The CW Source

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The CW Source is an unofficial blog for news and gossip about The CW.

The blog covers a range of CW produced shows as well as Supernatural, such as Smallville and Veronica Mars.


The CW Source can be found here, or click here to view only Supernatural-related posts.

In the first couple fo eyars of the CW (2007/08), the CW Source often mentioned Fandom activities, although as the network has grown, and there are more shows to cover this has ceased.


The CW Source linking to Fan-created Material

In late 2006, The CW Source began linking to fan-created material in their posts about Supernatural, and encouraging fans to submit their favourite fanart and fanfiction.


Of all the fan-run projects we've seen, probably the one with the most fervent following is Plastic!Winchester Theater. The Plastic!Boys have encountered zombies, witches, evil toys and the dreaded Kripke, and they're always able to defeat the bad guy, talk about their feelings and hug it out. What's not to like?
So we were thrilled when we had a chance to sit down with Andie Masino, the genius behind Plastic!Winchester Theater. She told us about how she got started, what sort of work goes into the episodes, and what it's like knowing she has fans on the Supernatural set. Read on to find out how Andie got started and what she goes through to put together the show.
CW Source: How did you get started with Plastic!Winchester Theater?
Andie Masino: Supernatural didn't have any merchandise of its own at the time, and I wanted to have something at my desk at work that reminded me of the show. I had already bought the mini Impala off of eBay. My original idea was to put props in the back of the mini Impala to make it look like theirs – rope and maybe some salt. But I thought, it's kind of tiny, what else can I do. Then, while shopping at Goodwill, I realized I could make my own Sam and Dean Barbie dolls. The first post I ever put up was just the dolls dressed up like the boys. I didn't plan for it to go farther than that. People started mentioning in the comments, "You know what would be funny? If you shot an episode." I thought I could probably come up with something for that, something short and silly and quick. That's how it all started.
CW Source: How long was the first episode?
AM: Originally there were four parts and 25 pictures in each part, so there were 100 pictures all together. The first episode was exactly 100 pictures. Now, they can be up to eight parts….
CW Source: With choose your own adventure options…
AM: Exactly! That one was such a nightmare. One of my betas came up with that I idea – "Wouldn't that be cool if the person could choose what came next?" I was like, do you understand the flow chart I'm going to have to draw with for this? I had a nice chart to figure out no matter where you went, you eventually ended up at door four. That was interesting.
CW Source: How many betas do you have, and can you explain to me what that means?
AM: Basically the betas' job is to make sure I go on with my pants zipped up and my shirt on the right way, so there's not anything glaring. I have three principals and they each have their own strength. Carly, her screen name is Slytherinblack, tends to be good at finding plot holes – you didn't explain this, or you didn't show that. SenorCoconut1, that's Heather, she's all over my grammar and spelling. If you look at some of the earlier episodes, I didn't have anyone look it over, I just put them up. People would comment "You spelled that wrong, you missed a word there." Just to make it look cleaner, it was nice to have another pair of eyes, because after you've read it four or five times…(laughs) You need someone to catch the errors that are there. The third person who tends to look it over is MissyJack, Jules, she gives it an overall, big picture looks. It's usually not plot points, they usually don't say "It would have worked better if Sam had this," because they know the pictures have already been taken and I already have the story that I need.
CW Source: Talk us through the process.
AM: Sunday's shooting, Monday's PhotoShop, Tuesday is coming up with the text boxes and the story. I try to put it up for the betas late Tuesday night so they have all day Wednesday to look it over and say, "This is wrong, you should probably change that word there, this is spelled wrong." I usually have an hour before I put it up when I go back and do one more read through to make sure there wasn't anything I missed. It goes up 9 pm Wednesday.
CW Source: You've talked about some of the limitations of working with the dolls, like Plastic!Dean can't bend his arms. How do you make those work for you, and what are the bonuses of it?
AM: There are a finite number of poses the boys can do, and trying to keep it interesting and original... it's getting harder. It is a challenge sometimes, how can I do this scene. People tend to expect some of the same things every episode – they all want them to put their "Oh Noes!" pose up, and they want Sam to kick his leg up when he hugs somebody. There are specific things I'm always going for. You notice after a while of doing it that if you shoot it at a certain angle with his head tilted a certain way, you can almost get an expression out of it. Every episode there's usually one shot where I think, "That turned out really cool and I never tried that before." Most of it is accidental.
CW Source: What sort of traffic figures are you getting?
AM: I don't actually track that. I usually look at comments, which I know is not an accurate way to judge it. I've often thought about tracking hits. The one time I did, there was a YouTube click in the middle of it, and that gave me a rough estimate of how many people were watching it. I think there were 1,200 hits there.
CW Source: Do you think there are a lot of people who follow Plastic!Winchesters who don't actually watch Supernatural?
AM: It's funny the comments that I get. I think if you see the show it makes sense on a different level than if you don't see the show. I have people from other fandoms who come over – "Somebody told me you play with Barbies and it's funny and I wanted to check it out." They get the premise, it's two boys and they're hunting demons and they're on the road – and from there they just think it's funny. It still makes sense to them, but you need to watch the show to get some of the more subtle things that are going on.
CW Source: Do you see it as a way you're promoting the show?
AM: Absolutely. I've gotten some comments saying "I came in here to watch your Barbie show, and I thought I'd better check out the real show too to see what's going on there." One of them was really funny – she said "The show's not funny." I was like, "Yeah, I know, this is kind of a parody." She didn't catch on with that. "But the show isn't funny!" (Laughs) Sorry, I guess I should have put a disclaimer on there. That was one of the best comments ever.
CW Source: What other comments have you been getting – anything that sticks out?
AM: It's nice when people say "Oh, that was funny," but I like when people say specifically "This scene here was what I enjoyed about it, this line here." It's always funny because there are usually certain lines where I think that really works, I think this part there was really tight, and if people don't mention it in the comments I think maybe I was off. Sometimes they'll mention a line that I reworked four times, and I'll feel totally validated that they got that line, and I worked until it got to the point it finally was funny and they liked it. I like when I get comments saying specific things, but it's nice to get a general head count of people who say LOL.

The interview went on for five parts:

  • September 27, 2007, posted by Sarah - Plastic!Interview, Part Two: The Show Strikes Back
  • October 1, 2007, posted by Sarah - Plastic!Interview Part Three: Welcome to the Real World
  • October 3, 2007, posted by Sarah - Plastic!Interview Part Four: Favorite Episodes
  • October 8, 2007, posted by Sarah - Plastic!Interview, Part Five: Dolls, Props and... Jell-O?


We're at the start of a long, dry, new-Supernatural-free summer, and we know you're wondering how you're going to get through until the new season starts this fall. We're here to help, with the return of our posts on the best in Supernatural fan-created goodness.
This week, we're going to point you to the various picspams of Kroki Refur (about halfway down the page). Refur is, quite simply, a genius, and her picspams inspire as much glee as the episodes themselves.
We were first introduced to Refur's particular brand of madness through her "Ten Expressions" posts, where she takes 10 expressions from an episode and weaves them into a story. In these posts, we discovered the show's budgetary restriction on expressions, thrilled at evil make-up department plans, witnessed the salting and burning of the Internet, enjoyed the uses of flashbacks for brotherly torture, first set eyes on the Fabulous Drunk!Sam seal of disapproval, debated whether Sam is evil or 12, and discussed the philosophical implications of seriously cheesy movies.
Plus, Refur came up with the single most brilliant explanation for what happened to Sam in All Hell Breaks Loose, Part 1. Seriously – check them all out.
Then we delved into her exhaustive and exhilarating Episode Recaps of Doom – perfect for when you want to relive the best of the episode. They're smart, they're funny, and they make you see things you may have missed the first time around. They're just the thing to get you through the summer.
We were thrilled when we got a chance to talk to Refur about her Supernatural art, the show, and why she does what she does. Read on!
Ten Expressions started when Refur watched In My Time of Dying: "I was just struck by how expressive Sam and Dean's faces were, and I wanted to make a post about that. I started off just picking my favorite ten expressions for Sam, but then I did Dean too and I put in a few funny captions and people liked that." Those posts evolved into using the pics to tell a story based on – or inspired by – the episode.
The conversation part is the easiest part of the process, Refur says,"The rapport between the brothers makes writing dialogue for them awesome fun." The rest of the process takes some time: "I basically go through the episode making screencaps of every time there's a good shot of the boys' faces (preferably close-ups). I usually wind up with four or five hundred caps. When I'm done, I go through them and go 'Man, that's an awesome bitchface' or whatever, and pick my favorite expressions and put them in a separate folder, which usually brings the number down to about fifty, and then I see what sort of conversation suggests itself based on those. Then I write the conversation, pick caps to go with each line, photoshop them to make them clearer, et voila!’’"
Of course, the show itself helps the process along: "The most important thing for me, and I think most people in the fandom, is the relationship between the two brothers. Even when the show is being silly or cheesy, the family dynamics are so well-drawn, and the characterization is wonderful."
Refur has nothing but good things to say about the show and about her fellow fans: "Supernatural is a wonderful fandom to be in, both because of the show (which is, of course, awesome) and because of the sheer love for it that we all have. I've had so many kind comments about my stuff from total strangers, and, you know, it's the sort of thing that would make me want to have a giant chick-flick moment if I wasn't so stoic and repressed."
Hee! Well, we may risk inspiring a chick-flick response by saying this, but we think Refur is all kinds of awesome. Go check her stuff out!


You all know by now that we love Supernatural, and for good reason: It’s got great actors, good plots, clever writing, and the added bonus of monsters and blood and gore.
But sometimes when we enthuse about the show to the uninitiated, they get a sort of glazed look in their eye. In many cases, that’s because Supernatural falls into the category of a “genre” show – it’s about horror, monsters, things that aren’t (we hope) real. And a lot of people equate genre with brainless entertainment. So since Supernatural is genre, they think, and genre is brainless, then Supernatural must be brainless too, right?
Of course, we know better. And leave to Supernatural’s legion of exceedingly brainy fans to prove the point.
As an example, check out Giggling Kat’s music metas, dissections of how the show’s music choices underlie and amplify what’s going on onscreen. And this isn’t in the “they’re using strings, so we’re supposed to be sad” school of emotional manipulation – this is good, deep-thoughts stuff. She breaks down the song, line by line, matches it up with the visuals, and delves into the deeper implications of what the music and lyrics are saying about what’s happening in the Supernatural world.
We asked Kat, who lives in Florida – “where all the weird stuff happens, according to Dean” – to tell us a little about these music metacommentary pieces:
“Music tends to shamelessly manipulate emotion and project it on whatever you were seeing. What Supernatural tends to do better than other shows is deliberately twist the knife with something they already created. I like that they put the effort behind it rather than let the music do the work for them or let the music decide what the emotion is.”
As an example, Kat cites Renegade, the classic, operatic and entirely ass-kicking Styx song used at the end of Night Shifter. We were content to headbang and bellow along (gotta love Styx), but Kat gave it a little more thought.
“I gotta tell you – I wasn't sure about the episode, “ Kat said. “Obviously, they weren't dead or in federal prison the next week. So it just seemed like a bit of a cheat to set up the FBI and just let them get away. And then Tommy Shaw crooned ‘Oh, momma I'm in fear for my life...’ And right there - I knew they were going to follow up and there WERE going to be consequences. The music told me without the show ever needing to.”
It’s stuff like this that we point to whenever anyone rolls their eyes and says “Yeah, but isn’t Supernatural just some horror show?” It’s a lot more, and fans like Kat help prove it.

Also linked to Heavy Meta Poisoning, saying:

Kat also pointed up to a central place for all sorts of metacommentary on Supernatural – Heavy Meta Poisoning. First of all, we love the title. Second, it’s a great place to while away the time getting a new perspective on a lot of things that happen on the show. Wonder about the significance of John’s USMC t-shirt, or the parallels between Jess and Dean? Someone has thought about it, and they’ll give you something to ponder. It’s the perfect place to get backup when you’re arguing for Supernatural as a smart, meaningful show.
What do you think? Do you dig metacommentary, or do you prefer your fan art and commentary to stick to the funny? Or do you think that there’s room for both smart and funny in this fandom – just like there is in this show? Let us know, and keep sending us fan art recommendations!


We like to think we’re pretty knowledgeable about the Supernatural universe. We can rattle off the types of beasties the boys have taken out, identify the various people they’ve saved (or failed to save), and present a thoughtful critique on the proper method of salting and burning bones. Plus, all things Winchester have bled over into our regular lives: We’ve got 169 songs on our Mullet Rock playlist. We keep up with the antics of the Plastic!Winchesters. We have seriously considered keeping a bag of rock salt in easy reach of the desk – just incase.
But every once in a while, we get stumped. What was that song on the jukebox? Who wrote that one episode with the tulpa? How do the boys fit all of their belongings into one little duffle bag apiece? When questions like these arise, we know exactly where to go: Super Wiki, an encyclopedic look at the world of Supernatural put together and maintained by fans.
These people are – and understand, we mean this in the best possible way, and we say it with more than a fair bit of awe – completely insane. They’ve collected and dissected nearly every aspect of the show, the behind-the-scenes world, and the fan community, and laid it out in stunning detail. You have a question about something related to Supernatural? Most likely, someone on Super Wiki has answered it.
While we appreciate Super Wiki for the big-picture items – who wrote what, what happened in what episode, that sort of thing – it’s the completely random pages that captivate us. As an example, consider the Laundry Lists. Not only has someone painstakingly written down every article of clothing that various Winchesters have ever worn, they’ve also calculated the odds – with pie charts! -- of a particular shirt or jacket being worn. They’ve even contemplated how often the guys would have to visit the Laundromat – presumably so they can stake out likely washing establishments on the off-chance that the guys would show up with a load of whites.
Or take a look at the Dudemeter – another exercise in statistical madness that shows how often Sam and Dean say “Dude,” who is more likely to pick a lock or shoot a gun, and just who gets to call Sam “Sammy.”
So check out the Super Wiki while you’re waiting for a new episode. Be warned: it’s an enormous time-suck, but we guarantee you’ll find some new fact or facet to entertain you.


We’re long-time fans of “The Dean Show Slumber Party,” a collection of chibi comics by Olga Bosserdt. Some deal with the present-day hijinks of the boys – for example, check out this tale of dares and double-dog dares. Others show the boys growing up – for example, this story about Dean stretching his hero muscles for Sam’s benefit, or this picture of life as a 12-year-old father figure. All of them are funny and, we’ve got to say, completely adorable.
We asked Olga what inspired her to draw the comics – and what’s the with the title? “I was watching the show for the first time with my two best friends and we were having a grand ol' time late at night (a slumber party atmosphere), laughing with and at the characters, swooning over the handsome, funny entity that is Dean Winchester. He quickly established himself as our favorite character and as we weren't that familiar with the show's title, after each episode we clamored for ‘More Dean Show!’ My friends generated a lot of amusing ideas about the show and I sketched a couple of them on post-it notes, just for fun. The chibi post-its evolved into strips, and Supernatural was forever ‘The Dean Show Slumber Party’ for us.”
Olga credits the show for being a great inspiration for fan art: “Supernatural just has that IT factor. It's got the unbeatable mix of horror and supernatural elements, plot twists, story development, and of course character dynamic, the driving force behind the show and much of our enthusiasm. Its evolution is genuinely engaging and I think the audience, like its creators, are just having a good time with it and this is evident."
But the fans play just as large a role in making the show enjoyable, she said: “I can honestly say I've never been involved in a show that had such a good-humored, mature and dedicated audience. It's also a show where the creators are intimately involved in the fandom and actually pay attention to what their viewers have to say. To me, that is downright astounding!”
We agree – the fan art, forum conversations, and other viewer-created works are what got us through the hiatus. We love to see what you all create.


But where we really waste -- er, that is to say, invest – the most time is in the Supernatural forums, especially the section called "The Quest." That's where you'll find fanfic, art, games, writing, and other assorted forms of Supernatural-inspired madness.
Among the recent insanity: A Twelve Days of Supernatural carol-writing escapade; a collection of haiku, limericks and some surprisingly moving poetry; caption contests; and a strange, somewhat masochistic game where you take someone's wish for what would happen on the show and twist it in a suitably Kripke-esque fashion.
The twisted genius of the TWOP forum-dwellers really comes out in Text Me: Letters to the Characters. In this thread, fans give voice to some of the undersung players who make this show great – like the Metallicar, various pieces of clothing, weapons, accessories, villainous toys, and more. The folks who contribute are possibly certifiable -- and endlessly entertaining.
For example, check out the war between the clothing and the dirty socks, featuring John's Leather Jacket, various t-shirts and hoodies, possible demonic possession, fiendish M&Ms, and the sweetest little greyhound t-shirt you ever did meet.
Or jump in at the saga of the Frisky Armadillo, who our faithful Winchester accoutrements try to rescue from the fiendish plans of several possessed kitchen appliances and the evil cymbal monkey.
Or you could check out the introduction of Dean's rosary, a sweet Catholic girl who engages in a tempestuous romance with Dean's mysterious necklace, resulting in little jewelry babies, kidnappings, possessions, and more.
Who are the people writing these short messages, and how do they come up with this stuff? We have no idea – but we hope they don't stop any time soon.


Remember Dean’s throwaway line in “Faith” about wanting to hunt the Snuggle Fabric Softener Bear down? Big Pink decided to make that a reality, and combine it with a map of where episodes were shot in the Vancouver area. The process was fraught with peril to both body and ego, Big Pink says: “The looks we got, carrying around a freakin' Snuggle Bear and snapping photos of it in public places, sometimes stopping traffic to do so….”
Big Pink and her trusty driver/location scout JM completed the photo shoot in one day, with the help of “inordinate amounts of sugar and caffeine,” Big Pink said. Among her favorite locations were Save-on-Meats, where the employees happily held the Snuggle in the window beside the pork chops, and the Riverview asylum, which is still used as a mental health facility. “We had a great conversation with the guys filming there (I think the production was 'The Seed'), who showed us how they were making fake graves. Again, JM and I killing ourselves laughing and pointedly not mentioning why I was carrying a Snuggle Bear. Later, JM quite rightly pointed out that I didn't look so out of place hauling around a stuffed toy.”
We asked Big Pink if we could expect another comic soon. “We'll probably do a second one after Season Two's over, though the Supernatural location guys aren't giving us too much to work with yet,” she said. “Snuggle Bear is now sitting on my bed, awaiting her next close up -- I guess she made it out of the wreck okay.”
We can’t wait.

Also linked to Dragonfly's The Carol of Supernatural songvid, saying:

a holiday treat: Check out Dragonfly’s awesome fan video, The Carol of Supernatural. It’s well worth the download. We’ve been geeking out over it ever since Kim sent it in. (Thanks, Kim!)


Plastic!Winchester Theater. This was the suggestion we got most often by far, and we know why. We loooooove Plastic!Winchester Theater, and look forward to new episodes almost as much as we do the real thing.
For the uninitiated (and oh, how we envy those of you who will be discovering this for the first time…) Plastic!Winchester Theater is the brainchild of the brilliantly twisted Anteka, who uses some scavenged Ken dolls, various doll-size props, and fiendish toys to create Supernatural episodes. See Plastic!Sam and Plastic!Dean battle witches, mutant crocodiles, ghosts, evil Care Bears and other things too horrifying to mention. Plus, these brothers actually hug – unlike some Winchester boys we could mention…
Check out Plastic!Winchester Theater for yourself. Make sure to clear some time in your schedule – you’ll want to consume all 24 (!!!) episodes in one sitting.
Oh, and as a special bonus, Anteka also created a pictorial guide to Supernatural for the Newbie – use that to reel in any of your friends who aren’t yet watching the show.


Now here’s where you can help. We want you to share some of your favorite examples of Supernatural-themed fan art. E-mail us the stand-out examples you’ve got bookmarked to cwsource@gmail.com. We’ll take a look and share the best bits with the group. Oh, and since it is for a general audience, please don’t bother sending us the sort of stuff that would have the folks in HR sending us out for sexual-harassment retraining. Please? Those off-site seminars are brutal!


[Reasons to be thankful] #5. Supernatural fans. One of the perks of the job for us is that we and legitimately spend at least some of our working hours checking out Supernatural-related websites, and boy, are Supernatural fans a creative bunch! From videos on YouTube to Motivational Posters on Television Without Pity, the fan-created material knocks our socks off. With that in mind, we're planning on pointing you to some of the best fan art when there's no episode to sate our Supernatural hunger.
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