The Winchesters: cancelled Supernatural prequel fails to find a new home

A few weeks ago, we heard that The CW had cancelled the Supernatural prequel series The Winchesters after just one season – which wasn’t a major surprise, since The CW is under new management that is looking to wipe the slate clean for the most part. But being cancelled by The CW didn’t necessarily have to mean that The Winchesters was dead, because the show’s producers at Warner Bros. Television had the chance to find a new home for it on another network or at a streaming service. Unfortunately, Deadline reports that no one was interested in picking up The Winchesters, so the show is now officially over.

The Winchesters came from Warner Bros Television and CBS Studios. Glen Winter (Supergirl) directed and executive produced the pilot episode. This show was executive produced by Supernatural star Jensen Ackles and his wife Danneel through their company Chaos Machine Productions.

The Winchesters is told from the perspective of narrator Dean Winchester, voiced by Ackles. The aim with this show is to tell the epic, untold love story of how John met Mary and how they put it all on the line to not only save their love but the entire world. When John returns home from fighting in Vietnam, a mysterious encounter sparks a new mission to trace his father’s past. In his journey, he crosses paths with 19-year-old demon hunter Mary, who is also searching for answers after the disappearance of her own father. Together, the two join forces with young hunter-in-training Latika and easygoing hunter Carlos to uncover the hidden truths about both their families. Their investigation leads them to a rare book emporium, whose owner Ada takes an interest in the occult and could provide the missing pieces to their puzzle. But secrets run deep for both the Winchesters and Campbells, and despite the best efforts of John’s mother Millie to protect her son from pursuing a dangerous life of demon hunting, John and Mary are both determined to work together to uphold their families’ legacies while beginning to form a family of their own.

Deadline notes that, “Three of the major streaming platforms each had a tie to The Winchesters that would make a pickup feasible — Max is owned by the same company as Warner Bros. TV, Netflix is the longtime streaming home of Supernatural where all 15 seasons are still available, and Amazon Studios is where Jensen and Danneel Ackles’ company is now based. In the end, no one stepped up to take in the show. The producers’ efforts were likely hampered by the ongoing writers strike as networks and streamers are refraining from major pickup decisions amid the uncertainty when series can go into production.”

Ackles acknowledged the bad timing in a tweet where he confirmed that the search for a new home was over:

The Winchesters stars Meg Donnelly (American Housewife) as Mary, who “has been fighting the forces of darkness since she was a child. After losing someone close to her, the hardened hunter considers quitting the family business – until her father’s disappearance and the arrival of newcomer John Winchester forces her to lead a new team”; Drake Rodger (The In Between) as John Winchester, who has “recently returned from Vietnam. The selfless and clearheaded John finds a new mission back home, where traces of his father’s past lead him to a secret organization and a whole new war as a hunter”; Nida Khurshid (Station 19) as Latika Desai, “Fiercely intelligent and braver than she believes, Latika Desai is a young hunter-in-training whose research and problem-solving skills help her face her fears in battling dark forces”; newcomer Jonathan “Jojo” Fleites as Carlos Cervantez. “Easygoing and confident, Carlos is a natural when it comes to fighting demons and a boost of positivity for the team as it takes on more serious threats”; Demetria McKinney (Tyler Perry’s House of Payne) as Ada Monroe, “a studious and sharp bookstore owner who also takes interest in the mysteries of the occult”; Bridget Regan as pirate radio DJ Rockin’ Roxy, who is “hijacking the airwaves of Lawrence, Kansas to broadcast a wicked new sound”; and Bianca Kajlich (Halloween: Resurrection) as Millie, a “hard-working and tough and has done the bulk of parenting in her family for the past 15 years. She has always worried John, a Vietnam veteran, would take after his father and wanted to prevent him from pursuing a dangerous life. She is now coming to grips with the fact that this is exactly what John plans to do.”

Are you disappointed to hear that The Winchesters couldn’t find a new home? Share your thoughts on the end of this series by leaving a comment below.