Jericho Gets Nuked

As Jericho is one of my personal favorite new shows this year, I am upset to report that I won’t be watching any more. I have said in the past there is one thing that will make me stop watching a show. I have been accused of being a prude and of not understanding real life because of it too.

Last weeks episode had an allusion to the fact that Bonnie (Shoshannah Stern) had spent the night with her boyfriend at her house while Stanley (Bradley Beyer) was in New Bern. I started to question if I should even bother watching the show then. However, I couldn’t determine if Bonnie was a teenager or not.  While I had alway thought she wast, I didn’t want to give up on the show just then.

According to Stern’s IMBD bio, she is 26 years old. However, it isn’t uncommon for television to have actors portray people younger (or older) than they really are. So, I decided to reserve judgment. Honestly, I was hoping that they would just drop the issue and let me watch in peace.

However, they continued the story this week, and during a conversation between Stanley and Mimi (Alicia Coppola), Bonnie’s age is hinted to. She is referred to as a teenager, and it was specified that she was having sex with her boyfriend.

I struggled at that point. I love this show. While my interest in Jericho is starting to wane, I don’t want to stop watching yet. I even contemplated not writing about it today and just letting the incident slide hoping that no one would notice my hypocrisy.

However, I can’t do that. If I give in on one show, then I lose and those who are determined to normalize teen sex win. So, I am done with Jericho.

Before some of you start arguing that I don’t know anything about teenagers, I want to point out, that yes I know teens are having sex. I also understand that sex is very much on most teenagers’ minds. However, it isn’t something that they should take casually, and too many television shows are treating this as a casual act.

I am also hopeful that there is still a large number of teens who are choosing to abstain. I am still waiting for a show that emphasizes that choice, and not as some fanatically religious reason for their choice. I am fine with religion being a part of the choice. I am just afraid that the media will make it some religious fanatical reason for the decision.

I predict that Jericho will lose a lot of viewers over the rest of this season, and I further predict that fewer will return for the next season. I am sure I am not the only person who feels this way. We need to have more viewers be more discerning about the shows they choose to watch. As for me, I am done with one of my favorite shows this year.

Don’t Delay My Drama

Why all the delays?!

Heroes, Lost and Jericho are perhaps my three favorite shows on TV. Most Americans would probably agree with me on that list too. And yet we find ourselves having to wait for at least several weeks before they air the next episode.

Jericho’s delay is probably directly related to March Madness and I can forgive the CBS decision makers for that. However, I don’t understand the NBC or ABC decision makers.

For the time being ABC is keeping Lost on the air until this season is over. That’s great. But I don’t understand the huge delay in the middle of the season. They finally bring the show back just in time for February’s sweeps.

We got pretty much the same treatment from CBS and NBC too. We had to go on hiatus from these serialized shows for at least two months after the November sweeps.

Are the viewers only worth their votes on the ratings months? Sure we have value then. But when we are treated as though that is our only value to the producer, we aren’t happy.

It’s acceptable to have a break in a sitcom or a regular drama, but when the show is serialized, people hang on from week to week. I have even found that it is better to just wait and either rent the video, or watch the replay on the Internet.

I have to give NBC a little credit in that they did at least allow Peter to “save the cheerleader” before they took a break. We at least got some closure. Lost, however, didn’t give us the same courtesy. If I recall correctly the best that they gave us was revealing that Jack, Kate and Sawyer were on a different island. However, Jack was also told by Juliet to kill Ben. We were left hanging even more.

Well-done serial stories are great, they keep us wanting to return. This is especially true when the story lines are as captivating as Jericho, Lost and Heroes. But the producers and broadcasters need more respect for their audience.

This is a call out the decision makers at the television networks. Have more respect for your viewers. If you string us along too much, we will get fed up and leave.

Jericho Flawed But Entertaining

After watching the premier last week, I truly felt that Jericho was the best show that I had seen thus far this season. I seriously considered writing about how great it was, and why I loved it.

However, after watching the preview for this weeks show, I had some concerns. I didn’t want to write a positive review to find out that this week was going to take the show in a direction I wasn’t happy with.

While this week’s show wasn’t as good as last week, I was happy with it. First of all, in order to really enjoy this show, you have to throw out reality. I couldn’t help notice several inconsistencies. One inconsistency is the truck Jake was driving silently pulled up to the house just in time for him to shoot the prison escapee. Not only is this just too cliché of a storyline, it amazes me how well the muffler acted on cue.

However, despite the lousy directing, the story line is still interesting and it is intense. I am not sure that the level of intensity for this episode and the premier will be maintained. However, I think that will be replaced with the mystery.

We already see the mystery starting to develop. Why the hydrogen bombs? Who is Robert Hawkins? Can these people make it through?

Perhaps as the show catches on, the directors will realize that radios don’t work well in radiation storms (see The Effects of Nuclear Weapons, p. 479-489). I hope that some of the technical flaws are looked into, and not just blatantly ignored. Then they will remove the mountains from the skylines, after all this is supposed to be in Kansas.

For now, I really love the sense of community that is brought out in this show. People are working together to do the right thing. Men are giving up their spots in a secure bomb shelter and heading for mines to be protected from the radiation.

Sure there are less than stellar people in this community, but the good guys are winning and the community is coming together. This will definitely be a great show because it builds up the common man.

Fall Preview: Jericho

Okay, I have to admit that I am a sucker for science fiction. And perhaps that’s why I feel Jericho has a lot of potential this fall. However, the previews also show that this could be the next LOST.

The big question of this show is what would you do if? Thus, it becomes a dialogue, if you will, about what people do when they are presented with a situation they have never dealt with before. Some will choose wrong, most will choose right, and ultimately right will prevail.

I predict that this show will be the best new show of the year. It will capture the heart of America. It will show that evil exists, but the good will overcome evil. It will show how people can and do work together to make the world a little better, no matter what fate has dealt them.

The characters for this show are very interestingly put together. Jake Green (Skeet Ulrich) is the prodigal son, who happened to be in town for a short just time before the nuclear bombs hit. Now he decides to stay and help out. Thus, he becomes the unlikely hero of the story.

However, Jake’s relationship with his father, and Jericho’s Mayor, Johnston Green (Gerald McRaney) is troubled. This is where the main personal conflict develop. These two characters clash as they try to put this town back together again. This troubled relationship is often calmed by Jake’s mother, Gail Green (Pamela Reed).

There are also other great supporting characters that will add to this show. Perhaps the most intriguing character will be Bonnie Richmond (Shoshannah Stern). Bonnie is hearing impaired, and we will she how she copes with this very unique situation.

Robert Hawkins (Lennie James) is a mysterious stranger who seems to be able to handle many of the trials presented. He is the MacGyver of the show, but who is he really?

Jericho will have mystery, suspense, intrigue and so much more. This show will definitely be a success. Just how successful is yet to be determined.