Jericho report

From E! Online (via Yahoo):

Airing in the 9 p.m. Friday hour, Jericho averaged 4.6 million viewers, settling for a 51st-place finish in the holiday-weakened week, per the latest Nielsen Media Research rankings.

On the upside for Jericho fans, their beloved did in the summer what it couldn't do in the regular season: Beat the competition. With the show's powerhouse nemeses, Dancing with the Stars and American Idol, on vacation, Jericho took care of business against a Las Vegas rerun on NBC (72nd place, 3.6 million), a leftover episode of the Fox castoff, Standoff (89th place, 3 million) and a slightly used Kyle XY (94th place, 2.6 million), ABC's recycled ABC Family Channel summer series.

And while a win is a win is a win, Jericho was CBS' weakest link on the night. Ghost Whisperer (40th place, 5.1 million) aired before Jericho; Numb3rs (25th place, 5.9 million) aired after it—both scored more viewers.

Full story here.

First of all, you can't count on ratings on a Friday night for anything and second of all, it's summer. People will catch up on DVD if anything.

Walls back up

It's official, from Zap2it.com:

CBS has officially given Jericho new life, but the network is also challenging the show's fans to make it worth the network's while.

Following a fan-led crusade that included buying ads in the showbiz trade magazines and sending some 20 tons of nuts to CBS executives, the show has been given a seven-episode order for midseason. CBS Entertainment president Nina Tassler, writing on the show's message board, acknowledged the campaign was a primary force in the decision.

"Wow! Over the past few weeks you have put forth an impressive and probably unprecedented display of passion in support of a prime-time television series. You got our attention; your emails and collective voice have been heard," Tassler writes. "As a result, CBS has ordered seven episodes of 'Jericho' for midseason next year."

Tassler adds that "in success," there would be a chance to extend the show's life even further. But she also notes that for that to happen, the "loyal and passionate" audience that rallied around the show after its cancellation has to get bigger.

"We will count on you to rally around the show, to recruit new viewers with the same grass-roots energy, intensity and volume you have displayed in recent weeks," she says.

Full story here.

The woman makes a great point. It would be exceedingly hilarious if the show comes back in January and ends up not getting picked up. Seriously. I'll start. WATCH JERICHO. Watch the reruns. Watch the Web content. And be ready to watch when it comes back.

I'm getting tips now...

So after a text message expressing disappointment in my lack of journalistic go-gettiveness, I awoke from my PlayStation-induced hibernation and found this on the wires... the most comprehensive and attributed story from TV Guide/LA Times, via TV.com:

If TVGuide.com's Michael Ausiello is correct, it appears that CBS executives may be listening to the pleas of its viewers. The gossip hound says that "multiple sources" have indicated that CBS is very close to greenlighting a deal to bring the Skeet Ulrich vehicle back to the airwaves. The agreement would allegedly bring the show back for eight episodes, possibly as soon as mid-season.

When CBS left Jericho off its 2007-2008 schedule, fans of the show went ballistic. Online petitions were signed, message boards were flooded, and CBS execs had their e-mail boxes bloated with pleas to renew the show. But the most creative ploy saw fans sending nuts to the corporate offices in defiance. The idea was spawned from the show, when Ulrich's character replied "Nuts!" to a neighboring city offering the post-apocalyptic town a surrender.

*snip*

As far as extending the number of episodes, eight would not be enough for Jericho producer and creator Carol Barbee, according to the Los Angeles Times.

"The idea would not be to bring it for eight and out, but to bring it back for eight with the hope that it would keep going," Barbee told the LA Times. "They're making deals with the actors and there's other logistical stuff to work out, too. Swingtown was supposed to take over the same stages so it's a lot about the logistics of how to work out a schedule that works for all of us."

Full article here. Or, for the AP's version, try here.

Needless to say... yay.

OK, so CBS wins points...

I got this from About.com, an obviously venerable news source, so temper your expectations a little bit... but it made me happy:

One of the worst things about the cancellation of a beloved series is the lack of closure fans feel in the end. We've been lucky with series such as Charmed, 7th Heaven and Alias because the writers had the opportunity to create an ending long before the finale went into production. Sadly, many series don't get that opportunity and fans feel cheated because they didn't have the chance to find out how their favorite character faired or how situations and conflicts are resolved. Such is the case of Jericho. The series finale ended with two towns at war and gunshots fired as the screen faded to black.

There may be a light at the end of the tunnel! Nina Tassler, President of CBS Entertainment announced on the official message board for the series that CBS is trying to work out a way to inform fans how the series would have ended in the minds of the creators.

Tassler offered this for Jericho fans: "Thank you for supporting Jericho with such passion. We truly appreciate the commitment you made to the series and we are humbled by your disappointment. In the coming weeks, we hope to develop a way to provide closure to the compelling drama that was the Jericho story."

The power of the people is catching on when it comes to saving shows (Roswell, Family Guy, etc.). Not that this is actually SAVING Jericho, but it could mean a TV movie or Webisode(s) to wrap up everything a little more tidily than it has been.

This should be standard practice with a canceled show, and, honestly, would be great business for the networks, allowing them to sell DVDs in a complete package and not just "Oh, here's that unfinished show." I'd be buying many more shows on DVD if they did. (Surface and Invasion from last season just to name a few...). Pave the way CBS.

CBS bombs.

GREAT! Another show with no payoff! How the .... OK. Here. Read this. From AP:

NEW YORK -- CBS canceled the nuclear apocalypse drama, Jericho, on Wednesday, another sign that television networks are shying away from serial dramas after overloading on them last season.

The network unveiled a fall schedule with five new shows, three of them dramas.

Jericho started out strong last fall for CBS. However, like Lost on ABC and Heroes on NBC, many viewers abandoned the show after it went on a long midseason hiatus.

"We lost a lot of steam," said Kelly Kahl, CBS' chief scheduling executive. "I know we had loyal viewers ... but the show sort of lost its engine and wasn't performing."

I can't understand it. As if I wasn't angry enough with CBS after the whole Imus thing, not they've figured out another way to annoy me. But don't worry I'm sure intelligent fare like Shark will be getting even more episodes next season. I'll post on CBS's upfronts when I get home from the gym.

For the record, this is what ABC did to people last season with Invasion. Set up this huge apocalyptic storyline, grab a ton of viewers, and then leave them with a cliffhanger that will never be resolved.

Near apocalyptic letdown

JERICHO FINALE SPOILERS BELOW...

Know what? I want to be really hard on Jericho for its season finale. I want to, but I can't.

Seriously, I was annoyed after watching last night's episode. But I'm not sure who to blame for the fact that after ramping up so energetically, they ended with no payoff -- and without showing the big battle they've been hinting at for weeks now. I think it may be the show's creative team, but it could also be the family-friendly police over at CBS.

One of three things can happen now: We'll see the fight in September, we'll see it in flasback form later next season, or we'll never see it at all.

I can only expect we'll never see it -- only the aftermath of the massive attack New Bern was seconds from launching and the arrival of the "military." But maybe the show's creators have a reason to hang viewers up; they could be planning a payoff for early next season. If so I'm fine with that. I'll just stew about my cliffhanger-itis for a little while and drown my sorrows in some summer shows until September. Or they could blow right past the entire plot point.

That's where I'll get really angry and blame the continuous, unnecessary attack on television violence and the complete lack of (I'm trying to think of an appropriate word here...) backbone of television executives telling the show's creators "you can't do that! You'll alienate our family-values audience!" (Answer to that: Watch the subplot, dummies. This show's all about family.)

I'm getting off track. Why I can't hate the show... that's the more important part. For one, it gives Heroes a good run for its money in the best-new-show category. Jericho would not have been the first serial I'd have predicted to catch on -- I was really worried after two weeks that it wouldn't make it (but I also thought 20 Good Years WOULD make it).

And the finale's payoff, while not what it should have been, is Heather's resurfacing and the honorable, sad death of Johnston Green. They set up some new storylines too -- the 17-star flag and the search for "terrorist" Hawkins. Heather will be back to complicate Jake and Emily's connection. And there WILL be an aftermath ... whether or not there's a battle.

Several points...

The Sopranos: So Tony has a gambling problem and his Jewish friend doesn't like holding a debt over the boss's head. And meanwhile AJ loses his woman and Carmella whines about her newly-sold house. Seems like a waste of an episode to me... at least a final-season episode. Let's take all the storylines no one cares about and only kinda wrap them up. And no, I'm not only whining because there was no blood. My real issue is that David Chase was giving people their due in the preceding episodes. Here, the only one who gets his is AJ, and that's only for being a doofus, it has nothing to do with his greater moral fiber. I'll rescind if this episode turns out to be just an interlude.

24: I'm a little disappointed at the complete turn the season took two weeks ago, switching storylines completely. Not that it's not staying interesting and energetic, it just seems to me there could have been much more done with a bunch of nukes flying around the country. Anyone else noticed that Doyle changes sides every three minutes. Stupid Nurse Flowers (that's a Scrubs reference, by the way).

Jericho: So, I've mentioned it two weeks in a row in my Wednesday suggestions. I don't know if anyone actually listens to me, but if you did, you probably were pleasantly surprised the last two weeks. It's probably climbed to the heights with the strongest serials going in that time (Lost and Heroes). Since its beginnings of "How will we survive without a government or infrastructure?!"this show has completely taken off and now the citizens of this podunk Kansas town are going to war. WAR! I'm not even kidding. Jake and Hawkins pass out weapons while Stanley leads a scout team to the New Bern army's camp in badass closing scene this week. The town goes from caring about running out of fuel to marching against the next town over (led by Major Dad, of course).

House: Does Omar Epps leave a top 10 show in its third season? I don't even want to research it and ruin the answer for myself, but the smart money would be on "no." I'd see him getting his own department at Princeton-Plansboro first... and clashing with House on a different level. Don't be too surprised if he does bow out, though. Or something else equally shocking on an all new House.

Veronica Mars: I haven't even watched it the deserialized new episode yet, but open letter to CW: Don't take my Veronica away. I'm begging. I'll watch the 7th Heaven finale and blog about it if you want.