When SUPERNATURAL first premiered, it wasn’t on my radar, and I regretted that decision almost immediately.  Having now gone through 2 Season 1-3 rewatches in 6 months (and now officially caught up on the brilliance of the series), I have to say that it ranks as one of my favorite shows currently on TV!  Tonight’s incredible episode moves it even higher up the scale.  As Vlada points out in her review, this is one of those rare shows that manages to get better and better with age, versus running into the same old story well that other shows continue to go back to.  The fact that they continue to weave a mythology that makes sense and doesn’t come out of left field (usually) into each episode is a testament to their genius.

Tonight’s episode, “Changing Channels”, written by Jeremy Carver and directed by Charles Beeson, deals yet again with one of my favorite characters ever on the show, the strangely enjoyable but totally horrible Trickster (Richard Speight, Jr) who is once again up to no good.  He’s on the scene to bother our boys, but also to teach Sam and Dean some very important lessons about their lives and their destiny.

The show starts with a great voiceover that you would normally hear at the beginning of CHEERS and some of the most amazing opening credits I’ve seen on TV!  As they bounce from show to show, with the Trickster aiming to teach his lesson, my favorite has to be their first stop in Dean’s guilty pleasure, the perfectly named “Dr. Sexy MD.”  A total GREY’S ANATOMY rip-off, complete with ethereal Anya Marina tunage and a whole lot of “Seriously?”, they absolutely embrace the look, the feel, and the thoughts we’re always having about GREY’S (like why does a show like that have ghosts….a nice Jeffrey Dean Morgan nod), all the while producing some of the funniest scenes we’ve seen in a long time.  The rest of the episode deals with them moving in and out of random TV shows (a Japanese game show is particularly funny and I particularly like the sunglasses at night), p0king fun at them along the way.

The show tonight isn’t just an episode put out there to amuse us; it’s another great episode to back up or build up the continuing mythology that has been present throughout the show.  You know that whenever the Trickster is around, it’s going to get you and the Winchester boys thinking about everything.  SUPERNATURAL’s cast and crew proves that you can have a totally hilarious show that changes up the day to day and STILL move along the stories in an incredible fashion.

Oh and you people out there not watching SUPERNATURAL?  First off, shame on you!   Secondly, even if you’ve never seen the show, tonight’s episode is a perfect episode for the TV lover in all of us!