Jericho Cancelled: Was It Really Poor Ratings or Something Else?

Monday night's episode was the last for Jericho. Poor ratings was the excuse CBS gave for the cancellation despite a ground swell of fan support for the show. Was it really "poor ratings" that got the show canceled or was it the subject matter? I came across this story and I began to wonder.

Commentary Last Updated: Mar 26th, 2008 - 23:43:54

Was polonium-210 being smuggled for a dirty bomb?
By Paul Craig Roberts
Online Journal Contributing Writer

Mar 27, 2008, 00:22

In the recently published thriller, The Shell Game, Steve Alten weaves a tale of a neoconservative plot to attack Iran. To overcome resistance, a black op group associated with a Republican administration arranges for nuclear devices to be exploded in two American cities, with planted evidence pointing to Iran.

Recent developments make one wonder if fact is following fantasy.

The Bush regime’s propaganda against Iran is going full blast and obviously has a purpose. The foreign press reports that the reason for Cheney’s latest trip abroad is to cajole, threaten, and purchase support for a US attack on Iran.

Complete Story Link

So what do you think? Were the ratings that poor or perhaps were the producers treading on ground that gave us a glimpse of things soon to come to pass?

Could be.
At least it did not end as bad as last season.

But I think it is always about the almighty dollar. Since when have they left a television show on just because it had a great story? Explain to me again why JAG was on for so long? Did you or anyone you know ever even watch that show?

Actually I did watch a few episodes: I wanted to see the chick on the show in a tiny camouflaged bikini!

I think you're right about the money since it probably skewed older in the demographics, so more disposable income.

I guess I'm not alone here:

Are We Headed For Jericho?
A friend recently turned me on to the CBS television series, Jericho. I watch so little network television that I confess to never having seen the show before this week. Obviously, then, I am quite uninformed as to the overall plot and previous episodes. What I saw Tuesday evening, however, stunned me. Why? Because it very aptly depicted what could become a very real-life scenario for these United States in the not-so-distant future. If I accurately picked up the basic plot of the show, average, freedom-loving citizens in the Western U.S. are fighting against tyrannical elements of their own government, including military forces. The State of Texas has declared its independence from the corrupt new government and another civil war is breaking out in America. And all this was predicated upon a nuclear attack, which some believed was an inside job. Am I close? Contributing further to my amazement was the way Jericho used real-life political events to depict America's fall into tyranny. I was flabbergasted to see the characters of Jericho refer to the Continuity of Government act as the foundation for the government's declaration of martial law after the nuclear attack had occurred. Ladies and gentlemen, the Continuity of Government (COG) act is not television make-believe: it is the real deal.

Full Article from RNN

Anyone else hear the clock ticking down?

Jericho was canceled 24hrs after Jake uttered the fateful words:

This is not a country anymore! Its a corporation!

I guess Jennings and Ralls was a little too close to Haliburton for comfort.

Blackwater is a clone to the series mercenaries, who slaughtered whole towns to loot and pillage.

Sorry it was far too real for what the bush/cheney boys are cooking up right now.

As long as it was red dawn that was fine. Now that its Haliburton down it goes.

Originally posted by Illahee
Sorry it was far too real for what the bush/cheney boys are cooking up right now.

This is beyond BUSH my friend. People's hate for BUSH has blinded them of ALL the corrupt powers in DC. People actually think that once BUSH leaves officer the dirty games will end. Please...BUSH was nothing more then the next step. The powers above him are still and will still remain.

This was a great show and I agree, to many things about the show are going to present themselves to our own eyes one day. This show was almost like a blueprint for the American people who want to stand up and fight. Once the powers to be saw that THE PEOPLE stood up and demanded the return of this show after season one, they began to worry....and I wouldn't be suprised if the elite told CBS...PULL THE PLUG and blame ratings/money concerns or else!

If we are lucky SCI-FI may pick up the series...that was a rumor...

SORRY..comp froze...double post

[edit on 3/28/2008 by rcwj75]

Well, I had no idea Jericho was cancelled. I think it is a good show, and I've watch every episode. From what my brother tells me, (Yes I know, not exactly a reliable source) Jericho was indeed picked up by the Sci-Fi channel. I will look into it and try to verify that info.

reply to post by Digital Deviance


I wish. I won't watch with out Skeet!
Anyway, here is a link to a petition to the SciFi Bigwigs.

Jericho Petition

I signed it..lol. I just hope if the series does get picked up the oriinal cast remains, along with the writers. The way its going right now it would be great to see continue. Once you throw in faces to REPLACE characters already established....the show is over!

Either way I enjoyed every episode up to now!

I'm sure that "Jericho" was far too real for Dick Cheney, Halliburton, and Blackwater (Read President Tormachio, Jennings & Rall, and Ravenwood).

CBS was committed to dumping this property as quickly as the perps of the plotline could be identified as the current Executive Branch, Halliburton, and Blackwater.

It really was a bold, bold show. I hope SciFi Channel picks it up to keep the series going.

I remember when I heard that Jericho was going to be canceled I was really surprised because just a month or so ago, I remember CBS really touting it's return with all new episodes and such. The thought that I instantly had was that they were forced to cancel it because:

1) CBS was getting to close to the truth

or

2) I remember hearing about a show that was on in the 80's [I think] that looked into America's future and things mentioned in it started to come true and CBS probably didn't want anything like that to happen again. [As if they could stop it]

Tom

there are a few threads on this already

www.abovetopsecret.com...'

www.abovetopsecret.com...'

www.abovetopsecret.com...'

I think in this case (and for the record, I *loved* Jericho, and saw all of them, including watching the finale just tonight on tape) that the simplest explanation is the correct one. Jericho is a thinking person's show. It is complex, it has interesting, believable characters, it has a story that arcs over multiple episodes, and it strikes rather close to home, especially for the Americans, I'll bet, though being Canadian I can't be sure on that last point. Ravenwood parallels Blackwater, J&R parallels Halliburton, and many of the characters sound just like the way I'd imagine some of the people on this board are like, if I were ever to meet you guys.

Like I said, Jericho is a thinking person's show. And as such, it has great difficulty competing with the drivel that is mass-produced for the general populace. I wrote an email to CBS a few days ago, when I found out that Jericho had been cancelled, and begged them to keep it going, not that it would do any good, but it made me feel a little better. I suggested to them that CBS cut one of their 'dime-a-dozen reality TV shows' (direct quote) and leave a spot in their schedule for Jericho. I probably just ended up pissing off whoever read it with that veiled insult, even though it's true.

Could the cancellation have been related to something else? Well, it's possible. Jericho did dwell on a lot of contemporary themes, like the issue of corporations 'in bed' with the government, private mercenaries working for the government, and corrupt leaders.

I'm getting too tired to think; it's late where I am. I was going to say more, but I'll leave it at that for tonight. So if it looks like I stopped in mid-thought (which I kinda did) that's why.

I'm on the fence on this issue, but one thing that may or may not have anything to do with it either way is that it was put up against American Idol, and it's pretty hard to pull ratings away from a televised moron singing.

Now, was it put against Idol to keep the ratings down?

Set up to fail? Maybe.

If poor ratings were an excuse for getting canceled, why did did it take so long to get rid of Katie Couric?

Jericho is one of the top downloads on iTunes...so people are willing to pay to see it.

As for me, I'm recommending to everyone I know to watch it.

I watched the first season but I don't care about soap opera which is what it became.

It had a great premise, poor writers who knew little about actual technical stuff, and great story lines. It just went bad and I think the ratings showed that.

I think the Sci-fi channel picked it up, at least they have had some ads running about it. Maybe reruns, who cares...

I made it a point to stay home and watch Jericho on Friday night all last season. Friday night.

Needless to say, I was disappointed when the show was cancelled. I thought they wrapped it up a little to "neatly" at the end of the episode where the bomb ended up in Texas. I had heard that it was cancelled then, and that would be the last of it.

I wasn't too suprised, I noticed many of the previously mentioned idiosyncracies (sp?) so I won't remention them. It was just too dead-spot on as far as worst case scenarios go.

I believe putting it up against American Idiot was indeed done intentionally. This was one of the most interesting series to come along in a while because it does depict a possible future and makes people think...WoW...people thinking...what a wonderful concept
Very realistic and not afraid of not being politically correct...I loved it when Stanley put a cap in Goetzs' A**. I almost expected the ole' shoot the floor and throw him in the cell!... SEND HIM TO THE GALLOWS!!!...
Just hope Sci-Fi comes through and does an even better job!

***SPOILER below***







Heh, yeah, Stanley pwning that guy was great. I sure hated Goetz. He was a good character, but a total sleazeball. The best moment ever though was when Bonnie whipped out the shotgun and started kicking arse. When they showed the first guy get shot and go down, and then cut to Bonnie reloading, I literally shouted 'Oh, yeah!' in my living room. That one will go down under greatest moments in TV history.