Watching Jericho

NOTE: The following is just an opinion piece from your friendly neighborhood blog writer. Take that as you will.

I’ve been trying to think of why it is that I seem to be the Kiss of Death to some TV shows (See: The 4400, Journeyman, Dresden Files, etc.). I’m sure that I’m not alone in this feeling, as I hear it quite often from friends and even strangers. While I can’t shake the feeling that I am this Harbinger of Doom to some series, I really think I can lay the second cancellation of Jericho mainly at CBS’s feet, not at mine. Ok, maybe not “mainly”, but there were some seemingly purposeful “mistakes” on CBS’s part that truly hurt the show.

Item 1 – Waiting until the Writer’s Strike was nearly over to actually show the 7 episode drama which had already been shot Pre-Writer’s Strike.
Ok, ok… we get it, CBS. You were just waiting for the “right moment”… but you know what, the right moment would have been to show it when people were truly in a fix to watch something on television, say, early December? You’ve got a ready-made audience that you could have tapped who were looking for Good Television around that time.

Item 2 – 10p.m. Tuesday Time Slot
10 p.m. on a Tuesday is usually a time reserved in my house of prepping for the next day, then going to sleep. Who’s bright and shiny idea was it to put it in a slot which most people only have the option of recording the show for playback later, completely missing their voice? This, beyond most everything else, showed me that CBS was pandering to the Nuts Campaign and just wanted us to go away quietly.

Item 3 – Spectacularly Bad Return Episode(s)
So this one isn’t actually CBS’s fault, but I have to include it in my list. As I’ve said before, the first two episodes stunk for me. That was not the show that I fell in love with last season, the show that I fought for, and felt elated when we actually won. Up until the third episode, I wondered who had gotten a hold of the Jericho name and put some random crap up on my television screen.

Those are my Top Three Reasons as to why Jericho got axed. I know that I have more, but after writing those out, I think I need a breather and some meditation to calm down.

Why do you think they cancelled it again? Am I completely off-base here, or do I have a point?

And here we are again… CBS has canceled Jericho, the Hollywood Reporter is reporting.

To be perfectly honest, it doesn’t really surprise me at all. The post on the cancellation over at TV Squad brings up some of the reasons why I’m not surprised.

I guess this was inevitable. CBS only OK’d seven episodes for the second season, and it was probably going to take enormous ratings for the show to see a third season, and we knew that wasn’t going to happen. The ratings for the second season were lower than ratings for the first season. Which is really too bad, since this was a quite a good little drama.

They also bring up the fact that this time, sending out the nuts probably won’t be helping… which I agree with. Maybe it’s just that I’m a little jaded at this point, but the only thing that I really see as a survival for this show at this point is simply moving to a new network. Let’s just make sure that the first episodes over at its new home are a little more interesting than the ones on our short season, ya hear, Powers That Be?

Carol Barbee recently gave an interview with SCI FI Wire which lends itself to what happens if CBS drops the ball again, which could be a move to the SciFi Channel.

Just in case CBS does pull the trigger on Jericho, Barbee said she’s already begun looking for a new home on cable television. “There were other people who were interested in us to begin with, and now, I think, with the whole nuts [fan] campaign, and also with the amazing reviews that we’ve gotten for these seven episodes, I feel like we have made this franchise more valuable to a cable network who would want to take us on as a niche market,” Barbee said.

She goes on to talk about the fact that SciFi is a natural network to look to, since they have been airing reruns from the first season.

So tell me, what do you think of the possibility of moving to SciFi? I know that some of my favorite shows have done this before (Stargate: SG1, anyone?) with success.

So, with the close of this week, we’re now officially over half-way through the season, and I have to say…. I finally like it.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m over the moon when it comes to the fact that it’s just back on the air at all, but I truly didn’t like the first two episodes (Reconstruction and Condor), and had you asked me after watching just those two episodes, the only redeeming value I found from them were Chavez and Beck. All of our tried and true returning characters dropped the ball, in my opinion. Which I think is why I’ve had such a hard time getting up the energy to write up any true recaps for these episodes for the second season.

Then came Jennings & Rall, and I finally saw a good chunk of the great storytelling and the characters that I fell in love with back and ready to roll. I came back to caring as to whether or not Jericho Kansas existed in my mind, and wondered with everyone else what the hell was going to happen.

That’s right… search through the archives over on your right, and you’ll see how much energy I’ve invested in this show and these characters over the past year and a half, and I just couldn’t seem to care about them for the first two episodes.

I was almost afraid that Jennings & Rall was a fluke, given that the first two episodes were disappointing to me, so I didn’t stress when I missed watching Oversight and just made sure it was on my DVR. I played it last night, and I’ve only got three no, four words for y’all.

Oh. My. God. Wow.

I couldn’t escape that I knew that someone was going to die, and even who it was* (Nope, not placing that one above the fold, just in case there’s folks out there who haven’t seen it yet) because, well, I live (and work) on the internet. But even knowing, it was still one of those moments in television that comes up and knocks you upside the head. And not only that scene in this episode, but most every bit of this episode was spectacular. Really spectacular.

I’m just hoping that the first two episodes were a fluke instead of the other way ’round. What do y’all think?

(more…)

… Long time between talks, eh?

But, our conversations are going to need to wait just a little while longer, as I’ve recorded Jericho, but I fell asleep too early due to a nasty migraine and didn’t get a chance to actually watch it.

Stay tuned, guys, ok?

NOTE: Please don’t click “Play” on the video below unless you would like to see a sneak peek of what’s going to happen (and have some questions answered on the time directly after the end of season one).

In other words, this video needs a splash screen that says “SPOILER ALERT”.

After reading and hearing about this season two preview on the most wonderful youtube, I finally got a blissful moment this morning to go on the hunt for CBS’s Jericho Season Two Preview set to “Tick Tick Boom” by the Hives (one of my favorite bands of the moment to make this just a little more special).

As I sat around doing overtime at my day job during the holidays, weeping into my festive alcoholic beverage of choice when I could because of the 4400 getting canceled (along with Journeyman not getting picked up for more episodes, for those playing at home), and trying to figure out how best to spend my time to help out those glorious causes and get even more decent programming to stay on the air, the one thing that really kept my spirits up was the announcement that I would only have to wait until February to see my beloved Jericho back on the air. And now to keep me just a little more patient CBS has given me something to keep me going in this season two preview, which I appreciate.

My thoughts on some of the scenes (ok, actually just one that blew me away) in this preview are below the fold, in case anyone doesn’t want to know at least some of the outcome after the end of season one.

(more…)

And here’s something I can’t tell you how long I’ve wanted to post here.

seattlepi.com is reporting that Jericho will be returning to television on February 12, 2008, at what could possibly be its new regular time slot of 10pm ET that Tuesday.

The Press Release that the article shows announcing Jericho’s return doesn’t seem to give any more information outside of the fact that we’re finally getting our seven episodes, but on a selfish level I do hope that they keep Jericho at Tuesdays at 10pm, since I currently don’t have anything that I watch at that time. I would and will shuffle schedules for Jericho, but it is somewhat nice to not have to worry about it.

That Great Sigh of Relief you heard coming from Atlanta? Yeah, that was me this morning.

Read the whole article here, as it also has some information on Law and Order and some other shows that I enjoy.

Jericho, television, Second Season, TV, Nuts, CBS

I would be filing this post under the “WHAT are they thinking?!?!?!” category…

SyFy Portal is reporting that Pamela Reed, the rock of the town of Jericho as Gail Green, will not be returning to the show after the short, seven - episode season due to the fact that she was never offered a new contract by CBS. Why are they not offering her a new contract? Because of ageism, Pamela said at a recent panel on ageism at the Los Angeles Femme Film Festival.

“The average age of actors on that show is under 40, and those of us over 40 are gone,” the 58-year-old actress said, according to Film Stew.

SyFy Portal does go on to say that this doesn’t mean that she won’t be in the upcoming seven – episode short season, because those were shot before her contract expired, which makes me feel a little better about this, but only by a slim margin. I’m extremely disturbed that they decided not to extend her a contract because the character of Gail Green really is a cornerstone for the town of Jericho, and I’m trying to figure out how they will be able to not completely change the show and everything to do with the general feel since the characters will have lost both Johnston and now Gail. I’m also upset at this news because Gail, while occasionally a bit irritating, was one of those characters that I really loved and thought always moved the plot along for this atmosphere, and I think that the show will suffer from “Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome” disease if they only show the under - 40 crowd and how they deal with what has happened. (Disclaimer: I am part of that under – 40 crowd.)

Read the whole article here.

Jericho, Pamela Reed, Gail+Green, ageism, TV, television, CBS

James Hibbard over at TV Week gives us some insight as to when are we finally going to see the just-finished seven episodes for this season of Jericho, and what he says really isn’t all that encouraging.

CBS’ other midseason drama, “Swingtown,” is not going to be ready until next year, though network also has “The Amazing Race” and game show “Power of 10” available to fill one-hour slots. CBS scheduling head Kelly Kahl cautioned that the new freshman lineup is performing solidly and that no show is guaranteed the next opening.

“The best thing going for ‘Jericho’ is it’s done and ready to go,” Kahl says. “But it’s too early to tell what time period is going to be available.”

So basically what this boils down to is that production is complete, and now our much-awaited and highly anticipated seven episodes get to sit on a shelf somewhere until a slot opens up for them this fall, and there’s an outside chance that we won’t see them at all until January of this coming year.

January 2008.

I don’t think that I really need to tell y’all that I am not the most patient person in the world, but seriously, if they are concerned about diminishing ratings and all that, why aren’t they putting Jericho, a show that has proven that it has a solid (and wonderfully eloquent) fan base out on the air this fall? As the article goes on to say, even Carol Barbee, Executive Producer Extraordinaire, is concerned about waiting too long to get Jericho back out on the air.

… Carol Barbee said she hopes the show will return soon. The producers and the network are conscious of making fans wait too long to resolve last May’s cliffhanger after watching the precarious ratings drops endured by serialized shows that took long hiatuses last winter.

“There’s definite concern [about viewer interest waning], which is why we hope to get on the air as soon as possible,” she says.

While I really do want a resolution from the season finale back in May, more than that, I just want my Jericho back on the air to back up all those nut sales from those interesting three weeks. Is that too much to ask? I’ve already gone through my favorite episodes on the DVD set, and I’m jonesing so badly for a little peek into Jericho that I think I’ve actually read all the fan fiction that the Great and Powerful Interwebs and Google can hand me.

But, this article does raise and interesting point. Where will Jericho go time and day-wise once it is back? I guess we’ll just have to wait until some show spectacularly bombs to find that out. Me? I didn’t mind the Wednesday 8ET slot, and my only problem with the Friday night slot was that the reruns were up against Season Three of Doctor Who over the summer, but I record Doctor Who regardless.

What time and day of the week would you like to see Jericho come back on at?

Read the whole article here.

Jericho, Nuts For Jericho, Save Jericho, TV, television, CBS

Tomorrow is the next Red-Letter Day for helping to Save Jericho! Don’t know what I’m talking about? Well, tomorrow is the release date for Jericho:The First Season on DVD, and just like during the Nuts Campaign, We Need You!

I do apologize for all the capitalization in this post, but this is just as important as the Nuts Campaign in showing Nina Tassler and the rest of CBS that we are serious in wanting to save our show. I’ve already pre-ordered two copies of the DVD, one for myself, and one to give away on this here blog in the coming month. I’m also looking at maybe an every-other-month giveaway with a fresh copy of the DVD, just to add to the sales numbers, though I’ve got to figure out how much my budget will allow for this.

And, if you’d rather not wait for my contests (and even if you do want to wait for the contests), don’t forget that every sale of this is as good as having a Nielsen Box in your house in sending out a message that just because we won our seven episodes during the Nuts Campaign doesn’t mean that we are going to rest on our laurels for getting a third season.

Get one for yourself, get one for your friends who watched the show with you, get one for your friends that should be watching the show!

Jericho, First Season, DVD, release, TV, television, CBS

SciFiWire has some great spoiler-y visions of the sets being built up for the upcoming 7-episode second season.

John Steinberg, co-creator and producer of the show, said in interviews that the seven episodes of the season will focus primarily on the introduction of these new outside elements to the town of Jericho and how its citizens respond to them.

“The first season was about that sort of invisible force, the government, the law, the financial system, all those things, disappearing, and living in a vacuum,” Steinberg said in an interview on the set. “And season two is about what happens when something comes back to replace that vacuum, and it’s not what you remembered being there when you left. And so that’s kind of the big arc of it, and how we respond to that and resist it or learn to deal with it.”

Read the whole article here.

The 4400, John Steinberg, Jericho, TV, television, USA, CBS

Finally, something I can cross-post with Watching 4400.

Scott Peters, creator and executive producer for the 4400 (you might remember him from the video Set Tours on the Official Site) is set to direct the next-to-last episode of the seven-episode second season for Jericho, BuddyTV.com is reporting.

As The 4400’s small but extremely loyal following knows, Peters is capable of delivering intense television action.

The title and plot of Peters’ episode is not known yet, but bearing in mind that his credits are almost entirely composed of science fiction credits, one has to wonder: Is Jericho going to be taking a turn for the weird?

While Peters’ role in the production has not been completely fleshed out, it is possible that he is being brought in as a consulting producer.

Read the whole article here.

The 4400, Scott Peters, Jericho, TV, television, USA, CBS

Esai Morales, who has been seen all over the place, but most recently in “NYPD Blue”, will be joining the cast of Jericho, comingsoon.net is reporting. He’ll be appearing in six of the seven new episodes in the coming season, which makes me think that he’ll be playing the character that Watch with Kristen a few weeks ago talked about called Col. Hoffman.

Now for a little scoop: We’re told the show welcomes a new character in the premiere: Col. Hoffman, a reliable and experienced military man, just might fill the void left by Mayor Johnston Green (Gerald McRaney). Apparently, he’s a good family guy, known for being faithful to his wife (who has been missing since the attacks) and fair to the men in his command. He plays a key role this year.

So, what do y’all think? Is Mr. Morales the Family-Man Col. Hoffman or someone we haven’t heard anything about yet.

Read the article on Esai Morales here, and the Watch With Kristen spoilers here.

Jericho, Esai Morales, Watch With Kristen, second season, Col. Hoffman, TV, television, CBS

Don’t forget, tonight’s the night! Tune into CBS tonight, July 6, 2007 at 9 p.m. ET for the return of Jericho. They’re showing the pilot episode, which you can read my recap (though I’ve been told by others that they should be called “summaries” because of their length) here.

Jericho, Pilot, renewal, TV, television, CBS

Carol Barbee recently chatted with Broadcasting & Cable’s Marisa Guthrie about the Nuts Campaign and the renewal of Jericho for seven episodes, and talked about the future of the show.

Will Jericho live beyond the seven episodes?

We are not closing this story out. We have a story to tell. It’s a really rich story, and we’ve got it mapped out for quite a while. The network suggested doing a two-hour movie to wrap up this story. We weren’t in any way interested in closing it down.

When CBS came back to us, they said, “We only have time and space on our sound stage for you to do a limited number of episodes.” So we’ll do those with the intention that we’ll be back.

She also spoke of how the long hiatus model of Lost and 24, the same one that hurt Jericho, at least in the CBS world-view has been removed from the outlook of most serial dramas, which I’m very happy to hear.

Read the whole interview here.

Hat-tip to TV Squad.

Jericho, Carol Barbee, TV, television, CBS