I've heard the new series Jericho is the CBS version of Lost set in a small Kansas town named Jericho following a nuclear holocaust. I don't see that this show is any more Lost than it is Gilligan's Island. Here we have a microcosm of people from different walks of life who have to work together in order to survive. Strange that while I am writing this, I seem to remember there were plans for another Gilligan's Island reunion movie where the seven castaways are the only known survivors of a nuclear holocaust. This was a common theme during the Cold War. I have also heard Jericho compared to the controversial 1983 ABC TV movie, The Day After, starring Jason Robards. I think Jericho is actually more comparable to the BBC TV movie, Testament, starring Jane Alexander because the town is not at ground zero, but isolated from the rest of the world as a result of global events.
Since I used Gilligan's Island originally, let me continue with that model. The "Gilligan" is Jake Green (Skeet Ulrich), the prodigal son returning home for a short visit after a mysterious five-year absence. Jake's absence and life choices have been disappointing to "The Skipper," his father Johnston Green (Gerald McRaney), the town's mayor. "The Millionaire" is Gray Anderson (Michael Gaston), the owner of the local salt mine and political adversary to Mayor Green. It's nice to know local politics, like cockroaches, can survive a nuclear war. The closest thing the show has to a "Mrs. Howell" is Mayor Johnston's wife, Gail (Pamela Reed). Gail takes her role as first lady of the town seriously and has to play peacemaker between her husband and her son. The "Mary Ann" is Heather Lisinski (Sprague Grayden), a pretty young schoolteacher, and the "Ginger" is Emily Sullivan (Ashley Scott), Jake's high school sweetheart. The "Professor" is Robert Hawkins (Lennie James), a new arrival who claims to be a former cop from St. Louis. Robert knows everything there is to know about surviving a nuclear war, claiming that after 9/11 the St. Louis Police Department was trained for all attack scenarios.
Article comments
1 - Joan Hunt
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2 - Mary K. Williams
Tony -
Nice write up. Interesting - comparing the characters to the GI castaways.
Regarding the Cold War, true, the fact that some will not remember bomb shelters and those ever-present black and yellow signs all over the schools - those of younger generations will make a 9/11 connection.
The fear of the unknown, and the worry that life as we know it can change so quickly - still carries from previous generations to the present.
3 - Matt
It's interesting that, nowadays, when we have scenarios like this on TV, the whole town bands together. If someone like Rod Serling had this show in the Cold War, it would be all about fear and paranoia.
4 - C. I.
Tony, thanks for the spot-on review.
"Jericho" is the first show in many seasons that I am not time shifting, although I do record it. I make the time in my schedule to sit down and watch it live. I never do that, so that's saying something.
So far I have not been disappointed. The second episode was better than the first and apparently the ratings are decent.
Too slow-paced?! There were times where I thought my heart would stop. But then I'm not under thirty years old, and I wasn't weaned on an X-Box.
Your Gilligan character comparison is apt. And, yes, Sherwood Schwartz pitched the networks on a fourth reunion movie where the castaways hear a report on the radio and think they are the only survivors of a nuclear war, and everyone marries each other (except the Howells, who already have) and twenty years pass, and Gilligan's young son sets out on a raft to see if what they heard is true. No one bought the idea, but I would have liked to see it.
Best regards - and don't forget the duct tape!
5 - NateW505
I'm actually liking this show, enough where I put it on a repeating recording for every week, but for chirssakes, can we lose some of the music? Does there really need to be a sappy piano solo for everything, or fast paced music for everything? Sometimes, silence is golden. That being said, the plot line has great potential if the writers play it properly.