The CW’s Best Show Ever Tournament: And the Winner Is….
After two weeks of polls and very passionate comment sections, TVLine’s bracket tournament to decide The CW’s Best Show Ever recently came down to the men of Supernatural versus Superman himself.
Now, after more than 57,000 (!) votes were cast in the final face-off between Smallville and Supernatural, it’s time to reveal what you chose as The CW‘s all-time greatest series, in celebration of the network’s 15-year anniversary today. The big winner is… Supernatural!
“For The CW to have had so many shows over the last 15 years that have earned such passion from the legions of fans, it is really a profound testament to everyone who put their blood, sweat and tears into creating them, from the casts, the creators, the writers and crew, and everyone at the network and studios,” CW chairman and CEO Mark Pedowitz told TVLine ahead of the final vote tally. “No matter who comes out on top, we are grateful to have been associated with them all.”
Supernatural — which aired on The WB for its first season — has the distinction of being The CW’s longest-running series, sticking around for 15 total seasons from 2005 through 2020. The drama starred Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles as Sam and Dean Winchester, two brothers who took up the family business of hunting supernatural creatures across the United States. Their cross-country road trip in Dean’s beloved Chevy Impala initially began as a search for their missing father (played by Jeffrey Dean Morgan), but the brothers went on to encounter even heavier hitters in their adventures, including God, Death himself, the actual apocalypse… and Scooby-Doo, in one case. The show wrapped its run on Nov. 19, 2020, with 327 episodes under its belt.
Here is TVLine’s Keisha Hatchett (and Becky, of course) touting the news:
Now, some fun facts about our tournament:
* Nearly 500,000 votes were cast throughout the tournament (in addition to the tens of thousands cast during the vote-in elimination round).
* The widest margin of victory in any given matchup was Supernatural‘s 90 percent to 10 percent besting of Batwoman in Round 1. The tightest contest came when One Tree Hill squeaked past The Originals in the Sweet 16, by a 51 to 49 percent margin.
* The Round 1 poll amassing the most votes was Supernatural vs. Batwoman (with 16,100 votes), while iZombie vs. Everybody Hates Chris drew the fewest (7,200). The Sweet 16 matchup drawing the most votes was Arrow vs. The 100 (16,100), while The Flash vs. iZombie tallied the fewest (9,200). In the Elite 8 round, Smallville vs. One Tree Hill racked up the most votes (21,500), and in the Final Four, Supernatural vs. Arrow amassed nearly 50 percent more votes (44,000) than Smallville vs. The Vampire Diaries (32,000). (We suspect this might be the reason for that disparity.)
* But really, the big winner here is Ackles, who appeared on both Smallville (as high school football coach Jason Teague) and Supernatural, and as such simply couldn’t lose this tournament. A champion if there ever were one.
Take a look at our final bracket below to revisit all of the results, then drop a comment below with your thoughts on Supernatural‘s big win — and thanks for your devoted participation in our tournament, TVLiners!
Landslide victory as it should be!!! No other CW Show even future ones will come close to having the longevity that Supernatural did!!!
where did you gather that it was a landslide? and longevity does not equal QUALITY, which also seems to be lost on a person like you.
The fact that ur missing here is that the show was soo good that even 15 WHOLE SEASONS of it are not enough for fans (including me).
I’ll agree some seasons weren’t as good as the others but the show and the characters will always have a special place in my heart.
For me, nothing can come close to the legend this show was
I agree 100%! 15 seasons and I still want more. Supernatural was and will always be my favorite!!!
Absolutely, SUPERNATURAL
I agree 100% with u. Just can’t get enough of Dean and Sam.. please please let there be more seasons !!!!
I loved the show too but the ending was already perfect in my opinion. The way everything ended, I think after 15 years, the brothers deserve a break. Carry on wayward son, there’ll be peace when you are done.
I can just imagine where Crowley went?. It was just a way too good show.. Everything was just way too real like damn
agreed. it was on,most of my life. I’m thankful it’s on TNT Monday thru Thursday.
Honestly for me it was a hard choice. I mean really hard. In end I gave it to smallville for two reason. I’m a massive superman fan and second reason for replay value. I’ll rewatch smallville way more then Supernatural.
Either way it was a very hard choice as both shows where fantastic.
Smallville came 2nd because it is a good show too. Most people I know think SPN ran way pasties welcome tbh. I never saw it so Idk it was always obvious SPN would win it legit wins everything its in lmao
I never even thought that SPN wouldn’t win. They have to big of an audience base. It was and will be for years to come one of my favorite shows. I hope they bring back SPN it is such a good show. And I read someone said that they cheated by putting it on Twitter I don’t even have Twitter.
Yeah, people are just butthurt that their show didn’t win. Nowhere in the rules did it say no tweets! Furthermore, I too don’t have Twitter (it’s stupid), but voted Supernatural all the way because it was an awesome show.
The fact that it won 77%-23% would indicate a landslide victory.
Yeah, but was it cheating to launch a Twitter campaign? Really?
LMAO cheating? Did the rules say no tweeting? Besides, not everyone is on Twitter. I’m not, I find Twitter annoying and I voted Supernatural all the way because it was an AWESOME show.
The graphic shows it was a 77/23 landslide in favor of Supernatural.
77%-23%, not a landslide?
A 3x factor sounds like a landslide, but dwarfs in comparison to its 9x lead over the bat.
May the best show win and SPN did
You’re both rude and wrong.
Also, they post the totals under the winners name. 77-23% is usually considered a landslide victory.
wow dude.
Yeah cuz they keep they shows running this long because they suck. Supernatural could have gone on for another 15 seasons with no drop in viewership, because it was an amazing show.
Right on Ms Wendy. My feelings exactly
Maybe cause it was the best and the 15 seasons kinda proves it to me.
Supernatural is best ever the characters are interesting and fun..JENSEN , Jared, and Misha are perfect for their roles
Whooohoooo!
Damn i expected Smallville too lose but not by that much I thought it was gonna be more like 55/45
Smallville was on the CW for only half it’s run while Supernatural ran on the CW for almost all it’s run. And Smallville was fading when it started so it’s best years weren’t on the CW.
Arrow probably had a greater effect with all the spinoffs it created, and probably would have beat Smallville had it gone against it.
*Pretends to be shocked*
Deserved win for a legendary series!
Supernatural won because it is about family and loving your self and others. Remember, ALWAYS KEEP FIGHTING!
Not at all suprised by this. I guess I should watch Supernatural if it’s the Best CW Show Ever!
So it’s important you don’t necessarily have to watch the show if you don’t want to if you go on the YouTube you can catch a lot of glimpses of the show from the outtakes as well as catching up on what happened that season the best season of all was the Colt oh my gosh when they killed their father helped Dean kill the yellow-eyed demon oh that was cool but it was pretty cool and smallville’s cool too man and it’s engineer but you know I just love them both you know can’t help it scared the heck out of me when they have them go up against each other because of how long both the shows ran one went for 10 years one went for 15 years one had parts of DC comics and marvel universe in it the show which was Smallville and the other was based on total originality and a little bit of lore from mythology and stuff like supernatural like witches warlocks demons Lucifer God well God you know he’s his own entity we all know that but everything else and when Dean killed death all that that was something else man I never thought I would see death die but death did die and that was sometime back right before they introduced God to the show so you might want to catch up on maybe one or a few of the episodes from each season that might that might pique your interest in it and what it’s all about well I love Smallville too Erica Durance and also to Kristen crook in it oh man she was beautiful they both were beautiful bleed actresses to be with Tom welling in on the show it’s just that when Christian group left the show they needed to find another actress to fill in her spot and they brought an Erica Durance who was a different breath and a different direction who was as bossy as could bossy could be and she fit the role so perfectly and they both were so beautiful and they are so beautiful love them both I love well Tom welling too love the show Smallville is good has its own merits his supernatural is good too has its own merits too so God bless both of the shows all the fans and all the directors and the writers and everybody because kept us going for how many years guys if you put the 10 in the 15 together you got 25 years think about it scary huh!
I am so happy about the results and I am happy to have been a part of these results. Supernatural gave us a wonderful 15 years of laughter and tears. I loved this show and it deserves to be the CW’s GOAT. Thank you Jensen and Jared for bringing Dean and Sam to glorious life.
Based on the previous comment section, kind of surprised by the wide margin . Otherwise not surprised by the final winner.
Glad they disclosed the number of voters. Quite interesting to see how the number of voters changes depending on the shows.
Not shocked. Supernatural lasted 15 years for a reason. But I was hoping for Smallville to win. I really miss that show. It was near perfect.
Nobody is
I never had a doubt that Supernatural would win this. The Supernatural Family is just too big and loyal – we simply could not lose. Supernatural imho is the best show in decades. There has never been anything like it before and there will never be anything like it ever again. Now go on and start shooting season 16 already! 😁
I never doubted Supernatural would win, but never imagined the difference would so large.
Smallville (which I voted for) is easily the 2nd best CW show, although I wouldn’t argue with someone claiming it was The Vampire Diaries.
I miss supernatural:(
Stream it on Netflix or even watch on TNT starting Monday Sept 20, 2021.
I miss it a lot, I cried the last episode my heart still bleeds but it had to end you know?
I did to. 😭
This wasn’t obvious to everyone on day 1? I’d be shocked if that wasn’t the case.
Glad Supernatural won!! It’s a great show! I’ve watched every episode twice on the CW & on Netflix & I am now getting the DVD’s & researching them! Love Sam,Dean, Castiel & Jack & all the rest of the cast!!
Supernatural on Netflix, I can’t find it, how did you find it, is it based on location?
I found it on Netflix. Also, TNT is airing it, in order. Pilot is on at 10am EST Monday Sept 20th.
It has always been on Netflix as far as I can remember. I don’t watch it anywhere else. Not even on the CW.
No shocker at all. Already on season 10 and moving up
Yay.
Jared’s tweet about voting for SN explains why SN won by a wider margin against arrow as compared to SN vs Legends. Always presumed Arrow was more popular than Legends.
Of course Supernatural won! It introduced us all to the character of all time Castiel!!! His entrance scene and character arch are a big factor in why the show held my interest. Now give us season 16!!
of course the misogynistic and racist supernatural would win…
Are you upset that a show supposedly containing these things could win, or implying that these were the things that helped it win?
I’m a female poc, loved Supernatural and didn’t find it to be either of the things you claim. Just because the story revolved around two brothers doesn’t make it misogynistic.
The misogyny comes into it in the fact that Wayward Sisters never became a thing, presumably because the channel didn’t see a show centring on women fighting monsters to be a draw
Wayward Sisters didn’t get picked up because it was boring not because it was misogynistic. I say this as a woman who really liked the older actresses but found the younger ones lacking in depth, humor, and personality. As for racist, several of the most fascinating and entertaining characters were POC. A series is not under any obligation to satisfy an audience’s social agenda. There are other series out there that do, so vote by viewing them rather than complaining that you aren’t getting what you want from a particular series.
Very well said, Laura.
Oh please, Wayward Sisters failed because it couldn’t draw enough of an audience. Those are the breaks in Hollyweird.
Also because there aren’t literally numerous shows with young girls fighting evil already.
You’re just trying to get a rise out people with your ignorant commens. Nice try, though.
Again with the rude and WRONG comments.
People usually find what they are looking for. The show and those involved had no intention of it being either.
I was really pulling for Smallville to win. But I am in no way surprised by this win. The real winner is Jensen Ackles. A true CW champion.
I guess the 4 best tv series on the CW are Supernatural, Smallville, Arrow and The Vampire Diaries and I am okay with that. They all had longevity and amazing ratings during their runs so its pretty obvious they would be front runners. Props to The Flash, One Tree Hill, Gossip Girl, The Flash and Legends for making top 8 its not surprising at all these series made the CW.
Not big surprise but congratulation to Supernatural! I might to be happy with the way it ended, but Supernatural will always best show ever for me.
You people are crazy man Smallville was a hundred times better than supernatural I watched all the time all of them and even bought it on DVD I stopped watching supernatural after about the darn 5th or 6th season 💤💤💤💤💤💤💤
#AlwaysHoldOntoSmallville.
I am with you!
Most of these young kids were too young back in the day when good television was on
You do realize that Supernatural and Smallville aired at the same time for several seasons of both, right? Smallville aired from 2001 to 2011 and Supernatural aired from 2005 to 2020. So, for about 6 years, they were on at the same time. I don’t think anyone’s age has anything to do with it. I watched both series from the pilot through to the ending as they originally aired. I voted for Supernatural. I am a fan of both shows, but prefer Supernatural. I go back and rewatch my favorite seasons of Supernatural frequently. I’ve never felt like going back and rewatching Smallville, though I did like it. I watch all of the CW superhero shows and did enjoy the cameos from Tom Welling and Erica Durance on the Crisis crossover episodes. You know, people can have a different opinion than you. It just turns out more Supernatural fans voted in this poll.
I think with good television he means a time long before Smallville or Spn appears on Tv.
Maybe, but that really wouldn’t have anything to do with this poll since The CW didn’t exist before 2006.
Thank you for this. I felt the same way. I watched both shows, start to finish and I’ve never really felt the need or want to go back and rewatch Smallville, but I do still watch Supernatural. Maybe because Sam and Dean and Castiel are more dynamic characters. They’re not always the good guys sometimes; where as Clark Kent was always the good guy.
True! It can be more interesting to see the ups and downs of a hero, especially when those heroes are human and not superpowered.
I was never crazy about Smallville, they veered to far from canon Superman. For instance killing Jonathon when Clark was still in high school. He didn’t die until after Clark was in Metropolis and had become Superman. Then you have Pa Kent running for office and Martha taking his place after he died? That’s about the time I stopped watching. Oh, I almost forgot the worst thing, Lois Lane living with the Kents while Clark was still in school.
Hmm opposite for me, Smallville could never hold my interest. Loved Supernatural
Yawn
As stated in the article Jensen Ackles first appeared in season 4 of Smallville, that probably was a huge factor on the creation of Supernatural. I assume the same for Vampire Diaries with both brothers appearing in Smallville before (Paul Wesley was Lucas Luthor in S2 and Ian Somehalder was in season 3 as Lana love interest). So in a way Smallville spawned both of those shows. It also boosted Arrow and the Arrowverse, without a doubt. I don’t say SPN doesn’t deserve it because it clearly does but for me Smallville birthed all those shows.
You are absolutely correct in your comment, Smallville was the 1st best most funded and in my opinion the best quality & best writtenTV show – that was rarely shown especially in its entirety on Terrestrial TV unlike Supernatural, so of course SN would win – but Smallville deserves every acolade possible.
Lana, Clana and Lexana were quality written television? Disrespecting Clark was quality written television? Please. Your taste is questionable.
Sorry to correct you, but Supernatural’s creation and Jensen being on Smallville have nothing to do with each other. Supernatural was the backup idea of Kripke when his original idea of a Route 66-like show was panned by the, then, WB execs.
Jensen, like most of the, then, male roster of WB were given auditions for the show (The first character they wanted to fill was Sam, which Jensen tried out for). Jared was picked for Sam, cause he fit the character profile, more than Jensen, who, original, was considered for the part, after his audition.
So, Smallville, and Jensen’s role on it, had nothing to do with Supernatural’s creation.
Oh, side note: Jensen was not on Smallville at the time of Supernatural’s development, he was on Dark Angel. :)
I couldn’t disagree more. For my all time it was Life Unexpected. However once it was knocked out and had to choose another show it would have been One Tree Hill.
Woohoo! So happy for the brothers.
I love Tom as well and I’m glad we will soon see more of his work on the network again.
I’m okay with this.
This was a very fun tournament. I had forgotten how many beloved shows have aired on the CW. I remember when UPN and WB merged and how weird it seemed. Mostly I was excited that I could watch season 3 of Veronica Mars because my college didn’t get UPN, but would get this mysterious new station in place of the WB.
Long live the CW and happy 15 years!!! Here’s to many more years of entertainment!
I agree. It was weird having a new channel and wondering what will happen to the shows there. I was also leery about Supernatural because of not knowing what it will be like. After seeing a few episodes, I was hooked. Sam trying to escape the hunter life, but getting into it anyway to find papa. I will never forget the proud look John had as they closed the gates.
They should get an award for being #1 by you guys. As much as I loved Smallville and Jensen playing a coach, nothing beats Supernatural and the chemistry everyone has on/off screen.