Millie Hardy-Sims

The 'Genre' of Supernatural

It has been argued that television programmes do not always ascertain to one specific genre, often because programmes span multiple years and episodes during their run and committing to one genre may result in the stagnation of the audience. As a result “the texts of a given genre are much more broad ranging and diverse than can be summed up by typical claims” (Mittell, 2004, 5). In the case of Supernatural (2005), a programme that concluded at the end of 2020 after a 15-year-run, the showrunners make a point of manipulating genre and a diverse range of genre tropes in the case of multiple episodes. Whereas the overall narrative remains firmly in the roots of paranormal/supernatural drama horror genre, Supernatural frequently and deliberately manipulates other genres, often in the form of homage or specific reference.