Posted by: nacho
« on: May 02, 2012, 08:27:01 AM »Oh, man... Of all the cult shows to revive, they go for Jericho? They'd have to retcon the entire abysmal second season.
Exclusive: Will Netflix Give Jericho (Another) New Life?
Apocalypse now? TV Guide Magazine confirms that Netflix has approached CBS about reviving cult fave Jericho — and the network, through its CBS TV Studios production arm, is considering it. The drama, which followed the residents of a small Kansas town in the wake of a nuclear attack, has been off the air since 2008.
Repeats of Jericho remain popular on Netflix's on-demand service, even four years after the show's cancellation. Insiders say Netflix execs would love to emulate the revival of Fox's Arrested Development, which is expected to return on Netflix with new episodes in 2013, seven years after the show ended its run. Like Arrested fans, Jericho's are a passionate bunch: CBS renewed the post-apocalyptic show for a second season in 2007 after viewers bombarded the network with cases of peanuts.
Talks are still in preliminary stages, and insiders warn that it's too soon to celebrate, as there are still many hurdles to overcome before a deal is struck. Making it financially viable for both Netflix and CBS may be the biggest challenge of them all. It's unclear how much more original programming makes sense for Netflix, which is already committed to two seasons of the original Kevin Spacey drama House of Cards (from David Fincher) in addition to Arrested. Also, due to concerns over its subscriber levels, Netflix has seen its share price drop more than 25 percent in the past month.
Before a third season of Jericho can happen, rounding up the stars and exec producers, many of whom are working on other projects, will take time. Past attempts at a Jericho return haven't panned out, such as stalled talks with Comcast to continue Jericho in a fashion similar to Friday Night Lights. Executive producer Jon Turteltaub said in 2009 that he was developing a movie, but that also didn't go anywhere. So far, only Jericho comic books have made it to production (a new edition hits stands this summer).
But never say die: Attempts at a Jericho revival mirrors the "it's happening/it's not happening" dance that Arrested Development fans have experienced over the years, but that's on the cusp of finally coming true. Other series resurrected from the dead in recent years include Family Guy and Futurama. And at least some of the cast could conceivably be available: Star Skeet Ulrich was last seen on NBC's Law & Order: L.A., while Lennie James was on The Prisoner, Hung and the series opener to The Walking Dead (although he's currently in the ABC pilot Gotham).
Netflix has shown that it will open up the pocketbook for something it really wants. Arrested Development seemed on course to land at Showtime, until the streaming service swooped in and nabbed the cult fave comedy. In the case of Jericho, even CBS boss Leslie Moonves has hinted that it's a possibility. In February, Moonves revealed at an investor conference that CBS was in discussions with Netflix about potentially doing a show together — and yes, it's believed he was referring to Jericho. CBS declined comment.
Dan Shotz, co-executive producer of CBS' canceled post-apocalyptic drama Jericho, told SCI FI Wire that he and his fellow writer/producers are indeed serious about developing a feature film based on the cult show.
"It's not just wishful thinking," Shotz said in an exclusive interview Tuesday at CBS Studios in Studio City, Calif., where he screened the pilot of his new series, Harper's Island. He added: "We've ... been developing a feature to hopefully make, because we would love to. I mean, ... Jericho is so built in a way, ... especially where we left off season two, to create a feature. So our hope is to launch this comic-book series and then with the development at the same time of the feature, hopefully get that launched as well."
Jon Turteltaub, one of the executive producers of CBS' defunct Jericho, told iF Magazine that he and his partners are developing a feature-film version of the post-apocalyptic series.
"We're developing a feature for Jericho," Turteltaub told the magazine. "It would not require you to have seen the TV show, but it get into life after an event like this on a national scale. It would be the bigger, full on American version of what's going on beyond the town in Jericho."
Jericho starred Skeet Ulrich and Ashley Scott and told the story of the survivors in a small Kansas town of a nuclear attack on the United States. Canceled by CBS after a lackluster first season, the show came back for a short second season after the network acceded to a massive fan campaign—involving the mailing of tons of peanuts. When the ratings failed to improve, the show ended with a series finale that wrapped up the storyline.
Turteltaub, who also directed many of the series' episodes, added that he hopes to get the cast back. "Oh yeah!" he said. And would it be a huge budget? "Anything would be a huge budget compared to what we were dealing with," he said. "If we had $40 million dollars to make a movie with, that's 20 times more than we did before."
In all fairness, FOX executed Firefly.
It worked for DirecTV and NBC when it came to "Friday Night Lights," why not between CBS and Comcast for "Jericho"?
Although nothing is set in stone, it appears that Comcast is interested in putting together a production deal that could keep the fan-favorite "Jericho" on for a third season by footing some of the bill, at least that's what The New York Times is reporting.
Such a deal, if it were to happen (and that's a big "if"), likely would focus on Comcast paying part of the show's production cost in return for its right to air the show to its subscribers first. After that, it would air on the network. That is, if they follow a similar model to how DirecTV and NBC are producing 13 episodes of "Friday Night Lights."
Don't get too excited yet. Such discussions are still in very early stages, and it's unclear whether they will be finalized. But if it does, it will mean some of "Jericho's" most dedicated fans won't have to worry about collecting tons of nuts again.
CBS cancelled "Jericho" last month after a seven-episode resurrection on the network that lost 3 million viewers. Many analysts and fans have blamed the scheduling as one of the main contributing factors to the audience loss, as the Tuesday 10 p.m. schedule eliminated some potential viewers, and a poor lead-in from reality show "Big Brother" didn't help matters very much.