Jericho: Victory for Fans of Cancelled CBS Drama

CBS President of Entertainment Nina Tassler has officially ordered a seven episode second season of cancelled drama Jericho. The episodes will air midseason and the return is being credited solely to the fan campaign. But, as Tassler notes in the official statement, the battle isn’t over.

To the Fans of Jericho:

Wow!

Over the past few weeks you have put forth an impressive and probably unprecedented display of passion in support of a prime time television series. You got our attention; your emails and collective voice have been heard.

As a result, CBS has ordered seven episodes of Jericho for mid-season next year. In success, there is the potential for more. But, for there to be more Jericho, we will need more viewers.

A loyal and passionate community has clearly formed around the show. But that community needs to grow. It needs to grow on the CBS Television Network, as well as on the many digital platforms where we make the show available.

We will count on you to rally around the show, to recruit new viewers with the same grass-roots energy, intensity and volume you have displayed in recent weeks.

At this time, I cannot tell you the specific date or time period that Jericho will return to our schedule. However, in the interim, we are working on several initiatives to help introduce the show to new audiences. This includes re-broadcasting Jericho on CBS this summer, streaming episodes and clips from these episodes across the CBS Audience Network (online), releasing the first season DVD on September 25 and continuing the story of Jericho in the digital world until the new episodes return. We will let you know specifics when we have them so you can pass them on.

On behalf of everyone at CBS, thank you for expressing your support of Jericho in such an extraordinary manner. Your protest was creative, sustained and very thoughtful and respectful in tone. You made a difference.

Sincerely,
Nina Tassler
President, CBS Entertainment

P.S. Please stop sending us nuts 🙂

It seems that CBS is planning to do their part to keep Jericho going but clearly puts the responsibility of the show’s future on the fans — to watch the series and to get others to do the same. With all of the publicity surrounding the nuts campaign, I’m sure many viewers will be willing to check out the series this summer and on DVD.

In a statement, series star Skeet Ulrich said, “I’m so thankful to our fans for not only their passionate support but their tireless efforts to revive our show. The whole cast and I are thrilled to have the opportunity to be together again and I look forward to the chance to give back to the fans with more of the story that brought us here.”

So score a big one to the fans of Jericho for pulling their series out of the ashes. And kudos to CBS for listening. It looks like it could turn into a genuine win-win situation.

It certainly worked out well for nuts distributors. Over 40,000 lbs of nuts have been sent to CBS. The network in turn donated them to charities including the Staten Island Project Homefront, which distributes supplies to the Armed Forces and City Harvest in New York City. Stay tuned!