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DVD set corrects poor treatment 'Jericho' received
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'Jericho' star Skeet Ulrich
People like me who did not watch the first season of the drama "Jericho," when CBS ran it during the 2006-2007 season is the most likely reason that it was canceled after that season until pressure from fans resulted in a seven-episode second season. This campaign prompted me to watch the show when the Scifi, also known as Sighfi, Channel (Scifi) showed reruns approximately one year ago.
I liked the show and think that it raised good ethical issues regarding what generally bad behavior, knowing cruelty, and illegal acts that a widespread nuclear attack justifies. The show additionally depicted the types of deception on many levels that such a circumstance justifies and/or requires.
On top of this, "Jericho" addressed the many sources from which a nuclear attack can spring. An extra feature entitled "What if" that is in the DVD set of the first season provides more information regarding this threat and how well it is expected that we could respond to such an attack. Duck and cover does not cut it folks.
I also found the progression of the figurative fallout from the attacks compelling, and setting a "Lord of the Flies" themed story in a small Kansas town was an interesting twist on this concept of survival and savagery. The increasingly ragged appearance of the cast and the town was depicted particularly well.
I was pleased when Scifi gave me a second chance to see the show after learning about the campaign but was surprised that it ran only 15 of the 22 episodes from the first season.
Even if the ratings were not great, it seemed that the channel that ran "Mork and Mindy" reruns for nearly 24 hours straight last Friday night and has shown the same reruns of truly bad and mediocre shows such as "Tru Calling," "Star Trek:Enterprise, " and "Stephen King's Kingdom Hospital" over and over could have found room in its schedule for the remaining "Jericho" episodes.
Even running "Jericho" reruns for a few weeks in place of the dreadful made-for-tv movies that very appropriately run in the old "Love Boat" Saturday night timeslot would have been a good option.
The producers of the complete series set of "Jericho" have offered the solution of releasing a good product; having watched the final episode of the first season, I understand why the cancellation upset fans so much.
As the producers of the show stated in a "making of" documentary on the DVD set of the first season, this episode was designed to establish the setting for the second season. I learned as well from this documentary that the sounds in the opening credits were different Morse code messages that provided spoilers about the show. I also really enjoyed an early scene in the first episode of the second season that depicted a character eating peanuts.
Comparable to CBS, I am going to end my discussion of this good show here. Unlike CBS, I promise straight off that I will report regarding the second season and complete DVD set exclusive features of this show next week. Anyone who cannot wait that long is most welcome to send me nuts; I plan to entertain Christmas eve and could use some munchies.
On a related note, I own the complete set of "Roswell" DVDs and plan to review them sometime next spring. Anyone who thinks that that is too long of a wait can send me Tabasco sauce. I will include enough Katherine Heigl jokes to satisfy her harshest critic. The jury is still out regarding references to justifiable alien probes.
Please do feel free to share any comments or questions as additions to this entry or as e-mail to tvdvdguy@gmail.com. Adding a theme from another failed show, this is one way to keep the bad guys from stopping the signal.
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