Fandom Chronicles

Fandom Chronicles. History of Supernatural Fandom

2005

July:

• 07.01: The LJ community supernatural_tv is created.
• 07.16: The first entry to supernatural_tv is posted.
• at some point in July, the SPN pilot is available on the WB website.

September:

• 09.13: The SPN Pilot airs on the WB.
• 09.28: supernatural_tv counts 200+ members.
• - By the end of the month, several communities on all possible topics already exist, among them communities and fansites for Italian and French fans.

Oktober:

• 10.17: First outburst of "The Female Threat": Fans go nuts over casting spoilers/rumors for a female principle lead called "Lindsay".

November:

• 11.03: Supernatural added to TWOP
• 11.13: The SPN Newsletter posts the first link to a Jsquared fic, stoneprincess's postalleysnoggingbackatmyplacefic here. Two days later super_real is created.
• 11.27-11.29: The first SPN Genderswap stories are posted to the net. See a list here.
• - By the end of the month, supernatural_tv has over 500 members, and a new mod, monticora helps out stormbox.

December:

• SPN fandom learns its first lessons on the path to being a fandom and not just individuals sharing the same interests. In the month of December, a few minor kerfuffles between fandom veterans and newbies, incest lovers and squicked Wincest-haters, lead to discussion about fandom unity and possible diaspora. [see e.g. stone-princess' post here (f-locked)]. The fandom split-up everybody expected to happen didn't happen - (events of May 2007's the BIG LJ STRIKETHROUGH 2007 show that SPN fandom knows how to stick together).

2006

January:

• mid-January: The infamous UK Promo (ITV) with the "Scary just got sexy!" slogan (music: Echo & The Bunnymen: The Killing Moon) finds its way online and fries a couple of braincells. The general consensus is that the Brits surely know how to advertise TV shows - and that the WB should take a leaf out of their book. UK Promo Season 1
• 01.24: The WB unexpectedly sends out a press release, stating that they will merge with America's other, struggling teen-show network The UPN to build the CW in September 2006. In their press release, Supernatural is stated as one of the shows helping to shape the new network - still, fans are worried, as the merger means that SPN now has more competition for the 2006/2007 time slot.
• - approx. end of the month: Different media sources report that SPN is moving to a different timeslot starting March, 16th, from Tuesday nights (with 8 p.m. show Gilmore Girls as a lead-in) to Thursday nights 9 p.m. (with Smallville as a lead-in.) Fan reactions vary: While the sci-fi/supernatural show Smallville seems to be a more fitting lead-in than the romantic-comedy type Gilmore Girls, the 9 p.m. Thursday timeslot is the toughest on American television (with shows like CSI and favourite teen drama The OC as competition). Fans fear that SPN won't be able to hold viewers and that its ratings will drop to a point where its survival isn't guaranteed. (Ratings drop indeed, but the retention out of Smallville is high, satisfying the WB network.)

February

• The beginning of February sees the fandom's first brainstorming for "Save our Show" ideas - as far as sources go, none of them have been put into action. Among other issues, fans critique a lack of promotion from the WB network - something that'll be still a sore thumb even one and a half years later.
• 02.16: The community spnnewsletter is created, replacing the former sn_newsletter. More info here. spnnewsletter strives to bring daily updated SPN news as well as a collection of posted fan fic or fan art.
• at some point in February: A new trend in RPS fan fiction surfaces: Jensen's real life friend Christian Kane starts to appear in RPS - for a while, the Jensen/Chris pairing is VERY popular. One of the most prolific Jensen/Chris fic writers is ethrosdemon. See (FIC) Being Christian by ethrosdemon

March

• 03.04: Jared, Jensen, Kim Manners, John Shiban, Eric Kripke and Robert Singer all attend the Supernatural Panel at the William S. Paley Television Festival. The interview and panel session is later included on Best Buys' Supernatural DVD Season 1 edition. Predictably, the panel discussion spawns tons of Jsquared due to the adorableness of Jensen and Jared, as well as their flirting in front of the cameras. see Excerpts Paley Festival

April

• 04.13: stormbox starts the first promotion day on spnnewsletter (Source)
• 04.18: minkmix's posts the first of urdsama's The Dean Show comics.
• 04.20: potthead joins the ranks of the spnnewsletter mods. (Source)
• mid-to-end April: Kirsten's Save One Show campaign on E!online for 2006/2007 includes SPN - despite enthusiasm and multi-voting, the One Tree Hill fans beat Supernatural to it.

May

• 05.04: madam_rosmerta starts The Supernatural Scrapbook Project - with entries for Jensen, Jared and Eric Kripke. Source
• 05.04: The last episode of Season 1, Devil's Trap airs, leaving fans with quite a shocker of a cliffhanger. The fandom goes into summer hiatus with a desperation to find out what happened (mostly to Metallicar). The 4 1/2 month long hiatus will be spent by many pondering the fate of the characters and obsessively writing fan fiction, that will inevitably be jossed in September. All is not well on the fandom front - the CW has yet to announce its fall schedule. The fandom waits two weeks with bated breath whether the show is renewed, or not.
• 05.18: The first ever CW Upfronts are held in New York: SPN is officially renewed for a second season in its Thursday timeslot.
• 05.22: madam_rosmerta starts The Padalecki (Birthday) Project - Source
• 05.26: MediaWest*Con 26 starts on May 26 and lasts until May 29, 2006 - reportedly, there was a Supernatural Panel. Source

June

• 06.03: madam_rosmerta starts Jared Jives - a sub-project of The Padalecki Project, namely a mix tape collected by the fandom for Jared's birthday. Source
• 06.12: Someone buys supernatural_tv 12 months of a paid livejournal account. When noone steps forward to admit they gifted the community with a paid account, it is assumed that the gift comes from someone of the SPN production team.
• 06.17: madam_rosmerta introduces Paws for a Cause - another sub-project of The Padalecki Project. Source
• 06.19/20: Foilers about the new characters for season 2 (taken from the IMDB boards) start heavy discussions - in the end they turn out wrong. The rumored Sam or Dean girlfriend is heavily rejected by the fans. Source
• 06.28: The first official spoilers (casting and sides for episode 2.01 In My Time Of Dying hit the net.

July

• 07.08: Spoilers for 2.02 Everybody Loves a Clown appear online. Fans are especially pissed off at the fact that John Winchester is indeed dead and at the addition of the new, recurring character of 'Alex' (later Jo) - clearly the feared "Dean girlfriend". Source
• 07.12: Voting starts on the Jared Jives soundtrack: Source
• 07.13: The sides for episode 2.02 appear again, completely rewritten. Fans claim that even though there have been some improvements (e.g. Alex doesn't sound like a spoiled teenager anymore and the writing of the dialogue has improved by far, the main issues remain the same for most of the fandom. The fans excited about the new cast addition are in the minority. Even on the CW boards (where excitement about romance in Supernatural is expected), the reaction is rather lukewarm. Source

September

• 09.05: The [Season 1 DVD] comes out, including all episodes, a gag reel, two documentaries and audio commentaries. The Best Buy set also includes the William S. Paley Television Festival recording.
• 09.19: The CW Launch Party is held in New York. Both Jared and Jensen attend. Source
• 09.28: 2.01 In My Time Of Dying airs on the new CW network, one week after its original announced date. Reactions from the fandom are quite positive. Source
• 09.03/04: Final ratings for the first episode are in (3.9 million) and fans are quite content, as Grey's Anatomy is airing opposite it. Still, most of the fans want SPN to return to Tuesdays to its old spot. Source

October

• 10.05: 2.02 Everybody loves a Clown (episode) airs - the initial reaction to the dreaded new characters isn't that bad - although the reception of Jo is a bit luke-warm, mostly wait-and-see with a few enthusiasts. Source- Later, the resentment increases: What would you change about Supernatural? 10.29.
• mid-to-end October: The community Winchester Times is created with the main goal to promote SPN. Also, several other, smaller promotion ideas pop up, fueled by an interview of Eric Kripke, in which he says that more word-of-mouth might help them stay on the air for five or seven seasons.

November

• 11.02: The next episode with Jo in it has most of the fandom up in arms - on supernatural_tv the dislike is expressed so strongly ({http://community.livejournal.com/supernatural_tv/627282.html Source]), that one of the mods issues a more than disappointed warning (post locked) for fans to behave themselves.

more coming...

2007

June

• 06.04 - 06.10: Jensen stars in the Aaron Sorkin's play A Few Good Men at Casa Manana Theatre in Forth Worth, Texas. The fandom is enthusiastic about Jensen's foray into theatre work - quite a few take on the journey down to Texas to see him (among those going to see him is no other than Jared). Reports are collected in the one good man lj community.

July

• 07.01: hanncoll announces the start of Operation: Winchester, a spn_promote project that encourages fans to send Season 1 DVD boxes to American troops stationed in the Middle East and Afghanistan, as "comfort for the troops". Source