Here’s What the World Looked Like When ‘Supernatural’ Began

Dan Clarendon January 24, 2019, 5:00 pm

Pilot — The WB / Justin Lubin

Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles in the *Supernatural* pilot

Supernatural is about to cross the 300-episode threshold, joining The Simpsons, Law & Order: SVU, NCIS, Family Guy, Grey’s Anatomy and Criminal Minds as the only current scripted primetime TV shows to have achieved that feat, by our count.

In that 300th episode, February 7’s “Lebanon,” brothers Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean (Jensen Ackles) “look to occult lore for a solution to their latest problem, but instead of a resolution, they find much more than either of them had anticipated,” according to The CW’s logline. Among that “much more” is a reunion with father John Winchester, played by Jeffrey Dean Morgan in the Walking Dead star’s first appearance on the show in over a decade.

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If you’ve been watching Supernatural since the beginning, you might be startled to realize you’ve been watching the show since September 13, 2005. That’s more time than Room star Jacob Tremblay has been alive! That’s more time than Daniel Craig has been playing James Bond! And that’s nearly two years longer than the iPhone has been a thing!

In fact, when Supernatural debuted, The CW hadn’t even been formed — the show premiered on The WB, which would later merge with UPN to create the new network. George W. Bush was starting his second presidential term, and Hurricane Katrina had just devastated the U.S. Gulf Coast two weeks prior. Pope John Paul II had died that April, and Pope Benedict XVI had taken his spot. Four suicide bombings hit London in July, just a day after the International Olympic Committee announced the city would host the 2012 Summer Olympics. And the New England Patriots defeated the Philadelphia Eagles that February, just nine days before YouTube first went online.

President George W. Bush speaks to the media during an event with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the East Room of the White House on Friday, September 16, 2005 (Chuck Kennedy/MCT/MCT via Getty Images)

At the cineplex, Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith was dominating the box office, but only because Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe were still a few months away. Million Dollar Baby had won big at that year’s Oscars, with trophies going to director Clint Eastwood and stars Hilary Swank and Morgan Freeman. And Christian Bale had just suited up to play the Caped Crusader in Batman Begins, the first installment in Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy.

Steve Carell as Michael Scott in The Office Season 1 (Justin Lubin/NBCU Photo Bank)

On TV, Grey’s Anatomy, Dancing With the Stars, and The Office had recently premiered; Doctor Who and Family Guy had just returned to the airwaves; Kanye West had claimed Bush doesn’t care about black people; and Tom Cruise had jumped up and down on Oprah Winfrey’s couch. Five days after Supernatural’s debut, Everybody Loves Raymond and Lost won big at the Emmys.

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And in the music world, Mariah Carey had recently released “We Belong Together” and had topped the Billboard Hot 100 for 14 weeks, Britney Spears had won her first Grammy, Rihanna had released her debut album, Destiny’s Child had split up, and Michael Jackson had been found not guilty of child molestation.

Rihanna promotes her debut album Music of the Sun on MTV’s Total Request Live (Peter Kramer/Getty Images)

This was also the year Matthew McConaughey was named People’s Sexiest Man Alive, Demi Moore married Ashton Kutcher, Jessica Simpson divorced Newlyweds co-star Nick Lachey, and Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston divorced amid his burgeoning relationship with Mr. & Mrs. Smith co-star and future ex Angelina Jolie.

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie attend the Mr. & Mrs. Smith press conference in 2005 in Tokyo, Japan (The Asahi Shimbun via Getty Images)

So yeah, a lot has happened since the Winchesters started battling demons. Who knows what will have happened by the time Supernatural’s 600th episode comes along!

Supernatural, Thursdays, 8/7c, The CW