Tag: SPNFamily

‘Public Domain’ Premieres – Adding some Supernatural Fun to Your 2026!

‘Public Domain’ Premieres – Adding some Supernatural Fun to Your 2026!

spnfans

One of the highlights of last year’s con season was getting to attend the premiere of the pilot of Public Domain, Matt Cohen’s new creative project that stars lots of Supernatural actors.

The premiere came with a viewing and a party at the last Austin convention.

Matt hosted along with talented writer Sean Flanagan.

There was cake and goodies and lots of excitement – and then lots of laughs because Public Domain is hilarious!

I loved its humor and I also loved its biting commentary and how much I could relate to many of its characters. They might be (former?) Hollywood stars and I might not be, but the things they’re struggling with are the same things we all have to confront sooner or later.

Alex Calvert joined me in the audience, which gave Matt an opportunity to call him out and ask if he’d be in a subsequent episode (of course, he said yes). That also gave the woman sitting on the other side of him a heart attack when she realized she’d been sitting next to Alex Calvert!

I caught up with Matt via Zoom last month to get his thoughts on the premiere and the reception to Public Domain, and to share how much I loved it.

Lynn: What was the response to the Public Domain premiere after people watched it either in person or online?

Matt: The responses have been great. The pilot episode or the first episode of anything isn’t my favorite, because you’re setting up all these characters, all the potential, but you have to know all their names by the end of it. So this pilot sets up middle aged, washed up, kind of once-iconic, let’s call it teen star or young 20s star, and now they’re all waiting for their second chance in Hollywood.

Lynn: Middle age or worrying about getting there, that’s probably something a lot of people can relate to.

Matt: Much like myself, right? I’m a guy who worked on a show called South of Nowhere when I was a kid, in my early 20s. It was great, and I didn’t know what I had at the time or I would have cherished it more.

Lynn: I think that’s the case for alot of us when we look back on our twenties!

Matt: So they all had this bright, budding circumstance of wow, I’m gonna make it in Hollywood, or Tinseltown as we like to call it on Public Domain. They all had some success, but Hollywood is a real beast of a machine and it can really eat you up. Our show delves into that, it’s a little bit of inside baseball of Hollywood, almost Entourage in the way we’re peeling back the curtain – industry jokes, treatment, mistreatment, and the misinformation within the world of Hollywood that everybody thinks is oh-so-glorious. It’s a struggle like anything else, and I think the people who’ve watched the premiere have kind of related to what we’ve done.

Lynn:  I know I did. And it’s such a great idea, they’re all familiar characters – who are quite literally in the public domain.

Matt: Yes, and there’s some nostalgia in seeing characters that have existed for your entire childhood and then being able to re-see them as a somewhat different and more relatable reality. A character that is struggling, has ups and downs, has disabilities, has mental illnesses and things to overcome. Why should any Disney princess or your favorite animated cartoon character differ, right? Or you hear a curse word and all of a sudden that character becomes a little more authentic to you, or you see a little bit of weakness in a character’s decision making and you’re like wow, okay, I relate to this character.

Lynn: I definitely did.

Matt: And my big pitch with Public Domain has always been that you don’t have to sit down and learn 50 new characters – you’ve watched these characters your whole life, we’re just gonna open up a little bit of their story with some of the questions that haven’t been allowed to be asked. Like, what happens if the Little Mermaid and King Kong go on a date?

Lynn: It humanizes them, but the show also has these kind of universal messages about aging and looks and power and manipulation and obsession with celebrity, and how that impacts all of us really. Yes, it’s inside baseball, and you get a lot of insight from a very different perspective on Hollywood, but it’s also just human. There were so many things in the pilot that I can relate to, and I’m not an actor, but it’s universal.

Matt: All applause to Sean Flanagan, the writer, he’s got a good finger on the pulse of Hollywood-meets-this-weird-animated-sitcom, we love these characters, so what are our version of these characters, and how do we connect that with people? And it’s Cheers. Cheers is the connecting tissue – what Cheers taught us is that if you have a thumping heartbeat of a place for these people to be, everyone wants to come to this place, because that’s where you celebrate, or that’s where you drown your sorrows, from the beginning of time to now.

Lynn: Yes, still very true

Matt: Cheers would allow you to walk in as a guest star of the week or whatever, and they’re in the home setting. So now you’ve got a new character who opens the door and it’s what’s their story, why are they here? Who in this home setting is gonna help them or nurture them through whatever they’re going through, and does that evolve into a love arc or a second B storyline in any way?

Lynn: It’s a perfect way to introduce everyone and then start exploring that character.

Matt: A bar is a place for people to talk. Next to a therapist’s office, which is one of my favorite places on Earth.

Lynn: Mine too since I’m a therapist…

Matt: The bar is a lot of people’s therapy, in a way. It’s a dark atmosphere where you come in, you meet a stranger, and you can talk and they can talk, you share perspectives. I want to hear all these characters’ perspectives on who they are, why they’re here, who they love, what Hollywood taught them and what it did to them, and how they’re going to get up and move forward and always keep fighting.

Lynn: You don’t gloss over the fact that these characters are struggling, which again, I think most people can relate to. Public Domain stars many of the actors who you worked with on Supernatural – it’s a treat to see so many fan favorites getting to work together again! Have the actors seen the finished product?

Matt: Some have, yes. Jake Abel (Adam), Briana Buckmaster (Donna), Ruth Connell (Rowena), I got to ask them after they saw it and they really loved it. My goal was to get everybody a job again, and that’s exciting to put who I think are some of the most talented people on TV in something that could evolve into a really fun animated comedy where everybody has a job they can do alongside their other jobs. They have other roles or they’re working on other things, but they can do a voiceover, basically record it on your iPhone from a quiet spot. Over the pandemic I thought okay, we’re not going back to sets and we can’t get close to each other, so the idea of doing an animated show with the cast of Supernatural was just something I loved. They played strong characters in live action shows, so now let me allow Richard and Rob and Ruth and Briana and all these people to play iconic animated characters and tell their stories the way they would never have been able to.

Lynn: They all did such a great job too, like really getting absorbed in the characters but recognizable voices.

(In addition to Jake, Briana and Ruth, Public Domain stars Jim Beaver (Bobby), Rob Benedict (Chuck), Richard Speight, Jr. (Trickster/Gabriel), Adam Fergus (Mick Davies), Tahmoh Penikett (Gadreel), Chad Lindberg (Ash), and Gil McKinney (Henry Winchester), and features music by Louden Swain. There are lots of SPNFamily involved too, including a character based on Krista Martin, who we all loved and who we lost way too soon. Big shout out to my friend Abby DiLeonardo, who’s so talented and who has done such an awesome job on getting the word out about Public Domain with her great social media content!)

And of course, it also stars Matt himself as proprietor Shep Salazar. Who also has great hair.

Matt: My big note to everybody was please allow the audience to know it’s you. Then do whatever you want, whatever your imagination can serve up to you within these characters. Like you see Jake Abel took on this doofy, muscle-y guy thing (as Hercules) that is just so fun. And I’m the one kind of straight man through the whole thing – Shep Salazar is the original character we created for me to host all these hooligans at the bar and help them through their thing.

Lynn: As a huge Supernatural fan, I love that you got so many Supernatural actors involved

Matt: My dream is that each and every one of my Supernatural friends can be on this show. It’s not locked into Supernatural, but that will be the heartbeat of the show. And when I can get a Jared and a Jensen, we’ll have those roles. As the project hopefully gets picked up and we can order more episodes, I can start cameoing my big friends – our Jeffrey Deans and our Jensens and our Jareds and our Mishas. That’s to come, and we’re saving some iconic Public Domain roles for some of your favorites.

Lynn: How many characters are in the public domain?

Matt: There are 100 plus available, from Phantom of the Opera to Cthulhu to Frankenstein, God, all the Disney princesses, all the Winnie the Pooh characters, Popeye… just so many fun characters. I want to be able to put a paycheck in the pockets of all the people who have been by my side for so long and do something that’s fun and creative and also earn a little bit of a living while we make entertainment and serve up this really fun cartoon.

Lynn: Well, it really is. Do you have a plan going forward?

Matt: Sean has gathered some interest from a couple different people, without spoiling too much, Danny McBride has an animation company, Ryan Reynolds has an animation company… I think inevitably Public Domain will get picked up and land somewhere and we’ll be able to shoot more episodes.

Lynn: I can’t wait! But you’re a busy man, you have a lot of other projects going on too.

Matt: Sean and I took on like twelve different projects at once – our feature film Exes just got worldwide distribution in the first quarter of 2026 so we’ve had to go back and add some things to the movie, so that’s been on our plate and we’ll roll into the new year with the release of that movie. I also just did a movie called Christmas At The Zoo for the last few weeks in Chicago, where I play a zookeeper who’s very passionate about what he does – it’s a big Christmas love story, and that will be out in 2026 too.

Lynn: Oh that’s awesome! And aren’t you on a soap opera now too?

Matt: Yes, I’ve walked into Genoa City and I am Young and Restless-ing as Detective James Burrow. I’ve done a handful of episodes and am shooting some more, so we’ll see how long they want to keep me around. Right now it’s a lot of fun. They created a character for me based off of Idris Elba’s in Luther, so my detective is dressed very cool, he’s kind of got some real unique swagger, where you don’t know if he’s a good guy or a bad guy in all situations. But he usually comes out on the right side of things.

Lynn: Intriguing. And it seems like they must be pretty invested in that character.

Matt: I’m certainly invested in it! It’s probably the coolest I’ve ever looked playing a character, and because it’s the soap world, the payoff of moving at the pace they move is, I love that idea of you gotta show up really prepared because you’re gonna get one or two shots at this scene, and if you mess it up, that’s on you. I kind of like that, it’s like being live on the stage.

Lynn: I would hate that, I’d be so anxious, omg what a nightmare!

Matt: It’s my favorite thing! Doing the Supernatural conventions have made it my favorite thing on Earth, to be up on a stage not knowing what happens next. I just love it.

And I think we all know he’s very good at it.

I can’t wait to see more Public Domain episodes, and I can’t wait to see Exes, and Matt as a passionate zookeeper in a Christmas movie, and I can’t wait for more of dapper Detective James Burrow. Lots to look forward to – for now, go watch the premiere episode of Public Domain and sound off in the comments about what you like about it!

Watch the pilot here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mm35G48YCZg

And check out some of the Supernatural cast recording their characters here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbCydZSBC9E

Happy New Year from Public Domain – and from me!

— Lynn

You can read Matt Cohen’s inspiring and

personal chapter about his journey on

Supernatural in ‘Family Don’t End With

Blood’, info on that book and more books on

Supernatural on the home page here or at:

 

It’s Been Four Years Since Supernatural Ended – Happy Anniversary, Show!

It’s Been Four Years Since Supernatural Ended – Happy Anniversary, Show!

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Somehow it’s been four years since the show that changed my life aired its final episode.

It both seems like a second ago and forever ago simultaneously, in that strange way that really pivotal life events seem to take on an altered sense of time. The fandom has, of course, changed in those four years since Supernatural ended – but the entire world has changed too, in so many ways. Most of them seem to be bringing us closer to something like the Winchesters had to face repeatedly, edging toward things that feel almost apocalyptic.

If ever a world needed the Winchesters, it’s right now.

I’m so grateful that, in some sense, we still have them – and always will.  I can still escape with Sam and Dean and Cas, and I find myself rewatching the Show often instead of searching for something new. Nostalgia is powerful, and four years is long enough for it to feel genuinely nostalgic. It’s my feel good show, my happy place, my source of inspiration when it feels impossible to keep going. It’s a reminder to never stop fighting for the people I love and who I’m lucky enough to have in my life to love me back. It feels more necessary now than ever before.

I just re-read what I wrote on the two year anniversary of Supernatural ending. Oddly, I wrote that social media platform changes that were, at the time, just beginning, had me worried that those would change the fandom too. I wrote then:

Twitter itself, the platform on which I mostly make my fannish home and spend time with my fellow fans, is teetering on the abyss of ending too, driven into the ground by a new owner who seems determined to ruin what made it so useful, and occasionally wonderful. Who knows if the Supernatural fandom as it has existed for the past 17 years will ever exist that way again, with so many using Twitter as a platform for both fandom and for interacting with the actors who brought Supernatural to life. It feels like we may be at the end of an era – and doesn’t it just make sense that we’re standing on this precipice on the exact anniversary of Supernatural ending. How fitting is that? Supernatural has always been unprecedented, oddly tied to other major shifts in the broader culture. Why would that change now?

It’s now two years later, and the last week has seen a mass exodus from the platform formerly called Twitter. Some are migrating to Blue Sky, others to Threads or Facebook or Instagram or are just limiting their interaction to Tumblr or Reddit. Some are just leaving all together. It is the end of an era, and while it might reduce some of the social media toxicity and rampant misinformation that have made life even more challenging, it also reduces the sheer volume of fans in one place all interacting together (for better or worse). It feels a little sad, but maybe it’s also hopeful. Yes, you can find me on Blue Sky. I’m trying to be cautiously optimistic that we’ll all find each other again. I don’t like change, but I know that change can be a good thing too – or at least I keep trying to convince myself of that!

One thing I do know. There’s a lot to be grateful for when it comes to the SPNFamily and Supernatural. I feel incredibly lucky that we have 15 years of content to keep watching whenever we need a fix of our favorite fictional characters. I’m really grateful that we still get to interact with the actors at conventions – there were dozens of cons all over the world last year, proving the continued popularity of the show and its talented cast. Moments like these never fail to make me smile.

We’re also fortunate that we still get to watch our favorite actors, this time in their new projects – I feel extra fortunate that I genuinely like the shows they’re on!

While The Winchesters, Walker and Gotham Knights have wrapped, there have been lots of new ones to enjoy. Jared made his debut as a guest star who recurs on ‘Fire Country’ last week, and Camden Casey was an instant fan favorite.

graphic abordelimpala

Sharing a screen with real-life bud Max Thieriot was clearly alot of fun for them, and the cast all talked about how much fun it was having Jared join the family.

And lucky for me, ‘Fire Country’ is a show I love even without Jared on it (but I love Jared on it!)

Jensen has already returned to guest star on ‘Tracker’ this season, another show I love regardless of SPN alum guest stars (but I love Jensen on it!).

That gave Jensen a chance to share the screen with another real-life bud, Justin Hartley, once again playing a big brother. (Fire Country filming in Vancouver gave Jared a chance to hang out with Justin too – it warms my heart that they’re all such good friends).

Jensen is also busy (understatement) filming his new show ‘Countdown’ and then on to the final season of ‘The Boys’ and the new prequel he stars in, ‘Vought Rising’.

I love ‘The Boys’ so much I put together an entire book about it, including a lonnngggggg chapter all about Soldier Boy (and a chapter from Jensen too). So I feel extra lucky that Jensen is part of a show I’ve loved since day one.

That show even brought Jensen back to Hall H at Comic Con this past year.

Kripke and Padalecki have both confirmed that the plan is to have Jared join Jensen in Season 5, which is definitely something to look forward to.

Misha brought the cast of The Boys and Supernatural together for a fun night of support for the Harris/Walz campaign, the combination otherwise known as the “Kripkeverse”. Two of my all time favorite shows, coming together for a cause they all believed in – and sharing it with us!

Misha has been everywhere all over the globe campaigning for the values he’s passionate about  – he inspires me with his determination to keep doing just that.

So yes, we’re lucky.

And maybe more important than any of the other reasons I count my blessings when it comes to Supernatural, I’m incredibly grateful for the friends I’ve made in this fandom. Somehow, four years later, there is still a ridiculous amount of infighting and arguing and ship wars and fans trying to police other fans over a fictional show that’s not even airing, but there is also a vibrant and supportive community that I count on every day to help get me through. There are so many people who care – not just about the Show but about the world, and the future, and each other. There are lots of fans who inspire me, and some special people who I can be real with every day, even when I’m really down, and know that they’ll both listen and care. What a gift that is, from a little show I fell in love with almost twenty years ago.

Happy anniversary, Supernatural. I’m still holding out hope for Season 16, if the universe sees fit to allow a little miracle, a little bright light in the dark.

And happy anniversary, SPNFamily. We may be all over the place, and we may not agree on everything, but I’m really glad I have so much company in still loving the Little Show That Could.

And did.

–Lynn

You can always remember how special Supernatural

was and is – in the actors and fans own words – with

the books Family Don’t End With Blood and There’ll

Be Peace When You Are Done. Info at:

In Memory of Kathy Larsen, With Love

In Memory of Kathy Larsen, With Love

spnfans

This is not an article that I ever wanted to write – or that I ever, in a million years, imagined myself writing. But I want to say something about the friend that I lost this week, and remember just how special Kathy Larsen was.

I met Kathy through fandom. In fact, she was one of the first people I met through fandom, shortly after I discovered that online fandom was even a thing that exists. We were part of a small listserv, passionate about some of the same rather obscure things – a movie, a band, an actor that not many people had even heard of – and fangirled each other’s writing immediately. Kathy was a brilliant writer, whether it was fiction or nonfiction. She could make you laugh, pull you into a mystery, or absolutely gut you with a tragic ending. She could explain concepts that were difficult to grasp in a way that never felt like talking down to anyone, which I’m sure her students appreciated too.

Once we found out we lived only a few hours from each other, we started driving that two hours often, especially when we fell down the rabbit hole of loving a new thing – a relatively unknown little TV show on the WB called ‘Supernatural’.

Along with two friends, we fell in love with Supernatural together, and became fascinated by the close-knit community we found in that show’s fandom. At the same time, we questioned whether it was really okay for us to be quite so far down the rabbit hole. We were professors, professionals, partners, parents. Was it really okay for us to spend so much time and energy loving a TV show? Maybe because we were both professors and accustomed to research, or maybe because we just needed to prove to ourselves that it WAS okay, Kathy and I set out to find the answer. We would write a book, we decided, that set the record straight about fans and fandom, and especially fangirls. We’d examine it from our somewhat diverse perspectives, me as a psychologist and her as an English professor. But to do that, we reasoned, we needed to dive into Supernatural fandom head first and not look back – and that’s exactly what we did.

We flew across the country on almost no notice to see Jensen Ackles on stage in Fort Worth for A Few Good Men, leaving partners and kids a bit stunned. Especially when we decided one performance was not enough. The personality differences between me and Kathy made our fangirl adventures quite a contrast, and occasionally hilarious. We met Jared Padalecki (who had flown in to see his friend in the production) in the lobby candy line. I marched right up to say hello; Kathy opted not to budge from her spot in the corner and watched from a safe distance.

We needed some margaritas after with our friend Amy.

We flew across the country again all the way to LA for the premiere of the Ackles-laden indie film Ten Inch Hero (starring both Jensen and Danneel).  I managed to tell Danneel how much I loved the film while Kathy once again watched supportively from across the room.

But in other things, Kathy was fearless. We rented a PT Cruiser, figured out how to drive it (mostly) and drove down to San Diego to experience Comic Con and the Supernatural panel for the very first time.

Kathy drove.

Driver picked the music.

Shotgun shut her cakehole (and enthusiastically sang along to the classic rock and a little Steve Carlson).

With our friend Sabrina

Comic Con was eventful. We finally met Jensen Ackles.

I cried.

Kathy watched supportively from ten yards away and then hugged me and patted me until I calmed down.

Read more →

Family Don’t End With Blood and National Suicide Prevention Week

Family Don’t End With Blood and National Suicide Prevention Week

spnfans

This week is National Suicide Prevention Week. Nearly 800,000 people die by suicide in the world each year, which is roughly one death every 40 seconds. One of the biggest impediments to people getting help is reluctance to admit to struggling with depression and feeling like you can’t go on. The stigma around talking about depression, anxiety and suicidal thoughts prevents people from reaching out and getting the help they need – it is crucial that we challenge this stigma and let everyone know that it’s okay to talk about how you feel, without judgment or criticism or censure.

As a psychologist, I’ve worked to eliminate that stigma and help people individually to find a reason and a way to keep living. One of the reasons we put together the book Family Don’t End With Blood was to challenge the taboos around talking about depression and suicide on a broader level – in a way that would be powerful to readers. Sometimes we think of “celebrities” as immune from those difficulties, so Family Don’t End With Blood is written by the actors from the television show Supernatural.  The actors who wrote chapters were all courageous in refusing to allow stigma to silence them. They wrote, with candor and emotion, about their struggles with depression, anxiety and self doubt. They allowed readers into their worlds, into their darkest hours, so that anyone reading the book would know that they are truly not alone. That it’s okay to speak up and tell people how much you’re hurting, and it’s okay to ask for help and to accept it when it’s given.

Sometimes we also think, mistakenly, that people who are “like us” are nevertheless much happier or more successful or more loved or whatever; we don’t think that they’re struggling in the same way that we are. So Family Don’t End With Blood also has chapters written by fans, who are just like you and me. They too write with courage about fighting against depression, anxiety, addiction, the feeling of not being “enough” – and of how they managed to keep going even when it was very hard.

Jared Padalecki’s chapter stands out for his willingness to speak openly about the time he almost gave up – and how he was able to let his friends and family and fans give him the support that allowed him to Always Keep Fighting. We hope, and all of us who wrote the book hope, that his words and his courage inspire others who are having trouble not giving up to keep fighting too. That everyone who reads his chapter feels validated in their own struggle and encouraged to continue on.

There are organizations out there that are doing amazing work trying to change the world. That’s why every copy of Family Don’t End With Blood benefits Random Acts and Attitudes in Reverse, an organization that aims to educate about depression, to erase the stigma around mental health, and to prevent suicide.

For his birthday this year, in appreciation of Jared’s chapter and his AKF campaign, we also decided to do a fundraiser in Jared’s honor. He asked that the proceeds go to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. Most of the actors who wrote Family Don’t End With Blood signed a copy, and a very generous fan contributed almost $2000 to purchase it. We also sold a few tee shirts designed by Angie Siketa, and we were honored to donate all the proceeds to the Hotline, to support the important work they do providing a lifeline to those who need it.

It’s important to remember that we all need to hear encouraging and supportive messages from time to time. We all need someone who cares about us to have our back and to lift us up when we’re in danger of falling and carry us until we find our footing again.

So we wanted to give something to Jared too. Thank you to everyone who wrote him a heartfelt message about what his #AKF campaigns and his chapter in Family Don’t End With Blood have meant to you. We gave those messages to him in book form at the last con (with beautiful cover design by Cris Griffin, who also did the gorgeous cover art for Family Don’t End With Blood). I hope your words encourage him just as his words have encouraged so many of us.

You can donate to any of the organizations below that are working to provide help to anyone dealing with depression and to prevent suicide, or give a copy of Family Don’t End With Blood to someone who needs to know that they aren’t alone, and that even lead actors on a successful television show struggle with depression and anxiety and need support sometimes.

Ask about it. Talk about it. Make it okay to talk about ALL emotions openly and honestly, and to ask for help when you need it.

And #AKF.

Jared and Jensen show each other how it felt to read the other’s chapter

There’s help if you or someone else needs it. Don’t be afraid to reach out for it.

Suicide Prevention Lifeline: suicidepreventionlifeline.org

Attitudes in Reverse: AttitudesInReverse.org

To Write Love On Her Arms: twloha.com

IMAlive: IMalive.org

Random Acts Crisis Network: randomacts.org/crisis-support-network/

— Lynn and Kim

Click Here to Order!  your copy of Family Don’t End With Blood