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In defense of a possible Jericho Movie
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In defense of a possible Jericho Movie.
The first season of Jericho on CBS was groundbreaking. The makers of the show so successfully mixed genres that many who were unwilling to accept aspects were lost along the way. Opinions about the show had a Goldilocks ring: “This episode is too hard” or “This episode is too soft” and finally “This episode is just right”.
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For me the episodes were always just right. I loved the way Jericho seemed like a different show at different moments. It allowed me to be the sum of all of my parts as well and the enormity of the subject matter made it easy to drop preconceptions and accept that life can be astonishingly different from one moment to the next. The town was vibrant and alive and by the end of the season threatened by a hostile neighbor.
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This escalation and then door slamming shut on season one prompted fans to act and we got our second season. But it was to be different than the first; the conflict we had become invested in over the last five hours of the first season was snuffed out in no time at all. Larger, more powerful forces had descended on Jericho and the characters we had come to know so well were asked to shift gears. They did this magnificently within the confines of the seven episode we were allotted. It was not the same show it had been in season one but because of the time spent in character exposition over the course of that first year we still felt like we knew these people. Through the tenacity of the shows creators Jericho exhibited one of the most important aspects of longevity –The ability to change. Most of us allowed our vision of the show to change as well and the community continued to evolve, grow and remain mostly positive through a second cancellation and beyond.
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Now there is talk of a possible Jericho Movie and I believe this might be just what we need. Granted, it does not bring the friends we love into our homes on a weekly basis but it does allow the story to once again jump to the next level of a national civil war. It allows for new characters to be introduced that are written by the very storytellers we have come to trust. It allows the makers to work more freely from a monetary stand point and to dream bigger for a chapter of the story which frankly needs to be huge. I know the show is called Jericho and that focus on the town and its inhabitants is what many of us desire but it is a fitting metaphor for war that much is lost along the way. On the other hand, war also has a way of getting to the very heart of that which is important and I am confident the creators of Jericho will be keeping this in mind through any of the changes which lie ahead.
.
For me the episodes were always just right. I loved the way Jericho seemed like a different show at different moments. It allowed me to be the sum of all of my parts as well and the enormity of the subject matter made it easy to drop preconceptions and accept that life can be astonishingly different from one moment to the next. The town was vibrant and alive and by the end of the season threatened by a hostile neighbor.
.
This escalation and then door slamming shut on season one prompted fans to act and we got our second season. But it was to be different than the first; the conflict we had become invested in over the last five hours of the first season was snuffed out in no time at all. Larger, more powerful forces had descended on Jericho and the characters we had come to know so well were asked to shift gears. They did this magnificently within the confines of the seven episode we were allotted. It was not the same show it had been in season one but because of the time spent in character exposition over the course of that first year we still felt like we knew these people. Through the tenacity of the shows creators Jericho exhibited one of the most important aspects of longevity –The ability to change. Most of us allowed our vision of the show to change as well and the community continued to evolve, grow and remain mostly positive through a second cancellation and beyond.
.
Now there is talk of a possible Jericho Movie and I believe this might be just what we need. Granted, it does not bring the friends we love into our homes on a weekly basis but it does allow the story to once again jump to the next level of a national civil war. It allows for new characters to be introduced that are written by the very storytellers we have come to trust. It allows the makers to work more freely from a monetary stand point and to dream bigger for a chapter of the story which frankly needs to be huge. I know the show is called Jericho and that focus on the town and its inhabitants is what many of us desire but it is a fitting metaphor for war that much is lost along the way. On the other hand, war also has a way of getting to the very heart of that which is important and I am confident the creators of Jericho will be keeping this in mind through any of the changes which lie ahead.
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