Jericho Canceled

Yesterday CBS announced its fall lineup. One of my favorite television shows, Jericho, was not on that list. Normally when a television show gets canceled, it’s not a big deal to me. I just don’t care in most cases since the show is either total crap or has already jumped the shark. Jericho is different. It is not a good show and never has been. It is an amazing show. From episode one, I thought that this was one of the best written, most intriguing television shows that I have ever seen.

Jericho did OK in the ratings. It wasn’t a juggernaut like American Idol but it was no slouch either pulling in between 8 and 13 million viewers weekly. But problems started when CBS decided that it would be a brilliant idea to pull the show off the air for almost three months just as it was gaining a lot of momentum. The show never recovered the viewers that it lost due to that programming debacle. What adds insult to injury is that during the hiatus, there was some “reality” show where D-level celebrities pretend to be actual police officers. Of course CBS is going to lose viewers when they put that tripe on people’s televisions! Combine the mid-season hiatus and the fact that it went up against American Idol upon its return, and Jericho was destined for failure.

There have been instances in the past when a show with a devoted fan base was canceled only to be brought back on the air. An example of this is Roswell. When that show was prematurely ended, fans sent in bottles of Tobasco sauce expressing their anger and the show was renewed.

Fans of Jericho are taking the example of Roswell to heart and sending in bags and cans of nuts to CBS executives. (”Nuts” is from episode 22. It’s a way to basically tell the executives where they can go.) There are also online petitions and fan sites dedicated to saving this wonderful show. I have signed the petition, which now has more than 33,000 signatures on it, and ask that you do the same. I am also planning on sending in some nuts to the Senior Executive Vice President of Programming Operations at CBS with one of the grassroots organizations in the Salt Lake City area. This show was just too good to kill this way. I feel like I need to at least try and help save it especially since they ended on a cliffhanger with absolutely no closure for fans.

CBS apparently doesn’t care too much for its loyal viewers as is illustrated by this non-spell checked, patronizing response from Kelly Kahl, Senior Executive Vice President of Programming Operations.

Dear Jericho Fans

We here at CBS have listened to your complaints in relation to the cancelation of the television Show Jericho.

At CBS we never cancel a show without a great deal of communication between our public groups and you the fans.

It was believed that Jericho had lost a significant amount of fans since the original pilot of the show.

We always feel that a show must carry its audience regardless of breaks or temporary periods within the transmission season.

With this in mind it was decided to cancel the show JERICHO.

We understand that many of you are upset with our decision to cancel the Show JERICHO.

CBS retain the full viewing rights to Jericho, and it is possible that a a finale episode could be put into planning for the 2009/2010 season.

A future decision will be made on this in the fall of 2008.

Despite this cancelation we would like to advise you the viewer that CBS offers many great Shows such as CSI-Miami as well as others.

If you have any further enquiries please do not hesitate to contact my office where we can provide you with more details.

A future press release in relation to this decision will be announced tomorrow to All press outlets.

It is still possible to view all episodes of Jericho on the the innertube

http://www.cbs.com/innertube/player.php?cat=138673&vid=&format=&auto=0

Kelly Kahl

Senior Executive Vice President of Programming Operations

kkahl@cbs.com

I used to look forward to Wednesday nights knowing that I’d be able to see what happened next in the small Kansas town that’s trying to survive in a post-apocalyptic world. One of the worst times of the week was right after Jericho ended because it was at that point that I had to wait the longest to see the next episode.

When I learned of Jericho’s cancellation this morning, I was angry. I was mad that CBS was taking one of the few shows that I enjoy watching off the air. I was angry that they don’t seem to care that they’ve upset a lot of loyal viewers. And I was irate that television executives keep killing the shows that I like right after showing a cliffhanger. Why should I watch? The shows will just be canceled.

I’m sure that CBS’ decision was based on money. It’s much cheaper to produce the mindless dribble found in the majority of reality television shows or to spin off an inferior show from a more successful one. CSI Delaware anyone? Whatever ends up replacing Jericho, rest assured that thousands of fans, myself included, will not be tuning in.

Please help save Jericho.

You might also like:

1. Jericho Update
2. Victory Is Ours
3. It’s Back
4. They Did It Again
5. The Other Show That Got Killed