The Boys has been such a hit across its four seasons (with Season 5 of the superhero satire on the way) on Amazon Prime Video that it’s definitely seen as one of the flagship series for one of the best streaming services. With that recognition comes a certain kind of faith and clout, at least where the streamer the show calls home is concerned. Basically, having the show be a massive critical and fan hit has allowed showrunner Eric Kripke to have a nice budget. He admits that he loves “spending a shit ton of money” on his shows, but also thinks series like Supernatural are really valuable.
What Did The Boys’ Eric Kripke Say About Why Shows Like Supernatural Are Valuable?
Eric Kripke is pretty much a genre hero, having spent most of his career bringing tales of superheroes, time travelers, and things that go bump in the night to life for millions of fans to enjoy. Though he also delivered cult favorites like the NBC shows Timeless and Revolution, before setting streaming on fire with The Boys and its very NSFW language, violence and flaming penis scenes, the claim to fame he really made his name on is The CW’s hit Supernatural, which ran for 15 seasons. When The Hollywood Reporter asked whether or not genre shows were “easier to make work” several years ago, Kripke said:
Supernatural was not an expensive show to produce. The Boys’ budget is quite a lot bigger by a factor of … a couple. (Laughs.) That’s part of the corner that I think streamers have found themselves in — for better or worse. Audiences now expect feature film quality, especially their genre stuff. Supernatural did just well enough that it just wasn’t in the red. And when we started, it was the network of Gossip Girl and 90210. We were the one Goth kid in the back of the class — but, by the time we left, the entire place was genre-nerd central. Now the market demand is to just make really expensive stuff — like us, Fallout and House of the Dragon.
Streaming shows used to seem to be in the enviable (compared with their broadcast and cable brethren) position of being able to not garner any significant buzz and stick around for several seasons. However, our post-pandemic times have really changed that, with streaming series that have strong (but not technically large) fanbases being canceled more and more and fans definitely getting mad about it.
Along with it appearing that beloved shows don’t get the time they need to grow or even find a relatively quick way to finish up their stories for the viewers they do have, Kripke believes that all streaming shows that don’t hit the bar of looking/feeling like “feature film quality” (particularly if they’re among the genre set) are going to be ignored. This means that streamers are, all around, getting more selective so they can spend big bucks on a few genre shows as opposed to spreading that good will around as much as in the past.
Kripke (who previously revealed that he lives “in absolute terror” as he continues to expand The Boys on-screen universe) did admit that he much more enjoys working on shows that have a good deal of cash thrown at them, but he does also think that lower-budget series like Supernatural are also worth the time and effort to produce. He said:
I prefer spending a shit ton of money on big shows and having three times as long to shoot them. My blood pressure has really been a beneficiary of that. But, especially for young showrunners, I do wish there was still that Syfy channel and CW model of learning how to stretch your dollar, both in terms of writing and producing. That’s a boot camp that really helped me, and I wish more people were coming up in the business who were trained that way. It would lead to a more robust business and people who have the ability to handle the big jobs when they come along.
His point of view here actually makes a lot of sense. If you, as a showrunner and/or producer, can do a lot with a little, then when you’re given the opportunity to do a lot with A LOT, you should be even more ready to make that happen, and within the time and financial confines that have already been set. I have no doubt that Kripke will continue to do that as The Boys enters its fifth and final season.
