Save Jericho? ...Who? ...Why?

Q. Who are you?

A. Well hi, my name is Amy and I'm a Jericho fan

Obviously, I'm not the only one fighting to bring Jericho back. There are lots of us. I haven't counted them (there's no way I could), but as of June 2, 2007 the Petition has racked up over 102,000 signatures since CBS announced it was not renewing Jericho for the 2007-2008 season. It also takes a lot of people to protest by sending over 36,000 pounds of nuts in the same timeframe.

We're everyone... we're men and women, teenagers and kids, white-collar and blue-collar, moms and dads, married and single, military and citizens, American's and people from around the world, all races, all religions... we're you.

There's groups of us working together and lots of people doing what they can individually, by sending letters, making phones calls, sending e-mail, and protesting in whatever way they can... Saying it loud and clear:

We want CBS to Bring Jericho Back!

Q. Why did CBS cancel it?

A. Good question that has left a lot of us perplexed.

The official answer that CBS is giving is that rating weren't good enough. The show started off strong in the fall with over 12 million viewers, but after the winter break it didn't quite recover.

The thing is, even the biggest most popular shows suffered after the long winter breaks they took. Many of them went on a haitus starting the end of November and not returning until January. Jericho, a first-year show, didn't come back until almost the end of February... and in a timeslot up against American Idol.

It was poorly promoted, went on an unneccessarily long break smack in the middle of Season 1, and many of us don't believe CBS correctly took into account all the web viewership, iTunes purchases, and DVR/TiVo recorders. It was the #1 Best Seller on iTunes for CBS as of today, June 2nd. And in recent DVR ratings measuring people who actually watched the commercials even though they had recorded the show, Jericho was one of the top performers.

In the Season Ratings, Jericho did as well as Boston Legal (renewed), and better than My Name is Earl (renewed). It also did better than Scrubs (renewed), The Simpsons (renewed) and The Office (renewed). It really faired somewhere in the middle... not one of the best performers, but certainly not the worst... and that was up in about the worst timeslot any TV show could be in... going against Idol.

Q. Why do you want to save the show?

A. Jericho is an amazing story... one where the characters must rely on and stand by each other to survive. A story of people pulling together, and even under the worst of circumstances, trying to be kind to one another. It's a story of change and new beginnings, but more importantly, that our relationships impact who we've become and who we will be.

Jericho is the traditional story of Good vs. Evil, and each week when you enter into this small town you find yourself pulling for it's characters and hope they can conquer the evil that not only surrounds them, but may also come from within themselves.

With many of the channels FINALLY pulling away from inundating us with really poor reality TV, getting back to good writing and truly entertaining stories, wouldn't it be sad to lose one of the good shows? 

Q. Can you really save a television show from cancellation?

A. Yup, we can! It has been done before. Here are some shows that have come back due, at least in part, to letter-writing and fan campaigns:

The Family Guy
Futurama
Stargate SG-1
America's Most Wanted
Touched by An Angel
Jag
Cagney and Lacey
Taxi
Roswell
Kim Possible
and
Star Trek, The Original Series

So YES, it CAN be done! Keep calling CBS, writing them letters (both snail mail and e-mail), sending postcards and lots of nuts.

UPDATE: Add Jericho to that List folks - it's been saved! 

Q. Why Nuts?

A. Well, the answer IS here already (look in the right column), but I'll give it to you again...

In the season finale, the lead character, Jake (Skeet Ulrich) recounts a story his grandfather told him about a statement made by General McAuliffe during WWII. In this tale, when asked to surrender by the Germans he simply replied "Nuts" as a way of saying "We will NOT surrender - Go to Hell!" 

Hence the reason Jericho fans are urged to make a contribution towards peanut deliveries.

Q. What kind of things have you done?

A. In addition to writing letters and calling, and sending over 36,000 pounds of nuts (as of 6/2/07) our little campaign, which is comprised of LOTS of people from the CBS Jericho Message Boards, have managed to take a fullpage ad out in Variety Magazine and The Hollywood Reporter. Blog-Radio DJ Shaun OMac has been covering the Save Jericho campaign nearly non-stop, and some of Jericho's actors, producers and writers have guest appeared on his show for interviews. We are working on other advertising and media goals now, and you can find out more by visiting the Donate / Campaign Info page.

Q. What can I do?

A. Lots of things:

Info is Here to:
Write a letter
Make some phone calls
Send a postcard
Send nuts!
Spread the word!

Steal this Banner :
Put it to your own website, myspace or facebook page! Link it back here!
(please don't hotlink to it... save it to your hard drive and upload it directly to your site)

Visit the CBS Jericho Message Board:
and find a lot of other fans working hard to save the show

Visit the other Jericho Sites :
that are dedicated to fighting this cause as well!

Update June 6, 2007 

Q. Jericho was Saved? Is it true?

A. Yes! Details are HERE!

Hurray! Jericho SAVED!