Supernatural alum Jared Padalecki playfully criticizes the show’s impressive episode count, singling out one particular example of its negative effects. Padalecki currently stars as the titular character on Walker, The CW’s reboot of the 1990s Chuck Norris drama. Even though Walker has been renewed, it’s returning for a fourth season that will consist of only 13 episodes.
In a recent interview with TV Insider, Padalecki compares Walker‘s shorter episode count to Supernatural‘s behemoth run of 327 episodes. In his quote, which is included below, the actor says that he and co-star Jensen Ackles pushed for fewer episodes per season of the monster-hunting show and adds that it might have allowed the series to last longer. Padalecki also takes a shot at “Bugs”, a generally disliked installment in season 1, which is definitely not his favorite Supernatural episode. He says:
You know, Jensen [Ackles] and I asked for 13-episode seasons of Supernatural, many, many, many times. As a matter of fact, I feel like if we had done 13-episode seasons of Supernatural, we’d probably still be doing Supernatural right now. Because it’s hard to do a long network season while also trying to be a husband and a father and friend.
I think Jim Beaver at one of our Comic-Con panels said about 22 or 23-episode seasons, “You know, even if it’s the best batter on the planet, if Ted Williams goes to bat 23 times, he’s gonna strike out a few times.” And so I think a shortened season would just be a really strong, action-packed, story-packed season where we don’t have to do an episode like “Bugs” in Season 1 of Supernatural. [Laughs]
Was Supernatural’s “Bugs” Really That Bad?
In the years since it first aired, there have been questions about whether “Bugs” is really the worst Supernatural episode. The eighth installment in season 1, “Bugs” checks in on Sam (Padalecki) and Dean (Ackles) as they discover that a new housing development is being built on sacred Native American land. The land is cursed by its original owners after their reservation had been ravished and destroyed. The plot focuses on the Winchester brothers as they attempt to kill the deadly swarm of bees, locusts, spiders, and beetles.
Supernatural creator Eric Kripke has mentioned his dislike for “Bugs,” and the show itself has mocked the episode. Chuck (Rob Benedict), in his early Supernatural appearances, makes a reference to it and essentially apologizes for it. Viewers called out the editing on “Bugs,” particularly a scene that shows the sunrise at an impossible time. Still, for all those laughable flaws, the subpar monster-of-the-week episodes are likely easier to stomach today.
A successor to The X-Files, which also had its share of misses, it’s the standalone episodes that give a show like Supernatural its texture. The moments during a case or a hunt where the characters interact and the sense that each installment would bring something new in its details only contributed to the show’s foundation. “Bugs” isn’t redeemed or reclaimed by the fact of time passing. But, in a total of more than 300 episodes, it’s perfectly fine and even potentially positive to have some notorious duds. It makes the excellence stand out all the more.
Source: TV Insider
