Jericho

[nacho]

One of the drawbacks of Jericho -- All Skeet all the time.

[nacho]

My oh my... Three solid episodes.  Episode three sees the western US leaning more and more on private security firms.  The nefarious Ravenwood, from the first season.  The parent company of which happens to control the only vaccine for the Hudson River Virus, which has jumped the Mississippi and now stalks the western US.

I have to wait a month for the last four episodes, unless they leak, but, god, season two is smartly delivered.  If they don't see a renewal, this is just torture... What was a mediocre show that got canceled is now a great apocalypse drama that seems to have no chances of renewal, even if it does well.

[nacho]

Also very happy to see good responses all around in the blogs, etc.  Maybe this show has a chance at renewal after all.

To most fans it came as quite a shock when CBS announced the cancellation of Jericho March last year. The show had a huge fanbase, and several blogs and communities organized protests to revive the show.

Jeff Braverman, one of the most loyal fans, even went as far as dumping 5,000 pounds of nuts at the CBS offices in New York. CBS’s Vice President of Communications, Chris Ender said that the Jericho protests were the biggest they’d ever seen: “It’s been an impressive display of passion from a loyal audience. You have to tip your hat to their ability to get attention and make some noise.”

Initially CBS, who donated the nuts to charities, wasn’t planning on reviving the show, but after more fans went nuts they eventually did. The official premiere date of the second season was set for February 12, 2008, but today, several weeks before the planned return, the first three episodes of season 2 (ripped from a promotional DVDscreener) are already uploaded to several BitTorrent sites. Perhaps the recent leaks are a gift to the dedicated fans of the show?

It certainly wouldn’t be the first time that TV-shows were leaked on purpose. Last fall an unusually large number of pre-air TV shows appeared on BitTorrent sites, in some cases several months before their scheduled air dates. Many of those leaks appear to be inside jobs, and TV executives are starting to realize that leaking shows to BitTorrent can help promote them.

Whether Jericho was leaked on purpose remains unclear, but I guess the thousands of fans who already downloaded the show today don’t really care where it came from.

[nacho]

Things are looking good... I hope the show gets a full season, because it's just now starting to rock.  The leaked episodes have me dying for more...

CBS will know sooner rather than later whether or not they will allow "Jericho" to keep on living past its second season, but fans may get a little help from a new rebroadcasting deal the post-apocalyptic series has made with the SciFi Channel.

Carol Barbee, the executive producer of the series that fans saved with nothing more than a few measly ton of nuts, said a decision by network on whether or not to renew the series could come before February ends.

"I'm just guessing here, but I would imagine that probably, they usually start to have an opinion around the third airing," Barbee recently told SciFi Wire. "So usually by then your fate can be sealed in terms of it not going well. They may wait another week or so if it is going well for us to order more."

"Jericho" got the ax originally when CBS ordered an extended mid-season break for the series last year, causing some fans to not even realize it had returned to the airwaves. While viewership did drop, they numbers were still pretty strong, and it was fully expected the show would return for a second season. However, a last-minute change of heart from CBS angered fans, and they organized to bring "Jericho" back for seven episodes -- something that has helped CBS in a strike-shortened season.

That strike, which is a battle between studios and the Writers Guild of America, means there will be less scripted competition on the air for the show when it returns. That, plus the tremendous media hype it got when it was canceled and resurrected, could be huge bonuses for the show when it does return.

"Obviously they can't order any more if the writers strike is still going on, but I would imagine I would get a phone call, and you know, start thinking about Season 3," Barbee said. "If there's any good that comes out of the writers strike, I'm hoping -- besides a good deal -- I'm hoping it's in favor of 'Jericho.'"

Just as Barbee was talking about some guarded optimism for the show, SciFi Channel announced that it had picked up cable rights for the series from CBS Television Distribution.

As part of the deal, SciFi will be allowed to broadcast both the first and second seasons, beginning Feb. 11 with a four-episode marathon beginning at 7 p.m. ET. After that, the series will air Mondays at 10 p.m. ET, and also simulcast the series in high-definition on the network's HD channel.

"Jericho" itself will return to CBS with new episodes beginning Feb. 12 at 10 p.m. ET.

[nacho]

Well, tonight's the official release.  I shouldn't have watched the leaked episodes, I've been going crazy! 

Let's hope this show catches on this time around, then.

[nacho]

Ouch.

It can be nowhere but up from here for "Jericho" if it wants to survive into a third season.

The resurrected CBS post-apocalyptic series earned a 4.2 rating/7 share Tuesday night in its highly publicized return, enough to take last place in the 10 p.m. hour behind a rerun of "Law & Order: SVU" on NBC and a new "Boston Legal" on ABC. Those numbers are according to Fast National ratings from Nielsen Media Research.

That gives "Jericho" the lowest turnout for a genre show premiere this season among shows on major networks, the closest premiere coming from "Moonlight," which premiered with a 5.8/11 for CBS at the beginning of the season.

However, the numbers may not be entirely viewers' fault. "Jericho's" lead-in, the reality series "Big Brother 9," earned only a 4.6/7 in the previous hour, according to Zap2it, as it was beaten up on by "American Idol" on Fox and "The Biggest Loser" on ABC. "Jericho" lost just under 9 percent of the audience that tuned in for "Big Brother," which isn't terribly bad for a lead-out show.

At the same time, "Jericho's" premiere rating -- if it doesn't fall too low in coming weeks -- will end up being in line with "Chuck" on NBC. Unfortunately, it could fall just slightly and be pulling in "Bionic Woman" numbers, which would not be good for the show.

Thanks to a strong repeat of "NCIS" against "American Idol," CBS finished second for the night with a 5.5/8, well behind the 16.7/25 earned by Fox. NBC was third with 5.1/8 while ABC managed only a 3.7/6.

Fast Nationals usually provide a snapshot of what Americans are watching by pulling numbers from the top urban markets that includes both live viewing and same-day timeshifted viewing. A rating point generally represents more than 1.1 million households while the share indicates the percentage of televisions turned on that was tuned to the specific program. These numbers typically shift when final ratings are issued.

[nacho]

This is Sci-Fi Channel thinking.

(1) Bring show back

(2) Leak first three episodes

(3) Get mad that no one is watching the first three episodes when they air months later and cancel the show.

Fans may want to get their stashes of nuts ready to send again, because it doesn't look promising that "Jericho" will be back for a third season.

The second episode of the new abbreviated season pulled in a 3.9 rating/7 share, according to Fast National ratings from Nielsen Media Research. That was a 7 percent drop over its season premiere. While that would normally constitute a decent retention of audience from a publicized premiere, "Jericho" really had room to go up, not down, and the show is not making a case to CBS executives that it should return again in the fall.

"Jericho" finished last in the timeslot behind a rerun of "Law & Order: SVU" (6.2/11) on NBC and a rerun of "Boston Legal" (4.9/9) on ABC, according to Zap2it. It didn't get a lot of help from its lead-in programming, "Big Brother: Til Death Do You Part" which had ratings only slightly higher than "Jericho." Most of the Tuesday schedule was pounded by "American Idol" on Fox.

[nacho]

Bastards...

It looks like the "Jericho" experiment is about to come to an end.

Sources have told SyFy Portal that CBS is gearing up to air the series finale version of the post-apocalyptic series on March 25, one of two endings shot that would either allow a cliffhanger going into a third season, or a proper amount of closure for "Jericho" fans who fought hard to force CBS to reconsider its previous decision to cancel the show.

"There are a lot of people here who really care about what happens to 'Jericho,' and I think we all wanted to see it succeed," the source, who asked not to be identified, said. "Numbers are numbers, and [CBS] had to do what [CBS] had to do."

Ratings for the first two episodes were well below even some of the worst numbers the show experienced at the end of the first season which helped prompt network officials to move toward cancellation. Although it is competing in a post-"American Idol" scheduling environment, "Jericho" struggled to compete with shows that were either in reruns, or not part of mainstream viewing habits.

At the same time, audiences in key demographics of 18 to 49 -- a demo that isn't typically attracted to CBS for many of its other programmings -- were noticeably absent from the first pair of viewings from the show, and there is little chance they'll suddenly return in the coming weeks.

But the decision isn't quite final yet ... network executives still have room to change their mind.

"If the audience can come back to the show in the next two episodes, and I mean a lot, [CBS] may reconsider," the source said. "Fans definitely have a say, and they had a say last summer [with the 'Nuts to Jericho' campaign], but I think the final decision this time is going to come down to hard numbers, and they're just not there for 'Jericho.'"

[Sirharles]

The second season sucks.  They needed to just keep with the two towns battling each other.  The first two episodes were painful to watch.  The third was a bit better but not by much.

[nacho]

What?  No way!  Season two is awesome.  You can't have that Postman thing going on forever.  They're going to form a government.  And this is great -- instead of two towns, we get two Americas going after each other.  And one of them riddled with the people who let the bombs off.  It's perfect.  It's what season two of Jeremiah wanted to be... 

The best part of a post-apocalypse story is the rebuilding part. 

[Sirharles]

It's lost me.  At least the hot deaf girl is getting more screen time.

[nacho]

Well, it is a major change from season one.  Budget's cut, cast is cut... I certainly noticed that. 

And, yes, hot deaf girl needs her own hot deaf show.

[nacho]

Well, it is a major change from season one.  Budget's cut, cast is cut... I certainly noticed that. 

And, yes, hot deaf girl needs her own hot deaf show.

And, now, signing in the nude!

[Sirharles]

That she does.  But this show just seemed to really miss an opportunity to have the town go slowly into madness.  Now that would have been great.

[nacho]

Yeah, they could have gone in a direction where Jericho becomes the seat of power... I would have liked that.  Blow apart the New Bern troops and then not so quietly take over.

And I was a little rolleyes when the Blackwater troops came back and were all, I told you so!