''Jericho'' is an American

post-apocalyptic Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction are genres 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; astronom ...

action Action may refer to: * Action (philosophy), something which is done by a person * Action principles the heart of fundamental physics * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video gam ...

drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...

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 The contiguous United States, also known as the U.S. mainland, officially referred to as the conterminous United States, consists of the 48 adjoining U.S. states and the District of Columbia of the United States in central North America. The te ...

. It was produced by

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

and Junction Entertainment, with executive producers

Jon Turteltaub Jonathan Charles Turteltaub (born August 8, 1963) is an American film director, writer and producer. Early life, family and education Turteltaub was born on August 8, 1963, in New York City, one of two children born to comedy writer Saul Turtel ...

Stephen Chbosky Stephen Chbosky (; born January 25, 1970) is an American film director, screenwriter, and author. He is best-known for writing the bestselling coming-of-age novel '' The Perks of Being a Wallflower'' (1999), and writing and directing its 2012 fi ...

, 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 (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

. 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 In mass communication, digital media is any media (communication), communication media that operates in conjunction with various encoded machine-readable data formats. Digital content can be created, vi ...

'' reported that

The CW The CW Network, LLC (commonly referred to as The CW or simply CW) is an American commercial broadcast television network which is controlled by Nexstar Media Group through a 75% ownership interest. The network's name is derived from the firs ...

would air repeats of ''Jericho'' to replace the canceled series '' Valentine''. In 2007, ''Jericho'' was ranked number 11 on ''TV Guide''s 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, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...

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 landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

town, in the aftermath of a nuclear attack on twenty-three American cities in the

. The series begins with the sighting of a

mushroom cloud A mushroom cloud is a distinctive mushroom-shaped flammagenitus cloud of debris, smoke, and usually condensed water vapour resulting from a large explosion. The effect is most commonly associated with a nuclear explosion, but any sufficiently e ...

of unknown origin over

Denver, Colorado Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

. Initially, it is assumed to be an accident, until a teenager reveals a recording of a phone call from his mother in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

, which is cut off by the sound of an explosion – demonstrating that the Denver disaster was not isolated, and thus unlikely to be accidental. Problems are compounded by loss of power and modern communications, effectively isolating Jericho. Later, power is restored to Jericho by what is alluded to the efforts of the U.S. government but an

electromagnetic pulse An electromagnetic pulse (EMP), also referred to as a transient electromagnetic disturbance (TED), is a brief burst of electromagnetic energy. The origin of an EMP can be natural or artificial, and can occur as an electromagnetic field, as an ...

(EMP) from an unknown source disables all electronics. While the first few episodes center on restoring life, following the attacks, about halfway through the season some citizens of Jericho 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 begin to sour as New Bern puts the blame on Jericho for its problems and the New Bern

sheriff A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland, the , which is common ...

eventually declares war, leading to the season's climax. 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 the story is Jake Green, the 32-year-old son of Mayor Johnston Green. Jake had fled the town of Jericho five years earlier, after 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, intended for the attack, but how he obtained it and his allegiance remain unclear. 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 Exec ...

(FEMA) camp outside of

Topeka Topeka ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Shawnee County, Kansas, Shawnee County. It is along the Kansas River in the central part of Shawnee County, in northeaste ...

, where he learns that the attack on

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

was foiled by alert

New York City Police The City of New York Police Department, also referred to as New York City Police Department (NYPD), is the primary law enforcement agency within New York City. Established on May 23, 1845, the NYPD is the largest, and one of the oldest, munic ...

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. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

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 Lawrence is a city in and the county seat of Douglas County, Kansas, United States, and the sixth-largest city in the state. It is in the northeastern sector of the state, astride Interstate 70 in Kansas, Interstate 70, between the Kansas River ...

, has been attacked. Robert Hawkins receives a

Morse code Morse code is a telecommunications method which Character encoding, encodes Written language, text characters as standardized sequences of two different signal durations, called ''dots'' and ''dashes'', or ''dits'' and ''dahs''. Morse code i ...

message on 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 communi ...

stating that Denver, Atlanta,

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more t ...

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

and several more cities (not shown) 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 air ...

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

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. 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 first season 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 village i ...

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 Western States, the Far West, the Western territories, and the West) is List of regions of the United States, census regions United States Census Bureau. As American settlement i ...

, 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 normality 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 outpost 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 List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Wyoming, most populous city of the U.S. state of Wyoming. It is the county seat of Laramie County, Wyoming, Laramie County, with 65,132 reside ...

. 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 whose 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 exec ...

, led by a

private security A private security company 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 Statistic ...

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 primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

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 Republic of Texas (), or simply Texas, was a country in North America that existed for close to 10 years, from March 2, 1836, to February 19, 1846. Texas shared borders with Centralist Republic of Mexico, the Republic of the Rio Grande, an ...

. 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 United States politics, a swing state (also known as battleground state, toss-up state, or purple state) is any state that could reasonably be won by either the Democratic or Republican candidate in a statewide election, most often refe ...

in the struggle for power between the

Eastern United States The Eastern United States, often abbreviated as simply the East, is a macroregion of the United States located to the east of the Mississippi River. It includes 17–26 states and Washington, D.C., the national capital. As of 2011, the Eastern ...

, which is led by the legitimate surviving United States government, now governed from

Columbus, Ohio Columbus (, ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Ohio, most populous city of the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 United States census, 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the List of United States ...

, 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 fighter aircraft designed by McDonnell Douglas (now part of Boeing). Following reviews of proposals, the United States Air Force (USAF) selected McDonnell Douglas's des ...

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 The Air National Guard (ANG), also known as the Air Guard, is a Reserve components of the United States Armed Forces, federal military reserve force of the United States Air Force, as well as the air militia (United States), militia of each U.S. ...

F-16 The General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon is an American single-engine supersonic multirole fighter aircraft originally developed by General Dynamics for the United States Air Force (USAF). Designed as an air superiority day fighter, it e ...

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 William Morris Endeavor and WME-IMG) is an American holding company for talent and media agencies with its primary offices in Beverly Hills, California. The company was founded in April 2009 after the me ...

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

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

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 In a dramatic production, an ensemble cast is one that comprises many principal actors and performers who are typically assigned roughly equal amounts of screen time.Random House: ensemble acting Linked 2013-07-17 Structure In contrast to the po ...

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 * Ashley Scott as Emily Sullivan *

Lennie James Lennie Michael James is a British actor. He is best known for portraying Morgan Jones in the AMC series '' The Walking Dead'' and in its spin-off, ''Fear the Walking Dead'', and starring as DCI Tony Gates in ''Line of Duty'' series one. Among ...

as Robert Hawkins *

Michael Gaston Michael Gaston is an American film and television actor. He played agent List of Prison Break minor characters#Quinn, Quinn on the show ''Prison Break'', List of Jericho characters#Gray Anderson, Gray Anderson on the CBS drama series ''Jericho (20 ...

as Gray Anderson *

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 ...

Erik Knudsen Erik Knudsen (born March 25, 1988) is a Canadian actor. He is known for portraying Daniel Matthews in ''Saw II'', Robbie Mercer in '' Scream 4'', Alec Sadler in '' Continuum'' and Dale Turner in the CBS series ''Jericho''. Life and career Kn ...

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), American singer-songwriter, rock musician, and ...

* Kenneth Mitchell as Eric Green *

Brad Beyer Brad Beyer (born ) is an American actor. He played Stanley Richmond in the CBS series ''Jericho''. Personal life Beyer graduated from Catholic Memorial High School in Waukesha, Wisconsin. He attended the University of Minnesota and moved to Lo ...

Stanley 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 Johnsto ...

* Shoshannah Stern as Bonnie Richmond *

Pamela Reed Pamela Reed is an American actress. She is known for playing Arnold Schwarzenegger's police partner Phoebe O'Hara in the 1990 film '' Kindergarten Cop'' and portraying the matriarch Gail Green in ''Jericho''. She appeared as Marlene Griggs-Knop ...

as Gail Green (season 1; recurring season 2) *

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 most recently s ...

as Johnston Green (season 1) *

Alicia Coppola Alicia Coppola (born April 12, 1968) 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, ...

as Mimi Clark (season 2; recurring season 1)

Setting

Jericho, Kansas is a

fictional town This is a list of fictional settlements, including fictional towns, villages, and cities, organized by each city's medium. This list should include only well-referenced, notable examples of fictional towns, cities, settlements and villages that a ...

. 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 ...

). 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 I-695 and Maryland Route 570 (MD 570) in Woodlawn, just outside Baltimore, Maryland. I-70 appr ...

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 U ...

. 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 actor, 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 ...

). 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 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 a 1983 American television film directed by Nicholas Meyer. The war film postulates a fictional conflict between NATO and the Warsaw Pact over Germany that rapidly escalates into a full-scale nuclear exchange between the ...

'', '' Threads'', and ''

Testament A testament is a document that the author has sworn to be true. In law it usually means last will and testament. Testament or The Testament can also refer to: Books * ''Testament'' (comic book), a 2005 comic book * ''Testament'', a thriller no ...

''. 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, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

and

Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a powerful, devastating and historic tropical cyclone that caused 1,392 fatalities and damages estimated at $125 billion in late August 2005, particularly in the city of New Orleans and its surrounding area. ...

, 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 Van Nuys City Hall, Valley Municipal Building, it is the most populous neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley ...

. Some scenes were also filmed on the

Warner Bros. Ranch The Warner Bros. Ranch (formerly the Columbia Ranch) is a movie ranch located at 411 North Hollywood Way in Burbank, California. Opened in the 1930s, it was used as the backdrop for films and television shows by Columbia Pictures and Warner Br ...

Facilities (formerly the

Columbia Ranch The Warner Bros. Ranch (formerly the Columbia Ranch) is a movie ranch located at 411 North Hollywood Way in Burbank, California. Opened in the 1930s, it was used as the backdrop for films and television shows by Columbia Pictures and Warner Br ...

) in Burbank, California. 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 the ...

. Filming also occurred in

Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commerci ...

, including in front of the

city hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or municipal hall (in the Philippines) is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city o ...

, 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 situation, facing a difficult dilemma or confronted with a shocking revelation at the end of an episode of serialized fiction or bef ...

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, an ...

'', ''

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 ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

'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 any of several units of measure of mass, volume or force. It has a long history and has acquired several meanings and uses. As a unit of mass, ''ton'' can mean: * the '' long ton'', which is * the ''tonne'', also called the ''metric ...

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 or Unternehmen Die Wacht am Rhein, Wacht am Rhein, was the last major German Offensive (military), offensive Military campaign, campaign on the Western Front (World War II), Western ...

. 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, Gre ...

, 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 Nina Tassler is an American film and television executive and producer. She was most recently the chairwoman of CBS Entertainment until 2015. Life and career Tassler was born in New York City to a Jewish father and a Puerto Rican mother who conve ...

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 2006 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 7 (seven) is the natural number following 6 and preceding 8. It is the only prime number preceding a cube. As an early prime number in the series of positive integers, the number seven has symbolic associations in religion, mythology, supers ...

. On August 2, 2007, a video was released on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

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

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 and broadcast networks such as

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

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' website reported that

held talks with

Comcast Comcast Corporation, formerly known as Comcast Holdings,Before the AT&T Broadband, AT&T merger in 2001, the parent company was Comcast Holdings Corporation. Comcast Holdings Corporation now refers to a subsidiary of Comcast Corporation, not th ...

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 Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

'', as well as banner ads on the ''Variety'' and ''The Hollywood Reporter'' websites. In January 2009, TV.com reported that a ''Jericho'' feature film is in development. In 2017, Skeet Ulrich confirmed than a third season was in development and then cancelled: “Karim Zreik, one of the producers, called me and said, “Netflix has a schedule, they have budget, they have locations. Are you in?” I said, “Absolutely, with one proviso: That first script back has to time-jump five years, and the world has devolved way lower than we could ever have imagined.” And they were on board with it. And CBS wouldn’t sell it. The deal wouldn’t work for them.“

''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 Media (communication), medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of Panel (comics), panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, Glo ...

. 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 IDW Publishing is an American publisher of comic books, graphic novels, art books, and comic strip collections. It was founded in 1999 as the publishing division of Idea and Design Works, LLC (IDW) and is recognized as the fifth-largest comic ...

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 portal that provides the search engine Yahoo Search and related services including My Yahoo, Yahoo Mail, Yahoo News, Yahoo Finance, Yahoo Sports, y!entertainment, yahoo!life, and its ...

several weeks before the episode actually aired on television. CBS is still showing most, but not all, of the ''Jericho'' episodes on their

Innertube CBS Innertube was a broadband video channel launched by CBS in May 2006. The channel offered original web-only shows, as well as rebroadcasts of CBS's regular shows. The service was only available in the United States. It was rebranded as CBS.com ...

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

. 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 as WPM (sometimes lowercased as 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 ...

at a

frequency Frequency is the number of occurrences of a repeating event per unit of time. Frequency is an important parameter used in science and engineering to specify the rate of oscillatory and vibratory phenomena, such as mechanical vibrations, audio ...

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 "Second Episode" is the second episode of the HBO television series ''The New Pope''. The episode was directed by series creator Paolo Sorrentino and was written by Paolo Sorrentino, Umberto Contrarello, and Stefano Bises. The episode takes plac ...

, Robert Hawkins received several additional Morse code messages through a

that he was fixing.

Reception

Ratings

Critical reception

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, 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 ...

, 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 an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, 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 &

Paramount Home Entertainment Paramount Home Entertainment (formerly Paramount Home Media Distribution, originally Paramount Home Video, and operating as the namesake film studio since 2022) is the home video distribution arm of Paramount Pictures. The division oversees Para ...

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 (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". The American author and media analyst Bill ...

. 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

and their use of

paramilitaries A paramilitary is a military that is not a part of a country's official or legitimate armed forces. The Oxford English Dictionary traces the use of the term "paramilitary" as far back as 1934. Overview Though a paramilitary is, by definiti ...

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

AT&T AT&T Inc., an abbreviation for its predecessor's former name, the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the w ...

, is heavily promoted in the series using

product placement Product placement, also known as embedded marketing, is a marketing technique where references to specific brands or products are incorporated into another work, such as a film or television program, with specific promotional intent. Much of t ...

. Nearly all dialog takes place as

SMS Short Message 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 phones exchange short text messages, t ...

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 int ...

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 s ...

. 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 assigned to a device connected to a computer network that uses the Internet Protocol for communication. IP addresses serve two main functions: network interface i ...

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

blog A blog (a Clipping (morphology), truncation of "weblog") is an informational website consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries also known as posts. Posts are typically displayed in Reverse chronology, reverse chronologic ...

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 American English-language television shows American action television series 2000s American mystery television series Disaster television series American 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 Kansas culture Television series about nuclear war and weapons Works by Stephen Chbosky Second American Civil War speculative fiction CBS television dramas

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