Supernatural has been on TV long enough that Jensen Ackles feels he has grown up in front of the camera.

“It’s a very common phrase we use on set: ‘Wow, you were much better in your 20s,’ ” Ackles said. “And it applies to a lot of people.”

Ackles may have turned 32 earlier this year, but neither he nor his character on Supernatural have slowed down. In fact, when Supernatural airs its fifth-season finale on Thursday, (CW, Sun-TV in Ontario), the series essentially will wrap up the main spooky storyline that has played out over a half-decade.

But here’s a fun twist: Supernatural has been renewed for a sixth season. The intensely loyal fans of the show, which is shot in Vancouver, simply have refused to let go of demon-fighting brothers Dean Winchester (played by Ackles) and Sam Winchester (played by Jared Padalecki).

“Eric (Kripke, creator of Supernatural) wasn’t going to tap the breaks when they found out they were going an extra year,” Ackles said. “He wasn’t going to stretch five years over six. He was like, ‘I am going to do the five seasons, knock it out of the park and then figure it out from there.’

“So for me, my anticipation of the first script of Season 6 is going to be higher than almost any season.”

First things first. As the fifth season closes, Dean and Sam still are trying to prevent the apocalypse.

“I was like, ‘So wait a minute — these two brothers are now the vessels for the entire apocalypse?’ ” said Ackles, recalling his reaction when he realized where the story was going. “I didn’t see that coming.

“But it’s kind of, ‘Go big or go home.’ And Eric is going big.”

By the way, we hope we get to see more of Death this week. That dude really gives us the creeps.

“I think people just like to get scared and we’ve been doing it successfully,” said Ackles, pondering the longevity of Supernatural. “It’s an adrenaline rush.

“But what really has kept people coming back is the relationship between these two characters. And once we found our audience, they couldn’t take us off the air.

“Jared and I joke that we’ve been Sam and Dean Winchester over the past five years more than we’ve been ourselves.”

Heck, any series lasting six years is a heck of an accomplishment. Ackles — a native of Dallas whose notable previous roles were on Smallville, Dawson’s Creek and Days of Our Lives – understands how fortunate he is in that regard.

“I was just talking to Josh Jackson (currently of Fringe) who did six years on Dawson’s Creek,” Ackles said. “He goes, ‘You are moving into your sixth season (on Supernatural), aren’t you?’ And I did the sixth season of Dawson’s Creek with him.

“I said, ‘I remember you guys (on Dawson’s Creek) were just champing at the bit to get out of there.’ He said, ‘Yeah — are you about ready to be done?’

“And I’m like, ‘No, I’m not, actually.’ ”

Apocalypse be damned. [SOURCE]