Supernatural Once Blew Its Catering Budget On This David Bowie Song

In September 2025, “Supernatural” celebrated its 20th anniversary, and the leads of the 15-season show (which we’ve ranked worst to best) revealed several fascinating tidbits about its production. Jensen Ackles, Jared Padalecki, and Misha Collins sat with Entertainment Weekly, discussing the series. They shared stories with one another, recalling funny anecdotes and events. One that arose had to do with music, and if you know anything about “Supernatural,” you know that music plays a big part.

Kansas’ “Carry On Wayward Son” is undoubtedly the series’ unofficial theme song, which plays at various times throughout its run. Dean Winchester (Ackles) is particularly enamored with songs from the 1970s, sharing a predilection with his father, played by Jeffrey Dean Morgan, who left on good terms at the end of season 2. In the actors’ discussion, a question arose: “What’s the series’ best needle drop,” and everyone shared their opinions. There are several methods for licensing songs for television, and productions typically purchase licenses for whole catalogs.

Still, if there’s a song they want that’s not immediately available, it can be expensive. One track in “Supernatural” ended up killing the catering budget for an entire week. David Bowie’s “Space Oddity,” which opens with the memorable lyric, “Ground Control to Major Tom,” was referenced a few times, but only played once. Evidently, when they licensed the track for the Season 6 episode “Clap Your Hands If You Believe,” the crew had to go a week without craft services. Given the way the guys talk about it, it seems like they didn’t have a choice in the matter.

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Space Oddity cost the crew its lunch

Jared Padalecki says his favorite music track is from a scene he isn’t in, and Jensen Ackles immediately identifies it as a David Bowie song. Padalecki confirmed Ackles’ suspicions, adding, “When I heard Bowie come on, [Singing] ‘Ground control to Major Tom,’ I was like, ‘What?’ How did they find the money to pay for this?” He then explained, “And then I remember the crew complaining for the week after because there was no food, because they had spent all the money.”

Ackles agreed that filming can sometimes be tough before they moved on to other discussions of the show’s music. The scene that includes “Space Oddity” is particularly funny and well-placed. In it, Dean is confronted by a fairy in a motel room, and he peers closely at it, though to the viewer, it looks like a yellow glowing ball. He gets a bit closer and asks aloud, “Nipples?” Upon seeing the fairy up close and personal, it launches at him as the song starts playing, as you can see here:

The fairy roughs Dean up a bit before he gets the better of it and traps it in a microwave, before watching it turn into a bloody mess of gore in one of “Supernatural’s most pause-worthy moments. The scene is a perfect fit for both Dean and the show itself, as it uses a classic song from the ’70s to frame an absurd situation that ends in violence. It’s unfortunate that it cost the crew their food, but in the end, it was worth the expense.

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Read the original article on Looper.