"Jericho" coming back?! What the ... ?!?

It seems like just last week that CBS corporate PR chief Gil Schwartz was serenading the CBS affiliates meeting in Las Vegas with a song parody making fun of the "Jericho" fan club.  Oh wait, it WAS last week. To the tune of "I’m Sorry":

We're sorry, oh oh,
That we canceled Jericho
You've sent us millions of nuts
It's really a pain in our butts
But it would have been better
If you got together
Before the big upfronts in May
When development season
gave reason to send you away
And made you as righteously pissed off as you are today

Well, perhaps Der Bingelmeister should have cleared that song with Nina Tassler, the CBS head of entertainment. Apparently as Schwartz was mocking the dead, Tassler was in advanced discussions with "Jericho" producer Carol Barbee about reviving the serial thriller, set in post-apocalyptic Kansas, for a second season.

And now, it's almost official. According to M.E. Fernandez of the L.A. Times, CBS will bring back "Jericho" for an abbreviated second run at midseason. The run will be just eight episodes, but if it draws the viewers, the show will go on.

I'm as amazed as Barbee, who according to Fernandez "never expected CBS to change its mind because of the devotion" of thousands of fans, many of whom sent those nuts to headquarters.

This has never happened in the Leslie Moonves regime. Of course, technically it's Tassler running the show these days. We just always assumed Moonves had the ultimate power to doom or save a show. Maybe we were wrong.

At any rate — great news!  I've never been happier to be dead wrong. Now, can we revive Gerald McRaney's character, too?

Comments

[Jimmy]

I was all set to come on here and give you the business about your previous stance on this show, but you took the wind out of my sails! Anyway, I'm glad to hear that the nuts worked...

[Mark Jeffries]

It seemed to me that a lot of the Jericho-es were screaming "22 or Nothing!" a few weeks ago--meaning they either wanted a full season renewal or nothing else. (They also demanded that TNT do a 22-ep commitment, which doesn't happen in cable and hasn't happened at TNT since the "Babylon 5" spinoff over a decade ago.) I don't think the nuts shipments are going to stop until they get their full season pickup, because they are--ah, you know...

[Shannon]

Please get it right. We refused to accept a 2 hour movie or an internet wrap up story. 8 episodes is a great compromise and we'll take it knowing that we will get it renewed for 22. CBS will now start to consider DVR recordings and internet viewing of the episodes and not juse Neilsen ratings.

[Mark Jeffries]

They *have* been counting DVR use since the beginning of the year. And a CBS executive said that Innertube's real URL should be cbs.com/nobodycomeshere. And in case you haven't heard most people still don't have broadband--and even if they did, they're not going to watch 45 minutes of TV on a flickering screen with a mouse in their hand like they'll watch someone throw Mentos into a glass of Diet Coke or Brookers lip-synching "Cell Block Tango."

You should be happy your precious little piece of right-wing claptrap got renewed at all.

[Jason]

Right-wing claptrap? If it truley was a right-winged program, then the government itself wouldn't be the bad guys. It would those folks from the middle east? You know, the ones that the right-wingers call towel heads? Give me a break.

[Christopher Bieda]

Shannon, chill! I'm as rightwing as they come (certainly to the right of Reagan), and even *I* was stunned by the pro-gun message of "Jericho" in the days following the Virginia Tech killings. It wasn't wrong, BTW, it was simply unexpectedly thought-provoking: People with guns DO kill people, obviously, but some people NEED prompt shooting (say for example, someone already pointing a gun at you, asking not-so-politely to hand over a child). It's damn hard to dismiss the evidence of foiled gunpoint robberies, etc., as well as the Appalachian Law School case. It was tough-minded in a way nothing I've seen on TV (I'm 46) has EVER been, at least in drama!

Also, don't dismiss the broadband TV business so easily: The majority of U.S. Internet users overall, and nearly so at home (estimates at 42-45%), are indeed broadbanders currently. (What prolongs the era of "most people still don't have broadband" is the Internet-altogether-holdouts! I have an uncle who is one, and he misses out on seeing pictures of his newest niece until he gets his butt over to my mother-in-law's house, so it's not only "Jericho" he's losing out on!)

I can personally attest to the willingness my wife and I have to catch missed "CSI:" and "Jericho" episodes on Innertube (thus making us a large proportion of its viewership, apparently), either on a laptop (thus no mouse)--not so different from a newspaper or book--or on a 19" LCD display (which benefits from the fact that TV is still 4:3-aspect ratio) when we both want to watch. Our LCD screens do not flicker, and Innertube plays the video from start-to-finish without the need for user intervention, so we can leave the mouse alone.

[stu]

It seems like an eight episode wrap-up is a pretty good compromise. I wouldn't count on getting another full-season out of it.

I love having the option of watching stuff online, though I've found innertube the hardest to use of the networks. I don't mind curling up on the sofa with my laptop watching Lost or Friday Night Lights or Heroes, so if I were into Jericho, I'd appreciate having the online option. (Especially when Katie Horner is screaming about the weather 250 miles away from my house).

[Fred Farrar]

It is officially back. Ms. Tassler announed it within the hour on the official CBS Jericho messageboard:

June 6, 2007
To the Fans of Jericho:
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.
As a result, CBS has ordered seven episodes of “Jericho” for mid-season next year. In success, there is the potential for more. But, for there to be more “Jericho,” we will need more viewers.
A loyal and passionate community has clearly formed around the show. But that community needs to grow. It needs to grow on the CBS Television Network, as well as on the many digital platforms where we make the show available.

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.
At this time, I cannot tell you the specific date or time period that “Jericho” will return to our schedule. However, in the interim, we are working on several initiatives to help introduce the show to new audiences. This includes re-broadcasting “Jericho” on CBS this summer, streaming episodes and clips from these episodes across the CBS Audience Network (online), releasing the first season DVD on September 25 and continuing the story ofJericho in the digital world until the new episodes return. We will let you know specifics when we have them so you can pass them on.
On behalf of everyone at CBS, thank you for expressing your support of “Jericho” in such an extraordinary manner. Your protest was creative, sustained and very thoughtful and respectful in tone. You made a difference.
Sincerely,
Nina Tassler
President, CBS Entertainment

P.S. Please stop sending us nuts

http://jerichoboard.cbs.com/n/pfx/forum.aspx?msg=13338&nav=messages&webtag=CBSMBJericho&redirCnt=1

[webMistress]

16. See my take on Jericho and other save the show campaigns at http://mytvmusings.com/2007/06/06/save-the-show-campaigns/

[Michael]

Thanks for the reality check Aaron. :)

[Boris Ogon]

Mark, I actually have a spare NRA license-plate holder if you want it.

The Innertube feed works quite well, by the way. As I'm sure you're aware, WBBM-TV suffers severe multipath, so on-line happens to be my only option.

Back to your stupid lives, TV nation.

[soonerthought]

Yes, but they must not blow their second chance: they must get rid of Daniel Benzali:

http://www.soonerthought.com/archives/2937

His acting on the show may be the last bomb dropped on the fictional America of Jericho.

[Mark Jeffries]

"Back to your stupid lives, TV nation."

But of course, you hate TV so much that you had to go on a *clearly-marked* TV blog to troll.

And you can't even bother with putting a fake name on your post. Oh yeah, that's real courageous, moron.