Watching Jericho

Hokie Spirit Memorial Fund

April 16, 2007, will be remembered as one of the darkest days in the history of the Virginia Tech community and the world beyond.

To remember and honor the victims of those tragic events, the university has established the Hokie Spirit Memorial Fund to aid in the healing process and generate financial support.

The fund will be used to cover expenses including but not limited to:

• Grief counseling
• Memorials
• Communication expenses
• Comfort expenses
• Incidental needs

If you plan to give, please click the link below:

It pours… My Tivo is currently in ICU as of last night, due to some kind of glitch that has made it impossible for me to do a somewhat live recap of the show. I’ll have to wait until CBS posts the full episode sometime today to be able to watch the episode.

Meanwhile, check out Television Without Pity’s got a great recap of One Man’s Terrorist up, and Boxxet has, as always, some of the best information about Jericho out on the ‘net, with a wonderful interface for user input.

Hopefully I can either get my Tivo fixed, or I’ll be using the full episode feature thanks to CBS tomorrow night.

While not exactly dealing with Jericho, CBS News announced that they’re pulling all of the illegal copies on YouTube for their shows, but instead of just leaving people hanging, they’ll be adding in their own versions on YouTube at their channel.

“We’ve got a team of lawyers that goes through pirated CBS News videos on YouTube and calls up YouTube every day and says ‘you’ve got to take down these clips’. Every pirated 60 Minutes clip that goes up on YouTube, we’re putting up the authentic, authorized version of that clip. We’re sensitive. If we’re going to take down that illegal video, we are certainly going to give you the experience of that piece [by supplying a new clip] and often the quality is considerably better.�

The fact that they’re putting up their own versions on YouTube really speaks for the fact that they’re really aware of the way the web is changing the way to promote things.

CBS YouTube channel.
Read the article here.
Forbes article here.

Hat-tip to TV Squad.

Jericho, CBS News,YouTube, TV, television, CBS

My recap is going to have to wait, due to some unforeseen problems last night. I’ll get one up this evening.

Don’t forget, tune to S2DRadio.com tonight at 9pm ET/6pm PT to hear me talk about Jericho and television.

Keep your fingers crossed that I don’t fall into saying “Ummmm” every other word!

Fallout! (part of Kryptonsite) has some spoilers up at their site in regards to tonight’s episode. I’m posting the quote below because you could find this information out from just watching the ads for tonight’s episode.

“Black Jack” — As winter approaches, Jake and Johnston are joined by Dale and Heather on a trip to a trading post several hours outside of town in search of equipment to fix the local windmill, on JERICHO, Wednesday, Feb. 28 (8:00-9:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.

All I have to say is Yeah, Heather’s (Sprague Grayden) back!

See all the spoilers here for this and upcoming episodes.

Jericho, Black Jack, spoilers, Sprague Grayden, Heather Lisinski, TV, television, CBS

That’s what Rod Ellis says, anyway. As I was doing my normal technorati search yesterday, I found the website Author by Night, which is Rod Ellis’ blog and where I found this entry.

Long before CBS presented Jericho on television, Rod Ellis wrote Flight in Winter and sent it out to a group of readers. The time frame for this is easily proven. They know who was here first. They know where the idea for the television show came from and they have read something much more riveting than CBS can deliver. To prove that point, The Saga, the first in the Flight in Winter series has been released on the internet so that people can read what CBS is failing to accomplish.

The blog post links to another of his sites, Flight in Winter, where you can read the story that he says has a direct relationship with Jericho.

What do I think? I don’t know. I just found the site and haven’t had a chance to read the story yet. When I do a google search for either Rod Ellis or Flight in Winter, not a lot comes up. I’ll definitely be reading the story and let y’all know what I think.

Jericho, Rod Ellis, Flight in Winter, TV, television

Lots of articles saying just that, which couldn’t make me any happier. Both Variety and the New York Daily News are saying that while it seemed at the beginning of the season, everyone had jumped onto the serial drama bandwagon, but very few have survived the holidays, even some mid-season replacements, such as Daybreak (who was filling in while Lost is on hiatus) and others that didn’t make it beyond a few episodes (See Smith and 3Lbs.)

Variety reports:

It hasn’t been the best year for Eye rookies, but small-town post-apocalypse drama “Jericho” has performed pretty well in Wednesday’s leadoff hour, improving on the performance of comedies in the hour a year ago.

It’s also the lone serialized CBS drama, as the net looks to diversify beyond its deep stable of crime procedurals. As such, it has generated more Internet buzz than just about any CBS show.

While the New York Daily News sums it up pretty nicely:

NBC’s “Heroes” and CBS’ “Jericho” were also swept up in the fall finale frenzy. They return Jan. 22 and Feb. 21, respectively. These were also the only new serialized shows to connect with viewers last year - so don’t look for too many high-concept dramas to debut in ‘07.

Variety points out that CBS doesn’t seem to always “get it” when it leaves its stable of procedural shows, but that they’ve really got a good thing going with Jericho. Here’s to hoping that they don’t mess it up.

Is it February yet?

Read the Variety article here, and the New York Daily News article here.

Jericho, Variety, Serial Drama, television, CBS

While this is the first that I’ve ever heard of it, Variety is reporting that Jericho is a finalist for the Maxwell Weinberg Award, an award for the top publicity campaigns in 2006. I’m not in the industry, so it really doesn’t surprise me that I’ve not heard of the award before, but I’m glad that Jericho is garnering the attention. The guys at CBS have really outdone themselves with the publicity campaign, from the regular ads seen all around to the very strong web presence that you usually see done via fan sites, versus the network.

The PR mavens, who are repped through the Intl. Cinematographers Guild, also selected the finalists for the Maxwell Weinberg award for top TV campaign: “ER,” Warner Bros. Television and NBC; “Grey’s Anatomy,” ABC; “Jericho,” Paramount TV, CBS Television; “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip,” Warner Bros., NBC; and “Ugly Betty,” ABC, Touchstone Television.

Since it’s a new show, I haven’t really been all that surprised not to see Jericho showing up on the “best of” lists that are always around at the end of the year, but seeing them getting the kudos that they deserve right from the beginning is a great thing. And, who knows, maybe this time next year we’ll be seeing the show pop up in most all of the lists, versus so few of the lists.

Read the whole article here.

Jericho, television, Publicity, CBS, television

Verizon Wireless has unveiled their newest item, V Cast Mobile TV, which really looks interesting, though I don’t have the phones that will support this newest outing for Verizon Wireless. What they’re doing is offering high-quality programs done up for viewing on the phone specifically, while traditional V Cast only provided on-demand clips.

Programming will be presented in “time blockâ€?/scheduled availability, in both the Eastern and Pacific time zones. The service’s program guide includes date, time and program information, and it will let customers view programming up to 48 hours ahead of the scheduled broadcast. A Web site for the service will feature a searchable program-listing grid, plus previews and other information. V CAST Mobile TV provides parental-control features to allow parents to set ratings for TV and movies.

Why am I talking about this on a Jericho blog? Because one of the shows that they’ve unveiled this new technology with is Jericho, along with some other programs that I adore. While I’m not rushing out to buy one of the two phones that supports this technology, I do think that it’s a really neat idea. Maybe my daughter would be more comfortable viewing a television program on a phone screen, though, as I don’t think that my already poor eyesight is really up for an hour-long serial drama on my tiny little Motorola Razr screen. Would you be willing to, though?

Get the whole programming list here.

Jericho, television, Verizon Wireless, CBS, television, VCast, Mobile+TV

The Bakersfield Californian lets us in on a little secret of Jericho. Instead of Kansas, and instead of on a soundstage, Jericho mainly films in an area outside of L.A. in Kern County, California, where a lot of filmmakers are taking their productions to for the more its multitude of settings, and the lower cost.

The region is popular among professional filmmakers looking for mountain forests, dusty deserts, urban scenery, farm landscape, roaring whitewater and desolate highways.

And with the demand for our scenery comes jobs — everything from technical assistants to local extras.

Jericho recently shot something out there on a stretch of highway (I think it was from Rogue River - Episode 8, but I can’t find anything definitive), hiring over a hundred and fifty extras to fill out the cast. The article tells the locals in the area how to get involved with a shoot in a very general way, which is completely understandable for a local paper. I know that I’d be harassing the newspaper if they published an article like this in my local area without giving me some kind of suggestion as to how to join in. Of course, any county that has its own Film Commission to handle all of the things that come with having a film crew take over sections of your area at least has its head in the right place, and it handles a lot of red tape that the filmmakers would have to deal with on their own, making Kern County more appealing to deal with instead of other places.

Read the whole thing here.

Jericho, television, Kern County, CBS, television, California

Wayne Hall over at SyFy Portal has a great review of the show, but what threw me was his initial impression of it being like the ill-advised show on SciFi, Tremors.

Honestly, I came to the show with some serious trepidations. I don’t know why, but I thought it was going to be like the constantly awful SciFi Channel show, “Tremors: The Series.” Perhaps it’s because there are some similarities in concept, such as a remote town with problems the world doesn’t know about and what I saw as some characters who seemed to resemble the “Tremors” townsfolk.

Thankfully, “Jericho” has inhabitants who are a LOT more interesting to watch.

I can see what he’s saying in a very general way, but maybe it’s because I was such a fan of the original movie Tremors that I was disappointed with everything that followed it, so I just didn’t even begin to think of Jericho being anything like it. And, maybe it’s because I came from a very small town, albeit in South Georgia, that the stereotype small town hillbillies is just one of those things that I had to deal with and ignore just so it wouldn’t irritate me. And maybe I just always take comments like that just a little too seriously and should just get over it.

Aside from that, though, he gives a succinct review of the series so far, and makes the comment that it’s a show that requires your attention, and that can’t be a bad thing, which I completely agree with. While I’ve been trying to wait patiently for the series to come back from hiatus, I’m starting to get a little antsy about it, as patience has never been a very strong point for me.

Read the whole thing here.

Jericho, television, SyFy Portal, CBS, television, Tremors

While I do have a livejournal account, I don’t generally use it other than to comment on my friends’ blogs that have accounts there. But I do love icons, maybe it’s just the artsy part of me coming out. Not that you have to use these for livejournal, there are a ton of places like forums and such that you can use them at. Just remember to take a look at any of the Terms of Service that each icon maker has, because everyone has different things that you are and are not allowed to do with their icons.

• 007: House/Jericho
• Ruins of My Sanity
• Jericho Icon Goodness!
• Stony Places

Jericho, icon, TV, television

In doing my normal technorati search today, I came across an interesting comment on John Rogers’ Kung Fu Monkey:

On the other hand, JERICHO’s starting to show the seams of being on CBS. The female characters are really, really awful.
I kind of like Pamela Reed as the nosy, judgmental mom, as she’s playing precisely the small-town mom who motivates you to move away. She’s nails on a chalkboard, and that’s a valid choice. But the best example of the sort of standard “moms/girlfriends or dysfunctional crimefighters” vibe all CBS women fall into was the ep where the Blackwater-style mercenaries were coming. While the heroic caucasian menfolk were having a stand-off on the bridge, the girlfolk were getting hammered in the bar, dreaming about one of the girls’ missed wedding. Now, that’s a valid storyline, but that juxtaposition was miserable. The women even comment that “something’s happening”. Yeah, there’s a squad of heavily armed men who are going to come in here, shoot all of you in the face and take your penicillin. That’s a bit distracting from mooning over the hope chest, no?

While watching the episode he’s referring to, I noticed that I didn’t like it as much because something was off about it, and this pretty much encapsulates why, once I read through it. While every episode seems to flesh out the majority of the male characters, the female characters seem to fall into caricature versus real character development. While it’s not exclusive to CBS, this unfortunately seems to happen on a lot of shows. I do wish that they would devote as much time as delving into Jake’s past, or what exactly is up with Hawkins as they would real character development of Heather or Emily or even Mary. The only female character that they seem to be taking a non-standard route with is Bonnie, but from the last episode of the Fall Season showed, who knows what they’ll do with her character now.

What do you think? Is Jericho not taking as much time with its female characters as it is its male characters? Or is this just over-thinking the show?

Jericho, CBS, Television, Women, Characters

CBS has put up a new sneak peak for the spring season, introducing the Black Jack Fairgrounds.

Is it just me, or do you get a “Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome” vibe from the video? As long as Tina Turner doesn’t show up in chainmail, I think it’s all good.