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Tonight's cuppa: English breakfast tea

'Tis the season for Top 10 lists, but we here at Hot Cuppa TV (which consists of me and my trusty companion, the battery-operated hamster Badger, who, frankly, is not much of a typist but is extremely good at getting stuck under the couch) are not really that organized. We're all about the comfy chair and the soothing cuppa, not getting all archival on you.

(Yes, Badger is an "Ice Road Truckers" fan. And he'd better stay that way, unless he wants to get stuck under the couch permanently.)

So, instead, I'm just going to muse about a concept that keeps bubbling up in my mind -- that moment it becomes apparent just which character a show is really about. Sometimes that's not obvious until the end, but other times it's evident right from the beginning -- and I suspect that, more than once, if the producers are seeing what I'm seeing, that it's come as a surprise to them.

And honestly, often it's a very personal thing, which means your results may vary.

For me, it's a question of which character takes the longest personal journey, feels the events of the show most deeply (in that way, they often reflect the feelings of the folks at home), or represents that unpredictable synergy of character and actor that makes for unforgettable TV moments.

Going back in TV history, I think "Hill Street Blues" was about Belker; "Homicide: Life on the Street" was about Tim Bayliss; "The X-Files" was about Scully; "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" was about Willow; "Lost" was about Hurley; "The Shield" was about the police-detective partnership of Dutch Wagenbach and Claudette Wyms; and, on the unscripted side, "Ice Road Truckers" was about Lisa Kelly, and "Deadliest Catch" was about the late Capt. Phil Harris (which makes the upcoming season without him a big challenge).

I'm a regular watcher of both NBC's Thursday comedy "Community" and The CW's Friday fantasy-drama "Supernatural," and when I think about this phenomenon, they're the current shows that leap to mind.

(BTW, if you haven't watched either show, click on the links and read up. I'm not going to give a ton of backstory to catch up non-viewers.)

For "Community," it's Abed Nadir (Danny Pudi, at right), the pop-culture-obsessed Muslim community-college film student. It's an ensemble show, and episodes that focus on other characters are fine, but "Community" has become -- at least for me -- about Abed's emotional journey. He's quickly evolved into the show's Greek chorus and conscience, as well as the source of most of its numerous pop-culture meta references.

Now, this is not to take away anything from the rest of the cast or characters -- and an abrupt shift in storytelling could change this completely -- but there's just something about the combination of the Abed character, the writing, and Pudi's performance that's so compelling that Abed has become the show's gravitational center.

This was never more evident than in the most recent episode, "Abed's Uncontrollable Christmas," in which Abed's search for meaning resulted in stop-motion-animation (and a Christmas pterodactyl).

"Supernatural' is set up as a show about two demon-hunting brothers, Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean (Jensen Ackles) Winchester, but I've concluded that, in essence, it's the story of Dean.

He's the show's emotional anchor, the good son and loyal brother who's followed in his father's footsteps all his life and protected his brother, even when it broke his heart or sent him to Hell.

Now, all the Sam fans may scream and yell, but again, this takes nothing away from Padalecki's performance, which has been especially impressive this season, in the episodes where Sam was without a soul.

But I'm consistently drawn to Ackles, who plays Dean simultaneously with insouciance and wounded dignity, which is a hard mix to pull off.

He's like the ragged but cocky dog you know will pee on the carpet and eat your shoes, but which you also know will guard you with his life, so you give him a bone and let him sleep near the fire anyway.

While we're at it, Castiel the Angel on "Supernatural" has earned special mention as a character who has an entire life that we never see on the show, which is at least as interesting, if not more so, than the one we do see. He pops in and out to help the Winchester boys out of a fix, then returns to his day job -- fighting a war in Heaven.

Yeah, I'd like to see that spin-off.

Also kudos to the actor who plays Castiel, Misha Collins (right), who has worn the same rumpled suit and "Columbo" raincoat during his whole run on the show and has never been anything less than fascinating to watch.

Among the fall's new shows, I find the dynamic on CBS' Monday hit "Hawaii Five-0" intriguing. Obviously, as Steve McGarrett and Danny "Danno" Williams, respectively, Alex O'Loughlin and Scott Caan are the stars of the show, and doing a bang-up job of it.

But I'm starting to think, just starting to feel in my gut, that the show may wind up being about Chin Ho Kelly, played by former "Lost" star Daniel Dae Kim (left).

A disgraced Honolulu cop with a troubled past, Kelly always draws my eye, most recently in the Christmas episode "Hana 'a'a Makehewa," in which evildoers put a motion-sensitive explosive collar around his neck.

Even though he was forced to stay in a kneeling position for most of the hour, Kim managed to convey all of Kelly's fear and courage.

The first actor cast for the show, Kim has great subtlety and emotional depth, and I'm always rooting for him. We'll see what happens.

Today's cuppa: Barry's Gold Blend tea

This syndicated feature appears in print next week, but a shorter version is already posted over at Zap2it.com, so I thought I'd give my Cuppers the full shot!

(And, either later tonight or tomorrow morning, depending on how sleepy I am, I will be recapping tonight's new "Supernatural.")

On The CW's Thursday drama "Supernatural," demon-hunting brothers Sam and Dean Winchester (Jared Padalecki, Jensen Ackles) travel the highways and byways of America in a 1967 Chevy Impala.

 

Now what sort of music would one play while driving such a car? Somehow Beyonce, Lady Gaga, Jay-Z and Miley Cyrus just don't cut it.

 

If you're hunting ghosts, ghouls, zombies and even the devil himself in a classic muscle car, you need some classic muscular rock 'n' roll, and that's just what "Supernatural" delivers.

 

Composers Christopher Lennertz and Jay Gruska create the show's original score, while music supervisor Alexandra Patsavas is in charge of picking the pop songs.

 

Calling in on her way to the Coachella music festival, Patsavas says, "When I got hired for 'Supernatural,' I had an extensive conversation with the executive producers about the music on the show. They knew from the beginning that they wanted it to be their very favorite, iconic popular rock songs from the '70s and '80s, but mostly from the '70s.

 

"It has a very road-trip flavor. Aerosmith and Blue Oyster Cult, those are the kinds of bands that we use on the show."

 

For example, here's a sampling of songs from the current season, the show's fifth: "Thunderstruck" (AC/DC), "Long, Long Way From Home" (Foreigner), "Spirit in the Sky" (Norman Greenbaum), "Won't Get Fooled Again" (the Who) and the theme from "Knight Rider."

 

Other 8-track classic bands featured include Lynyrd Skynyrd, Bad Company, Rush, Metallica, the Rolling Stones, Iron Butterfly, Bachman-Turner Overdrive, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Ted Nugent, Three Dog Night, Journey and REO Speedwagon.

 

Some rock anthems have become integral to the show, such as Blue Oyster Cult's "Don't Fear the Reaper" (not hard to guess why) and especially Kansas' "Carry On Wayward Son."

 

It's easy to see how a song that opens with the lyrics "Carry on, my wayward son; there'll be peace when you are done" could apply to a pair of brothers with serious father issues on a seemingly endless quest to save the world from evil forces.

 

"A definite favorite of the executives," says Patsavas, "and a song that we actually use for all of our season recaps."

 

While the show's two leads - Ackles (in picture, at right) was born in 1978 and Padalecki (in picture, at left) in 1982 - are probably too young to have grown up on many of these songs, Patsavas doesn't see that as a problem.

 

"It's probably before the time of much of the audience," she says, "which is perhaps why they've responded so well to it, because maybe it's the first time they're hearing these songs.

"I actually think the actors probably feel really good about it, since it's exactly what their characters would be listening to."

 

Although the composers don't get to pick the pop tunes, they do get to hear them, and they do have opinions.

 

By e-mail, Lennertz answered a few questions about the "Supernatural" songbook:

 

Q: What songs and/or bands have elicited the most response from viewers?

 

A: "Definitely 'Carry On My Wayward Son' by Kansas. All of the AC/DC tracks have been big hits."

 

Q: Has doing this job made you a fan of any bands or songs you weren't an admirer of before?

 

A: "Have a huge newfound respect for both Kansas and Blue Oyster Cult."

 

Q: What songs would you like for the show but still haven't been able to use?

 

A: "Led Zeppelin would be perfect, but they will not license."

 

Q: What personal favorites would you like to hear on the show?

 

A: " 'Stone in Love' by Journey, 'Fade to Black' by Metallica, 'Running With the Devil' by Van Halen."

 

As to how Patsavas has enjoyed her own immersion in '70s and '80s rock 'n' roll, she says, "I'm from Chicago, so I'm a Cheap Trick fan from way back. It's music everybody's familiar with, whether we're conscious of that or not. This music really strikes a chord with 'Supernatural' fans, because it's music they recognize."

Tonight, Thursday, Sept. 10, at 9 p.m. ET/PT, The CW's "Supernatural" returns for another season, as demon-hunting brothers Sam and Dean Winchester (Jared Padalecki, Jensen Ackles) deal with the rising of Lucifer himself and an impending Apocalypse.

There to help out, more or less, is their trusty angelic sidekick Castiel, played by the lovely and talented Misha Collins, who was kind enough to pen some replies to a few questions about his character and the upcoming season.

I guess you could say he's winging it, but I shouldn't have, and I hope you don't. Here we go:

Q: The show put you through the emotional wringer last year, playing a beleaguered Angel of the Lord - and made you wear the same outfit in almost every episode. Can we expect more of the same this season?

A: Well, according to the story, the angels aren't supposed to feel emotions. But my angel did always seem somewhat beleaguered and certainly a bit bedraggled, which in good part was due to the outfit I wear. When I got the part of Castiel on "Supernatural," the character was supposed to last a couple of episodes, so when I went in for the fitting, I was pretty cavalier. I think I said, "Yeah, this'll work fine" to the first thing they had me try on. If I had any idea I'd be wearing that damn suit, I'd have put a lot more thought into it.

The pants have big pleats; the shirt is two sizes too big; and the whole thing makes me look like (Peter Falk in) "Columbo." But to answer your question, the outfit has not yet been burned, and Castiel is being put through the proverbial wringer now more than ever.

Q: What's been the reaction of fans when they see you in person?

A: Because the other actors on "Supernatural" are misfits of nature - they're giants - fans usually think that I'm short. I'm actually six feet tall, but when I'm being filmed next to Jared 

Padalecki (left), who's 6'6" or something, I look like a tiny wood-elf. People who've only seen me as the brooding, ethereal Castiel, are also usually surprised that in real life I have the capacity to smile and blink.

Q: What's the most fun of playing this part, and what's the most challenging?

A: There's a lot that's fun about playing this character: exploring what it means to be human, having the power to travel through time and teleport myself, and being able to magically mend my suit.

I think the biggest challenge - aside from not laughing during takes - is taking something seemingly so fanciful as an angel with super-powers dressed as Columbo and making something real and empathetic about him.

Q: Has playing this role caused you do any extra Biblical or mythological reading? If so, what?

A: Yes. I've read a good deal of the Bible in the past year. The Book of Revelation was quite a revelation. Angels in the Bible are not there to help little old ladies across the street. They are not cherubic, and they do not employ harps.

In the biblical Apocalypse of Revelation, little things happen like, "the four angels were released ... to kill one third of mankind." So my angel was informed by this. I think he's from the reluctant-smiter school of angels. Beyond that, I went to the bookstore and bought three popular books on angels, which were sucky and useless.

Q: Given your druthers, what would you like your next, probably non-angelic role to be?

A: Yes, well, if I could have a corner on the niche market of film and TV angels, I'd take it, but it's a small niche and I might need to broaden my horizons a bit. Before playing the angel on "Supernatural," I had had a string of assassin and serial killer roles, so this has been a welcome reprieve. I don't know.

I used to want to go into politics, I even interned in the White House for Bill Clinton at one point. Now I think it would be fun to be cast as a lawyer or a politician, it would give me a chance to play out that fantasy without actually having to slog through law school.

Q: Considering we're in the middle of an economic meltdown, how does it feel to be playing in a storyline about the Apocalypse?

A: The apocalypse that "Supernatural's" writers are creating is not sudden or cataclysmic. It's more insidious and incremental. The apocalypse on our show is really just a worst-case-scenario modern life.