Saturday, June 30, 2007

Jericho : Please Watch

To recap: Jericho ran a full season on CBS. The story? At first it seems to be a family drama, as the prodigal son returns home, fights with his parents, makes eyes at the girl who got away, then drives off into the sunset.

Actually, erase sunset and replace it with nuclear bomb. The good folks of Jericho, Kansas watch as the bomb goes off in the distance and hear enough radio & TV to know that several cities in the United States have been attacked. By whom? And why? Is it an outside enemy? Terrorists? Is the US at war?

Jericho's storylines include both the "regular folk" adjusting to the changed circumstances of life, as well as bigger storylines, such as survival, the identity of the bombers, and new, unexpected threats.

It is an awesome show. You will like it if you like any type of survivalist fiction, from Stephen King to Life As We Knew It to War World Z.

Now, here's the thing. CBS cancelled this show, and the fans fought back.

And won.

CBS has agreed to a second mini-series; if enough people watch it, they will show a full season.

If you want to watch from the beginning, it's starting soon: CBS to rerun first season of Jericho starting in July - TV Squad.

Why watch?

It's a good show; a lot of slow reveals, taking place over several episodes. Yet, also a ton of action. A lot of "what would I do" moments. Great acting.

And, well -- watch to show TV executives that they didn't make a mistake in listening to the fans and cancelling a cancellation. Because if Jericho doesn't make the numbers this time around, there will be no hope in the future for successful fan-driven campaigns.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

I (and my husband) am thrilled that Jericho is coming back, even if just for a bit. It amazes me when silly shows that get low ratings, but have a lot of celeb power make it for another season (like 30 Rock), but something excellent and unique, such as Jericho gets canceled.

Liz B said...

This past season, I didn't realize that my watching via DVR (fake TiVo) meant my watching didn't count. So I'll watch in real time this summer & next season.

And I think if each fan can get just one person to watch, we'll have a second renewal.

Sweet Tea said...

Unfortunately, watching on TV in real time doesn't count either unless you're a Nielsen family. Those of us who aren't Nielsen families can only hope to advertise enough to reach the families we need.
Great article.

Unknown said...

FYI, it's not a mini-series. Mini-series are only about 4 hours long. It is a SECOND SEASON.

Unknown said...

I don't watch much TV, but I have a few shows I like. Your post intrigued me; it sounds like an interesting show. So I'll try to catch the repeats next week and check it out.

Anonymous said...

Honestly, this is the best show I have seen in years, something new and different with great story lines and charactors that grab your attention from the start. Just the pilot will blow you away, give it a try. Thanks for the great article. Ahma

Liz B said...

Glad to see so many watchers, and potential watchers.

Sheila, I do think it started slow; but deliberately so. It reminded me a bit of Life As We Knew It; at times, I wondered, didn't anyone in Jericho read The Stand? Don't they realize? But then I got it; that they were trying their best to keep up life as normal, or as normal as possible. It's a drawn out collapse.

Mel, I remember the glory days of the miniseries, such as Roots and Centennial, when miniseries really were such things and not simply a two part movie. I'd prefer not to argue over the meaning of words. Instead, what I think is great is that Jericho is coming back & depending on what happens, there may be even more episodes. Either way, what I also like about the miniseries tag is it implies an end; and not that I want to see an end to the series, but in serial storytelling I find it best when certain stories are indeed wrapped up rather than left open or in cliff hangers. But that is for another post.

Anonymous said...

I LOVE JERICHO!! I am one of the fans who sent nuts to CBS. We emailed, snail mailed, faxed, called, anything we could think of to save the show.
If we believe so strongly that JERICHO is a GREAT show, won't you please watch?
July 6th. Friday 9 p.m. EST CBS

If you know of any Neilsen families, PLEASE BEG THEM TO GIVE JERICHO A TRY!! They won't regret it......we promise!! THANKS ALL!

kystorms said...

thanks for the post about Jericho, the more write ups we can get, the more fans we can reach, new and old.
This show is without comparison on television, its an awesome show with a great story to tell....
I think when the new viewers watch just the first episode, they will be hooked, just like I was :-)
great blog by the way!

Lab2King said...

I'm SOOOO glad this is coming back. But I'm really worried that it's going to come back for too short a time.

I suggest trapping your friends and family in a room tomorrow night (july 6th) and forcing them to watch the reruns if they didn't watch season 1. Get them interested and get them watching. We need as many people watching and talking about the show as possible when the new episodes come out. WE CAN DO IT!!