Jericho: Small Town on the Big Screen?

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. In defense of a possible Jericho Movie
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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.

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The Great Jericho Rewatch

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Join us on Tuesday, August 5th at 10 pm EST for:

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Season 1: Episode 18: A.K.A.

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Each week, on tuesday nights, we are gathering as many Jericho fans as possible to watch the same Jericho episode at the same time - 10 PM EST.
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Stream the episode from the link above or watch the episode on DVD and email CBS and tell them you watched at audsvcs@cbs.com.
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There will be an undeniable draw on their servers for our episode and they will know the Jericho Rangers have paid them a visit.
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After the show, post your comments on the original episode thread at CBS.
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Long Live Jericho!!!

The Main Line

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On-Air + Online + On-DVR = Many More Eyeballs and Double Digit Percentage Demo Increases !!!

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Read all about it Here and Here!

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Digg it Here and Here!

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Hip Hip Hooray!

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The Main Line

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The Save Jericho Campaign has come full circle; again the show is in trouble. Nielsen viewers apparently are not fans of Jericho or at least apparently not fans enough to stay up past 10. The timeslot CBS chose is being blamed both far and wide for the shows lack of traditionally rated audience. Many are comparing the ratings from last year to now and suggesting that Jericho has less audience for season 2. While this may be technically true I am fairly certain there are more folks watching televison at the 8 o’clock hour than at ten. Science Fiction, which is about the closest umbrella genre you could use to encompass Jericho, has always had a hard time culling viewers on TV. Battlestar Galactica, a critically acclaimed repurposing of late seventies SciFi hokum has only ever managed a weekly viewership of around 3 million. That is slightly lower than Jericho of late and says something about the way the show is perceived.

My older sister will not watch the show "Ugly Betty". She just cannot get past the name. I think a similar thing is happening with Jericho but in Jericho’s case it is that people just cannot get past the genre. Some of us saw the mushroom cloud on the commercials and were intrigued and others just saw post apocalyptic. That last categorization of Jericho I find very amusing as it seems that for hardcore fans of post apocalyptic fiction Jericho just is not post apocalyptic enough. Andrea Newton made reference to the usual suspects of that genre in the title of her essay The Apocalypse Will Not Have Zombies — or Ice. I recommend reading the essay as highly as the author recommends watching Jericho. Newton lays out how all of her preconceptions of the show were off base and then goes on to paint an accurate picture of the essence of Jericho's story.

That essence as it turns out is difficult at best to capture. Especially now that the shortened second season and shaved budget have forced the producers to streamline the product while attempting to stay true to the method of storytelling the fans have come to expect. As I watch each new episode of season 2 I am reminded of my feelings sitting in a dark movie theatre as a new installment of the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy was released. That feeling then and now for Jericho was and is WOW! Wow, what a good job of riding the fine lines of the fans expectations and wow what a lot of heart went into this.

A wonderful symbol of the heart and soul of this show was introduced in the episode “Condor”. A flag belonging to the slain former mayor of the town is given to the mayor’s son. It Is the Gadsden flag seen at the top of this article. A replica of the flag Col. Gadsden presented to the Congress for use by the commander in chief of the American navy. On the yellow flag can be found a rattlesnake coiled to strike with the words “Don’t Tread On Me”. Benjamin Franklin was an advocate of using the rattlesnake as a symbol for America. In 1775 he wrote:

“I recollected that her eye excelled in brightness, that of any other animal, and that she has no eye-lids—She may therefore be esteemed an emblem of vigilance.—She never begins an attack, nor, when once engaged, ever surrenders: She is therefore an emblem of magnanimity and true courage.—As if anxious to prevent all pretentions of quarrelling with her, the weapons with which nature has furnished her, she conceals in the roof of her mouth, so that, to those who are unacquainted with her, she appears to be a most defenceless animal; and even when those weapons are shewn and extended for her defence, they appear weak and contemptible; but their wounds however small, are decisive and fatal:—Conscious of this, she never wounds till she has generously given notice, even to her enemy, and cautioned him against the danger of treading on her.—Was I wrong, Sir, in thinking this a strong picture of the temper and conduct of America?”

As usual the writers of Jericho have done their homework. What a fitting fortitudinous symbol for the people of a small Kansas town who find themselves in a heap of trouble with the fate of a nation hanging in the balance.