Jericho (2006 TV series)
| Jericho | |
|---|---|
 Jericho intro. | |
| Starring | Skeet Ulrich Ashley Scott Sprague Grayden Kenneth Mitchell Lennie James Michael Gaston Erik Knudsen Gerald McRaney Pamela Reed |
| Country of origin | United States |
| No. of episodes | 5 (to date) |
| Production | |
| Running time | ~43 minutes |
| Original release | |
| Network | CBS |
| Release | September 20, 2006 – present |
Jericho is a CBS serial drama produced by CBS Paramount Network Television, with executive producers Jon Turteltaub (National Treasure), Stephen Chbosky and Carol Barbee. The show premiered on Wednesday, September 20 2006 on CBS. On October 12, CBS issued a statement saying it had ordered a full season of the show.[1]
Synopsis
Template:Spoiler The storyline revolves around the small, rural town of Jericho, Kansas, and what happens to its residents in the aftermath of a nuclear explosion in nearby Denver, Colorado which causes a loss of power and communications that leaves Jericho isolated. The reasons for the nuclear detonation are not immediately known. Cut off from the outside world after learning of a second explosion at Atlanta, Georgia, facing rumors and fears of further attacks against other U.S. cities, and a breakdown of public order and the chain of command, the community must find some way to survive in the midst of panic and chaos.
The pivotal character is Jake Green, a 32-year-old prodigal son who returns home to Jericho for what he believes will be a brief visit, but becomes stranded when the nuclear strike hits. After a tense reunion with his father (the mayor of Jericho), Jake turns into an unlikely hero, rescuing others, organizing various efforts, and protecting the town from dangers both inside and outside its borders.
The series may be set in 2009 based on one piece of evidence shown in episode five. Jake's birthdate is shown in a computer database as being January 21, 1977, and he stated in the pilot that he was 32 years old.
Aftermath
Cities believed to have been attacked and/or destroyed
| First referenced | City | Confirming evidence | Supporting evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Episode 1 ("Pilot") | Denver | E01 - Eyewitness from Jericho E02 - Robert Hawkins' map E03 - Chinese news broadcast E03 - Recovered flight data recorder |
E02, E03 - Fallout from Denver E04 - Radiation victims from Denver area |
| Atlanta | E01 - Dale Turner's answering machine E02 - Robert Hawkins' map E03 - Chinese news broadcast | ||
| Episode 2 ("Fallout") | Chicago | E02 - Robert Hawkins' map E03 - Chinese news broadcast | |
| Philadelphia | E02 - Robert Hawkins' map | E03 - Discussion in bar after broadcast | |
| San Diego | E02 - Robert Hawkins' map | ||
| Episode 3 ("Four Horsemen") | Dallas | E03 - Chinese news broadcast E04 - Robert Hawkins' map |
E03 - Recovered flight data recorder |
| Kansas City | E03 - Recovered flight data recorder | ||
| Seattle | E03 - Chinese news broadcast | E03 - Discussion in bar after broadcast | |
| San Francisco | E03 - Chinese news broadcast | ||
| New York City | E03 - Chinese news broadcast | ||
| Los Angeles | E03 - Chinese news broadcast | E03 - Discussion in bar after broadcast | |
| Episode 4 ("Walls of Jericho") | Minneapolis | E04 - Robert Hawkins' map (10:15) | E04 - bar map |
| St. Louis | E04 - bar map | ||
| Detroit | E04 - Robert Hawkins' map (10:15) | ||
| Cincinnati | E04 - Eric's recognition of skyline |
- These cities are presumed to have been either destroyed or severely damaged by nuclear devices, although the only explosion shown in the series is at Denver in the first episode. Most evidence is circumstantial, including a fragment of a Chinese newscast (see below) and maps in various locations which have been "pinned" with cities presumably hit. While many of the cities are home to military bases and facilities, there have apparently been no attacks that were deliberately aimed at military targets.
- Las Vegas was seemingly destroyed (or severely damaged) by a nuclear device in the published webisode "Beyond Jericho". It is unknown if that remains "canon" to the show given that CBS has taken the site down (and possibly retooling it for another purpose).
- There is still no indication as to who might have originated the attacks, although it is presumed that the U.S. military has learned who was involved, as ICBMs were launched at the end of episode five (four days after the original attack).
- The explosion at Denver is seen by many of the residents of Jericho in the first episode. Dale Turner receives an answering-machine message from his mother, who is visiting Atlanta. The message ends abruptly, and in such a manner as to indicate that an explosion has occurred in that city as well.
- In the second episode, after intercepting a Morse code message via a ham radio transceiver, Robert Hawkins inserts red pushpins into a U.S. map in his basement, apparently indicating that Denver, Atlanta, Chicago, Philadelphia and San Diego have been attacked. Hawkins also picks up at least three more pins, but we do not see what he does with them at the time. Dallas, Minneapolis, and Detroit are seen "push-pinned" in the fourth episode.
- During a Mandarin Chinese news broadcast viewed on the bar's satellite TV in the third episode, red concentric circles are seen on a map of the United States, indicating that San Francisco (旧金山), Denver (丹佛), Dallas (达拉斯), Chicago (芝加哥), New York City (紐約), Los Angeles (洛杉矶), and Atlanta (亞特蘭大) have been attacked. Red circles at Seattle are also seen momentarily, through static. Fragmentary pieces of audio are heard, but their significance is unclear. Since the Chinese transmission is a newscast, it can be presumed to be factual, at least in its intent, but Kansas City (see below) is not shown on the map, and it is possible that some cities attacked are unknown to the Chinese news organization, or that the cities shown may be in error.[2]
- On the tape from a recovered airline flight data recorder, a pilot is heard discussing the mushroom cloud over Denver, and another pilot reports mushroom clouds both over Kansas City and "south, somewhere in Texas," presumably the explosion at Dallas.
- In the fourth episode, Minneapolis and St. Louis are marked with darts on a map, and Denver is also marked, indicating that all of these cities have been hit. Cincinnati is mentioned in dialogue as a "question mark," while Minneapolis, Detroit, and Dallas are seen with pushpins on Robert Hawkins' map, which is shown upside down.
- Emily makes the claim that both Wichita and Des Moines are "gone," but she is in a state of emotional upset and shock (believing that her fiancé is dead), and the context indicates that her statements are emotional and not factual. No evidence has yet been presented to support her claims.
- While Eric says that he recognizes the city in the looped satellite feed to be Cincinnati, it is actually a piece of footage from New York City during the attacks of 9/11/01. Robert Hawkins rolls his eyes at the mention of Cincinnati, suggesting that he believes Eric doesn't know what he's talking about. Since Hawkins has been a reliable source of information on other cities, Cincinnati may not have been attacked.
Federal government response
| First referenced | Agency | Unit/Division | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Episode 3 ("Four Horsemen") | Defense Department | Kansas National Guard | Five tanks seen on I-70 heading west following attacks |
| 131st Missouri Air National Guard | F-16s spotted over Kansas, as described by two pilots on recovered cockpit voice recorder during the attacks | ||
| Episode 5 ("Federal Response") | Department of Homeland Security | FEMA | Reverse-911 phone call from the Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security, asking everyone not to leave, and assuring that help and further information is on the way |
| FCC/FEMA/NWS | The Emergency Alert System is seen on the television feed and is later replaced with a podium bearing a US State Department agency seal, but the signal is lost before anyone comes into view to speak. | ||
| Defense Department | Air Force | At the end of the fifth episode, there is a rumbling and people rush outside to see at least two unidentified objects moving through the sky accompanied by a loud roar. The objects appear to be Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs), due to their almost vertical trajectory, their single engine plume, and the fact that buildings shook in Jericho. |
- Washington, D.C. has possibly not been attacked, suggesting that the government (or a significant portion thereof) may be intact.
- Topeka, Kansas is the source of the Homeland Security telephone calls in the 5th episode, indicating that Topeka has survived.
- One of the pilots believes that the F-16s are from the 131st Missouri Air National Guard unit, originating at Lambert International Airport in St. Louis. While this suggests that St. Louis may not have been hit by an attack, the city is marked on the bar map in episode 4, and in actuality, the 131st flies the F-15C, not the F-16.[3]
- Based on the trajectory, it is highly probable that the ICBMs were launched from somewhere nearby, presumably in retaliation for the initial attack. (In reality, the closest ICBM sites are Minuteman silos in western Nebraska, controlled by F. E. Warren Air Force Base, less than 150 miles north of the supposed position of Jericho.) Judging from the video and using the Jericho Map provided by CBS, the missiles are headed eastward, assuming that the building seen on the ground is the town church.
Other observations
- The Air Traffic Control system collapsed during the attacks, and thousands of planes were forced to land with no assistance, on highways and in fields. With "10,000 planes in the air, and no place to land" (according to the Robert Hawkins character), some would have crashed, while others may have made emergency landings. The fate of most flights is still unknown, but the airplane carrying Emily's fiancé apparently landed safely in a Nebraska field.
- In the fifth episode, Robert accesses an information repository with the seal of the US Department of State and a references to the NSA. He looks at an "America Express" credit card before typing in his access code, "87oij9r". Robert learns Jake's passport has been flagged, and that he made several trips between 2003 and 2004 to Central America, South America, and the Middle East; destinations visible on screen include Honduras, Mexico, Colombia, Venezuela, Qatar, Colombia (again), Peru, and Guatemala.
- On the Chinese broadcast, the top three red Mandarin characters that are visible say "attack," while the bottom yellow characters say "blood-sucking insect." It is unknown whether these are related to one another.
- According to an "official" map of Jericho shown on the CBS website, Interstate 70, State Route 83, and State Route 40 converge in Jericho; but in the real world, Interstate 70, U.S. Route 83, and U.S. Route 40 converge in Oakley, Kansas, which is 70 miles from the border with Colorado. Although the people of Jericho witness a nuclear explosion "from the west," which is believed to have occurred at Denver, and is clearly visible over a nearby mountain range, in the real world the Rocky Mountains are not visible from Kansas.
- Jericho has been established in the series as being on Interstate 70 and northeast of Goodland, Kansas. This would place it near Colby, Kansas (the only location on I-70 northeast of Goodland), but this has not yet been definitively established. Despite the similarities in numbered routes, the map shown by CBS does not exactly conform to any known actual road configuration.[4]
Episodes
Clips from the pilot episode became free to watch on Yahoo! TV several weeks before the episode actually aired on television.[5]
CBS is also showing the episodes on their website[6] after they air, although they cannot be accessed from outside the U.S. This is expected to continue throughout the season. CBS repeated the first three episodes on the Saturday nights following their original airings, as did Australia's Network Ten.
Characters
"Rally Point"
From information in the fourth episode, we know that Jericho serves some importance for a mysterious group of people (including Robert Hawkins) that seem to have known about and planned for the nuclear attack. When he learns from a survivor from Denver (and co-conspirator) that there is a traitor among their group, he warns the others through a secure computer in his basement that "the Rally Point is not secure." The members of the group were allowed to take their families (and only their families) with them. The text seen in the background of his laptop appears to be the Terms of Use of the Mackay Communications website.[7]
Morse Code
During the opening title screen, a Morse code message is played. Each coded message relates to the episode to some degree. Sometimes the message is specific, other times cryptic to varying degrees.
| Episode | Morse Code | Text Message | Significance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | .--- . .-. .. -.-. .... --- / .--. .. .-.. --- - | "JERICHO PILOT" | Probable reference to the episode being the first, or "pilot" episode of the series. |
| 2 | .--- . .-. .. -.-. .... --- / ..-. .- .-.. .-.. --- | "JERICHO FALLO" | Probable reference to the episode's depicted pending threat of rain laced with hazardous nuclear fallout to the town's residents. "FALLO" being short for "FALLOUT." |
| 3 | .--- . .-. .. -.-. .... --- / - .... .-. . . | "JERICHO THREE" | Probable reference to this episode being the third in the series both in broadcast scheduling and position in the story arc. |
| 4 | .... . / -.- -. --- .-- ... / .-. --- -... | "HE KNOWS ROB" | Probable reference to "Victor Miller" and his relationship with Robert Hawkins. |
| 5 | .... . .-. . / .. ... / .- / ..-. .. .-. . | "THERE IS A FIRE" | Probable reference to one or more of at least three seperate fires that endanger parts of the town. Also may be a veiled reference to the two ICBMs seen flying overhead at the end of the episode. |
In addition, Robert Hawkins has received several Morse code messages over the course of the series. While clearly received in Morse, only the translation to text has been shown for most of them:
| Episode | Morse Code | Text Message | Significance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | N/A | "DELTA CODE DELTA 2 MINUTE WARNING" | Undetermined. May refer to a DEFCON status warning signifying detected approach of a new attack wave, or advance warning of a retaliatory strike by US military forces upon who or whatever orchestrated the initial attacks. |
| N/A | "SCORE REMAINS SCORELESS" | Undetermined. May refer to lack of knowledge as to who orchestrated the attacks and/or status of any retaliatory actions taken by the US government and/or its military forces. | |
| N/A | N/A | Probable initial list of cities received by Hawkins that are either confirmed or suspected as having been attacked. This is the list Hawkins uses as a reference when he sticks the push-pins in his map at the end of this episode. |
Beyond Jericho
Carol Barbee, in an online interview, announced that there would be a "digital connection" to Jericho through an online companion (at Jericho's official site) called Beyond Jericho. The television program gave the web address for the online companion. Beyond Jericho originally had a feature on the "other survivors" of the nuclear attacks. According to Barbee, the story was intended to be unique to the site, but, as the season of Jericho progressed, the online story would dovetail into the episodes themselves.
However, according to a report on the Hollywood North Report, the Writers Guild of America is apparently petitioning its members to refuse to work on "webisode" projects due to a dispute between the WGA and many studios and networks regarding payments and royalties for such projects. In one specific case, NBC Universal has filed a counter-grievance against the WGA with the National Labor Relations Board, arguing that webisodes are already covered under current guild contract. Although a settlement was reached between NBC Universal and the WGA - part of which included blocking viewers outside the United States from viewing the webisodes - there are reports that other webisode projects are either on hold or outright cancelled out of fears of further disputes and potential strikes by the WGA and other industry collective bargaining representative organizations.
Beyond Jericho since has disappeared from the CBS website. While the first "webisode" was made available, everything concerning the "other survivors" story, including the site itself, disappeared before the second episode of the TV show was broadcast. No information is currently available as to why this occurred. The Jericho website no longer has a link to Beyond Jericho, and links to the site now point to a CBS page that says the desired page is missing because of recent upgrades to the CBS.com website. Inquiries made directly to CBS executives by several news sources, including Garth Franklin of Dark Horizons, and Robert Falconer of Hollywood North Report have all met with refusals to comment on the issue.
Per a note on the Discussion page, CBS has reportedly decided to scrap the current webisode storyline and instead release a new series of "prequel" webisodes that they take place before the first explosion. Each of these new webisodes will appear weekly and relate somehow to that week's broadcast TV episode. The first webisode will reportedly be released in conjunction with episode 6 on 10/25, and at some later date the webisodes relating to TV episodes 1-5 will also be released on the site. No word as to the official reasons for the cancellation of the current webisodes, or whether the existing episodes will be released on the CBS.com website, or even if the planned crossover later in the season will now occur.
Broadcast scheduling
In the United States, the show airs on Wednesday nights at 8 PM (ET/PT), airing before the CBS dramas Criminal Minds (at 9 PM ET/PT) and CSI: NY (at 10 PM ET/PT). It competes with two NBC sitcoms (Twenty Good Years and 30 Rock), ABC's Dancing with the Stars results show, Fox's drama Bones, and CW's competitive reality series America's Next Top Model.
In Canada, the series airs on CHUM Limited's OTA (over the air) Citytv and A-Channel stations, along with co-owned cable outlet Space: The Imagination Station. In Australia, the series airs on Network Ten and the premiere coincided with its U.S. debut, a first for an Australian network (it premiered September 21 at 8:30PM). In the UK the show will air on the Hallmark Channel (UK) and then have a second run on ITV.
Ratings
| Episode | Household Rating | 18-49 rating |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 7.5 | 3.2 |
| 2 | 7.4 | 3.6 |
| 3 | 6.8 | 3.4 |
| 4 | 7.0 | 3.2 |
| 5 | 6.9 | 3.1 |
References
- ^ CBS gives "Jericho" a full-season order
- ^ "Jericho Chinese broadcast image showing which cities were known to be hit". Retrieved 2006-10-11.
- ^ "131st Fighter Wing - Missouri Air National Guard: History". Retrieved 2006-10-11.
- ^ "Jericho Map". Retrieved 2006-10-11.
- ^ "Yahoo! TV Fall 2006 Preview". Retrieved 2006-10-11.
- ^ "CBS.com Innertube". Retrieved 2006-10-11.
- ^ Mackay Communications. "Terms of Use". Retrieved 2006-10-11.
External links
- 2000s TV shows in the United States
- 2006 television program debuts
- CBS network shows
- Citytv network shows
- Jericho (TV series)
- Post-apocalyptic fiction
- Science fiction television series
- Space: The Imagination Station network shows
- Television series by CBS Paramount Television
- Television shows set in Kansas
- Drama television series
- Serial drama television series