Supernatural Season 14 Is Going to Be Shorter Than Normal

There isn't going to be as much of the Winchesters next TV season as Supernatural fans are used to -- but there's no reason to panic.

According to TV Line, Season 14 is going to tap out after 20 episodes, down three hours from the genre thriller's usual 23-episode order. The CW has ordered 23 episodes of Supernatural since Season 7, and every season before that had 22 except for Season 3, which was interrupted by the 2007 writers strike.

Does this mean that Supernatural is heading towards the end of its run? Not so fast. The CW has stated countless times that the show will continue as long as Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki want to keep making it, and the ratings hold (Supernatural is still the network's second-most watched show behind only The Flash).

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More than likely, the lower order has more to do with scheduling than any attempt by the The CW to push the show off the air. Even though the network will expand to Sunday nights this fall, giving it two extra hours of programming space each week, the network has a lot of shows on the docket. Charmed, All Americanand The Originals spin-off Legacies are the only new shows premiering this fall, leaving Roswell, New Mexico and In the Dark to be fit in with the packed mid-season schedule which now includes Jane the Virgin's final season. By shaving a couple of episodes off of Supernatural, the network also makes room to bring back spring favorites like The 100 and iZombiesooner than normal.

So stay calm. The Winchesters will be sticking around, just savor each adventure a little bit more in Season 14 because there's going to be a few less of them.

Supernatural Season 14 premieres on Thursday, Oct 11 at 8/7c

(Full disclosure: TV Guide is owned by CBS, one of The CW's parent companies)