Jericho (2006–2008)

A small town in Kansas is literally left in the dark after seeing a mushroom cloud over near-by Denver, Colorado. The townspeople struggle to find answers about the blast and solutions on how to survive.

Creators:

Stephen Chbosky, Josh Schaer, Jonathan E. Steinberg

Stars:

Skeet Ulrich, Lennie James, Ashley Scott

Nominated for 1 Primetime Emmy. Another 5 nominations.

Cast

Series cast summary:
Skeet Ulrich	...	Jake Green (30 episodes, 2006-2008)
Lennie James	...	Robert Hawkins (30 episodes, 2006-2008)
Ashley Scott	...	Emily Sullivan (29 episodes, 2006-2008)
Kenneth Mitchell	...	Eric Green (27 episodes, 2006-2008)
Brad Beyer	...	Stanley Richmond (26 episodes, 2006-2008)
April Parker-Jones	...	Darcy Hawkins (26 episodes, 2006-2008)
Alicia Coppola	...	Mimi Clark (25 episodes, 2006-2008)
Pamela Reed	...	Gail Green (24 episodes, 2006-2008)
Bob Stephenson	...	Jimmy (24 episodes, 2006-2008)
Gerald McRaney	...	Johnston Green (23 episodes, 2006-2007)
Clare Carey	...	Mary Bailey (22 episodes, 2006-2008)
Richard Speight Jr.	...	Bill (21 episodes, 2006-2008)
Michael Gaston	...	Gray Anderson (20 episodes, 2006-2008)
Erik Knudsen	...	Dale Turner (18 episodes, 2006-2008)
Shoshannah Stern	...	Bonnie Richmond (18 episodes, 2006-2008)
Sprague Grayden	...	Heather Lisinski (18 episodes, 2006-2008)
Candace Bailey	...	Skylar Stevens (16 episodes, 2006-2008)
Darby Stanchfield	...	April Green (16 episodes, 2006-2007)
Sterling Ardrey	...	Samuel Hawkins (16 episodes, 2006-2008)
Jazz Raycole	...	Allison Hawkins (14 episodes, 2006-2008)

Storyline

When Jake Green returns to his Kansas small-town home Jericho, where his dad Johnston is mayor, everyone is preoccupied with petty private business and family matters, but that changes drastically after a completely unexpected explosion. It soon becomes clear there has been a nuclear attack, but neither by whom nor on which scale. Suddenly life in Jericho, and as the inhabitants gradually discover all over the disintegrating USA, becomes a more primordial struggle for survival, where unexperienced dangers, primitive as well as technological, have to be weighed against pressing primal needs, such as food, fuel and self-defense against plunderers, invaders and even each-other. Jake, whose private story like that of other main characters slowly becomes disclosed to us, proves extremely resourceful and a smart hero, while his father's mayoral authority and even that of the only available medical professionals is soon challenged and undermined, criminal potentials are tapped into by ...

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Plot Keywords:

small town | kansas | nuclear attack | one word series title | nuclear explosion | 

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Taglines:

Today is the Last Ordinary Day

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Genres:

Action | Drama | Mystery | Sci-Fi

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Details

Official Sites:

CBS [United States] Space [Canada]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

20 September 2006 (Canada)

Also Known As:

Dzerikas

Filming Locations:

15001 Calvert Street, Van Nuys, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Junction Entertainment, Fixed Mark Productions, CBS Paramount Network Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

45 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Although Esai Morales appeared in every season 2 episode, he was not billed as a series regular.

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Goofs

When Major Beck first arrives in "Reconstruction," his uniform has the flag of the Allied States of America, but the front of the uniform says "US Army."

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Crazy Credits

Each episode's title card is accompanied with audio containing only Morse code (dots and dashes, or short and long beeps) which, when translated, provides a short hint (around 3 words) about the episode to come.

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Connections

Referenced in Tosh.0: Results of the Memorabilia Dump (2012)

User Reviews

Small town, big bang.

It's a great series that deserved more of a fighting chance. It's easy to understand the many ardent fans of the show, but hard to understand Jericho's failure to attract more viewers than it did. The show is engaging, to the point of being dangerously addicting and whatever it lacks (see below), that's more than made up for by a consistently inventive story expansion. The show moves seamlessly from the original premise of 'USA - post nuke' into much unexpected territory. There's some filler episodes, but barely a bum one. What hampers the series is that odd but inevitable 'dated' feeling that almost all network dramas fail to shake, even the minute they arrive on our screens. Dramas like this just can't live up to the HBO/AMC cannon because of the demands on them to, eg: appeal to a large audience and produce 22-ish episodes per series - it can be simply backbreaking. One can't help but imagine how much better this show could have been with a studio like HBO behind it. It certainly deserves more care, with which it might have not been cancelled. Nevertheless, the fact one can imagine Jericho's greater potential is a credit to the strength of both the inventive writing, the smart political commentary and the many well-drawn characters which shine through occasional soft-focus, feel-good, pre-watershed moments of schmaltz and sentimentality. Those moments are thankfully few, but there's enough to make you wish there were less. The cast are all very capable, particularly Skeet Ulrich, Lennie James and Gerald McRaney who lend the show its gravitas. Bring it back! 4/5