I don’t watch a lot of television. At least, I haven’t for about twelve years – twelve being the age of my oldest child. Before then, I planned my social life around watching my favorite programs, and between mine and my wife’s viewing habits, there were few shows that we didn’t give a try. But like most everyone with kids, our life changed after our first bundle of joy came along.
Where before we’d sit down to watch an ultra-violent flick, now kid-friendly Disney fare began to play.
Those language and sexual innuendo filled rom-coms? Well, they wound up on a high, seldom examined shelf while ________ (Please insert whatever children’s program you are familiar with. In our household it was The Wiggles, Blues Clues, Thomas the Train, Power Rangers, and TMNT.) played on an endless loop on our blu-ray.
The “must-see” television shows on Netflix and Hulu might get added to our “to be watched” list, but we never seemed to find the time to watch . . . because there are lots of SpongeBob SquarePants episodes.
So when Jericho was on network television from 2006-2008, I completely missed it, didn’t even know it existed.
Sadly and thankfully, kids do grow up. Now my two oldest have graduated to PG-13 fare. (Hey, we are strict parents. Well, my wife is anyway.) So about two weeks ago, we discovered Jericho on Netflix and began watching . . . and watching . . . and watching until we had devoured the whole series!
For those who have never heard of Jericho, it is about a small group of characters thrown together in a small town in the State of Kansas after a nuclear event in the United States. The focus is on the individuals, their trauma at having their modern society seemingly destroyed in the blink of an eye, and how they struggle to brave the aftermaths and maintain their lives. (For those of you who have heard of it, think of an updated The Day After.)
Other than that fantastic premise and a great cast of characters, this show mesmerized me because it perfectly captured the eerie feel to mid 2000s America. You know, the decade when 9/11, the Iraq War, The Patriot Act, and Halliburton made almost all Americans begin to wonder if there was anything their government wouldn’t lie to them about. It was a tumultuous time to live through. Nothing like surviving in a war torn country, but definitely something that Americans should not forget. And as I watched acts of terrorism, political cover-ups, conspiracies, mercenary armies, corrupt corporations, and neighbor turning on neighbor in Jericho, I realized this was something that could indeed happen in our reality, and I was both afraid and entertained.
So if you’ve never tried Jericho before, give it a try. It might not be as gory as The Walking Dead, but it is still a really entertaining post-apocalyptic series.
And, if you already knew Jericho was this good, why exactly didn’t you mention it to me?
BE SURE TO CHECK OUT MY OTHER JERICHO RELATED POSTS
JERICHO: SEASON THREE (GRAPHIC NOVEL)
bookwraiths.com 
I really enjoyed the first season of Jericho – reminded me a lot of the book Alas, Babylon, which I LOVE. The second season wasn’t AS much my favorite but all in all a terrific series.
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Season two did seem really rushed like the writers were just trying to get to a decent stopping place before the series was cancelled. At least that was how it seemed to me. 🙂
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It was cancelled after season 1. It wasnt until fans sent 40,000lbs of nuts to.CBS to protest the cancellation they agreed to bring it back for a partial season to end it (openning scene of cbs one of the guys in the hospital grabs a hanful of peanuts to eat a little nod to the fans) season one there was a story told about nuts sending a message as in F U thats where the idea came from. So season 2 was extremely rushed. But we’re lucky it happened!
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Correction. Openning scene of season 2
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“It might not be as gory as The Walking Dead, but it is still a really entertaining post-apocalyptic series.” — So, for those of us who don’t automatically think of “gory” as a GOOD thing in a television series, this is another reason to watch this. (I can always tell my clone that we need to watch something post-apocalyptic for story research. 🙂 )
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I could honestly do without a lot of the gore today. I watch Dead in spite of the blood and brains, not for it. : /
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Great review!
The Jericho story continues in the S3 & S4 graphic novels.In S3, we learn the backstory of John Smith, the mastermind of the attacks. In S4, there is a double agent living in Jericho.
You can get them on Amazon (both print and Kindle):
http://tinyurl.com/JerichoS3Novel
http://tinyurl.com/S4Jericho
You can also get digital versions via Comixology and the IDW app
We are also still getting hints that a movie continuation is being talked about.
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The graphic novels were worthy continuations of the show, but a movie would be great! Any recent suggestions that it might happen?
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Last year, CBS made some interesting moves.
CBS Films (movie division of CBS) partnered with Lionsgate (Twilight, Hunger Games) and Lionsgate will distribute and market CBS Films’ wide release films.
Also, CBS is partnering with Lionsgate on the POP channel. The rebranded POP channel, will focus on fans, fandom and popular arts. POP premiered on January 14th. Pop’s President of Entertainment and Media has confirmed that Pop will air the original episodes of Jericho (later this year).
It’s my opinion that CBS is going to make Jericho a franchise and that they needed to build the infrastructure to monetize a franchise.
We did get a real big hint in the last single issue comic cover:
http://www.comicbookresources.com/prev_img.php?pid=20340&cover=1
There is no plot reason to have film is all over this cover. : )
Gwen
You can check out the Jericho news at http://www.savingjericho.com
.
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Great review! This IS a wonderful series that was ended way too early! Watch it and join the rest of us in trying to get this great show revived!
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