Supernatural at the Paley Festival: The Twitter Point of View

I had two choices.  Go through the extreme time and expense of flying out to LA from Ohio, attend the hour and a half Supernatural panel at the Paley Center For Television’s annual festival and then fly home, OR… stay at home curled up on the couch under a blanket with two miniature daschunds and cover everything on Twitter!  The first option is more fun.  Guess which one I ended up doing though? 
 
Anyway, I just spent some time following this special event for Supernatural on Twitter.  Since I know many of you aren’t Twitter savvy or live in that part of the world that is probably sleeping now, here’s a much abridged rundown of some of the more interesting points made.  

 
I had two choices.  Go through the extreme time and expense of flying out to LA from Ohio, attend the hour and a half Supernaturalpanel at the Paley Center For Television’s annual festival and then fly home, OR… stay at home curled up on the couch under a blanket with two miniature daschunds and cover everything on Twitter!  The first option is more fun.  Guess which one I ended up doing though? 
 
Anyway, I just spent some time following this special event for Supernatural on Twitter.  Since I know many of you aren’t Twitter savvy or live in that part of the world that is probably sleeping now, here’s a much abridged rundown of some of the more interesting points made.  

The following information comes from tweets by Danielle Turchiano (Examiner, @Danielletbd), Laura Prudom (AOL TV, @LauinLA), and Eric Goldman (IGN, @EricIGN).  But first, I want to share something VERY special from TV Guide’s Chief Editor Debra Burnham.  If you remember, she’s the one that announced on the CBS Early Morning Show that Supernatural had won the Fan Favorites Cover Contest.  
 
“I couldn’t resist revealing @paleyfest that #supernatural just might be a part of our April 18 Fan Favorites issue!”
 
Considering that various reports have come out that the guys were part of a TV Guide photo shoot today, I’d scratch that “might” and substitute it for “will.”  So, it looks like our voting efforts probably paid off again! 
 
Now, for the panel.  Oh, wait, I must do this.  
 
 
SPOILER ALERT!!!!
 
 

• The panel was moderated by AOL TV’s most awesome TV Critic Maureen Ryan.  If you remember, Mo moderated the Supernatural panel at Comic Con the year before last.  She is a big fan girl along with being a great journalist.  The panelists are Jared Padalecki, Jensen Ackles, Misha Collins, Jim Beaver, Eric Kripke, Sera Gamble, and Ben Edlund.  
•  
• Jared, Jensen, Misha, and Jim were all wearing suits.  No flannel shirts this time!  They all looked quite good.

• Attendees were treated to extended outtakes and bloopers from the acting scene in “The French Mistake” and a scene from the upcoming western episode (6.18).  According to Danielle Turchiano, it “looks like what Back To The Future Part III could and should have been.”  
•  
• The “French Mistake” stemmed from an idea by Ben Edlund in which Sam and Dean were going in and out of a movie.  It was Kripke that suggested they be Jared and Jensen.  Jared and Jensen were brought into the writer’s room to hear the pitch about the episode because of the unique story.  That was a first.  Normally they just get the scripts.  
•  
• Quote from Kripke about “The French Mistake.”  “None of us will ever be in a position where we can do this again.” 
• Misha wanted to be written as a douchebag in “The French Mistake.”  The writer’s said no.  Jensen thought Misha’s death scene was funny. 
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• Jensen does not have an aquarium in his trailer. 
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• Are there any lines that Supernatural won’t cross?  Jensen: “I may have thought there were until I was standing in ski boots on a
• Japanese game show.”
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• Jim Beaver joked about his wheelchair prep.  Basically he showed up and they told him to sit down.  
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• They talked about Ben Edlund writing and directing episode 20 which is being shot right now.  It’s very emotional, it’s done from Castiel’s point of view, and it raises the stakes for the finale.  Misha actually had serious praise for Ben’s directing skills.  
•  
• Eric Kripke is writing the finale, Bob Singer directing.  Kripke turned in the script on Friday, they start shooting Wednesday.  
• Bob Singer was the one who came up with the idea of soulless Sam (something Sera Gamble told us in our interview with her!).
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• The cast can’t talk about what’s coming up much but they promise some surprising twists. 
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• Kripke emailed the writers thanking them for the manly way they killed him off.  He appreciated none of the urinating. 
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• Ben Edlund’s latest crazy idea is he wants to do a 3 camera live setup.  Jensen does NOT want to do that.  
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• Castiel is getting a loyal lieutenant by the name of Rachel.  There was some sort of Angelina Jolie joke involved from Misha, but I’m sure I’ll get it wrong if I tried to share it.    
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• Kripke wanted to approach the last two episodes like a movie, but they really feel like two episodes. 
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• Jared misses Soulless Sam.  He enjoyed playing him that way.  He likes darker and more disturbed.  Jensen mentioned how much that story line put him out of his comfort zone.  
•  
• CONTROVERSY TIME!!!!  This already has raised some Twitter protests.  Kripke says there are no plans for the amulet to return.  He even joked that the contract negotiations aren’t going well and it’s currently doing a guest spot on One Tree Hill.  My response on Twitter to all the controversy?  That would make a PERFECT CW promotional gimmick.  “See which show Dean’s amulet makes an appearance and who’s wearing it!”  Yeah, crickets were chirping over that idea.
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• Kripke took a few moments to criticize his own writing.  He always wants to go back and change things.  The exposition scenes are hard to write.  Jensen mentioned they were also hard to act! 
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• Here’s something fun.  Eric at IGN tweeted that Sam and Dean aren’t allowed to have umbrellas despite filming in rainy Vancouver.  That’s a mandate from Kripke.  I replied back that “Bugs” must have been the episode that kicked off that mandate, for they did look ridiculous holding them.  Here’s Eric’s reply:  “@WinFamBusiness You are correct! Kripke saw the dailies and made the mandate 🙂
•  
• Someone asked about whether there was a female character coming with a positive force.  Jared joked that it’s just Castiel. 
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• Jensen was a little taken back by Misha’s deep voice for Castiel at first.  “What is he doing?  Did he audition?”  
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• Ben Edlund gave a shout out to fans on Twitter for making “Fight the fairies” trend when “Clap Your Hands If You Believe” aired.  That actually created a legitimate outcry from the gay community.
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• Eric Kripke mentioned how Kim Manners was at the first Supernatural Paley panel in 2006 and said he “hopes he’s here today too.”  Yep, I’m misty!
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• Here’s a REALLY cool never before known fact (by me at least).  Loretta Devine, who plays Missouri, was supposed to be in “Devil’s Trap.”  She wasn’t available because she was doing a movie, so they created the character of Bobby Singer instead.  Look what happened because of that!  Kripke likes that happy accident, said that things worked out they way they were supposed to.  He was supposed to be named Bobby Manners, but they found a guy in South Dakota with that name. 
•  
• 42 years in this business, and on my tombstone it’s going to say, ‘He kissed Crowley'” – Jim Beaver

• “We like to kill people.”  – Sera Gamble.  
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• “You can use the word dick as long as you’re not talking about a dick.” – Kripke
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• Kripke has a specific coda in mind when the show ends.  He obviously didn’t use it when they got a season six.
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• This is a tweet word from word from Laura Prudom (@LauinLA).  It’s too good: 

After that, everyone rushed off because they had a plane to catch.  So, that ends another great moment in Supernatural history!  Definitely more coming from Bardicvoice, who attended the panel and will no doubt have far better detail than what I could scramble together.  Stay tuned!
 
Here’s some pictures too!

Here’s a ton more at Getty Images and Wire Image: 

www.gettyimages.com.au/Search/Search.aspx

www.wireimage.com/GalleryListing.asp

Here’s some more really great ones: 

jaredpictures.com/thumbnails.php

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