The work everyone did on "The Pilot" was phenomenal, so it's no surprise Supernatural got picked up for a series. At that point, according to Kripke, the studio said he needed to partner with an executive producer with production experience. They paired him with Robert Singer, which Kripke describes as being "like an arranged marriage, because you're going to be working more closely with that person than anyone else. It's worked out beyond both of our expectations." Robert Singer concurs. "We're very much of the same mind, Eric and I, and I think that he fills in certain gaps I have and I fill in certain gaps he has. Kripke feels Singer doesn't get nearly the credit he deserves for the complexity he brings to the show when filling in those gaps. "He is the one who really demands the characters have depth."

The studio also wanted Kripke to bring in someone to help build the mythology, to build stories, to work with the writers, so "David [Nutter] told Eric, 'Get Shiban in here,' remembers co-executive producer John Shiban. "So we met and immediately clicked." Shiban brought years of The X-Files experience to the table, and with regards to mythology, he posed the question, "Can you build a boat that will still float, but without all its pieces? Because . . . there are discoveries that are going to be made along the way, there'll be characters that you stumble on." The idea of Meg, who turned out to be very central to the mythology as an undercover demon, was a perfect example of that.

They started hiring staff writers as soon as the series was picked up, and Kripke hit the ground running, ready to dive into the lore he adores. "I showed up the first day of work with eighty urban legends that were my favorites." For the first batch of episodes, the legends tended to come first. "I had a pile that I really wanted to do," Kripke explains. "The storylines of the boys came later. But once we realized how good they were and the depth of storytelling we could tell about them, we really began to focus more on what their issues were, and what interesting story we wanted to tell about them.

With their focus flipped, they started to only use urban legends that fit with the boys' story. And Kripke thinks the second half of season one was better than the first half because of that.

Excerpted from: Knight, Nicholas. Supernatural: The Official Companion Season One. Titan Books, 2007: 12-13.

Appropriate sparks are flying, somebody cue the power ballad. DISTURBING BEHAVIOR (1998) dir. David Nutter

[NEWS 📰] Award winning Director David Nutter picks Jaime knighting Brienne as one of his favorites in his directing legacy

Rare contact sheets of John Lennon and Yoko Ono on April 22, 1969, taken by David Nutter.

Writer James Wong and director David Nutter talking about X-files s01 e13 "Beyond the sea"

Cinefantastique #26 - 1995

“Dana, open yourself up to extreme possibilities only when they’re the truth.”

—Mulder

Beyond the Sea

Gillian Anderson and Scully come into their own in this first-rate script by Glen Morgan and James Wong. Scully’s personal and professional lives collide when, shortly after her father's death, she and Mulder interrogate a psychic death row convict named Boggs (Brad Dourif) who may hold the key to finding a serial killer and his latest victims. In a fascinating twist, Mulder for once is the skeptic, and Scully the unwilling believer, when Boggs claims he can locate the killer—his former partner—as well as give Scully some final words from her father. Director David Nutter drew scorching performances from Dourif. and a deeply moving one from Anderson, whose Scully tries mightily to repress both her grief and her belief, and his orchestration of the prison confrontations is masterful. The sholwhere the door closes behind Anderson, leaving Dourif centered perfectly in a narrow windowframe is quite unforgettable. The teaser is a study in how to communicate family tensions and emotions not spelled out in dialogue. Don Davis and Sheila Larkcn as William and Margaret Scully make an indelible impression.

“Beyond the Sea” originated from a number of sources, one of which, said James Wong, was “a book Glen had read which said that 75 percent of widows within three months have a vision of their husband, and 35 percent of mothers see their sons.” And comments from fans that Scully needed humanizing played their part. “Gillian needed a show to show off her talents,” Wong said. Added Morgan, "It was time to grow Scully’s character, because she was doing the same kind of thing too often.”

The character of Boggs grew out of Morgan’s desire to “do a psychic thing. And you start thinking, well, this guy’s got to have something at stake. Capital punishment was one thing I always wanted to write about.” The network executives were not high on the idea of a Scully/Boggs faceoff, and Chris Carter had to back the idea twice before the they gave the go-ahead. “They said it was too much like SILENCE OF THE LAMBS,” said Morgan, “so in order to not do Hannibal Lecter, this kind of cool intellectual, we had this manic high-strung cracker. I was directly trying not to write Hannibal Lecter.”

Noted director David Nutter, "Brad Dourif came in, and my job there was to create a setting where he could be what he really wanted to be. I would just tweak this and that, but basically I let him have the stage. In a sense, it was a static episode and it was important to let his performance be the moving element. I was also very happy with the work that Gillian and I did together. I thought she really proved herself to be quite a talented actress.”

Religious symbolism is a guiding clement in “Beyond the Sea.” The teaser opens on a Christmas tree angel and the statue of an angel also provides an important clue to locating the serial killer. Mulder's lack of faith in Boggs results in his being shot near a wooden “white cross” which Boggs had warned him about, a contrast to Scully’s evading death when she avoids a painting of a blue devil about which she had received a similar warning. “Scully has that Catholic background,” said Morgan. "I’m not a very organized religious person, but we got a lot of letters from people saying, ‘I need to see my religion portrayed positively.’ So you try to have somebody who was raised with that faith.”

The tattoos on Boggs’ hands which read “kiss” and “kill” are reminiscent of Robert Mitchum’s “love” and “hate” tattoos in NIGHT OF THE HUNTER, but Morgan said that although Mitchum was in the back of his mind, the words themselves came from a song by the band X. “There’s a lyric which says, ‘It’s kiss or kill.’ I was trying to think of something other than love or hate and I thought that was kind of neat.”

BEVERLY HILLS, CALIFORNIA - FEBRUARY 10: (From 2nd L) Honoree David Nutter accepts the Lifetime Achievement Award in Television from David Duchovny and Nikolaj Coster-WaldauBEVERLY HILLS, CALIFORNIA - FEBRUARY 10: (From 2nd L) Honoree David Nutter accepts the Lifetime Achievement Award in Television from David Duchovny and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau onstage during the 76th Directors Guild of America Awards at The Beverly Hilton on February 10, 2024 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Amy Sussman/Getty Images for DGA) onstage during the 76th Directors Guild of America Awards at The Beverly Hilton on February 10, 2024 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Amy Sussman/Getty Images for DGA)

The X-Files - Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose by David Nutter, Darin Morgan.

Disturbing Behavior (1998) dir. by David Nutter

NIKOLAJ COSTER-WALDAU and DAVID DUCHOVNY attend the 76th Directors Guild of America Awards in Beverly Hills, California.

In 1946, the very first X-File of the FBI was opened by J Edgar Hoover about a series of murders in and around the North West. The murders had the characteristics of both a wild animal and of being done by a man. Due to the bizarre and unsolved nature of the crimes, Hoover had the files locked away in the first X File (“Shapes” X Files, TV)

Happy Birthday Peter Dinklage!

John Lennon on the plane after getting married to Yoko Ono, taken by David Nutter. ㅡ From the book "One Day At A Time" by Anthony Fawcett.

76th Directors Guild Of America Awards - Press Room

BEVERLY HILLS, CALIFORNIA - FEBRUARY 10: (L-R) David Duchovny, David Nutter, recipient of the DGA Lifetime Achievement Award, and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau pose in the press room during the 76th Directors Guild Of America Awards at The Beverly Hilton on February 10, 2024 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Lionel Hahn/Getty Images)