• Jericho playing the numbers

    Posted on February 20th, 2008 by and currently 10 commenting.

    Some of you might remember I made a post back in June about fans of the television show Jericho taking a stand against CBS and fighting to stop the show from being cancelled.

    Last night was the second episode from this season; Condor. BTW, I thought it was a really good episode, lots of action and drama and Americana images. Being a community guy (in the spirit of this political season, I borrowed that from Jake McKee) I think its interesting how Jericho wraps community into a central role of the story. But there’s even more going on behind the scenes. Those of us that played a role in getting Jericho another chance are very aware that it’s up to us to keep the show alive. CBS is giving Jericho fans unprecedented access to the show, table reads, and alternative episode endings now us ‘Jericho fans’ need to use our voice and some darn nifty tools to spread the story of Jericho around.

    Some critics came out firing after the first episode that the Jericho Nuts fans didn’t do enough and the show was doomed after the first episode. Yes, numbers don’t lie but a silver lining is starting to shine, Jericho appears to be doing very well in the coveted 18-49 group. Now some of those wrong-headed critics appear to be changing their tune. Jonathan Storm of the Philadelphia Inquirer writes, ‘ “Dumb,” I called it. Wrong.
    Standard thinking was that the fervent fans were nuts. But God bless them, especially in these strike-diminished times, when the only TV questions are whether Howie Mandel will ever overcome his OCD and touch anybody on Deal or No Deal, or whether Parvati, that vixen, will take her “alliance” with hulking James the gravedigger to the next level, right there in front of everybody on Survivor.’

    So now it’s my turn to make the pitch, give Jericho a try. I’ll quote Jonathan Storm again too, ‘So, everybody, check out the show and be hooked. You can eat peanuts while you watch, instead of mailing them, while this wrong-headed critic chows down on a little crow.’

  • http://www.brandidentityguru.com/wordpress Scott White

    I’ve been a huge fan since the get go. Now if they could only bring back Invasion!

  • http://brainsonfire.com Geno

    Invasion another interesting show that appeared to have some legs. Its really frustrating to be a passionate television watcher these days. Some of the new shows Heroes, Jericho, Invasion set-up deeper stories and try to connect with watchers. And then they get get canceled, I’m still numb from Love Monkey.

  • Denise

    Thanks for the write-up. I think Jericho is a wonderful, unique, entertaining as well as educational (in a “what if” soft of way) show and I hope it does really well. If not, I’m proud to say I joined an incredible group of viewers, fought the good fight, was heard, and may have made a difference in a ratings system that no longer works.

  • Chuck

    Loved Jericho from day one. I’m doing my part to try and ensure people are watching.

  • http://www.jericho-kansas.com Gwen

    Nice review. I put a summary and link in our Jericho news archive.

    Gwen
    Jericho-Kansas.com

  • http://www.brandidentityguru.com/wordpress Scott White

    Love Monkey was cool. The Loop, now that was very cool. You’re right they don’t give these shows a chance.

  • http://brainsonfire.com Geno

    The Loop was hilarious. Plus I’ve always thought Mimi Rogers rocks!

  • http://www.communityguy.com Jake McKee

    I’m watching season 1 of Jericho on my travels as we speak. Interestingly, there’s a series of shows I’ve only seen via iTunes:

    * Jericho
    * Battlestar Galactica
    * Californification

    And yes, shows like Invasion and Journeyman, you know the stuff us fans really get into, never seem to get enough time to find legs. But maybe in a digital distribution world, that’ll be less of an issue? I’ve bought and watched every episode of BSG via iTunes. Never once watched it on TV.

  • http://www.brandidentityguru.com/wordpress BIG Kahuna

    Jericho’s getting goood.

  • Jim

    Jericho is another “smart” show. One that you have to think during and even after the show. Many good shows never find their legs on main stream TV because it is totally geared to the “masses”. Mass America doesn’t want to even consider the ideas in Jericho. That someone has to be responsible for themselves and accually help other people. That the governement might have a hinden agenda or just will not be able to help everyone in a disaster. Mass America wants a simple show that that they does not require real thought during to enjoy. So all the “smart” shows will have such limited viewers that the numbers driven executives will just find some other mindless show and keep Mass America on their channel.