''Jericho'' is an American

post-apocalyptic Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction is a subgenre of speculative fiction in which the Earth's (or another planet's) civilization is collapsing or has collapsed. The apocalypse event may be climatic, such as runaway climate change; ast ...

action Action may refer to: * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video game Film * Action film, a genre of film * ''Action'' (1921 film), a film by John Ford * ''Action'' (1980 fil ...

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has b ...

television series, which centers on the residents of the fictional city of Jericho, Kansas, in the aftermath of a nuclear attack on 23 major cities in the contiguous United States. It was produced by

CBS Paramount Network Television CBS Studios, Inc. is an American television production company which is a subsidiary of CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global. It was formed on January 17, 2006, by CBS Corporation as CBS Paramount Television, as a renaming of the o ...

and Junction Entertainment, with executive producers

Jon Turteltaub Jonathan Charles Turteltaub (born August 8, 1963) is an American film director and producer. Life and career Turteltaub was born on August 8, 1963 in New York City, one of two children born to comedy writer Saul Turteltaub (best known for his ...

Stephen Chbosky Stephen Chbosky (; born January 25, 1970) is an American screenwriter, film producer, film director, novelist, television writer, and television producer. He is best-known for writing the bestselling coming-of-age novel ''The Perks of Being a Wal ...

, and

Carol Barbee Carol Denise Barbee (born May 22, 1959, in Concord, North Carolina) is an Emmy winning American television writer, actress and producer.CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

. It was cancelled after its first full season because of low ratings. A fan campaign persuaded the network to bring the show back for another season, of seven episodes, after which it was cancelled again. In November 2008, ''

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program listings information as well as entertainment and television-related news. The company sold its print magazine division, TV Guide Magazine LLC, in 2008. Corpora ...

'' reported that

The CW ''The'' () is a grammatical Article (grammar), article in English language, English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite ...

would air repeats of ''Jericho'' to replace the canceled series '' Valentine''. In 2007, ''Jericho'' was ranked number 11 on ''TV Guides Top Cult Shows Ever. In 2009, plans were announced for a feature film based on the series, that was later cancelled, and a continuation of the ''Jericho'' storylines in a

comic-book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

series. IDW Publishing released a new comic-book series for Season 3 (in 2009) and Season 4 in August 2012.

Synopsis

First season

The storyline centers on the residents of Jericho, a small northwest

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to th ...

town, in the aftermath of a nuclear attack on 23 major cities in the contiguous United States. The series begins with a visible nuclear detonation of unknown origin in

Denver, Colorado Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

. Despite initial belief that it was an accident, Dale Turner, one of the characters, receives a phone call from his mother in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

. The call is then cut out by the sound of a nuclear blast. Upon showing this to others, it is revealed that the bombings were deliberate. Problems are compounded by loss of power and modern communications, effectively isolating Jericho. Later, power is restored to Jericho by what is alluded to as the efforts of the U.S. government but an

electromagnetic pulse An electromagnetic pulse (EMP), also a transient electromagnetic disturbance (TED), is a brief burst of electromagnetic energy. Depending upon the source, the origin of an EMP can be natural or artificial, and can occur as an electromagnetic fi ...

(EMP) from an unknown source disables all electronics. While the first few episodes are about restoring life after the attacks, about halfway through the season some of the citizens meet with citizens of a nearby town, New Bern. At first, relations are established, resulting in a trade of windmills (for power), built in New Bern's factory, for supplies for food from Jericho's farms and salt from its mine (neither of which New Bern could supply on its own). Relations sour as New Bern scapegoats Jericho for its problems and the New Bern sheriff eventually declares war, leading to the season's climax. Several themes regularly addressed in the show include the gathering of information, community identity, public order, limited resources, the value of family, hardships of fatherhood and internal and external threats. The show also features several mysteries involving the backgrounds of major characters, the perpetrators of the attack and the extent of damage to the United States and its government. The pivotal character in this story is Jake Green, the 32-year-old son of Mayor Johnston Green. Jake had fled the town of Jericho five years earlier, when he became mixed up with the wrong people and was involved in questionable activity. He briefly returns home to claim his inheritance, before being stranded by the catastrophe. After a somewhat awkward return home and a tense reunion with his father, Jake steps up to become a leader in Jericho, fighting to protect the town and its citizens. As the people of Jericho struggle to survive in a changed world, most remain unaware that one of the newest residents, Robert Hawkins, knows a lot more about the attacks than he is letting on. It is later revealed that he is in possession of an unexploded nuclear bomb that was supposed to be used in the attack but how he obtained it and what side he is on remain anything but clear. Gray Anderson encounters a

Federal Emergency Management Agency The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS), initially created under President Jimmy Carter by Presidential Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1978 and implemented by two Ex ...

(FEMA) camp outside of

Topeka Topeka ( ; Kansa: ; iow, Dópikˀe, script=Latn or ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the seat of Shawnee County. It is along the Kansas River in the central part of Shawnee County, in northeast Kansas, in the Central Uni ...

, where he learns that the attack on

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

was foiled by alert

New York City Police The New York City Police Department (NYPD), officially the City of New York Police Department, established on May 23, 1845, is the primary municipal law enforcement agency within the City of New York, the largest and one of the oldest in ...

who shot the bomber before he could detonate the nuclear bomb that he had in the back of a van. Mayor Green reports that the NYPD captured the van in New York with a 20-kiloton nuclear bomb on board but

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

has been bombed. On the way back from the FEMA camp, Anderson's car is stolen by 12 looters and he is forced to walk home to Jericho. Anderson also reports that Lawrence, Kansas has been attacked. Robert Hawkins receives a morse code message on a ham radio stating that Denver, Atlanta,

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

, Kansas City,

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United State ...

and several more cities not shown on screen have been attacked. A black box flight data recorder that Jake recovers from a crashed airliner indicates that

air traffic control Air traffic control (ATC) is a service provided by ground-based air traffic controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and through a given section of controlled airspace, and can provide advisory services to aircraft in non-controlled airs ...

is non-existent, a mushroom cloud is rising into the atmosphere and that flashes have also been seen towards

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

. A radiation-burn victim walks into Jericho from Denver, leading a rescue party to Bear Lake but the 20 radiation-burn victims there are dead. Before the unnamed radiation-burn victim dies, while he is interrogated by Hawkins, it is revealed that he is an accomplice of Hawkins and that there is a traitor in the attack. In the season one finale, armed residents of New Bern attack Jericho with crude

mortars Mortar may refer to: * Mortar (weapon), an indirect-fire infantry weapon * Mortar (masonry), a material used to fill the gaps between blocks and bind them together * Mortar and pestle, a tool pair used to crush or grind * Mortar, Bihar, a villag ...

made at the factories in New Bern. The mortar bombardment injure people in Jericho. Jake and Johnston Green along with Robert Hawkins lead a counter-attack on New Bern's forces outside of town, killing many of the attackers; Johnston Green is mortally wounded. Army units arrive to separate the combatants just as the season ends.

Second season

The military forces of the new Allied States of America (ASA), which now govern most of what was formerly the

Western United States The Western United States (also called the American West, the Far West, and the West) is the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. As American settlement in the U.S. expanded westward, the meaning of the term ''the We ...

, except the independent Republic of

, have restored order to Jericho and its hinterland, putting an abrupt end to the conflict between Jericho and its rival town, New Bern. As a semblance of normal returns to Jericho, the plot shifts away from day-to-day survival to life and political intrigue under the ASA government. The garrison commander of the ASA Army's newpost in Jericho, Major Edward Beck, asks Jake to accept appointment as the Sheriff of Jericho and the county. Jake reluctantly accepts the appointment with reservations about the ASA government's intentions. Known only to Hawkins and a select few, the September attacks were neither a foreign nor domestic terrorist act but a conspiracy of unknown perpetrators within the highest level of the former U.S. government, including the president and the secretary of defense of the new ASA government in Cheyenne. Hawkins must calculate his every move to avoid capture, piece together the trail of evidence and bring the truth to light, before the conspiracy's mastermind buries it forever. Jericho's residents deal with the reality of the new ASA government based in

Cheyenne, Wyoming Cheyenne ( or ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Wyoming, as well as the county seat of Laramie County, Wyoming, Laramie County, with 65,132 residents, per the 2020 US Census. It is the principal city of the Cheyenne ...

. Welcomed as saviors, the government's military and mercenary agents transform life in Jericho into a repressive

police state A police state describes a state where its government institutions exercise an extreme level of control over civil society and liberties. There is typically little or no distinction between the law and the exercise of political power by the ...

, led by a

private security A private security company (PSC) is a business entity which provides armed or unarmed security services and expertise to clients in the private or public sectors. Overview Private security companies are defined by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Stat ...

contracting firm, Ravenwood, owned by Jennings & Rall, which has ties to and sponsors the leaders of the ASA government. When a Ravenwood contractor kills Bonnie, a deaf farm girl from the outskirts of Jericho, to conceal his embezzlement, the town is put on the edge of revolt as Jake and the deputies protect Mimi, the only witness to Bonnie's murder and the embezzlement. Jake can no longer tolerate the methods of Ravenwood and the ASA government in Jericho and leads an underground movement to remove them from power in the town. He is arrested by Major Beck and interrogated. Jake refuses to break and escapes with the help of his mother and other town residents. The citizens of the town rebel against the local ASA soldiers. All of this causes Major Beck, a decorated former

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

officer, to question his duty to a government that would treat its citizens the way the new ASA government is doing. He orders his men to stand down and return to their garrison. Hawkins tries to transport the bomb to his contacts in the reborn Republic of Texas. The ASA military is tipped off and after a brief chase, seizes the weapon. Hawkins narrowly escapes and the ASA military then transports the weapon to Cheyenne for safekeeping. Hawkins makes contact with Jake and the two travel to Cheyenne, where they retake the bomb from J&R contractors. Hawkins is wounded in a brief gun battle. The two make it to the Republic of Texas embassy in Cheyenne with the only undetonated bomb (in ASA territory) from the September attacks. The ASA's military is right behind them. The Republic of Texas is considered the

swing state In American politics, the term swing state (also known as battleground state or purple state) refers to any state that could reasonably be won by either the Democratic or Republican candidate in a statewide election, most often referring to pres ...

in the struggle for power between the

Eastern United States The Eastern United States, commonly referred to as the American East, Eastern America, or simply the East, is the region of the United States to the east of the Mississippi River. In some cases the term may refer to a smaller area or the East C ...

, which is led by the legitimate surviving United States government, now governed from Columbus, Ohio and the Allied States. Texas has not decided which government to back. The Texan ambassador in Cheyenne shelters Jake and Hawkins at his embassy. The ambassador informs his military forces at the embassy to tell the ASA forces outside the fence that any incursion into the embassy by ASA troops will be considered an act of war against the Republic of Texas. The ambassador manages quickly to smuggle Jake, Hawkins and the bomb to the Cheyenne airport. At the airport he secures a small diplomatic jet plane to carry Jake, Hawkins and the device to Texas. While they are ''en route'', two ASA

F-15 The McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle is an American twin-engine, all-weather tactical fighter aircraft designed by McDonnell Douglas (now part of Boeing). Following reviews of proposals, the United States Air Force selected McDonnell Douglas's ...

fighters intercept Jake and Hawkins and order them to turn around or be shot down. When Jake refuses to be escorted back to Cheyenne, the two jets drop back to open fire. Two Republic of Texas Air National Guard F-16 fighters suddenly appear and shoot down the ASA planes. Jake and Hawkins make it to Texas with the evidence and Hawkins ominously intones that a second American Civil War was always coming and the two of them have made history by giving the United States a fighting chance in the war to come.

Third season

Season 3 is not a television show, but a six-part comic book series "from the minds" of the original ''Jericho'' production team and written by the ''Jericho'' writing team. In April 2013, ''Jericho'' creator Stephen Chbosky revealed during a chat with Nerdacy that talks about a live-action season 3 remain ongoing. In his statement, Chbosky noted, "you know

William Morris Endeavor Endeavor Group Holdings, Inc. (formerly known as William Morris Endeavor Entertainment, WME or WME-IMG) is an American holding company for talent and media agencies with its primary offices in Beverly Hills, California, United States. The compa ...

Agency, who represents me, executive producer Jon Turteltaub and many other people, and they've been talking to

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fi ...

and you never know. I can't say what it will be in season 3, but I'm excited for the new developments." In 2017, Skeet Ulrich gave a reason why the show didn't move to Netflix:

Fourth season

Season 4 is a continuation of the comic book series released by IDW Publishing on August 15, 2012. The five issue story picked up after the events of ''Jericho'': Season Three. The comic was written by Kalinda Vazquez, and the process was overseen by the television series' writers.

Characters and setting

Characters

''Jericho'' features an ensemble cast of characters, along with a number of minor and recurring roles. The series website listed eleven main cast members. Alicia Coppola moved from a recurring role to a regular character in February 2008. Gerald McRaney did not have a regular role in season 2. Esai Morales was only present in season 2. *

Skeet Ulrich Skeet Ulrich (; born Bryan Ray Trout on January 20, 1970) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles in popular 1990s films, including Billy Loomis in '' Scream'' (1996), Chris Hooker in '' The Craft'' (1996) and Vincent Lopiano in '' ...

as Jake Green *

Lennie James Lennie Michael James (born 11 October 1965) is a British actor, screenwriter, and playwright. His work includes playing Morgan Jones in the television series, '' The Walking Dead'' and in its spin-off, '' Fear the Walking Dead'', and starring ...

as Robert Hawkins *

Ashley Scott Ashley McCall Scott (born July 13, 1977) is an American actress and model, best known for providing the voice and motion capture for Maria Miller in the video games ''The Last of Us'' (2013) and ''The Last of Us Part II'' (2020). She has also a ...

as Emily Sullivan * Kenneth Mitchell as Eric Green *

Michael Gaston Michael Gaston is an American film and television actor. He played agent Quinn on the show ''Prison Break'', Gray Anderson on the CBS drama series ''Jericho'', and appeared in the first episode of ''The Sopranos'' as Alex Mahaffey, a compulsive ga ...

as Gray Anderson *

Gerald McRaney Gerald Lee McRaney (born August 19, 1947) is an American television and film actor. McRaney is best known as one of the stars of the television shows '' Simon & Simon'', ''Major Dad'', ''Promised Land'' and '' House of Cards''. He currently stars ...

as Johnston Green (season 1 only) *

Pamela Reed Pamela Reed (born April 2, 1949) is an American actress. She is known for playing Arnold Schwarzenegger's hypoglycemic police partner in the 1990 movie ''Kindergarten Cop'' and as the matriarch Gail Green in ''Jericho''. She appeared as Marlene ...

as Gail Green (main season 1, recurring season 2) *

Sprague Grayden Sprague Grayden (born July 21, 1980) is an American actress. She played schoolteacher Heather Lisinski in the television drama '' Jericho'', Karen Kawalski in ''John Doe'', first daughter Olivia Taylor in the television thriller '' 24'', and K ...

Heather Lisinski This is a list of characters from the television series '' Jericho'', which premiered in 2006 on CBS in the United States. Main characters Jake Green * Portrayed by Skeet Ulrich * Appears in: ''Season 1'', ''Season 2'' * Status: Alive Johnst ...

Shoshannah Stern Shoshannah Stern (born July 3, 1980) is an American actress and writer. Life and career She was born in Walnut Creek, California, into an observant Jewish and fourth-generation Deaf family, the daughter of Ron Stern and Hedy Marilyn Stern (née U ...

Bonnie Richmond This is a list of characters from the television series '' Jericho'', which premiered in 2006 on CBS in the United States. Main characters Jake Green * Portrayed by Skeet Ulrich * Appears in: ''Season 1'', ''Season 2'' * Status: Alive Johnst ...

Brad Beyer Brad Beyer (born September 20, 1973) is an American actor. He may be best-known for his role in the CBS series '' Jericho'', playing Stanley Richmond. Early and personal life Beyer was born in Waukesha, Wisconsin, where he graduated from Catho ...

as Stanley Richmond *

Alicia Coppola Alicia Coppola is an American actress. She became known for playing Lorna Devon in the soap opera '' Another World'' from 1991 to 1994. Afterwards, she made regular and guest star appearances in various television series, notably ''Jericho'' an ...

as Mimi Clark (recurring season 1, main season 2) *

Erik Knudsen Erik Knudsen (born March 25, 1988) is a Canadian actor. He is known for portraying Daniel Matthews in '' Saw II'', Alec Sadler in '' Continuum'' and Dale Turner in the CBS series ''Jericho''. Life and career Knudsen was born on March 25, 1988 ...

Dale Turner Dale Turner may refer to: * Dale Turner (cricketer), Australian cricketer * Dale Turner (trumpeter), American trumpet player with the American new wave band Oingo Boingo * Dale Turner (songwriter) Dale Turner is an American singer-songwriter, ...

Esai Morales Esai Manuel Morales Jr. (born October 1, 1962) is an American actor. He has had notable roles in the films '' Bad Boys'' with Sean Penn and '' La Bamba'' with Lou Diamond Phillips (1987). His television roles include the PBS 2002 drama series '' ...

as Major Edward Beck (season 2 only) *

Emily Rose Emily Rose may refer to: * Emily Rose (actress) (born 1981), American television actress/voice actress * '' The Exorcism of Emily Rose'', a 2005 supernatural horror crime film about demonic possession, loosely based on the story of Anneliese Michel ...

Trish Merrick This is a list of characters from the television series '' Jericho'', which premiered in 2006 on CBS in the United States. Main characters Jake Green * Portrayed by Skeet Ulrich * Appears in: ''Season 1'', ''Season 2'' * Status: Alive Johnst ...

(season 2 only) *

Richard Speight, Jr. Richard Speight Jr. (born September 4, 1969) is an American actor, director, screenwriter and producer who is known for a variety of roles including CBS TV series ''Jericho'', '' The Agency'', and the HBO miniseries '' Band of Brothers''. Spe ...

Bill Kohler This is a list of characters from the television series ''Jericho'', which premiered in 2006 on CBS in the United States. Main characters Jake Green * Portrayed by Skeet Ulrich * Appears in: ''Season 1'', ''Season 2'' * Status: Alive Johns ...

Setting

Jericho, Kansas is a

fictional town A fictional city refers to a town, city or village that is invented for fictional stories and does not exist in real life, or which people believe to exist without definitive proof, such as Plato's account of Atlantis. Cultures have always had l ...

. It is approximately 47 miles east of the Kansas–Colorado border (which would put it near the location of the real

Colby, Kansas Colby is a city in and the county seat of Thomas County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 5,570. History In 1882, a post office was established near the center of Thomas County. Area homesteaders l ...

). However, a map (episode 3: Jericho is Ness City, Kansas on the map) in the series seems to show Jericho near the junctions of

I-70 Interstate 70 (I-70) is a major east–west Interstate Highway in the United States that runs from I-15 near Cove Fort, Utah, to a park and ride lot just east of I-695 in Baltimore, Maryland, and is the fifth-longest Interstate in the c ...

and

US 83 U.S. Route 83 (US 83) is a major north–south United States Numbered Highway that extends in the central United States. Only four other north–south routes are longer: US 1, US 41, US 59, and US 87, while ...

. That would place it near the real Oakley. Jericho is 90 miles west of the also fictional Rogue River, Kansas, and around 330 miles from the real Wichita. New Bern, Kansas is a neighboring fictional town which starts a war with Jericho in the wake of the national destruction. Jericho is served by one state highway and the (fictional) Cedar Run Road. The city's population is mentioned to be almost 5,000 as mentioned in season 1 Ep. 2 "Fallout" (1,000 in 1957). But after the great war between New Bern and Jericho, the population was reduced to 3,000. The city has one grocery store, owned by Gracie Leigh (

Beth Grant Beth Grant (born September 18, 1949) is an American character actress. Between 2012 and 2017, she was a series regular on the television comedy '' The Mindy Project'' in the role of Beverly Janoszewski. She is also known for her role as Gracie ...

). Jericho is run by two mayors throughout the series. Johnston Green (

) was the mayor at the show opening and for most of season one, but loses the election in the show. Gray Anderson (

), the other electoral candidate, wins the election in the show.

Production

Early development

The series originated as a feature film idea of co-creators

Jonathan Steinberg Jonathan Steinberg (8 March 1934 – 4 March 2021) was the Walter H. Annenberg Professor of European History Emeritus and Chair of the Department of History at the University of Pennsylvania. Career Steinberg received his undergraduate degree ...

and Josh Schaer: a

plot set amidst the trappings of "a little character drama" movie, in the vein of ''

The Day After ''The Day After'' is an American television film that first aired on November 20, 1983 on the ABC television network. More than 100 million people, in nearly 39 million households, watched the film during its initial broadcast. With ...

'', '' Threads'', and '' Testament''. However, they soon realized that a two- or two-and-a-half-hour-long film would still not carry the necessary length they felt such a concept required to properly explore the setting and the characters. Thus, Schaer and Steinberg decided to re-conceive the entire project as a television series, producing a treatment out of the original feature screenplay. Director Jon Turteltaub and producer

Carol Barbee Carol Denise Barbee (born May 22, 1959, in Concord, North Carolina) is an Emmy winning American television writer, actress and producer.ecould use some girls, a little kissing, and some laughs." Another significant developmental influence were the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commer ...

and Hurricane Katrina, and the sense of " einga spectator to a disaster, while not quite being part of it." Co-creator Steinberg in particular felt that after 9/11, the United States saw some of the "best of people," and after Hurricane Katrina, some of the "worst of people," and sought to include both in the fabric of ''Jericho'', with Katrina providing "lots of inspiration" for the show's overall premise.

Filming locations

Although Jericho is set in northwestern Kansas, most of the series was filmed on a studio backlot in

Van Nuys, California Van Nuys () is a neighborhood in the central San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California. Home to Van Nuys Airport and the Valley Municipal Building, it is the most populous neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley. History In 1909, ...

. The pilot and all episodes involving New Bern, Kansas, were filmed in

Fillmore, California Fillmore is a small city in Ventura County, California, United States, in the Santa Clara River Valley. In an agricultural area with rich, fertile soil, Fillmore has a historic downtown that was established when the Southern Pacific built th ...

. Filming also occurred in Pasadena, California, including in front of the city hall, for scenes involving the Allied States capital of

. The final episode to air included portions filmed at the

Santa Anita race track Santa Anita Park is a Thoroughbred racetrack in Arcadia, California, United States. It offers some of the prominent horse racing events in the United States during early fall, winter and in spring. The track is home to numerous prestigious races ...

. Some filming also took place in Canada and in Long Beach, California (specifically along Alamitos Bay). The commentary for some episodes on the ''Jericho'' Season 1 DVD includes the location of their filming.

First season

The first season of the show premiered Wednesday, September 20, 2006 and concluded with a

cliffhanger A cliffhanger or cliffhanger ending is a plot device in fiction which features a main character in a precarious or difficult dilemma or confronted with a shocking revelation at the end of an episode or a film of serialized fiction. A cliffhang ...

episode on May 9, 2007. Lackluster ratings prompted concern, as the show hit a ratings low in early April. The ratings were down 25% when the series returned following the nearly three-month hiatus. During its first season, it ranked 48th, with an average of 9.5 million viewers in the United States. Other Wednesday night programs it competed with were ''

Bones A bone is a rigid organ that constitutes part of the skeleton in most vertebrate animals. Bones protect the various other organs of the body, produce red and white blood cells, store minerals, provide structure and support for the body, a ...

'', ''

Deal or No Deal ''Deal or No Deal'' is the name of several closely related television game shows, the first of which (launching the format) was the Dutch '' Miljoenenjacht'' (''Hunt/Chase for Millions''). The centerpiece of this format is the final round (a. ...

'', and ABC's comedy block. Though the producers seemed confident that the program would be picked up for a second season, CBS officially announced ''Jerichos cancellation on May 16, 2007. Several online communities, including the official ''Jericho'' forums, launched campaigns in an effort to revive the show. Fans also sent just over 20

ton Ton is the name of any one of several units of measure. It has a long history and has acquired several meanings and uses. Mainly it describes units of weight. Confusion can arise because ''ton'' can mean * the long ton, which is 2,240 pounds ...

s of nuts to CBS headquarters; this referred to a scene from the season one finale "

Why We Fight ''Why We Fight'' is a series of seven propaganda films produced by the US Department of War from 1942 to 1945, during World War II. It was originally written for American soldiers to help them understand why the United States was involved in the ...

" where Jake Green repeats General Anthony McAuliffe's historic phrase "Nuts!" from the

Battle of the Bulge The Battle of the Bulge, also known as the Ardennes Offensive, was the last major German offensive campaign on the Western Front during World War II. The battle lasted from 16 December 1944 to 28 January 1945, towards the end of the war in ...

. The peanuts and other proceeds from the donations were donated to charities, including the rebuilding effort in

Greensburg, Kansas Greensburg is a city in, and the county seat of, Kiowa County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the population of the city was 740. It is home to the world's largest hand-dug well. On the evening of May 4, 2007, Greens ...

, a town that was largely destroyed by a tornado in 2007.

Second season

In a response posted on the ''Jericho'' forum, CBS president Nina Tassler acknowledged the fan response, stating, "We hope to develop a way to provide closure to ... the Jericho story." CBS officials acknowledge the campaign was the largest the network had seen using digital means to protest a show cancellation. President and CEO

Leslie Moonves Leslie Roy Moonves (; born October 6, 1949) is an American media executive who was the chairman and CEO of CBS Corporation from 2003 until his resignation in September 2018 following numerous allegations of sexual harassment, sexual assault and ...

acknowledged that he was filtering emails from ''Jericho'' fans, while senior vice president of communications Chris Ender said, "You have to tip your hat to their ability to get attention and make some noise." In June 2007, ''Jericho'' executive producer Carol Barbee announced that CBS was discussing the possibility of the show's return for an eight-episode mid-season run. A day later, Tassler posted an announcement on the forum stating that seven new episodes of ''Jericho'' had been commissioned as a

midseason replacement In American network television scheduling, a mid-season replacement is a television show that premieres in the second half of the traditional television season, usually between December and May. Mid-season replacements usually take place after a ...

for the 2007-2008 television season, with the possibility of an extension based on viewership. The last of these seven episodes was broadcast on March 25, 2008, and was not affected directly by the 2007 Writers Guild of America strike. On August 2, 2007, a video was released on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

showing clips from the first day back at work for the ''Jericho'' cast and crew. It included a "thank you" from the cast and crew to the fans for their efforts to revive the show. Several months later, CBS released trailers announcing the second-season premiere, including Morse code spelling "SPREAD THE WORD". ''Jericho'' returned for its second season on February 12, 2008 to mostly favorable reviews but with the lowest numbers the ratings had seen yet. In the early days of January 2008, the first three episodes of the second season leaked on the internet via a DVD screener source. The show's second season has also premiered in Canada on CTV, mirroring the US broadcast. The first two episodes of the 2008 season received the lowest ratings to date for the series. ''Jerichos ratings did increase somewhat for its third episode, but dropped to fairly consistent but still low ratings. The second season averaged 6.2 million viewers. On March 21, 2008, CBS announced that the network would not be renewing ''Jericho'' for a third season. CBS entertainment boss Nina Tassler stated that "The March 25 episode ... will be the series finale. Without question, there are passionate viewers watching this program; we simply wish there were more. We thank an engaged and spirited fan base for keeping the show alive this long, and an outstanding team of producers, cast and crew that went through creative hoops to deliver a compelling, high-quality second season. ... We're proud of everyone's efforts." According to SyFy's source, two endings were shot for the March 25 episode. One involved a cliffhanger leading into a third season, while the other would wrap up the series and provide closure for fans who had worked to secure the series' return. One unidentified source said, "There are a lot of people here who really care about what happens to ''Jericho'', and I think we all wanted to see it succeed. Numbers are numbers, and BShad to do what BShad to do."

Post second season

In early 2008, executive producer Carol Barbee said talks were ongoing to find another home for ''Jericho'', perhaps on a cable network, and raised the possibility of the

Sci Fi Channel Syfy (formerly Sci-Fi Channel, later shortened to Sci Fi; stylized as SYFY) is an American basic cable channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. Lau ...

and broadcast networks such as

(co-owned by CBS). Other possibilities may include a television or theatrical movie. In April 2008, ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' website reported that

held talks with Comcast about finding a new home for ''Jericho''. Possibilities included an arrangement whereby Comcast would pay part of the series' production expenses and then offer episodes in High-Definition before they air on CBS. ''Jericho'' fans continued efforts to resurrect the series, including a one-page advertisement in the April 25, 2008 edition of ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' magazine. A second advertisement appeared in ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Hollywood film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade paper, and in 2010 switched to a weekly larg ...

'', as well as banner ads on the ''Variety'' and ''The Hollywood Reporter'' websites. In January 2009,

TV.com TV.com was a website owned by Red Ventures that covered television series and episodes with a focus on English-language shows made or broadcast in Australia, Canada, Ireland, Japan, New Zealand, the United States, and the United Kingdom. Origin ...

reported that a ''Jericho'' feature film is in development. Since then there has been no film or further TV episodes.

''Jericho'' comic series

Season 3

In March 2009,

Devil's Due Publishing Devil's Due Publishing (often abbreviated as DDP) is an independent comic book publisher in the United States. Based in Chicago, Illinois, DDP is best known for its wide selection of genres, including licensed and original creator-owned proper ...

announced that all story lines from the TV series would be continued in a

comic book series a medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, captions, and onomatopoeia can indicate ...

. Updated 26 April 2020. In November 2009, Devil's Due Publishing released the first issue of the six-issue continuation of the ''Jericho'' saga. As of May 2011, IDW Publishing re-released the first three comics as ''Jericho: Redux'', as well as issues 4, 5 and 6, thus completing its publication. In August 2011, IDW collected all 6 comics into a 144-page graphic novel entitled ''Jericho Season 3: Civil War''. As the publisher's description, posted at Amazon.com reads:

Continuing right where the Jericho Season 2 television cliffhanger ended! This specially priced edition collects the first three issues in one affordable package, to prep you for the series' continuation, also available this month. Jake Green and Robert Hawkins are in the safe haven of Texas with the last remaining bomb from the first attack. From amidst the chaos, they're contacted by John Smith, the mastermind behind the first strike, seeking aid. As the Cheyenne army bears down on them, they must decide whether to side with their former enemy to fight a greater one ...

Season 4

In April 2012, IDW announced a new series of Jericho comics, entitled ''Jericho Season 4'', which picks up after the events of ''Jericho Season 3''. The five-issue series, written by Kalinda Vazquez, with artwork by Andrew Currie and covers by Tim Bradstreet, was overseen by the original television series' writing staff. As the publisher's description, posted at Amazon.com reads:

Overseen by the original writing staff of the television series, Jericho is back with a vengeance, with a whole new chapter of stories told in the show's official continuity. Jericho Season Four picks up where Season Three left off. Though Jake and Hawkins are happy to be back in Jericho, the challenges they face are daunting. Not only are they fugitives in their own hometown, but they find themselves forced to play host to the newest member of the Jericho community - John Smith ... a man who some know as a friend of the resistance, but who Jake and Hawkins know as the man behind the September Attacks. Only they know his secret. And only they can stop him from committing another heinous act.

Episodes

Clips from the pilot episode became free to watch on

Yahoo! TV Yahoo! (, styled yahoo''!'' in its logo) is an American web services provider. It is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California and operated by the namesake company Yahoo Inc., which is 90% owned by investment funds managed by Apollo Global Man ...

several weeks before the episode actually aired on television. CBS is still showing most, but not all, of the ''Jericho'' episodes on their Innertube website as of January 2009, although they cannot be accessed from outside the U.S. CBS repeated the first three episodes on the Saturday nights following their original airings, as did Australia's Network Ten. All episodes from seasons 1 and 2 can be seen on Netflix. Each episode's opening title sequence is accompanied by an audio message in Morse code. The messages vary from generic references to cryptic clues, and are always related to the current episode in some way. The messages were broadcast at 15

words per minute Words per minute, commonly abbreviated wpm (sometimes uppercased WPM), is a measure of words processed in a minute, often used as a measurement of the speed of typing, reading or Morse code sending and receiving. Alphanumeric entry Since word ...

at a

frequency Frequency is the number of occurrences of a repeating event per unit of time. It is also occasionally referred to as ''temporal frequency'' for clarity, and is distinct from ''angular frequency''. Frequency is measured in hertz (Hz) which is eq ...

of 1000 Hz. In addition to these messages, there is Morse code over the DVD menus. These messages say "Jericho Fans Made TV History." (Season 1) and "Thank You Fans For Making TV History" (Season 2). Also, in the second episode, Robert Hawkins received several additional Morse code messages through a

ham radio Amateur radio, also known as ham radio, is the use of the radio frequency spectrum for purposes of non-commercial exchange of messages, wireless experimentation, self-training, private recreation, radiosport, contesting, and emergency communica ...

that he was fixing.

Reception

Ratings

Critical reception

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, Season 1 has an approval rating of 58% based on reviews from 27 critics. The website's critical consensus states: "''Jericho'' squanders the limitless potential of its apocalyptic premise by relying on tired tropes instead of forging a new path forward, leaving humanity with a retread rather than a reboot." Season 2 has an approval rating of 60% based on reviews from 10 critics. The website's critical consensus states: "''Jericho'' improves in a redemptive second season that better explores the premise of humanity starting over, but the series still suffers from a thin approach to weighty material and conspiratorial plotting that strains credulity." On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, Season 1 has a score of 48 out of 100 while Season 2 holds a score of 72 out of 100.

Home video

CBS DVD CBS Home Entertainment (formerly CBS Video Enterprises, Inc., MGM/CBS Home Video, CBS/Fox Video and CBS Video, currently branded as CBS DVD for DVD releases and CBS Blu-ray for Blu-ray releases) is a home entertainment company owned by Paramoun ...

Paramount Home Entertainment Paramount Home Entertainment (formerly Paramount Home Media Distribution, and originally Paramount Home Video) is the home video distribution arm of Paramount Pictures, a division of Paramount Global. The division oversees PPC's home entertainme ...

have released both seasons on DVD in Regions 1, 2 & 4. On June 5, 2018, CBS re-released the complete series set on DVD in Region 1.

Web-based tie-ins

An online companion to ''Jericho'' is called '' Beyond Jericho''. The television program gave the web address for the online companion. ''Beyond Jericho'' was to feature the "other survivors" of the nuclear attacks. According to Barbee, the story was intended to be unique to the site, but as the season of ''Jericho'' progressed, the online story would dovetail into the episodes themselves. However, the site and "webisode" are now unavailable, having been removed from the CBS website before the second episode of the TV show was broadcast. CBS since decided to scrap the current webisode storyline, and instead released a new series of "prequel" webisodes named ''Countdown'' that take place before the first explosion. Each of these new webisodes appeared concurrently with the broadcast of new episodes during season 1, and showed Robert Hawkins gathering information before the attack.

''Beyond Jericho''

The first installment of ''Beyond Jericho'' began with an unknown man calling someone on a cell phone, requesting a ransom of $1.2 million for a woman he kidnapped. He then disappears underground through a metal trap door. While climbing down, he hears and feels a bang, but thinks nothing of it. After conversing with an associate about their next plans, he picks the woman up and climbs back up to the roof. When he opens the door, it's surrounded by rubble. The entire city around them has been destroyed. Shortly after, rubble falls through the trap door. With the cell phone (apparently actually the victim's cell phone) dead, and assuming that the man's associate is dead as well in the collapse, they start to climb through the rubble to find out what happened. Nearby, a hand with a surgical glove on emerges from the rubble, as the vignette ends.

''Countdown''

Starting on October 26, ''Beyond Jericho'' was replaced by ''Countdown'', which documents Robert Hawkins' efforts to learn as much as possible about the effects of nuclear bombs before he moved to Jericho. The webisodes do not feature any of the regular characters, and consist primarily of Hawkins, draped in shadows, watching mini-

documentaries A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in term ...

. The mini-documentaries feature expert interviews about the effects of a nuclear attack. They are only minimally connected to each episode's plot. For instance, CBS' 8-episode plot summary reads: "A shadowy military unit bursts into the chamber Hawkins has just vacated. On his computer, they find a video." The video was a short documentary about FEMA's response to Hurricane Katrina and their use of

paramilitaries A paramilitary is an organization whose structure, tactics, training, subculture, and (often) function are similar to those of a professional military, but is not part of a country's official or legitimate armed forces. Paramilitary units carr ...

. The "shadowy military unit" then patiently waits until the documentary ends to resume its search for Hawkins. ''Countdowns sponsor,

AT&T AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the world's largest telecommunications company by revenue and the third largest provider of mobile te ...

, is heavily promoted in the series using product placement. Nearly all dialog takes place as

SMS Short Message/Messaging Service, commonly abbreviated as SMS, is a text messaging service component of most telephone, Internet and mobile device systems. It uses standardized communication protocols that let mobile devices exchange short text ...

messages on an AT&T cellular phone, and a full-screen AT&T logo appears in every episode when Hawkins views the expert interviews. This web-based programming is not accessible from outside of the United States.

''JenningsandRall.com''

Created for the Tom Tooman game, JenningsandRall.com is the purported website of Jennings & Rall, the corporate giant which plays an increasingly prominent role in the second season of the series. The site contains a wealth of information about the company's post-holocaust global operations, with significant hints regarding events in the show. On November 1, 2008, the domain name jenningsandrall.com expired.

''Tom Tooman''

''Tom Tooman'' is an

alternate reality game An alternate reality game (ARG) is an interactive networked narrative that uses the real world as a platform and employs transmedia storytelling to deliver a story that may be altered by players' ideas or actions. The form is defined by inten ...

that CBS ran in conjunction with ''Jericho'', beginning in August 2007. The game began with a cryptic letter posted on a website, supposedly from a Tom Tooman of

Lame Deer, Montana Lame Deer (Meaveʼhoʼeno in Cheyenne) is a census-designated place (CDP) in Rosebud County, Montana, United States. The community is named after Miniconjou Lakota chief Lame Deer, who was killed by the U.S. Army in 1877 under a flag of truce sout ...

. This letter was accompanied by a series of

bar codes A barcode or bar code is a method of representing data in a visual, machine-readable form. Initially, barcodes represented data by varying the widths, spacings and sizes of parallel lines. These barcodes, now commonly referred to as linear or o ...

, some with decimal numbers and others with Mayan numbers. These numbers were used to create an

IP address An Internet Protocol address (IP address) is a numerical label such as that is connected to a computer network that uses the Internet Protocol for communication.. Updated by . An IP address serves two main functions: network interface ident ...

for a second website. More clues were released, as well as a

blog A blog (a truncation of "weblog") is a discussion or informational website published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries (posts). Posts are typically displayed in reverse chronological order s ...

on the CBS website connecting the game with ''Jericho''. The game abruptly ended when the series was cancelled, with no closure offered. A synopsis of the game and the puzzles appear at TomTooman.com.

References

External links

* {{Stephen Chbosky 2000s American drama television series 2006 American television series debuts 2008 American television series endings CBS original programming American television soap operas English-language television shows American action television series 2000s American mystery television series Disaster television series Post-apocalyptic television series Serial drama television series Television series by CBS Studios American television series revived after cancellation Television shows set in Kansas Fictional populated places in Kansas Television series about nuclear war and weapons Works by Stephen Chbosky Second American Civil War speculative fiction

Synopsis

First season

Second season

Third season

Fourth season

Characters and setting

Characters

Setting

Production

Early development

Filming locations

First season

Second season

Post second season

''Jericho'' comic series

Season 3

Season 4

Episodes

Reception

Ratings

Critical reception

Home video

Web-based tie-ins

''Beyond Jericho''

''Countdown''

''JenningsandRall.com''

''Tom Tooman''

See also

References

External links