REVIEWS: "Jericho" could mushroom, "Kidnapped" steals your breath

At right: CBS's mad marketers strike again. The same folks who put the CBS logo on zillions of eggs this summer put a "Jericho" ad in a Kansas field. Click here to see the wide shot.

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In the opening scenes of “Jericho,” a young man named Jake returns to town, and all day long the locals ask why he’s been away from Kansas so long.

By sundown, no one’s going to care.

“Jericho,” a gripping, one-of-a-kind drama that begins at 7 CT tonight on CBS, is the story of a small town whose cares are violently swept away by an atomic cloud that appears on the horizon.

Over the years movies and miniseries have aired about people surviving nuclear or biological holocaust. “Jericho” audaciously proposes to make it a weekly thriller.

I think it just might work. “Jericho’s” first two hours are well-paced; next week’s episode actually improves on tonight’s premiere. There are strong performances from Ashley Scott as Jake’s onetime sweetheart and Lennie James as Mr. Hawkins, a newcomer to the western Kansas town of Jericho.

Jake is played by Skeet Ulrich, and while he’s the show’s central figure, more time is spent establishing the others. Still, it’s clear he’ll be the one who keeps his head when others are losing theirs.

But like any modern TV character, he has a mysterious past. Some people on the West Coast may want to do him harm. If they’ve survived the bomb, one suspects they will be hitching a ride to Kansas.

I complain about the lack of diversity on TV, but it’s to this show’s advantage that James is the only black male in the cast. As we all learned after 9/11, news of an attack makes people suspicious of anyone who doesn’t look and act just like themselves. The cagey and intelligent Hawkins will clearly be the surrogate for everyone who has served as a convenient scapegoat for an act of terror they had no hand in.

The weak link of the show seems to be Gerald McRaney’s character as the mayor of Jericho. He’s also Jake’s dad, and we hear him in the opening minutes upbraid his son for “what you’ve put this family through.” No doubt “Jericho” will explore that story, too, though I’m not sure I care.

Also, I could do without any more speechifying from Hizzoner. The mayor stands up at the end of the hour, with a few of the townsfolk at each other’s throats, and gives one of those what-are-we-fighting-for speeches: “Are we going to use our imaginations to create problems or solve them?”

Here’s hoping the people behind “Jericho” use their imaginations and don’t turn this into “Hallmark Hall of Fame: The Apocalypse.” This show could go in so many more interesting directions: Prisoners are on the loose; the economy is in ruins; people have just had their worst fears realized. And CBS is going to devote 22 nights this season to letting that drama play out.

I have heard three theories as to why this show will fail before those 22 episodes are made. One is that “Jericho” is exploring themes too dark and depressing for people to enjoy. I say, watch the first two hours.

Others say it’s in Kansas and  no one is running around in skimpy clothing, À la “Lost.” I say, watch the first hours.

And people in New York remind me that CBS has not had a hit at 7 p.m. Wednesdays in a long, long time.

Well, then, it’s your duty to watch the first two hours.

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Here's the question surrounding "Kidnapped,” a thriller about a boy taken hostage: Is there enough show here to tide you over until “24” comes back?

Sleek, action-packed and heavy on the acting talent, “Kidnapped” debuts at 9 CT tonight on NBC (KSHB-41) in a privileged time period, taking over for “Law & Order,” which moves to Friday nights at 9.

It stars Dana Delany as the wife of a millionaire who becomes a woman possessed when her beloved child is taken in a daring abduction. Jeremy Sisto, Delroy Lindo and Mykelti Williamson are the guys who will hunt down the kidnappers. Oh, and the fellow playing the abductee’s somewhat aloof father is merely Oscar winner Timothy Hutton.

Clearly, a cast like this can take a show places. It also becomes clear in tonight’s opener, from its dramatic abduction scene to the distraught family’s first contact with the bad guys, that this show is built for speed.

But is it built to last? Like many new shows, “Kidnapped” is a serial, and the case will presumably be resolved sometime during the May sweeps. How many twists and turns can one family be put through before we go, “Enough already?”

Still, the show should have no problem finding an audience. And its timing is wonderful. After all, we won’t ever again be able to watch Mel Gibson in “Ransom” screaming, “Give me back my son!” without giggling.