It’s a very important question. In all seriousness, CBS’s CSI has lost itself (I mean, it’s had 10 years, saw several major character send-offs (such as Warren’s death, Grissom leaving, and those pretty much signaled that it wasn’t gonna be the same), bringing Morpheus in to fill-in the bug-man’s shoes, and last season, stupidly airing a milestone 200th episode against the last episode of ER (losing to it, BTW, but not by much. And also, I don’t even remember what happened in the 200th episode, it sucked ass). And then there’s ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy, which seems to have a lot of drama outside the show (how many times have there been rumors that Katherine Heigl was leaving?). With the soap-ish doctor’s sleeping around, stupid nicknames, and the ghost of a dead fiance, it seems more like a series that should air in the daytime. And let’s fact it, NBC’s Thursday comedies died five years ago with the end of Friends, ever since, they couldn’t bounce back. (Okay, it was definitely done a few years back when Will & Grace ended, which was the last good sitcom NBC had, other than the just as good My Name Is Earl, which they chose to cancel).

When it comes to the competitive Thursday 9PM slot, CSI and Grey’s is what people may think of more, along with The Office and Emmy winning (really?) series 30 Rock. They get higher ratings, doesn’t mean they are better. In fact, they’re not. With FOX having an X-Files-esque show by JJ Abrams (the dude behind Lost, and he also directed the Star Trek movie) called Fringe (which saw a major ratings drop last night) that could be above everyone’s head. But the best series, not just for that night, but on all of TV, is the one and only Supernatural.

I praise the show for a reason. Their seasons of obvious arcs, that sort of work like how Buffy was (1st season, episodic, less arc-y, while introducing the overall general arc, while each season after had a specific “big bad”, while having a few individuals to give a little break from all the madness, before having the most bad-ass season finales). In a way, those two shows are somewhat similar, Buffy‘s finales had the death of the Master, Buffy killing Angel, Blowing up the high school, Buffy dying, Willow going evil, and sinking the whole town of Sunnydale into itself to sort of “plug” the hellmouth. The only season not with a high-note ending, would’ve been the 4th, which ended with the first Slayer trying to kill them all in their sleep. With Supernatural, first the Winchesters (dad included) are involved in a major car crash, 2nd open the Devil’s gate (oops), Dean dies (see, another similarity, a major character death, dealing with an awesome next season premiere with same character coming back from the dead), and, oh yeah, killing Lillith which releases Lucifer (oops again). So now, we have an apocalypse.

Doesn’t mean we can’t have a little fun.

Another thing Buffy had, a few key episodes that stood out. The 4th season’s “Hush” was mostly without dialogue, and of course, the 6th season’s “Once More with Feeling,” the musical. Supernatural had some interesting filmed specimens. Take the 4th season’s “Monster Movie,” filmed like an old horror movie, and completely in black and white. Last night, “Changing Channels,” saw the return of the Trickster (previously in 2nd season’s “Tall Tales,” and 3rd season’s “Mystery Spot”) as he traps the Winchesters into, well, TV Land.

The episode started, with a teaser, as a 70′s-ish TV sitcom (light in tone, laugh track, and cheesy dialogue), going the opening credits, complete with a theme song (again, like that of a 70s or even 80 sitcom), and then showing the case that lead them to getting sucked into the TV-verse, first, inside a Grey’s Anatomy-like medical drama, there was even a character that was a ghost in someone’s mind (sound familiar, it should, it’s like Denny and Izzy on Grey’s, hey, wasn’t Denny played by Jeffrey Dean Morgan, AKA Papa Winchester? Yep, nice little nod, love the inside jokes), then they were in a Japanese game show, called ‘Nutcracker’ (for a reason, poor Sam). Next, there was a commercial spoof (after they realized they need to play the parts their given), and, the funny part, it’s a Herpes commercial (poor Sam). Another highlight, CSI spoof (hey, isn’t that another series Supernatural competes against. Yep, just talked about it earlier in the post, hmm). Of course, this version of CSI pokes close toward the Miami from what I understand, with the whole sunglasses bit, but all CSI when you have some lame lines (“Jackpot” in a douchery way). But the funniest, oh, I laughed my ass off, Knight Rider. It’s just too good.

Of course, we touch on the whole Apocalypse, because a revelation is made about the Trickster. If you have been watching the series, and didn’t catch last night’s episode, turn away now, as here’s the big twist – ***Begin spoiler*** (as it turns out, the Trickster, is actually the Archangel Gabriel). ***End spoiler.

So, with awesome characters (Castiel has definitely grown on me, I wasn’t sure about having angels in the story, but it’s working), awesome plots, awesome music, and awesome, everything, I still have to wonder, why aren’t more people watching?

Supernatural Skillfully Skewers the Competition – TV.Com

Oh, and back to the opening credits: