times, hilariously funny, loyal, and despondent. He brought in all of these different colors that have really brought these characters to life, which I think is probably very rare for a genre show to have--characters as dimensionalized as ours--and I'm really proud of it. It has a lot to do with Bob Singer and the other writers probably more than it had to do with me. I came in just looking for good kills, and through the talents and abilities of the actors and the writers, they just brought these guys to life in a way I never really dreamed, obviously.

Kripke on his childhood trauma:

Because of the show, people wonder if I had a disturbed childhood, or tortured puppies, stuff like that. But I'm a normal Ohio boy from a tight-knit family — though my friends and family do seem surprised that I'm coming up with such twisted crap. About once a month my sister calls me and says, "What the hell's wrong with you?" [1]

Kripke on his worldview:

If I had a worldview, and I don't know if I do, but if I did, it's one that's intensely humanistic. [That worldview] is that the only thing that matters is family and personal connection, and that's the only thing that gives life meaning. Religion and gods and beliefs -- for me, it all comes down to your brother. And your brother might be the brother in your family, or it might be the guy next to you in the foxhole, it's about human connections. Source

Fan ad in The Hollywood Reporter after the end of season five.

Kripke on the fans of the Show:

First of all, I love our fans. I love them to death. I love how passionate they are. But they tend to worry unnecessarily. They tend to get stressed before they have a chance to judge the finished product. We are so conscious and aware of our fans. We're making the show for the fans; we're not making the show for the network. We would never do anything to betray them. I'm not saying we're perfect. I'm not saying we don't make mistakes. But we're very conscious and aware. And when we do make mistakes, we course-correct. So if I can get any message to them, it's, 'Don't worry. We're making choices based on what's best creatively for the show.' Source- July 2007 after the casting of Ruby and Bela</a>

At Comic-Con 2009 Kripke said "he has a "tempestuous, loving, conflicting" relationship with the online Supernatural fan community, and that the meta episode 4.18 The Monster at the End of This Book gave him a chance to lovingly make fun of them (Source).

On the 100th episode featurette on the season five DVD, Kripke said: "I remember every episode. They're like my children. And some are beautiful children and some are ugly and deformed. But there all your children. It makes you emotional and amazed and you kinda can't believe where the times gone. It's like watching kids grow up and get bloody."

Variety reported that Kripke has signed a two-year creative deal with Warner Bros., but would stay on as the showrunner for Superantural in its fourth season.

With the announcement of the season six renewal of the show on February 17, 2010, Michael Ausiello reports that both Eric Kripke and Bob Singer will step aside as show runners to devote more time to new projects with the WB. Sera Gamble is promoted to showrunner. Ausiello reports a source saying: “Eric and Bob will be working very closely with Sera. They are not abandoning the show."

Despite the pickup of his script for the movie Haunted, which he'll also direct, Kripke's involvement with Supernatural continues in season seven. According to Sera Gamble, “Eric was in the room full-time when we were conceiving this season’s mythology and he continues to consult part-time” (Source).

Sera Gamble noted a convention she picked up from Kripke - ending every script with To Be Continued...

6.15 The French Mistake



Name	Eric Kripke
Actor	Micah A. Hauptman
Dates	April 24, 1974 - 2011 (killed by Virgil)
Location	Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Occupation	Series Creator/Writer/Executive Producer
Episode(s)	6.15 The French Mistake

Eric Kripke lies dead.

Eric - sequestered away in a cabin working on his new pilot - is called to the set as a result of Sam and Dean's strange behavior. Bob Singer is relieved to see him, and they talk briefly about Misha Collins' murder, which Eric is quick to point out that, though a tragedy, got them the front page of Variety. He also mentions that he's had a breakthrough on then new show he's writing, Octocobra. Before Eric can speak to the boys, though, Virgil appears and shoots him three times with a shotgun, killing him.

Writer of:

1.01 Pilot
1.02 Wendigo (story by Ron Milbauer and Terri Hughes Burton)
1.09 Home
1.16 Shadow
1.22 Devil's Trap
2.01 In My Time of Dying
2.22 All Hell Breaks Loose: Part Two
3.01 The Magnificent Seven
3.16 No Rest for the Wicked
4.01 Lazarus Rising
4.07 It's the Great Pumpkin, Sam Winchester with Julie Siege
4.10 Heaven and Hell (story)
4.22 Lucifer Rising
5.01 Sympathy for the Devil
5.09 The Real Ghostbusters (story by Nancy Weiner)
5.22 Swan Song (story by Eric "Giz" Gerwirtz)
6.22 The Man Who Knew Too Much

Director of:

2.20 What Is and What Should Never Be

- Transcript of Eric Kripke's commentary on What Is and What Should Never Be by stir_of_echoes

4.22 Lucifer Rising

Other Projects

Read about Kripke's involvement with The Sandman TV series
Kripke was listed an associate producer on the movie The Adjustment Bureau.
July 11, 2011: Variety reported that Warner Bros. had picked up Haunted a movie script by Kripke, who was also slated to direct, about a haunted house told from the ghost's point of view. The project was being set up with Greg Berlanti through Berlanti Productions and Kevin McCormick via his Langley Park banner.
August 25, 2011: Deadline reported that Eric Kripke would write and executive produce a new series for the CW titled Deadman based on the character from DC Comics.
On September 24, 2011: Deadline announced that a drama written by Kripke and to be developed by J.J. Abrams had gotten a pilot production commitment from NBC. The series called Revolution is described as an epic adventure thriller. It hails from Abrams’ Bad Robot production company and Warner Bros. TV where the company is based. Abrams, Kripke and Bryan Burk served as executive producers.
April 2015: Eric Kripke announced that he was developing a story which will be launched on two platforms - TV (USA) and comics (Vertigo). The story Amped focuses on "a neurotic family man who buys an online ‘smart pill’ to increase his focus and jolt him out of his slump, but gets much more than he bargained for. To his surprise, the pill gives him incredible strength and power. The story examines both the mighty highs and humiliating lows of being a real-life superhero." source, The comic - now called "Jacked" was published in late 2015.
- Read a reviews of Jacked here by Jules Wilkinson
2016: His pilot for a time travel series, co-written by Shawn Ryan has been ordered to pilot by NBC.
- Timeless was cancelled after two seasons. Following the cancellation it was brought back for a final two hour episode.
In April 2019, it was announced that [https://www.indiewire.com/2019/04/the-boys-review-amazon-superheroes-tribeca-1202129468/ Kripke's new series The Boys, based on the comics by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson, would premier on Amazon on July 26th 2019
- On the 17th August, 2020 Jensen announced via his Instagram that he will be joining Season 3 of Eric Kripke's series The Boys as the character Soldier Boy.

Trivia

While many fans developed intricate theories as to the significance of Jess and Dean sharing a birthday, Eric Kripke has stated that he chose the date - January 24th - because it is his wife's birthday -"and it's kinda my valentine to her."
in 1.01 Pilot, John's motel room is papered with articles. One is about Constance Welch. The article says a neighbor described Constance as a quiet but very lovely woman. This neighbor is named Deanna Kripke - the name of Eric Kripke's wife.
Dean and Sam's grandmother is also called Deanna - Deanna Campbell.