Jericho TV series

[Medievaldragon]

Just finished watching Season 2 of Jericho. I have watched a lot of TV series on Netflix the past couple of months, all Sci-Fi, and I can't even understand how such a great series got cancelled. There isn't a single minute I grew bored with the Jericho plot. Watched all 30 episodes in less than 2 days.

I love video games, but I have come realize that maybe the gaming industry has damaged in some capacity the TV viewership that keeps really great TV series stories ongoing.

Charmed, Buffy, Xena, Hercules, Star Trek. All these stayed airing for more than 5 seasons. Those were old school, before MMOs started flooding with players in the millions.

Now series like Jericho, Star Crossed, Dark Matter, OutCasts, The Seeker -- these are not reaching Season 3. Some didn't even reach Season 2. Pretty good plots cancelled because the viewership is too low according to the TV networks.

Only exceptions I see so far ongoing are Agents of Shield, and The Walking Dead. It's like long-lasting sci-fi TV series are reaching extinction levels. Are video games to blame?

Jericho had something I have rarely seen in a TV series before. Only other series that have caught my devotion is Star Trek and The Walking Dead. For a non-scifi to catch my attention -- that's surprising.

If you have access to Netflix, I recommend you to watch Jericho.

[Val the Moofia Boss]

It is definitely underrated. Too bad it got canceled, but I hear the story is being continued as a comic book series.

[glo]

It was a cheesy, cringe worthy show, as is the case with nearly every other major network sci-fi series. If it was as good as you say it was, it would have lasted longer and kept an audience.

Not to mention that they were working with an all-star TV cast and STILL decided, against all reason to throw someone like Skeet Ulrich into a lead character spot.

[Val the Moofia Boss]

It was a cheesy, cringe worthy show, as is the case with nearly every other major network sci-fi series. If it was as good as you say it was, it would have lasted longer and kept an audience.

Under your logic, Firefly wasn't a quality show because it didn't last beyond a season. Or the dozens of other fantastic shows that died in their infancy.

[glo]

Under your logic, Firefly wasn't a quality show because it didn't last beyond a season. Or the dozens of other fantastic shows that died in their infancy.

You're right, Firefly was a commercial failure. You know, since nobody really watched it. Not sure what you're point here is.

[I Push Buttons]

I enjoyed it I guess.

CBS is really trigger happy with ending shows. Another show they had a few years ago, The Unit, was cancelled prematurely in my opinion. It still had an average of 10 million views in its fourth season.

I guess they just expect every show to be The Big Bang Theory or NCIS and have 20 million viewers or bust.

[Disenchanted]

I enjoyed it enough when it first ran. It was my introduction to Lenny James. And, in turn, Lenny James was the only reason I first tuned into The Walking Dead (pilot).

Had it aired on a different network, or at a different time, maybe it would have lasted longer. But as much as I liked it, it wasn't exactly the best thing out there. It also came at a time when shows of its genre were often seen as niche shows. So average viewers never gave it a chance. Perhaps it was just a little before its time.

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles was a much better show and it suffered the same fate. Of course, if Skeet Ulrich was Jercho's weak link (I liked him well enough and disagree that he brought the show down), then Thomas Dekker as John Connor was that show's Achilles heel. Just awful.

[Puupi]

I liked it a lot.

[Deleted]

It had potential but it suffered from the same syndrome that early LOST did. You a see a scene of people talking etc, then to another scene and people walk in and talk, then to another, other people standing around talking. It's very static and has a poor rhythm and flow to it, inexperienced directing. It's as if it was a computer game as in an old adventure point and click, people are fairly motionless and you wonder what they would do if you were to go away for 5 mins and come back.
Also some of the acting (particularly from the main actor) was very very poor.
So all in all, it was an interesting premise but the crew, writers and actors were mostly out of their leagues.

[Daedius]

Well... people have developed story based games like those by TellTale games [Walking Dead series, Tales of Borderlands, etc.], Life is Strange, Until Dawn, etc. and have proved to be immensely popular.

Think it's about time the medium transitions to gaming

[Lightwysh]

Just finished watching Season 2 of Jericho. I have watched a lot of TV series on Netflix the past couple of months, all Sci-Fi, and I can't even understand how such a great series got cancelled. There isn't a single minute I grew bored with the Jericho plot. Watched all 30 episodes in less than 2 days.

I love video games, but I have come realize that maybe the gaming industry has damaged in some capacity the TV viewership that keeps really great TV series stories ongoing.

Charmed, Buffy, Xena, Hercules, Star Trek. All these stayed airing for more than 5 seasons. Those were old school, before MMOs started flooding with players in the millions.

Now series like Jericho, Star Crossed, Dark Matter, OutCasts, The Seeker -- these are not reaching Season 3. Some didn't even reach Season 2. Pretty good plots cancelled because the viewership is too low according to the TV networks.

Only exceptions I see so far ongoing are Agents of Shield, and The Walking Dead. It's like long-lasting sci-fi TV series are reaching extinction levels. Are video games to blame?

Jericho had something I have rarely seen in a TV series before. Only other series that have caught my devotion is Star Trek and The Walking Dead. For a non-scifi to catch my attention -- that's surprising.

If you have access to Netflix, I recommend you to watch Jericho.

I dont think MMO's have anything to do with viewership.

People are not willing to invest time into a show because of cancel happy networks.

Then you have the shows that are binge worthy but would suck in a week to week format.

[Dasffion]

Now series like Jericho, Star Crossed, Dark Matter, OutCasts, The Seeker -- these are not reaching Season 3. Some didn't even reach Season 2. Pretty good plots cancelled because the viewership is too low according to the TV networks.

Just wanted to point out that Dark Matter got renewed for a second season. It's too early to tell if it will get a third or not since the first just ended a few weeks ago.

You're right, Firefly was a commercial failure. You know, since nobody really watched it. Not sure what you're point here is.

The point is that just because it was cancelled doesn't mean it wasn't a good show. Plenty of good shows get cancelled.

I enjoyed Jericho too and was sad when it was cancelled. I do have to say though I didn't think the second season was as good as the first.

[Alvito]

It came out as internet TV was becoming a thing. It was CBS's most watched online show. However they didn't have commercials set up for online viewing like they do now, so they missed a chance to make a lot more money on it and keep the show going. Sadly you can tell where they got the call to end the show in season 2. The last few episodes are very rushed and jammed with fragments of show ideas to wrap the story up quickly.

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It was a cheesy, cringe worthy show, as is the case with nearly every other major network sci-fi series. If it was as good as you say it was, it would have lasted longer and kept an audience.

Not to mention that they were working with an all-star TV cast and STILL decided, against all reason to throw someone like Skeet Ulrich into a lead character spot.

It had a huge fan base. Most just watched it online instead and the networks weren't advertising online yet. When it was canceled it's combined cable/internet viewer numbers made it CBS's highest rated primetime show.

[Halicia]

Unlike Firefly, Jericho got their hail mary and still dropped the ball. Firefly's failure wasn't because of the show, but from the network's handling of it.

Jericho's failure, imo, was like a lot of this network scifi stuff. They present an interesting setting/premise, but don't really know where they wanna go with it, or what they wanna say. Lost, Under the Dome, Terra Nova, and god knows whatever cheesy shows I've watched fall into this kinda category.

That, and once they tried to start expanding Jericho's 'scope' to the events of the nation, things started getting weird and clunky.

I think this would translate better into a videogame setting like Fallout, Borderlands, or Homefront... so that I can have a certain flexibility in what parts of the setting I find interesting and want to partake more in, and which bore me and I want to skip/bypass.

If this show got revisited as a Telltale game, I think it'd be something I'd want to play. (to be fair, I'd prolly check out Telltale Games present Pong).

[ItachiZaku]

I really liked it, I did not first run watch it, but on Netflix. To me, the pilot grabbed me like LOST.

[Myth]

It came out as internet TV was becoming a thing. It was CBS's most watched online show. However they didn't have commercials set up for online viewing like they do now, so they missed a chance to make a lot more money on it and keep the show going. Sadly you can tell where they got the call to end the show in season 2. The last few episodes are very rushed and jammed with fragments of show ideas to wrap the story up quickly.

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It had a huge fan base. Most just watched it online instead and the networks weren't advertising online yet. When it was canceled it's combined cable/internet viewer numbers made it CBS's highest rated primetime show.

Actually the show was cancelled after season 1 so the call was already made. The network received so many calls, emails, etc complaining about the show being cancelled that they tossed together a couple episodes for "Season 2" to rap the show up and eliminate the complaints.

I really enjoyed the show though. Was basically The Walking Dead without zombies.

[Raldazzar]

I really enjoyed Jericho. so much so that I run an airsoft team based on one of the factions within the show!

great show. really enjoyed it, why so much negativity and shitting on it from people who clearly well, haven't watched it.. or are generally just negative people. although I spose I answered my own question there.

[ratkeeper]

Jericho was canceled in 2008 and the ratings bar was much higher than it is now. If Jericho was on today it would be a hit even on CBS.

The Jericho story has continued 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)
You can also get digital versions via Comixology and the IDW app

A S5 novel is in the works and we are still hearing rumors of a Jericho film continuation. You can check the Jericho news at SavingJericho(dot)com

Gwen

[-Zait-]

You're right, Firefly was a commercial failure. You know, since nobody really watched it. Not sure what you're point here is.

Critical success =/= Commercial success since I don't think you understand the distinction.

[ThrashMetalFtw]

Under your logic, Firefly wasn't a quality show because it didn't last beyond a season. Or the dozens of other fantastic shows that died in their infancy.

Off-topic, but after all the hype it has gotten, Firefly was probably the biggest disappointment of my entire life, when it comes to TV-shows. The whole lighthearted cowboys in space theme really didn't work for me. The show started to grow on me around the end, but it still felt like it got cancelled before it got to the interesting part.