Supernaturally sexy

Like Buffy Summers before them, brothers Dean and Sam Winchester carry a heavy load: protecting the world from evil.

While Buffy the Vampire Slayer spent most of her time warding off demons and other supernatural creatures that emerged from the Hellmouth beneath her high school, Dean and Sam have no such geographical restrictions.

In the cult hit Supernatural, Dean and Sam crisscross the US in their distinctive 1967 Chevy Impala, following up reports of unusual and/or paranormal activity and hunting for the demon that killed their mother.

Since the show’s debut in 2005, the brothers have fought off everything from demons and shape-shifters to zombies and vampires.

Supernatural was recently ranked at No. 11 on The Times Online’s list of the top 50 recent US TV shows, ahead of Law and Order, ER, House and Mad Men and not far behind The Shield, 24, The Sopranos and list-topper, The Wire.

The show has a well-credentialled creative team — one of its executive producers, McG, directed the soon-to-be released Terminator Salvation.

Director and executive producer Kim Manners, who died in January after battling cancer, earned four Emmy nominations for his work on The X-Files

In the US, season four of Supernatural increased its audience by 13 per cent and attracts about 3.3 million viewers against Grey’s Anatomy and CSI.

Although you are unlikely to find Supernatural listed among Australia’s top-rated TV shows, it has a devoted cult following here, just as it does overseas.

Last year when season four was fast-tracked from the US it was attracting an average of 652,000 viewers nationally and just under 100,000 viewers in Perth.

More important for Ten, Supernatural last year attracted a 41.2 per cent share (48.9 per cent in Perth) of viewers in the 16 to 39 age group and pulled a 34.7 per cent national share and 41.8 per cent Perth share on its return last week..

Although many sci-fi inspired shows skew towards young males, having handsome leads in Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki has brought in a 54 per cent female audience.

It was the show’s strong female fan base that helped bring the stars to Sydney last month for the Supernatural convention All Hell Breaks Loose.

Perth fan Renae Nahajski says she doesn’t consider herself to be a sci-fi fan and never watched Smallville or Buffy but was immediately hooked on Supernatural.

“It’s scary, I like a bit of a scare every now and then and I really like the relationship between the brothers,” says the Mt Hawthorn teacher and mother-of-three.

Mrs Nahajski is among the thousands of fans who frequent Supernatural fan forums and websites to find out the latest gossip and express their thoughts on plot-twists and casting.

One criticism of shows such as Supernatural and Lost is that mythology and back stories make it hard to follow for casual viewers. But Supernatural’s standalone episodes, often with a humorous twist, have made it easier for the casual viewer to enjoy Dean and Sam’s adventures.

While the majority of viewers tune in because of Sam and Dean and the recurring theme of good versus evil, others love the show because of its pop culture references, the soundtrack and that cool Chevy.

Supernatural returns to Australian screens tonight at episode nine of season four, with Sam explaining how he became so close to Ruby (played this season by Genevieve Cortese) while Dean was in hell. This has been regarded as a landmark and daring season because it is also quite likely to be the penultimate one.

Creator and executive producer Eric Kripke has always maintained he only wants Supernatural to run for five seasons.

Hunky stars Ackles (Dean) and Padalecki (Sam) have also expressed a desire to see the show come to its natural end after five seasons, with Ackles stating recently he’d rather see the brothers go out in a blaze of glory than happily ever after.

Supernatural has made household names of the pair but they barely get to see family and friends while filming on location in Vancouver.

The pair carry a heavy workload, appearing in almost every scene and attempts to introduce other series regulars to lessen their workloads have not always been welcomed by vocal fans.

That changed somewhat this season with the arrival of Misha Collins as Castiel, the trench coat-wearing male angel responsible for helping Dean escape hell. Dean was dragged to hell kicking and screaming at the end of the third season as part of an earlier deal to save Sam’s life.

Mrs Nahajski says most fans have not liked the brothers having potential love interests — some have accused producers of hiring attractive females to boost young male viewers — but have accepted the arrival of Castiel.

Later this season fans will also be tested by the arrival of a third Winchester brother, Adam (Jake Abel).

Supernatural airs tonight at 9.30 on Ten.

SUE YEAP