Supernatural: Plenty of 2009 Year End Recognition
The end of the year, aka, the slow news cycle. This is when all the media types take their more than extra time to look back at the year that was and come up with their “2009 lists.†TV analysts are particularly prone to this activity, because television in December is as exciting as skiing in July. Sure the lists are subjective and wide open for debate, but they can be fun. Especially if your favorite show made the list. It kind of makes you looks like a genius.
For Supernatural, thanks to the whole angels and apocalypse thing, it was especially buzzed about this end of the year season. Sure, most of the top, very established TV critics went for the easy favorites and didn’t go out of their way to recognize genre shows as usual (or the repulsive CW for that matter), but there was still love. I had to dig through countless messages and posts sent to me, but here are the sites I could find that gave Supernatural that mention it so deserves.
Supernatural make TV staff writer Tim Surette’s list of The Best Shows of 2009. Here’s what he had to say about it: Let’s see, Paris Hilton gets her head chopped off, Grey’s Anatomy gets parodied, and Lucifer is a cool guy. The show has found its stride, and all it took was the impending end of the world.
www.tv.com/the-best-tv-shows-of-2009/story/20272.html
They also did a “Top 100 Everything of 2009â€. Supernatural only got one mention on the list (as did most shows) but it was a big one. #5. The wacky fake opening credits to “Changing Channels.†They even list the lyrics to the theme song.
www.tv.com/tv.coms-top-100-everything-of-2009-10-1/story/20357.html
BuddyTV
Okay, it’s no secret that BuddyTV has a huge positive slant toward the show and might not seem objective, not to mention them being the owner of the Supernatural.tv site. Still, they did a list, and Supernatural made it.
#26 – Changing Channels
#15 – The Monster At The End of This Book
www.buddytv.com/slideshows/supernatural/tvs-50-best-episodes-of-2009-30425.aspx
The New York Times
Yes, the New York Times! TV Reviewer Mike Hale went for something different and listed the Top Ten Memorable shows of 2009. If you look at this list, Supernatural is in some incredible company. Yes, it’s also the only show on The CW.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/20/arts/television/20hale.html?_r=2
TV Guide
At TV Guide.com, Supernatural made the fan voted “Your Favorite TV Shows of 2009â€
www.tvguide.com/special/best-of-year-2009/galleries.aspx
Zap2it.com
Supernatural made their prestigious list of The Best Shows of 2009. Granted they really published Mo Ryan’s list from The Watcher and disguised it as their own, but considering Zap2it is owned by Tribune, that’s still good press. Here are both links:
Supernatural also has a good listing on The Best TV Lines of 2009.
Here’s something a little different. TV Gal on her blog listed her favorite quotes on TV in 2009. There were three from Supernatural, which is great considering she is only a casual fan of the show. Here’s the link!
http://blog.zap2it.com/tvgal/2009/12/-here-are-my-favorite.html
Sign On San Diego
Supernatural made TV critic Karla Peterson’s list of the Top Ten TV Shows of The Decade. Pretty cool.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2009/dec/18/tvs-best-decade/
The Lincoln Journal Star
Their critic, Jeff Korbelik, listed Supernatural as one of 2009’s Ten Best Shows.
http://journalstar.com/entertainment/games/article_fa7f25f4-ec08-11de-aa97-001cc4c03286.html
EOnline
This one makes me smile actually. I believe it was either a year or two ago during the summer, but Kristin Dos Santos asked fans in a poll what show they thought was the best. The winning show would get a lot of buzz and mention in her upcoming segments. The list was huge and it ended up being an knock em out drag out brawl against overzealous One Tree Hill and Supernatural fans. Supernatural edged out One Tree Hill narrowly. She ended up disqualifying BOTH shows due to motivated fans and relisted the poll. Yeah, that got a lot of people on her shit list.
Anyway, she did it again this year, asking fans to vote. “Top TV 2009: What Was The Top Scripted Series of the Year?†There was no One Tree Hill listing, but Supernatural did make the polling list. So, do you think fans forgot about the previous debacle? Apparently not, because Supernatural won. By a lot. Here’s to the best “motivated†online fandom in the World.
www.eonline.com/uberblog/watch_with_kristin/b158237_top_tv_of_2009_whats_best_scripted.html
Television Without Pity
Yes, they do show love there on occasion. In their “Year in Review 2009: TV’s Most Memorable Moments,†their choice was the Grey’s Anatomy spoof on “Changing Channels.†I guess that works, although I would have credited every single spoof. Sheer brilliance.
www.televisionwithoutpity.com/show/year_in_review/year_in_review_2009_tvs_most_m.php
The AV Club
Yeah, I’m shocked I found this too. Still, I think it was a great choice. In their list “The Year in Television: 45 Indelible Moments from 2009†their choice for Supernatural? Sam and Dean’s outrageous “Wincest†discovery near the beginning of “The Monster At The End of This Book.â€
http://www.avclub.com/articles/the-year-in-television-45-indelible-moments-from-2,36591/3/
Also, keep in mind, I’ll be amending this list as things are brought to my attention. For one, I know The Futon Critic will be posting the best episodes of 2009 starting this week and Supernatural has always made the list in the past. So, if I missed anything (which I’m sure I did) let me know!
Updated 1/5
The Huffington Post
How could I forget this one! I actually think I linked it. Probably because it was one of the first out (thanks Deborah!). Ed Myers, who posts at many locations, listed Supernatural on his “Top Ten List You Won’t See Anywhere Else.” I’m providing the link to the Huffington Post.
www.huffingtonpost.com/ed-martin/isupernatural-the-middle_b_395016.html
Digital Spy
This is a British site where Season Five has yet to be seen, but Season Four impressed them enough! #14 out of the 25 best.
www.digitalspy.com/tv/tubetalk/a192908/tube-talks-top-25-tv-shows-of-2009.html
Total Sci-Fi Online
For the Total Sci-Fi Awards 2009, Supernatural captured best TV Show for the year.
http://totalscifionline.com/features/4475-the-total-sci-fi-awards-2009-results
IF Magazine
In their list of the Top Five TV shows of the Year, Supernatural took number one.
http://www.ifmagazine.com/feature.asp?article=3658
The Futon Critic
As I mentioned before, this site is doing their 50 Best TV Episodes of 2009. They are revealing ten a day. Supernatural has gotten its first rankings one at #33 and one today at #28. Their choices strangely are ones no one else has singled out yet. At #33, “The Real Ghostbusters” and at #28, “The End.”
http://www.thefutoncritic.com/rant.aspx?id=20100105_bestof2009
http://www.thefutoncritic.com/rant.aspx?id=20100106_bestof2009
Update 1/8
Here’s the other award from The Futon Critic. Changing Channels made #18. That’s the highest ranking one. Three times on the list. Not bad!
http://www.thefutoncritic.com/rant.aspx?id=20100107_bestof2009
Oh yeah, I also forgot to mention, Supernatural won the People’s Choice Award for Favorite Sci-Fi Fantasy Show!!!
Alice, thanks for this great list. Here are some additional year-end awards:
SPN made the list of Fanpop’s Best New Characters of 2009 for Lucifer:
http://www.fanpop.com/external/9494936
Ed Martin, a media/tv critic who posts at numerous locations, including jackmyers.com, The Huffington Post, and mediabizbloggers.com, posted a list entitled “The Top 10 List You Won’t See Anywhere Else, 2009 Edition”, and SPN is on the list. He said:
“Supernatural (The CW) – Now in its fifth season, this multi-layered weekly monster movie about two brothers battling external and internal demons with equal heft might give Lost a run for its money as broadcast television’s most ambitious series. That’s because its current story arc finds self-sacrificing bros Sam and Dean Winchester (strikingly well played by Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles, respectively) caught in the middle of the Apocalypse. Satan is already on the canvas, and while God has been missing in action it wouldn’t surprise me at all if genius executive producer Eric Kripke – who often works moments of grand humor into the grim goings-on — figured out a clever way to get Him involved, as well.”
http://www.jackmyers.com/commentary/ed-martin-watercooler/79088942.html or http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ed-martin/isupernatural-the-middle_b_395016.html
SPN is #14 on Digital Spy’s Top 25 shows of 2009 (note that this is a UK site and it appears they are still watching Season 4):
http://www.digitalspy.com/tv/tubetalk/a192908/tube-talks-top-25-tv-shows-of-2009.html
And this is not about the show per se, but Jared made AOL/Inside TV’s “TV’s Top Shirtless Guy Moments of 2009”:
http://insidetv.aol.com/2009/12/24/tv-top-shirtless-guy-moments-of-2009/ (there’s a video that includes scenes that were cut from “Free to Be . . . “)
And while SPN did not make TV Guide’s Matt Roush’s top 10 for 2009, in a later column he stated the following in response to a question about his top 10 list: “I feel worse for not having been able to find room for Supernatural after spending so much of the year catching up with past seasons and now enjoying the current one a great deal.”
http://www.tvguidemagazine.com/ask-matt/ask-matt-a-family-comedy-comeback-3574.html
As an aside, in the same column, Matt stuck up for SPN in response to a fan’s complaint about the show not being dark and apocalyptic enough for her (a complaint I hear quite often this season). He said: “If all you got out of the “Changing Channels†episode of Supernatural was the gimmick (which I loved, being a TV geek) and not the payoff, then you’re watching a different show than I am. I love the fact that even in the season of apocalypse this show has been building toward for some time, the writers aren’t afraid to take a flight of fancy from time to time—although I agree that the fan convention episode felt like something from a different season, because with an apocalypse going on, going about business as usual feels a bit beside the point. So I get where you’re coming from. But even on this show, I don’t always want the mythology to completely take over, although I would think in the second half of the season it pretty much will. I don’t see how you rebound from that terrific and tragic fall finale anytime soon—and didn’t that episode give you your dark and apocalyptic show back? Bottom line: A show like this isn’t going to please all of its fans every week, and I can accept that. This season hasn’t let me down in the slightest.”
Sorry this was so long, Alice. Thanks again for the great site, and Happy New Year!
Hi Alice
Wow, this is amazing. It only took them 5 years, but I guess better late than never.
Thanks for the listings.
“Motivated”??? Unless “motivated” became an accepted synonym for “plain nuts” or “batshit crazy” while I wasn’t looking, I’ll venture to say you made an understatement there, Alice 😆
Thanks for posting this though, it’s great to see Supernatural gaining more of the recognition it deserves. Even if the show has to end, let’s hope the love never does!
Alice, I’m amazed – well, it is an amazing list.
As I have not the time to follow all possible reports on the www (and not many people who would send me articles et al about this show), I am touched that Supernatural got this kind of recognition. I’m particularly proud of the New York Times – mention, and the one in the Chicago Tribune. I think it’s a testimony to the quality of the show that such prestigious papers (respectively their online version) list Supernatural among their top shows….
When I remind myself of how varied the viewers are all over the world (from lawyer to accountant to mason), I can’t help but be amazed ever again (looks like I love that word today), as this proves that Supernatural is able to reach and move people of all kinds of descent, level of education or age. There are only few shows that have achieved that, I’m sure.
Well, when I think of that, I get a vicarious pride – attack, as I realize how happy I am for everyone involved with the show (those people work so incredibly hard there, everyone) that their labours bear some great fruit. Personally, I’m very happy to have found this show and that I allowed myself to get sucked in… I’ve had my best watch-tv-moments with this show, I’ve learned a lot (as I started reading more about the issues tackled in the show and expanded my library on mythology, among other things) and it brought me eventually here – which is such fun.
Thanks for this great list, Alice. And thanks Deborah for the additions. This was some nice pasture I could put my brain on to graze during my lunch break (first day of work after my holiday and already a lot to do.
All of my patients are still alive (as some were in really bad shape and I was always a bit nervous about how they would cope with everything and not succumb to any suicide wishes. I haven’t lost a patient so far, so I guess I must be doing something right, but I can rarely shake that nervousness when I’m away… occupational hazard, I guess), and I’ve got some new patients, among them a boy of eighteen who somewhat reminds me of Dean in ‘Faith’. Guess what, he’s a fan, too, as I found out when asking him about his favorite movies and books…Perhaps I’ll be able to use the show as a tool of therapy, as I have done in the past. Works great.
Best wishes always, Jas
Yep, in 10 years, people will look back and wonder why they were so ridiculously spaced out on the brown acid by missing this brilliant show. Screw you, procedural cop shows!
You know, Jas, every time you give us a peek into your world, I feel guilty when I complain about MY job. Yikes.
Randal, it wasn’t my intention to make you (or anyone here) feel bad in whatever way. Usually I simply write down what comes to that freaky mind of mine and mostly don’t bother checking it. I guess, an analytical mind and imagination sometimes are a weird combination. I’ve been heard to complain about my job, too, you know, as the working hours are killing me sometimes, but I love doing what I do. I wouldn’t change it for the world (possibly, though, for a nice house on a Hawaiian beach… 🙂 Got one to offer?)
😉 Jas
Doesn’t surprise me that SPN made all those lists….what surprises me is that they DO make all those lists, and still their ratings are low. There has to be a black hole out there somewhere sucking in all this notoriety.
Yeah Randal…a TV show is just like any other art form…..it doesn’t get any recognition until its dead. 👿
Thanks for the list Alice. I’ll keep checking back for updates.
Thanks so much for putting all these articles in one easy-to-access place, Alice! I’m so glad SPN is getting some recognition in these year-end lists. It certainly deserves it!
Jas, don’t worry, I know that wasn’t your intention, but you deal with people with real problems. I deal with lazy, snot-nosed college punks. 😉
Sorry, no Hawaiian house, but I’ve got a nice Siberian condo!
Sablegreen, what I don’t get is that other shows with higher ratings have action, have drama, and Vampire Diaries is doing well, so it can’t be the old canard of horror. What the hell is wrong with you America? (rhetorical, or this would be a 45,000 word comment!)
Come on, Randal, a Siberian condo? When I look out of my window I could bet my life on already living in Siberia, nothing but snow, really cold air ( :o) and all the other good ( :twisted:-) winter stuff… Sorry, no deal…
About that rhetorical question… ‘the American Interest’ magazine offers a whole issue on that matter…
;-), Jas
I’ve seen many of these individually, but had no idea what they looked like bunched all together this way. My, we rock, don’t we? Oh, yeah, we DO! I’m so proud of our show, which is on a crap network that gives it little promotion and really, not enough love to suit me. I saw Dawn’s speech, and it sounded to me like she was reading off cue cards and didn’t mean a word she was saying. I don’t care, I float on air, SUPERNATURAL is the best, flipping off all the rest!