Jericho fans, it might be time to grab your nuts again.
Last weekend, Jericho fans got a special treat at the Los Angeles Comic Book and Science Fiction Convention: a stage filled with the cast and creators of the CBS drama. The only problem? Not many fans showed up at all.
The Showtracker blog at The Los Angeles Times says that this might be because the show is neither sci-fi nor comic book-ish, but I don't know if that's a good enough excuse. It has a certain mystery/action element to it, and the first season was certainly enigmatic in a sci-fi sort of way. And plus we're talking about Los Angeles here, not a small town in Ohio, so I would think a lot more people would have showed up than did. Executive Producer Jon Turteltaub joked about the 80 fans in attendance making the ratings jump, but I don't know if that was a funny estimate by him or an accurate number.
This is really unfortunate. I don't know if you've ever seen Jericho, but it's quite a good little drama. I'd take it over 12 CSIs or another Law and Order any day. I'm just wondering how long CBS can justify keeping the show around (last week's episode was down one million viewers from the season opener), unless they really care about people who Tivo the show and/or view it online.
Is it the time slot it's in now (10pm)? Is it the show itself? Is it just the fact that networks have to start getting used to the fact that some shows just don't get mega numbers but are still worth keeping around because the fan base is loyal and they'll watch it in some way?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
2-22-2008 @ 11:33AM
Jen said...
This show needs to stay on - 10pm is late but I still watch/tivo it or watch on tv...they need to put it at a better time slot - LOVE THE SHOW don't try and cancel it again....it needs to stay - and why a comic book / sci fi convention???
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2-24-2008 @ 4:15PM
Sara said...
If all CBS did was change the name of the show to CSI:Jericho the ratings would triple. Sometimes when I show up at my friend's house unannouced they're not home.
2-22-2008 @ 11:34AM
Oreo said...
It's the show. It's a poorly righten and poorly acted sci-fi show.
What the movie "The Day After..." fom 1983, it's only two hours and is much better.
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2-22-2008 @ 11:49AM
Joey Geraci said...
It is not the best written or acted show on TV, and I personally thought all the relatively glowing reviews of the second season premiere were a little ridiculous. But it is still much better written and acted than all the formulaic law and order type shows and comedy's that get renewed year after year. It is also one of the last shows with a meaningful multi-episode arc on television, and it deserves to be given one more chance, with a 13 episode 3rd season at a decent timeslot.
2-22-2008 @ 11:54AM
Oreo said...
I do agree with you there Joey. I rather have Jericho on the air than a 4th CSI show. But CSI gets three times as high of rating.
2-24-2008 @ 7:50PM
In your debt said...
The main character in The Day After avoided the nuklear blast by ducking behind the dashboard of his car. You call that better writing?
3-28-2008 @ 7:23PM
RUSSELL said...
poorly rightened? hehe...its funny that someone who cant spell write is commenting about how something is WRITTEN......heheh lol.
2-22-2008 @ 11:36AM
Barbara Frenz said...
Amen. It is so different from the stupid comedys, the forever crime dramas, and the boring reality shows. CBS has a diamond. If they cancel it, I hope the Sci Fi channel will have the intelligence to pick it up.
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2-22-2008 @ 11:40AM
Barbara said...
Are you sure you are watching the same show as I am??
And the word is "written".
I liked "The Day After", too. But it wasn't any better. You're talking a 2 hour movie vs a tv series. Totally different.
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2-22-2008 @ 12:42PM
Karen said...
I really love Jericho, but I think this is more of a reflections that its largest fans are not urbanites, but rather those of us who live out in the middle of the U.S. It may also be why we are more attracted to the show. I know with my dad in the AF, I knew when I was driving out in the country just what those fences were and where all the missiles were. I got to peak over the edge of a silo by the time I was 8 y.o. I grew up knowing this was possible. I'll take Jericho, an intriguing what if exercise over the 7 millionth carbon copy of the latest crime drama or yet more vapid reality tv any day.
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2-22-2008 @ 12:59PM
J.T. said...
Jericho is not a SciFi show. Its an action / drama show. Putting Jericho cast members at a SciFi Con just goes to show how little the networks understand Jericho. The bombs are nukes, the guns shoot bullets not laser blasts and there are no aliens or spacecrafts.There's nothing SciFi about Jericho. It could all actually happen.
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2-22-2008 @ 6:49PM
Steve said...
If you don't think Jericho is sci-fi than you obviously don't understand what sci-fi is. Lasers, aliens, and spacecrafts are not what describes sci-fi. Sci-fi in a nutshell, is future predictions of what could happen. Jericho fits it to a T. The show itself had a lot of potential, but turned into one big soap opera. If you're interested in predictable and mindless fluff, than this show is for you. It's no wonder it's largest market are older housewives. It's a bout a town that can't do anything for themselves and is more worried about who's sleeping with who while a couple outsiders know everything about everything and always manage to save the day. Not very thought provoking one bit.
2-24-2008 @ 4:07PM
S.A. said...
It may not be thought provoking one bit to you because you are mentally unable to grasp the appeal of the show. The show is obviously moving enough for you to feel the clandestine need to post negative reviews. Any show that controversial is worth having around.
2-22-2008 @ 1:32PM
Karen said...
Oh, man, that opening sentence made me crack up, but then I'm essentially 8 years old.
Which may be why I haven't cared for "Jericho," despite watching it out of great curiosity. As I've said before, I love the concept, hate the execution, and they've killed off the best reason to watch the acting, Gerald McRaney (although I like Lennie James, too). I think the writing is singularly uninspired and predictable, but I think the point that it's better to have this uneven show than yet another CSI or Law & Order is actually a good one.
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2-22-2008 @ 1:35PM
Malren said...
This season of Jericho is suffering BADLY from the "cram a whole 13 episode arc into the seven we had time to shoot" problem.
Remember, this show was canceled and sets struck. They had to find another soundstage and rebuild VERY quickly. Schedules only permitted seven episodes to be made. It feels to me like they are trying to jam an entire season into those seven, and the show is suffering greatly because of that. Things are moving WAY too fast without any explanation, and it's becoming increasingly difficult to accept the flaws when they come fast & furious like this.
Unfortunately for fans of the first season, the show has dropped in quality. All the people we convinced to tune in are now seeing a substandard show and walking away from it.
Oh well. We tried. Maybe we'll all get lucky and they;ll replace it with CSI: Dubuque.
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2-22-2008 @ 2:03PM
YouFaceTheTick said...
My wife and I are almost done watching season 1 on DVD. We're not impressed. The concept is pretty good - the lazy cliche-filled writing, bad dialog and really simple characters/arcs don't do the basic concept justice. The unwillingness of the writers to really put characters in harm's way cheapens the entire show. There's never any sense that characters could really die at any minute or really anything creative in the execution of the plots.
Too bad - put the writers of say Friday Night Lights on the show you can get something clever, intelligent and with decent twists. They are willing to hurt their characters and the show is stronger for it.
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2-24-2008 @ 5:50PM
Jim said...
Heh...you think no one major is gonna die? Watch another couple episodes.
2-22-2008 @ 2:32PM
Bash said...
Dead on Tick.
They only mention that people die off-screen. Nobody is in jeopardy. And the sets are totally cheap.
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2-24-2008 @ 7:41PM
Will S said...
2 main characters died in season 1, and 65 people died in the season 2 premiere. People get shot, blown up, and sniped with rifles. What are you talking about?
2-22-2008 @ 3:11PM
terocious said...
Wow, TV Squad is feeling a bit like a firing squad for Jericho. I think it is a great point about the con being held in LA and the show being set in the middle of the country. I have noticed that you do not see any of the cast of Jericho on the magazines in the supermarket and I have to wonder if that is not a reflection of the show being deemed un-hip in the concrete jungles of America. I think the acting is pretty darn good for TV standards and the new civil war theme is a rich, interesting and uncommon foray into American history. My hat is off to the writers for creating a decidedly different television program.
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