Jericho on CBS

My favorite show is Jericho, on CBS. If you remember last year it was canceled after one season, because according to CBS the ratings were not high enough. Fans of the show, worked very hard to bring it back. They sent mountains of nuts to CBS urging them to reconsider. They did and gave us 7 more episodes for a season 2. They brought it back on Tuesday Nights at 9pm central time.

Unfortunately the "Nielsen ratings" weren't good enough for CBS. We all know that Nielson ratings are the ultimate authority. Never mind that
"'Jericho' is unique because the fans saved it -- watching it on the Internet and streaming and iTunes downloads, all those things that are not being counted," said executive producer Carol Barbee in a recent interview.
Thats a stupid move on CBS' part to ignore that. I bought Season 1, I'll buy Season 2, I'd even buy Season 6 (if they'd have let the show go that long). I watch it online. I watched all of Season 1 online, and rewatched some of Season 2 online. I've blogged about how much I like this show, because it makes you think.

People don't play "what if" often enough. Most tv shows are purely 42 minutes of entertainment. Jericho is different. When its over you wonder, what if something happened to the United States? Could I survive? Maybe I should keep more canned food in the house. Maybe I should learn more about wilderness survival. Season 1 made you think about how to become a smarter person, a more prepared person.

Season 2 makes you ask questions. This new government is in place, but who gave them their authority? Its no longer the United States, its now the Allied States. Small name change, but change in meaning, in leadership, in authority. Not many in the town are questioning the new authority. They blindly follow. A few people are different. They ask questions like "who gave these people the authority to govern? Are they even good people?"

CBS brought Jericho back for seven episodes. I have enjoyed each one of them. I am somewhat disappointed in the time slot. They put a show on at 9pm, which I assume is 10 pm eastern. That's bed time for a lot of people and I wonder why the ratings aren't as high as CBS may wish. Why don't they count online viewings and fan support? Have they already forgotten about the nuts? Have they ignored the e-mails sent by me? Even my Mother, who is not very web savvy, took the time and effort to figure out how to send an e-mail to CBS about how much she enjoys Jericho. Is my purchasing power not as great? I guess my fan support of the show doesn't count, because I watched the show online for season one. We all know what little influence the internet has. People who watch stuff online really aren't important. They don't buy things online, they don't have opinions or ways to express them. Its such a shame that my voice doesn't count. I guess it won't matter to CBS that I no longer want to watch shows on their network. I did like Survivor, I've seen almost every episode, but that is 43 minutes of entertainment. I can spend those 43 minutes doing something else. Maybe I'll go surf the web.