Long before I began writing post apocalyptic science fiction, I'd enjoyed watching it - films such as 2012, Deep Impact and, more recently, The Road and The Book of Eli all examined the end of the world on the big screen. Jericho was one of the first to do the same for TV and actually feels more like a Netflix or Disney exclusive than a CBS broadcast series.
Peta and I watched it on DVD around ten years ago and enjoyed it very much but, when it was added to Amazon Prime, we decided to revisit the series and see how it fared against the newest (high budget) series that the streamers have released.
The first thing to point out is that Jericho flopped . Big time. So much so that it was cancelled after a single season of twenty-two episodes. It only returned following a fan email campaign after which CBS executives commissioned a second season of seven episodes. Which also flopped. Even more than the first season. So, that was it. There was some interest from Netflix, but CBS refused to sell the rights (apparently).
Since the second season aired in 2008, however, Jericho has attracted a big cult following. We loved it the first time through, enjoying the depth that a series can go into as opposed to having to tell an entire story in a couple of hours.
The main character, Jake, is played by Skeet Ulrich. He's a classic "black sheep" who returns to the town of Jericho just in time for the US to be attacked by nuclear bombs detonated in all the major cities. Like most of the characters, he's pretty much a walking, talking trope whose purpose is to be contrasted with his (apparently) straight-laced brother, Eric. I like Skeet, I really do, but in Jericho he has a limited range of expressions -- all very serious -- and cycles through them episodically.
Other characters include his father (stereotypical pillar of the community who can't hide his disappointment at his son), his mother (stereotypical mother figure who believes in Jake unconditionally), his former girlfriend (stereotypical blonde schoolteacher) and prospective love interest (stereotypical brunette who's secretly an engineer). You get the picture.
Maybe it was the cliched nature of the characters that put viewers off, but I don't think so - I think, perhaps, that an American audience doesn't enjoy a series in which the Americans lose. If you don't agree, feel free to prove me wrong 🙂
Other cast members include Lennie James who plays a secretive newcomer to the town -- this was before his turn in The Walking Dead. He's great but, again, is a walking, talking trope.
The best side-characters are farmer Stanley, his sister Bonnie (a deaf character played by a deaf actor) and enemy turned love Mimi. We thoroughly enjoyed the story of those three which could, in fact, have sustained an entire series, in my opinion.
The worst side-character was Dale -- a teenage part time shelf filler who not only inherits the store he works in but also creates a shady and exploitative enterprise by playing townfolk off each other. Nothing about this storyline worked for us.
So, what did we make of it second time through? We certainly found the tropes much more obvious - but that probably has something to do with having written a couple of million words of fiction in the meantime. We also noticed some outrageously hammy acting from most of the cast at one point or another.
However, I loved it almost as much as the first time. And, given that we've got much more choice about what to watch these days, the fact that we hung on to the end of the second season speaks for itself. I'd have loved it if they'd continued the story, but it played its part in entertaining us (twice over) and adding to my store of post apocalyptic storylines to be inspired by.