prydain
08-16-2008, 04:05 PM
Doesn't really reveal much, just a lot of teasers, but I'm definitely excited now for the fourth season to begin.
An Interview with Sera Gamble, Producer and Writer for Supernatural (http://firefox.org/news/articles/1782/1/An-Interview-with-Sera-Gamble-Producer-and-Writer-for-Supernatural/Page1.html)
A sweet monster and a very logical bear
Supernatural's season 3 ended on the kind of cliffhanger that gets viewers yelling at their TV sets and counting the days to the new episodes. With season 4 starting on September 18th, we caught up via email with producer and writer Sera Gamble to try to eke out some hints about they mysteries of season 4.
Read on to hear about why the showrunners are as excited as the fans, Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean Winchester (Jensen Ackles) going old school, Dean's state of mind, and horror-movie hair.
Firefox News: The writer's strike cut season 3 short. Meanwhile, time was running down on Dean's deal. Has having a full season ahead and Dean no longer in the process of dying affected the atmosphere working on season 4?
Sera Gamble: Yeah, I suppose we are in a different head space this season. Worrying about when we were going to shut down was no fun. And we came into this season with an embarrassment of riches, because we inherited some of the storyline we didn't get a chance to tell last year. So, we're in a happy place.
FFN: What's Sam been doing while Dean was in hell? Will he resemble how he was without Dean in "Mystery Spot" -- emotionally shut off and completely focused on hunting?
SG: Tune in and find out!
FFN: Can you tell us what Dean's state of mind will be like at the beginning of season 4?
SG: Confused – there's a lot of mystery surrounding his return. I can't say much about it yet. Just what I'm sure you were already assuming: when he starts to get answers, he doesn't like 'em all that much.
FFN: Will season 4 reveal how Dean got out of hell?
SG: Yes.
FFN: Is there a season 4 script you've written or are working on now that you're particularly excited about? Or a story that you're eager for viewers to see that you're allowed to talk about?
SG: I'm very excited for the premiere to air. Eric wrote it and Kim Manners directed it; I think they both outdid themselves. So did the actors. It's an all-around fantastic episode. One of my favorites. I wrote the second episode. It was a blast because I got to bring back some of my favorite characters. After the first two episodes air, we'll be freer to talk about what's really going on this season. I'll be happy about that. I hate being this cagey about everything.
Right this second, I'm in the thick of writing a two-parter with Eric; it'll air as episodes 9 and 10. We're both excited by it. The case that pulls Sam and Dean in is very evocative and unusual and cool. And it has a great cliffhanger. It's gonna feel like a long week in between those two episodes, if we do our jobs right.
FFN: Bobby has been a surrogate father to the boys.
Will we see more of him in season 4?
SG: Yes. You won't have to wait long to see him -- he's in the first couple of episodes. I just watched a cut of Episode Two, and there's a situation he finds himself in which may be his creepiest scene yet. And that's saying something.
FFN: Eric Kripke announced that season 4 would have a black and white episode, an homage to the classic horror films of the 30's. Are you a fan of a particular horror movie or director? Alfred Hitchcock?
SG: Yes – that would be Episode Three. How cool is that? I'm so glad we got to do this episode – and that Bob Singer directed it. That man is a walking encyclopedia of film, so he was definitely the guy for the job. Ben Edlund wrote it. He hit this fantastic tone that's an homage to the classics but also hilariously contemporary. They just went all-out. But my favorite thing about it is seeing Sam and Dean in black and white, like old-school matinée idols.
About your question – of course I'm a fan of Hitchcock. And I have to mention James Whale too; you can't beat the original Frankenstein. I love that poor sweet monster. And his bride had the best horror-movie hair ever.
FFN: You've been writing Sam and Dean for four seasons. What feels most different about writing them now than when you started in season one?
SG: I just know them better now. I've been here for every second of the last three years of their lives. It's a strange feeling, to know fictional characters better than you know many of the actual people in your life. But by Season Four of a show I think that starts to be true.
FFN: Has anything in particular surprised you about the characters, and also about the process of making the show?
SG: I've never worked on a show that kept getting renewed. Before this, I was on a show that got canceled in five episodes. So I always imagined that by Season Four, everything would start to feel stale and labored and hopelessly repetitive. But the creation of this season has been full of pleasant surprises. We've made some choices that felt risky, but the payoff was immediate, in the form of torrents and torrents of story ideas for each brother.
I'm not assuming, by the way, that everyone will love what we're doing. Far from it – I think it'll be the subject of much debate. We're looking forward to that. Actually, we're all squirming in our seats. I don't know who's looking forward to the premiere more – the fans or us.
FFN: One last question: Eric Kripke mentioned at Comic Con that there might be an episode with a seven foot tall, talking teddy bear in it. Would you care to comment?
SG: Last I checked, the teddy bear is still in the episode. The day the bear got invented was one of my favorite days ever on the show. All I can say is, within the construct of the episode, the bear is very logical.
An Interview with Sera Gamble, Producer and Writer for Supernatural (http://firefox.org/news/articles/1782/1/An-Interview-with-Sera-Gamble-Producer-and-Writer-for-Supernatural/Page1.html)
A sweet monster and a very logical bear
Supernatural's season 3 ended on the kind of cliffhanger that gets viewers yelling at their TV sets and counting the days to the new episodes. With season 4 starting on September 18th, we caught up via email with producer and writer Sera Gamble to try to eke out some hints about they mysteries of season 4.
Read on to hear about why the showrunners are as excited as the fans, Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean Winchester (Jensen Ackles) going old school, Dean's state of mind, and horror-movie hair.
Firefox News: The writer's strike cut season 3 short. Meanwhile, time was running down on Dean's deal. Has having a full season ahead and Dean no longer in the process of dying affected the atmosphere working on season 4?
Sera Gamble: Yeah, I suppose we are in a different head space this season. Worrying about when we were going to shut down was no fun. And we came into this season with an embarrassment of riches, because we inherited some of the storyline we didn't get a chance to tell last year. So, we're in a happy place.
FFN: What's Sam been doing while Dean was in hell? Will he resemble how he was without Dean in "Mystery Spot" -- emotionally shut off and completely focused on hunting?
SG: Tune in and find out!
FFN: Can you tell us what Dean's state of mind will be like at the beginning of season 4?
SG: Confused – there's a lot of mystery surrounding his return. I can't say much about it yet. Just what I'm sure you were already assuming: when he starts to get answers, he doesn't like 'em all that much.
FFN: Will season 4 reveal how Dean got out of hell?
SG: Yes.
FFN: Is there a season 4 script you've written or are working on now that you're particularly excited about? Or a story that you're eager for viewers to see that you're allowed to talk about?
SG: I'm very excited for the premiere to air. Eric wrote it and Kim Manners directed it; I think they both outdid themselves. So did the actors. It's an all-around fantastic episode. One of my favorites. I wrote the second episode. It was a blast because I got to bring back some of my favorite characters. After the first two episodes air, we'll be freer to talk about what's really going on this season. I'll be happy about that. I hate being this cagey about everything.
Right this second, I'm in the thick of writing a two-parter with Eric; it'll air as episodes 9 and 10. We're both excited by it. The case that pulls Sam and Dean in is very evocative and unusual and cool. And it has a great cliffhanger. It's gonna feel like a long week in between those two episodes, if we do our jobs right.
FFN: Bobby has been a surrogate father to the boys.
Will we see more of him in season 4?
SG: Yes. You won't have to wait long to see him -- he's in the first couple of episodes. I just watched a cut of Episode Two, and there's a situation he finds himself in which may be his creepiest scene yet. And that's saying something.
FFN: Eric Kripke announced that season 4 would have a black and white episode, an homage to the classic horror films of the 30's. Are you a fan of a particular horror movie or director? Alfred Hitchcock?
SG: Yes – that would be Episode Three. How cool is that? I'm so glad we got to do this episode – and that Bob Singer directed it. That man is a walking encyclopedia of film, so he was definitely the guy for the job. Ben Edlund wrote it. He hit this fantastic tone that's an homage to the classics but also hilariously contemporary. They just went all-out. But my favorite thing about it is seeing Sam and Dean in black and white, like old-school matinée idols.
About your question – of course I'm a fan of Hitchcock. And I have to mention James Whale too; you can't beat the original Frankenstein. I love that poor sweet monster. And his bride had the best horror-movie hair ever.
FFN: You've been writing Sam and Dean for four seasons. What feels most different about writing them now than when you started in season one?
SG: I just know them better now. I've been here for every second of the last three years of their lives. It's a strange feeling, to know fictional characters better than you know many of the actual people in your life. But by Season Four of a show I think that starts to be true.
FFN: Has anything in particular surprised you about the characters, and also about the process of making the show?
SG: I've never worked on a show that kept getting renewed. Before this, I was on a show that got canceled in five episodes. So I always imagined that by Season Four, everything would start to feel stale and labored and hopelessly repetitive. But the creation of this season has been full of pleasant surprises. We've made some choices that felt risky, but the payoff was immediate, in the form of torrents and torrents of story ideas for each brother.
I'm not assuming, by the way, that everyone will love what we're doing. Far from it – I think it'll be the subject of much debate. We're looking forward to that. Actually, we're all squirming in our seats. I don't know who's looking forward to the premiere more – the fans or us.
FFN: One last question: Eric Kripke mentioned at Comic Con that there might be an episode with a seven foot tall, talking teddy bear in it. Would you care to comment?
SG: Last I checked, the teddy bear is still in the episode. The day the bear got invented was one of my favorite days ever on the show. All I can say is, within the construct of the episode, the bear is very logical.