Jericho; Cancellation Looming Again?

On June 6^th, 2007, a stunning campaign by thousands of Jericho fans paid off, as CBS announced that the show would return the following year for seven more episodes. The network had received over twenty tons of nuts since announcing that the show had been cancelled, an amount enough to convince them of the merits of reversing their initial decision.

After much anticipation, these seven episodes began playing on February 12^th, 2008. The season premier should have drawn much excitement, especially given the writers strike that had taken many other network shows off air. Instead, however, the ratings for the show invoked many memories of the first season.

Not only did Jericho fail to bring in a larger audience for the second season opener, it actually performed worse than it had last year. "Reconstruction," the first episode, finished last in ratings for its time slot and a full point behind what episodes regularly received last season.

Where did all the fans go? Did most forget that the show was returning after a long hiatus? Do fans care less about the show than the dying American Idol which is on at the same time? Whatever the reason, not watching the show when there are only seven episodes is like slipping the program cyanide. No amount of nuts or any other object will save Jericho from a second death.

There is still hope. A sentiment across the internet is that the show is suffering right now because the first three episodes of the season were leaked onto the internet for download. While it defies reason for any real fan to download and watch a show on life support, it is possible that a good chunk of fans did just that.

But when it comes down to it, the only thing big networks care about after a certain point are ratings. And if television viewers keep proving time and time again that they would rather watch the same old uncreative nonsense reality TV programs, that is what they are going to produce.

So please, please tune into CBS on your television sets Tuesday nights at 10:00 PM CT. Jericho is a truly wonderfully written show that, based on the first two episodes, is only getting better. Don't let it be cancelled again.