TV Talk: As ‘Supernatural’ ends, star Jensen Ackles recalls filming in Pittsburgh

The CW’s “Supernatural” was one of the first American scripted drama series to resume production after the pandemic began with just two episodes left to be filmed, including the show’s series finale, slated for 9 p.m. Nov. 19 on WPCW-TV, Channel 19, following a series retrospective at 8 p.m.

After 15 seasons, “Supernatural” outlasted not only the network it premiered on, The WB, but hundreds of other TV series.

The story of the Winchester brothers, Dean (Jensen Ackles) and Sam (Jared Padealecki), and their encounters with myriad supernatural forces, “Supernatural” developed a devoted fan following and gave its stars a platform for new opportunities.

Padalecki will star in a reboot of “Walker, Texas Ranger,” premiering at 8 p.m. Jan. 21 on The CW while Ackles has been cast in the third season of Amazon’s “The Boys.”

Early in the run of “Supernautral,” Ackles filmed a 3-D remake of the 1981 slasher flick “My Bloody Valentine” in Pittsburgh, largely at Tarentum’s Tour-Ed Mine.

“I hold that experience very, very, very high on my scale of things that I enjoyed in life,” Ackles told me in July 2019 during the Television Critics Association summer press tour. “It was a slog, the production was. A lot of it was shot underground. But I will say that the crew that we worked with — which was predominantly locals — were phenomenal.”

Filmed in the spring of 2008, Ackles recalls being in Pittsburgh during the Stanley Cup finals.

“That town comes alive when there’s a final going on and I had such a good time,” he said, recalling dinner with a view on Mount Washington with his then-girlfriend, now-wife and mother of his three children. “We got coerced by our waiter to hop in his car and go to some sort of crazy karaoke situation in a suburb of Pittsburgh.”

Ackles recalls buying a guitar in “a tiny shop a half-hour outside of Pittsburgh” that remains one of his favorites.

As for the movie he made, “My Bloody Valentine 3-D” was one of the early efforts in a short-lived 3-D revival, which added technical complexity to the shoot.

“It was a bit of a learning curve and it took a little longer than anticipated but everybody had great patience,” Ackles said.

As for the film’s ending – 21-year-old spoilers ahead – Ackles said what moviegoers saw – his character was revealed to be the killer — was not how the movie was originally scripted.

“That was an alternate ending,” Ackles said. “We shot it [in a day] because we thought it would be cool.”

The original ending revealed another character, played by Kerr Smith, was the killer.

“Then they got in the editing room,” Ackles said, “and they’re like, ‘It has to be this way now.’”

‘Industry’

HBO’s latest drama follows a group of young college grads competing for a limited number of permanent positions at a London international bank.

They’re beautiful, diverse, horny, often naked (both women and men) and into recreational hard drug use like they took a master class in the 1987 film “Less Than Zero.”

As the characters engage in a bad choice-apolooza, “Industry” proves addictive, like watching a train wreck, particularly the more you watch.

The pilot, written by creators Mickey Down and Konrad Kay (“Hoff the Record”), is just OK as it introduces characters that include audience surrogate Harper Stern (Myha’la Herrold), an American with a shady past; “whole snack” working-class Brit Robert (Harry Lawty) and his roommate Gus (David Jonsson), who faces off against workplace rival Hari (Nabhaan Rizwan), who rarely leaves the office.

“Industry” (10 p.m. Monday) becomes more engrossing in subsequent episodes as relationships develop, whether it’s a flirtation between Robert and privileged Yasmin (Marisa Abela) or the paternal relationship between sales desk boss Eric (Ken Leung) and Harper, who have a notable scene in episode four bonding over being people of color in a predominantly white business.

“Industry” seems unlikely to have broad appeal – the characters are too uniformly unpleasant – but it’s worth watching for fans of intriguing niche dramas.

‘Moonbase 8’

Showtime’s “Moonbase 8” (11 p.m. Sunday) is one of those comedies that’s filled with bone-dry, barely funny humor.

Set in the Arizona desert at the site of NASA’s moon base simulator, the series follows astronauts Skip (Fred Armisen), Rook (Tim Heidecker) and leader Cap (John C. Reilly) as they attempt to qualify for a lunar mission. The three actors created the series with series director Jonathan Krisel (“Portlandia”).

“Moonbase 8” has its absurdist comedic moments but they’re too hit-and-miss.

More CBS shows return

CBS has another wave of returning series coming this month, including “The Unicorn” (9:30 p.m. Nov. 12), “Bull” (10 p.m. Nov. 16), “FBI” (9 p.m. Nov. 17), “FBI’s Most Wanted” (10 p.m. Nov. 17) and “Seal Team” (9 p.m. Nov. 25).

Kept/canceled/revived

Netflix renewed “The Baby-Sitters Club” for a second season and “Narcos: Mexico” for a third.

CBS All Access renewed cop comedy “No Activity” for a fourth season but the show will segue from live-action to an animated format.

Peacock canceled “Brave New World” after one season.

Fox canceled new fall dramas “Filthy Rich” and “Next.”

Hulu canceled “Castle Rock” after two seasons.

NBC yanked filmed-in-quarantine comedy “Connecting” with the remaining four episodes available on Peacock and at NBC.com.

HBO Max and Cartoon Network will revive ‘90s hit “Tiny Toons” with a two-season order for “Tiny Toons Looniversity.”

Long-running syndicated hit “Judge Judy” will air its final new episode in 2021. After that, Judy Sheindlin will preside over a new court program for free, ad-supported streaming service IMDb TV.

Channel surfing

Digital subchannel MeTV (Channel 11.2 over the air, Channels 190/207/1169 on Comcast, 465 on Verizon’s FiOS TV and 92 on Armstrong) re-airs the “M*A*S*H” series finale uncut at 7 p.m. Nov. 11. … Netflix will raise prices on its standard two-stream HD plan by $1 to $13.99 per month; premium tier of four streams goes up $2 to $17.99 per month while the basic plan of a single, non-HD stream remains $8.99 per month.