As Mark Pedowitz is set to leave as CEO of the CW, former Supernatural star and executive producer of The Winchesters, Jensen Ackles, is honoring the chairman by dubbing him "the other Winchester brother."

In response to Pedowitz stepping down from his duties at the CW, Ackles spoke with Deadline about how the CEO not only championed the upcoming spinoff but also stood by Supernatural when the series was left to air on Friday nights. "Jared (Padalecki) and I used to refer to him as the other Winchester. Supernatural had been put on Friday nights to kind of go away and die," Ackles explained. "We somehow found a way to survive. Pedowitz came in and he said, 'Well, let's move these guys to better real estate.' And when we did, we quickly took off. He was always a champion for the show. I'm just so thankful for what did, not only for the network itself, but for this world specifically. He's a true mentor of mine." Pedowitz's tenure at The CW was one of the longest in modern network television, serving as CEO for over 11 years.

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Robbie Thompson, who serves as showrunner and executive producer on The Winchesters, also took the time to speak on Pedowitz's commitment to the Supernatural spinoff. "We had a note on the pilot and it was so granular that I thought it was from a convention," Thompson said. "He watched every episode, every cut of Supernatural. He's fully invested in the show. All I thought about [Pedowitz's departure] was how privileged I was as a writer to have such a smart leader. There was no panic. I felt proud."

Ackles is returning as Dean Winchester to narrate The Winchesters, which will tell the origin story of Sam and Dean's parents. The actor and producer previously revealed that the concept for the new series came to him and his wife during the pandemic. "When Danneel and I formed Chaos Machine Productions, we knew the first story we wanted to tell was the story of John and Mary Winchester, or rather the Supernatural origin story," Ackles explained. "I always felt like my character, Dean, would have wanted to know more about his parents' relationship and how it came to be."

The Winchesters will premiere on the CW on Oct. 11.

Source: Deadline