Jericho (2006 TV series)
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''Jericho'' is an American
post-apocalyptic Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction is a subgenre of speculative fiction in which the Earth's (or another planet's) civilization is collapsing or has collapsed. The apocalypse event may be climatic, such as runaway climate change; ast ...
action
drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has b ...
television series, which centers on the residents of the fictional city of
Jericho, Kansas ''Jericho'' is an American post-apocalyptic action drama television series, which centers on the residents of the fictional city of Jericho, Kansas, in the aftermath of a nuclear attack on 23 major cities in the contiguous United States. It ...
, in the aftermath of a nuclear attack on 23 major cities in the
contiguous United States The contiguous United States (officially the conterminous United States) consists of the 48 adjoining U.S. states and the Federal District of the United States of America. The term excludes the only two non-contiguous states, Alaska and Hawaii ...
. It was produced by CBS Paramount Network Television and Junction Entertainment, with executive producers Jon Turteltaub, Stephen Chbosky, and Carol Barbee. It was shown in more than 30 countries. ''Jericho'' ran from September 20, 2006, to March 25, 2008, on CBS. It was cancelled after its first full season because of low ratings. A fan campaign persuaded the network to bring the show back for another season, of seven episodes, after which it was cancelled again. In November 2008, ''
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'' reported that
The CW ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...
would air repeats of ''Jericho'' to replace the canceled series '' Valentine''. In 2007, ''Jericho'' was ranked number 11 on ''TV Guides Top Cult Shows Ever. In 2009, plans were announced for a feature film based on the series, that was later cancelled, and a continuation of the ''Jericho'' storylines in a
comic-book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are oft ...
series. IDW Publishing released a new comic-book series for Season 3 (in 2009) and Season 4 in August 2012.


Synopsis


First season

The storyline centers on the residents of Jericho, a small northwest
Kansas Kansas () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its Capital city, capital is Topeka, Kansas, Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita, Kansas, Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebras ...
town, in the aftermath of a nuclear attack on 23 major cities in the
contiguous United States The contiguous United States (officially the conterminous United States) consists of the 48 adjoining U.S. states and the Federal District of the United States of America. The term excludes the only two non-contiguous states, Alaska and Hawaii ...
. The series begins with a visible nuclear detonation of unknown origin in
Denver, Colorado Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...
. Despite initial belief that it was an accident, Dale Turner, one of the characters, receives a phone call from his mother in
Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,7 ...
,
Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...
. The call is then cut out by the sound of a nuclear blast. Upon showing this to others, it is revealed that the bombings were deliberate. Problems are compounded by loss of power and modern communications, effectively isolating Jericho. Later, power is restored to Jericho by what is alluded to as the efforts of the U.S. government but an
electromagnetic pulse An electromagnetic pulse (EMP), also a transient electromagnetic disturbance (TED), is a brief burst of electromagnetic energy. Depending upon the source, the origin of an EMP can be natural or artificial, and can occur as an electromagnetic f ...
(EMP) from an unknown source disables all electronics. While the first few episodes are about restoring life after the attacks, about halfway through the season some of the citizens meet with citizens of a nearby town, New Bern. At first, relations are established, resulting in a trade of windmills (for power), built in New Bern's factory, for supplies for food from Jericho's farms and salt from its mine (neither of which New Bern could supply on its own). Relations sour as New Bern scapegoats Jericho for its problems and the New Bern
sheriff A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland that is commonly transla ...
eventually declares war, leading to the season's climax. Several themes regularly addressed in the show include the gathering of information, community identity, public order, limited resources, the value of family, hardships of fatherhood and internal and external threats. The show also features several mysteries involving the backgrounds of major characters, the perpetrators of the attack and the extent of damage to the United States and its government. The pivotal character in this story is Jake Green, the 32-year-old son of Mayor
Johnston Green This is a list of characters from the television series '' Jericho'', which premiered in 2006 on CBS in the United States. Main characters Jake Green * Portrayed by Skeet Ulrich * Appears in: ''Season 1'', ''Season 2'' * Status: Alive Johns ...
. Jake had fled the town of Jericho five years earlier, when he became mixed up with the wrong people and was involved in questionable activity. He briefly returns home to claim his inheritance, before being stranded by the catastrophe. After a somewhat awkward return home and a tense reunion with his father, Jake steps up to become a leader in Jericho, fighting to protect the town and its citizens. As the people of Jericho struggle to survive in a changed world, most remain unaware that one of the newest residents, Robert Hawkins, knows a lot more about the attacks than he is letting on. It is later revealed that he is in possession of an unexploded nuclear bomb that was supposed to be used in the attack but how he obtained it and what side he is on remain anything but clear. Gray Anderson encounters a
Federal Emergency Management Agency The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS), initially created under President Jimmy Carter by Presidential Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1978 and implemented by two Ex ...
(FEMA) camp outside of
Topeka Topeka ( ; Kansa: ; iow, Dópikˀe, script=Latn or ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the seat of Shawnee County. It is along the Kansas River in the central part of Shawnee County, in northeast Kansas, in the Central Uni ...
, where he learns that the attack on
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
was foiled by alert
New York City Police The New York City Police Department (NYPD), officially the City of New York Police Department, established on May 23, 1845, is the primary municipal law enforcement agency within the New York City, City of New York, the largest and one of ...
who shot the bomber before he could detonate the nuclear bomb that he had in the back of a van. Mayor Green reports that the NYPD captured the van in New York with a 20-kiloton nuclear bomb on board but Washington, D.C. has been bombed. On the way back from the FEMA camp, Anderson's car is stolen by 12 looters and he is forced to walk home to Jericho. Anderson also reports that Lawrence, Kansas has been attacked. Robert Hawkins receives a morse code message on a ham radio stating that Denver, Atlanta,
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...
,
Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...
,
Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more th ...
,
San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...
and several more cities not shown on screen have been attacked. A black box flight data recorder that Jake recovers from a crashed airliner indicates that
air traffic control Air traffic control (ATC) is a service provided by ground-based air traffic controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and through a given section of controlled airspace, and can provide advisory services to aircraft in non-controlled airsp ...
is non-existent, a mushroom cloud is rising into the atmosphere and that flashes have also been seen towards
Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...
. A radiation-burn victim walks into Jericho from Denver, leading a rescue party to Bear Lake but the 20 radiation-burn victims there are dead. Before the unnamed radiation-burn victim dies, while he is interrogated by Hawkins, it is revealed that he is an accomplice of Hawkins and that there is a traitor in the attack. In the season one finale, armed residents of New Bern attack Jericho with crude mortars made at the factories in New Bern. The mortar bombardment injure people in Jericho. Jake and Johnston Green along with Robert Hawkins lead a counter-attack on New Bern's forces outside of town, killing many of the attackers; Johnston Green is mortally wounded. Army units arrive to separate the combatants just as the season ends.


Second season

The military forces of the new Allied States of America (ASA), which now govern most of what was formerly the
Western United States The Western United States (also called the American West, the Far West, and the West) is the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. As American settlement in the U.S. expanded westward, the meaning of the term ''the We ...
, except the independent Republic of
Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...
, have restored order to Jericho and its hinterland, putting an abrupt end to the conflict between Jericho and its rival town, New Bern. As a semblance of normal returns to Jericho, the plot shifts away from day-to-day survival to life and political intrigue under the ASA government. The garrison commander of the ASA Army's newpost in Jericho, Major Edward Beck, asks Jake to accept appointment as the Sheriff of Jericho and the county. Jake reluctantly accepts the appointment with reservations about the ASA government's intentions. Known only to Hawkins and a select few, the September attacks were neither a foreign nor domestic terrorist act but a conspiracy of unknown perpetrators within the highest level of the former U.S. government, including the president and the secretary of defense of the new ASA government in Cheyenne. Hawkins must calculate his every move to avoid capture, piece together the trail of evidence and bring the truth to light, before the conspiracy's mastermind buries it forever. Jericho's residents deal with the reality of the new ASA government based in
Cheyenne, Wyoming Cheyenne ( or ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Wyoming, as well as the county seat of Laramie County, with 65,132 residents, per the 2020 US Census. It is the principal city of the Cheyenne metropolitan statistic ...
. Welcomed as saviors, the government's military and mercenary agents transform life in Jericho into a repressive police state, led by a private security contracting firm, Ravenwood, owned by Jennings & Rall, which has ties to and sponsors the leaders of the ASA government. When a Ravenwood contractor kills Bonnie, a deaf farm girl from the outskirts of Jericho, to conceal his embezzlement, the town is put on the edge of revolt as Jake and the deputies protect Mimi, the only witness to Bonnie's murder and the embezzlement. Jake can no longer tolerate the methods of Ravenwood and the ASA government in Jericho and leads an underground movement to remove them from power in the town. He is arrested by Major Beck and interrogated. Jake refuses to break and escapes with the help of his mother and other town residents. The citizens of the town rebel against the local ASA soldiers. All of this causes Major Beck, a decorated former U.S. Army officer, to question his duty to a government that would treat its citizens the way the new ASA government is doing. He orders his men to stand down and return to their garrison. Hawkins tries to transport the bomb to his contacts in the reborn
Republic of Texas The Republic of Texas ( es, República de Tejas) was a sovereign state in North America that existed from March 2, 1836, to February 19, 1846, that bordered Mexico, the Republic of the Rio Grande in 1840 (another breakaway republic from Me ...
. The ASA military is tipped off and after a brief chase, seizes the weapon. Hawkins narrowly escapes and the ASA military then transports the weapon to Cheyenne for safekeeping. Hawkins makes contact with Jake and the two travel to Cheyenne, where they retake the bomb from J&R contractors. Hawkins is wounded in a brief gun battle. The two make it to the Republic of Texas embassy in Cheyenne with the only undetonated bomb (in ASA territory) from the September attacks. The ASA's military is right behind them. The Republic of Texas is considered the
swing state In American politics, the term swing state (also known as battleground state or purple state) refers to any state that could reasonably be won by either the Democratic or Republican candidate in a statewide election, most often referring to pres ...
in the struggle for power between the Eastern United States, which is led by the legitimate surviving United States government, now governed from
Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, an ...
and the Allied States. Texas has not decided which government to back. The Texan ambassador in Cheyenne shelters Jake and Hawkins at his embassy. The ambassador informs his military forces at the embassy to tell the ASA forces outside the fence that any incursion into the embassy by ASA troops will be considered an act of war against the Republic of Texas. The ambassador manages quickly to smuggle Jake, Hawkins and the bomb to the Cheyenne airport. At the airport he secures a small diplomatic jet plane to carry Jake, Hawkins and the device to Texas. While they are ''en route'', two ASA
F-15 The McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle is an American twin-engine, all-weather tactical fighter aircraft designed by McDonnell Douglas (now part of Boeing). Following reviews of proposals, the United States Air Force selected McDonnell Douglas's ...
fighters intercept Jake and Hawkins and order them to turn around or be shot down. When Jake refuses to be escorted back to Cheyenne, the two jets drop back to open fire. Two Republic of Texas
Air National Guard The Air National Guard (ANG), also known as the Air Guard, is a federal military reserve force of the United States Air Force, as well as the air militia of each U.S. state, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the ter ...
F-16 The General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon is a single-engine multirole fighter aircraft originally developed by General Dynamics for the United States Air Force (USAF). Designed as an air superiority day fighter, it evolved into a successf ...
fighters suddenly appear and shoot down the ASA planes. Jake and Hawkins make it to Texas with the evidence and Hawkins ominously intones that a
second American Civil War The "Second American Civil War" is an umbrella term used by academics in order to reclassify historical eras of significant political violence in the history of the United States as a "civil war" or, more commonly, to discuss the potential outbr ...
was always coming and the two of them have made history by giving the United States a fighting chance in the war to come.


Third season

Season 3 is not a television show, but a six-part comic book series "from the minds" of the original ''Jericho'' production team and written by the ''Jericho'' writing team. In April 2013, ''Jericho'' creator Stephen Chbosky revealed during a chat with Nerdacy that talks about a live-action season 3 remain ongoing. In his statement, Chbosky noted, "you know
William Morris Endeavor Endeavor Group Holdings, Inc. (formerly known as William Morris Endeavor Entertainment, WME or WME-IMG) is an American holding company for talent and media agencies with its primary offices in Beverly Hills, California, United States. The compa ...
Agency, who represents me, executive producer Jon Turteltaub and many other people, and they've been talking to
Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a ...
and you never know. I can't say what it will be in season 3, but I'm excited for the new developments." In 2017, Skeet Ulrich gave a reason why the show didn't move to Netflix:


Fourth season

Season 4 is a continuation of the comic book series released by IDW Publishing on August 15, 2012. The five issue story picked up after the events of ''Jericho'': Season Three. The comic was written by Kalinda Vazquez, and the process was overseen by the television series' writers.


Characters and setting


Characters

''Jericho'' features an
ensemble cast In a dramatic production, an ensemble cast is one that is composed of multiple principal actors and performers who are typically assigned roughly equal amounts of screen time.Random House: ensemble acting Linked 2013-07-17 Structure In contrast t ...
of characters, along with a number of minor and recurring roles. The series website listed eleven main cast members. Alicia Coppola moved from a recurring role to a regular character in February 2008. Gerald McRaney did not have a regular role in season 2. Esai Morales was only present in season 2. * Skeet Ulrich as Jake Green * Lennie James as Robert Hawkins * Ashley Scott as Emily Sullivan * Kenneth Mitchell as Eric Green * Michael Gaston as
Gray Anderson This is a list of characters from the television series '' Jericho'', which premiered in 2006 on CBS in the United States. Main characters Jake Green * Portrayed by Skeet Ulrich * Appears in: ''Season 1'', ''Season 2'' * Status: Alive Johns ...
* Gerald McRaney as
Johnston Green This is a list of characters from the television series '' Jericho'', which premiered in 2006 on CBS in the United States. Main characters Jake Green * Portrayed by Skeet Ulrich * Appears in: ''Season 1'', ''Season 2'' * Status: Alive Johns ...
(season 1 only) * Pamela Reed as
Gail Green This is a list of characters from the television series '' Jericho'', which premiered in 2006 on CBS in the United States. Main characters Jake Green * Portrayed by Skeet Ulrich * Appears in: ''Season 1'', ''Season 2'' * Status: Alive Johns ...
(main season 1, recurring season 2) *
Sprague Grayden Sprague Grayden (born July 21, 1980) is an American actress. She played schoolteacher Heather Lisinski in the television drama '' Jericho'', Karen Kawalski in ''John Doe'', first daughter Olivia Taylor in the television thriller '' 24'', and Kr ...
as
Heather Lisinski This is a list of characters from the television series ''Jericho'', which premiered in 2006 on CBS in the United States. Main characters Jake Green * Portrayed by Skeet Ulrich * Appears in: ''Season 1'', ''Season 2'' * Status: Alive Johnst ...
*
Shoshannah Stern Shoshannah Stern (born July 3, 1980) is an American actress and writer. Life and career She was born in Walnut Creek, California, into an observant Jewish and fourth-generation Deaf culture, Deaf family, the daughter of Ron Stern and Hedy Marilyn ...
as
Bonnie Richmond This is a list of characters from the television series ''Jericho'', which premiered in 2006 on CBS in the United States. Main characters Jake Green * Portrayed by Skeet Ulrich * Appears in: ''Season 1'', ''Season 2'' * Status: Alive Johnst ...
*
Brad Beyer Brad Beyer (born September 20, 1973) is an American actor. He may be best-known for his role in the CBS series ''Jericho'', playing Stanley Richmond. Early and personal life Beyer was born in Waukesha, Wisconsin, where he graduated from Cathol ...
as Stanley Richmond * Alicia Coppola as Mimi Clark (recurring season 1, main season 2) * Erik Knudsen as
Dale Turner Dale Turner may refer to: * Dale Turner (cricketer), Australian cricketer * Dale Turner (trumpeter) Dale Turner (born 1943 in Minnesota) is an American trumpet player, best known for being a member of the American new wave band Oingo Boingo. ...
*
Esai Morales Esai Manuel Morales Jr. (born October 1, 1962) is an American actor. He has had notable roles in the films '' Bad Boys'' with Sean Penn and '' La Bamba'' with Lou Diamond Phillips (1987). His television roles include the PBS 2002 drama series '' ...
as Major Edward Beck (season 2 only) *
Emily Rose Emily Rose may refer to: * Emily Rose (actress) (born 1981), American television actress/voice actress * '' The Exorcism of Emily Rose'', a 2005 supernatural horror crime film about demonic possession, loosely based on the story of Anneliese Michel ...
as
Trish Merrick This is a list of characters from the television series ''Jericho'', which premiered in 2006 on CBS in the United States. Main characters Jake Green * Portrayed by Skeet Ulrich * Appears in: ''Season 1'', ''Season 2'' * Status: Alive Johnsto ...
(season 2 only) *
Richard Speight, Jr. Richard Speight Jr. (born September 4, 1969) is an American actor, director, screenwriter and producer who is known for a variety of roles including CBS TV series ''Jericho'', '' The Agency'', and the HBO miniseries '' Band of Brothers''. Spei ...
as Bill Kohler


Setting

Jericho, Kansas is a fictional town. It is approximately 47 miles east of the Kansas–Colorado border (which would put it near the location of the real Colby, Kansas). However, a map (episode 3: Jericho is Ness City, Kansas on the map) in the series seems to show Jericho near the junctions of I-70 and
US 83 U.S. Route 83 (US 83) is a major north–south United States Numbered Highway that extends in the central United States. Only four other north–south routes are longer: US 1, US 41, US 59, and US 87, while ...
. That would place it near the real Oakley. Jericho is 90 miles west of the also fictional Rogue River, Kansas, and around 330 miles from the real Wichita. New Bern, Kansas is a neighboring fictional town which starts a war with Jericho in the wake of the national destruction. Jericho is served by one state highway and the (fictional) Cedar Run Road. The city's population is mentioned to be almost 5,000 as mentioned in season 1 Ep. 2 "Fallout" (1,000 in 1957). But after the great war between New Bern and Jericho, the population was reduced to 3,000. The city has one grocery store, owned by Gracie Leigh ( Beth Grant). Jericho is run by two mayors throughout the series. Johnston Green ( Gerald McRaney) was the mayor at the show opening and for most of season one, but loses the election in the show. Gray Anderson ( Michael Gaston), the other electoral candidate, wins the election in the show.


Production


Early development

The series originated as a feature film idea of co-creators
Jonathan Steinberg Jonathan Steinberg (8 March 1934 – 4 March 2021) was the Walter H. Annenberg Professor of European History Emeritus and Chair of the Department of History at the University of Pennsylvania. Career Steinberg received his undergraduate degree ...
and Josh Schaer: a
post-apocalyptic Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction is a subgenre of speculative fiction in which the Earth's (or another planet's) civilization is collapsing or has collapsed. The apocalypse event may be climatic, such as runaway climate change; ast ...
plot set amidst the trappings of "a little character drama" movie, in the vein of '' The Day After'', '' Threads'', and '' Testament''. However, they soon realized that a two- or two-and-a-half-hour-long film would still not carry the necessary length they felt such a concept required to properly explore the setting and the characters. Thus, Schaer and Steinberg decided to re-conceive the entire project as a television series, producing a treatment out of the original feature screenplay. Director Jon Turteltaub and producer Carol Barbee then entered the picture, the pair having pitched the project to them. Turteltaub soon commissioned writer Stephen Chbosky to pen the pilot teleplay based upon Schaer and Steinberg's series treatment. One of Chbosky's major contributions to the structure of the series was the introduction of a greater feminine element to the storyline, opining that, " ecould use some girls, a little kissing, and some laughs." Another significant developmental influence were the
September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commer ...
and
Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a destructive Category 5 Atlantic hurricane that caused over 1,800 fatalities and $125 billion in damage in late August 2005, especially in the city of New Orleans and the surrounding areas. It was at the time the cost ...
, and the sense of " einga spectator to a disaster, while not quite being part of it." Co-creator Steinberg in particular felt that after 9/11, the United States saw some of the "best of people," and after Hurricane Katrina, some of the "worst of people," and sought to include both in the fabric of ''Jericho'', with Katrina providing "lots of inspiration" for the show's overall premise.


Filming locations

Although Jericho is set in northwestern Kansas, most of the series was filmed on a studio backlot in Van Nuys, California. The pilot and all episodes involving New Bern, Kansas, were filmed in Fillmore, California. Filming also occurred in
Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district. ...
, including in front of the
city hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...
, for scenes involving the Allied States capital of
Cheyenne, Wyoming Cheyenne ( or ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Wyoming, as well as the county seat of Laramie County, with 65,132 residents, per the 2020 US Census. It is the principal city of the Cheyenne metropolitan statistic ...
. The final episode to air included portions filmed at the
Santa Anita race track Santa Anita Park is a Thoroughbred racetrack in Arcadia, California, United States. It offers some of the prominent horse racing events in the United States during early fall, winter and in spring. The track is home to numerous prestigious races ...
. Some filming also took place in Canada and in Long Beach, California (specifically along Alamitos Bay). The commentary for some episodes on the ''Jericho'' Season 1 DVD includes the location of their filming.


First season

The first season of the show premiered Wednesday, September 20, 2006 and concluded with a cliffhanger episode on May 9, 2007. Lackluster Nielsen ratings, ratings prompted concern, as the show hit a ratings low in early April. The ratings were down 25% when the series returned following the nearly three-month hiatus. During its first season, it ranked 48th, with an average of 9.5 million viewers in the United States. Other Wednesday night programs it competed with were ''Bones (TV series), Bones'', ''Deal or No Deal'', and American Broadcasting Company, ABC's comedy block. Though the producers seemed confident that the program would be picked up for a second season, CBS officially announced ''Jerichos cancellation on May 16, 2007. Several online communities, including the official ''Jericho'' forums, launched campaigns in an effort to revive the show. Fans also sent just over 20 short ton, tons of nuts to CBS headquarters; this referred to a scene from the season one finale "Why We Fight (Jericho episode), Why We Fight" where Jake Green repeats Anthony McAuliffe, General Anthony McAuliffe's historic phrase "Nuts!" from the Battle of the Bulge. The peanuts and other proceeds from the donations were donated to charities, including the rebuilding effort in Greensburg, Kansas, a town that was largely destroyed by a tornado in 2007.


Second season

In a response posted on the ''Jericho'' forum, CBS president Nina Tassler acknowledged the fan response, stating, "We hope to develop a way to provide closure to ... the Jericho story." CBS officials acknowledge the campaign was the largest the network had seen using digital means to protest a show cancellation. President and CEO Leslie Moonves acknowledged that he was filtering emails from ''Jericho'' fans, while senior vice president of communications Chris Ender said, "You have to tip your hat to their ability to get attention and make some noise." In June 2007, ''Jericho'' executive producer Carol Barbee announced that CBS was discussing the possibility of the show's return for an eight-episode mid-season run. A day later, Tassler posted an announcement on the forum stating that seven new episodes of ''Jericho'' had been commissioned as a midseason replacement for the 2007-2008 television season, with the possibility of an extension based on viewership. The last of these seven episodes was broadcast on March 25, 2008, and was not affected directly by the 2007–08 Writers Guild of America strike, 2007 Writers Guild of America strike. On August 2, 2007, a video was released on YouTube showing clips from the first day back at work for the ''Jericho'' cast and crew. It included a "thank you" from the cast and crew to the fans for their efforts to revive the show. Several months later, CBS released trailers announcing the second-season premiere, including Morse code spelling "SPREAD THE WORD". ''Jericho'' returned for its second season on February 12, 2008 to mostly favorable reviews but with the lowest numbers the ratings had seen yet. In the early days of January 2008, the first three episodes of the second season leaked on the internet via a DVD screener source. The show's second season has also premiered in Canada on CTV television network, CTV, mirroring the US broadcast. The first two episodes of the 2008 season received the lowest ratings to date for the series. ''Jerichos ratings did increase somewhat for its third episode, but dropped to fairly consistent but still low ratings. The second season averaged 6.2 million viewers. On March 21, 2008, CBS announced that the network would not be renewing ''Jericho'' for a third season. CBS entertainment boss Nina Tassler stated that "The March 25 episode ... will be the series finale. Without question, there are passionate viewers watching this program; we simply wish there were more. We thank an engaged and spirited fan base for keeping the show alive this long, and an outstanding team of producers, cast and crew that went through creative hoops to deliver a compelling, high-quality second season. ... We're proud of everyone's efforts." According to SyFy's source, two endings were shot for the March 25 episode. One involved a cliffhanger leading into a third season, while the other would wrap up the series and provide closure for fans who had worked to secure the series' return. One unidentified source said, "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. Numbers are numbers, and [CBS] had to do what [CBS] had to do."


Post second season

In early 2008, executive producer Carol Barbee said talks were ongoing to find another home for ''Jericho'', perhaps on a cable network, and raised the possibility of the Syfy, Sci Fi Channel and broadcast networks such as
The CW ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...
(co-owned by CBS). Other possibilities may include a television or theatrical movie. In April 2008, ''The New York Times'' website reported that CBS Paramount Network Television held talks with Comcast about finding a new home for ''Jericho''. Possibilities included an arrangement whereby Comcast would pay part of the series' production expenses and then offer episodes in High-definition television, High-Definition before they air on CBS. ''Jericho'' fans continued efforts to resurrect the series, including a one-page advertisement in the April 25, 2008 edition of ''Variety (magazine), Variety'' magazine. A second advertisement appeared in ''The Hollywood Reporter'', as well as banner ads on the ''Variety'' and ''The Hollywood Reporter'' websites. In January 2009, TV.com reported that a ''Jericho'' feature film is in development. Since then there has been no film or further TV episodes.


''Jericho'' comic series


Season 3

In March 2009, Devil's Due Publishing announced that all story lines from the TV series would be continued in a Jericho Season 3, comic book series. Updated 26 April 2020. In November 2009, Devil's Due Publishing released the first issue of the six-issue continuation of the ''Jericho'' saga. As of May 2011, IDW Publishing re-released the first three comics as ''Jericho: Redux'', as well as issues 4, 5 and 6, thus completing its publication. In August 2011, IDW collected all 6 comics into a 144-page graphic novel entitled ''Jericho Season 3: Civil War''. As the publisher's description, posted at Amazon.com reads:
Continuing right where the Jericho Season 2 television cliffhanger ended! This specially priced edition collects the first three issues in one affordable package, to prep you for the series' continuation, also available this month. Jake Green and Robert Hawkins are in the safe haven of Texas with the last remaining bomb from the first attack. From amidst the chaos, they're contacted by John Smith, the mastermind behind the first strike, seeking aid. As the Cheyenne army bears down on them, they must decide whether to side with their former enemy to fight a greater one ...


Season 4

In April 2012, IDW announced a new series of Jericho comics, entitled ''Jericho Season 4'', which picks up after the events of ''Jericho Season 3''. The five-issue series, written by Kalinda Vazquez, with artwork by Andrew Currie and covers by Tim Bradstreet, was overseen by the original television series' writing staff. As the publisher's description, posted at Amazon.com reads:
Overseen by the original writing staff of the television series, Jericho is back with a vengeance, with a whole new chapter of stories told in the show's official continuity. Jericho Season Four picks up where Season Three left off. Though Jake and Hawkins are happy to be back in Jericho, the challenges they face are daunting. Not only are they fugitives in their own hometown, but they find themselves forced to play host to the newest member of the Jericho community - John Smith ... a man who some know as a friend of the resistance, but who Jake and Hawkins know as the man behind the September Attacks. Only they know his secret. And only they can stop him from committing another heinous act.


Episodes

Clips from the pilot episode became free to watch on Yahoo!, Yahoo! TV several weeks before the episode actually aired on television. CBS is still showing most, but not all, of the ''Jericho'' episodes on their CBS Innertube, Innertube website as of January 2009, although they cannot be accessed from outside the U.S. CBS repeated the first three episodes on the Saturday nights following their original airings, as did Australia's Network Ten. All episodes from seasons 1 and 2 can be seen on Netflix. Each episode's opening title sequence is accompanied by an audio message in Morse code. The messages vary from generic references to cryptic clues, and are always related to the current episode in some way. The messages were broadcast at 15 words per minute at a frequency of 1000 Hz. In addition to these messages, there is Morse code over the DVD menus. These messages say "Jericho Fans Made TV History." (Season 1) and "Thank You Fans For Making TV History" (Season 2). Also, in the Fallout (Jericho episode), second episode, Robert Hawkins received several additional Morse code messages through a ham radio that he was fixing.


Reception


Ratings


Critical reception

On Rotten Tomatoes, Season 1 has an approval rating of 58% based on reviews from 27 critics. The website's critical consensus states: "''Jericho'' squanders the limitless potential of its apocalyptic premise by relying on tired tropes instead of forging a new path forward, leaving humanity with a retread rather than a reboot." Season 2 has an approval rating of 60% based on reviews from 10 critics. The website's critical consensus states: "''Jericho'' improves in a redemptive second season that better explores the premise of humanity starting over, but the series still suffers from a thin approach to weighty material and conspiratorial plotting that strains credulity." On Metacritic, Season 1 has a score of 48 out of 100 while Season 2 holds a score of 72 out of 100.


Home video

CBS Home Entertainment, CBS DVD & Paramount Home Entertainment have released both seasons on DVD in Regions 1, 2 & 4. On June 5, 2018, CBS re-released the complete series set on DVD in Region 1.


Web-based tie-ins

An online companion to ''Jericho'' is called ''Beyond Jericho''. The television program gave the web address for the online companion. ''Beyond Jericho'' was to feature the "other survivors" of the nuclear attacks. According to Barbee, the story was intended to be unique to the site, but as the season of ''Jericho'' progressed, the online story would dovetail into the episodes themselves. However, the site and "webisode" are now unavailable, having been removed from the CBS website before the second episode of the TV show was broadcast. CBS since decided to scrap the current webisode storyline, and instead released a new series of "prequel" webisodes named ''Countdown'' that take place before the first explosion. Each of these new webisodes appeared concurrently with the broadcast of new episodes during season 1, and showed Robert Hawkins gathering information before the attack.


''Beyond Jericho''

The first installment of ''Beyond Jericho'' began with an unknown man calling someone on a cell phone, requesting a ransom of $1.2 million for a woman he kidnapped. He then disappears underground through a metal trap door. While climbing down, he hears and feels a bang, but thinks nothing of it. After conversing with an associate about their next plans, he picks the woman up and climbs back up to the roof. When he opens the door, it's surrounded by rubble. The entire city around them has been destroyed. Shortly after, rubble falls through the trap door. With the cell phone (apparently actually the victim's cell phone) dead, and assuming that the man's associate is dead as well in the collapse, they start to climb through the rubble to find out what happened. Nearby, a hand with a surgical glove on emerges from the rubble, as the vignette ends.


''Countdown''

Starting on October 26, ''Beyond Jericho'' was replaced by ''Countdown'', which documents Robert Hawkins' efforts to learn as much as possible about the effects of nuclear bombs before he moved to Jericho. The webisodes do not feature any of the regular characters, and consist primarily of Hawkins, draped in shadows, watching mini-Documentary film, documentaries. The mini-documentaries feature expert interviews about the effects of a nuclear attack. They are only minimally connected to each episode's plot. For instance, CBS' 8-episode plot summary reads: "A shadowy military unit bursts into the chamber Hawkins has just vacated. On his computer, they find a video." The video was a short documentary about FEMA's response to
Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a destructive Category 5 Atlantic hurricane that caused over 1,800 fatalities and $125 billion in damage in late August 2005, especially in the city of New Orleans and the surrounding areas. It was at the time the cost ...
and their use of paramilitary, paramilitaries. The "shadowy military unit" then patiently waits until the documentary ends to resume its search for Hawkins. ''Countdowns sponsor, AT&T, is heavily promoted in the series using product placement. Nearly all dialog takes place as SMS messages on an AT&T cellular phone, and a full-screen AT&T logo appears in every episode when Hawkins views the expert interviews. This web-based programming is not accessible from outside of the United States.


''JenningsandRall.com''

Created for the Tom Tooman game, JenningsandRall.com is the purported website of Jennings & Rall, the corporate giant which plays an increasingly prominent role in the second season of the series. The site contains a wealth of information about the company's post-holocaust global operations, with significant hints regarding events in the show. On November 1, 2008, the domain name jenningsandrall.com expired.


''Tom Tooman''

''Tom Tooman'' is an alternate reality game that CBS ran in conjunction with ''Jericho'', beginning in August 2007. The game began with a cryptic letter posted on a website, supposedly from a Tom Tooman of Lame Deer, Montana. This letter was accompanied by a series of bar codes, some with decimal numbers and others with Maya numerals, Mayan numbers. These numbers were used to create an IP address for a second website. More clues were released, as well as a blog on the CBS website connecting the game with ''Jericho''. The game abruptly ended when the series was cancelled, with no closure offered. A synopsis of the game and the puzzles appear at TomTooman.com.


See also

* Locations in Jericho (TV series) * Continuity of Operations Plan – the Continuity of government, Continuity of Government plan for the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government * List of nuclear holocaust fiction * ''Nuclear War Survival Skills'' – the official nuclear Civil defense, Civil Defense manual from United States Department of Defense * Nuclear weapons in popular culture * Survivalism


References


External links

* {{Stephen Chbosky Jericho (2006 TV series), 2000s American drama television series 2006 American television series debuts 2008 American television series endings CBS original programming American television soap operas English-language television shows American action television series 2000s American mystery television series Disaster television series Post-apocalyptic television series Serial drama television series Television series by CBS Studios American television series revived after cancellation Television shows set in Kansas Fictional populated places in Kansas Television series about nuclear war and weapons Works by Stephen Chbosky Second American Civil War speculative fiction