(SEE CW NEWS PAGE FOR IMPORTANT NEW SCHEDULE FOR JERICHO REPEATS. WATCH WHENEVER IT IS ON....WE ARE IN THE GAME AGAIN!) That's the heading that greets visitors to the Jericho Fan Community, the show's official wiki. Now that the CW has dumped their Sunday night shows leased by Media Rights Capital -- "Valentine," "In Harm's Way," Easy Money" and "4 Real" (was this show even on for real?) -- they're filling the hole starting Nov. 30 with MGM Movies, reruns of Season 1 episodes of "The Game," "Everybody Hates Chris" and "Jericho," which was canceled by CBS twice, and Season 2 of "The Drew Carey Show."
So does this mean anything for "Jericho" fans, many of whom would like to see a Season 3 of the series? The CW itself probably couldn't make a show like "Jericho," not with the show's huge cast and need for at least some special effects. But could renewed interest in the show capture the attention of another network or cable station? It will be interesting to see what the ratings are for the "Jericho" repeats. (The Nov. 30 episode ended up getting 1.25 million viewers.) Meanwhile over at jericholives.com, there's not as much as a forceful message, but still instructions on how to encourage CBS to give "Jericho" new life -- on a different station. I'm sure CW repeats is not what they had in mind.
The "Jericho" repeats (on at 7/6 p.m.) could open things up to a new audience of fans who either never saw the show or weren't committed enough to follow it through its bumpy schedule changes. Die-hard fans, though, have already seen all the eps, and probably own them on DVD, but maybe they'll tune in just for the novelty of seeing "Jericho" on TV again. If you haven't seen the show, it's definitely worth checking out. I watched the 29 episode series on Netflix and really loved it. It's complex, timely (plenty of allusions to Sept. 11 and the fallout from Hurricane Katrina) and has a great cast. Occasionally, it wanders into Hallmark-y territory, but the action and strength of the close-knit cast always kept it interesting. It sure is addicting. "Jericho" follows how the residents of a small town cope after a nuclear attack.
The CW might seem like a strange home for "Jericho" considering that most of the CW's shows are aimed at a young demographic (age 18-34) but it's not a bad choice. For one thing, in Chicago at least, the CW airs on WGN, which is also the sometimes home of Chicago Cubs games. And the ratings game for the CW is much less expectant, considering its most-watched shows like "America's Next Top Model" and "Smallville" get about 4 million-plus viewers. (In its first season, "Jericho" averaged 9.8 million viewers, the second season saw a 6.2 million average.) Of the four MRC shows, only "Valentine" cracked 1 million viewers on a regular basis.
Hopefully, the CW will air not just the first season of "Jericho," but its seven-episode second season, too. Otherwise, they could incite another peanut riot (fans sent nuts to CBS when the show was canceled the first time) since the first season ends on a major cliffhanger.
The rest of the CW Sunday night lineup will be "Everybody Hates Chris" at 5/4 p.m.; "The Game" at 5:30/4:30 p.m.; back-to-back Season 2 episodes of "The Drew Carey Show" 6/5 p.m.; "Jericho" at 7/6 p.m. and "The Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course" at 8/7 p.m.
With not much time, or options, reruns seem to be the only way to go, but "Drew Carey"? Really? The show hasn't been on the air in four years, and I've always looked at it as a show you watch because there's nothing else on, and you can't find the remote. It set my teeth on edge in the same way "Everybody Loves Raymond" did. Was there really no other syndicated show available? (I know a few "Moonlight" fans wouldn't mind getting a shot.)
Meanwhile, the movies the CW plans to show tend toward the '80s/early '90s nostalgia with "The Cutting Edge," "Revenge of the Pink Panther," "Trail of the Pink Panther," "Spaceballs," "Carrie," "Throw Momma From The Train," "Mr. Mom," "Anti-Trust," "Three Amigos!" and "Teen Wolf."
The big guns on the networks on Sunday nights are "Desperate Housewives," "Extreme Home Makeover" and "Cold Case," and on cable there's shows like "Dexter" and "True Blood" that aired in the fall this year because of delays from the writers strike. Although with the early CW air times, it hardly competes against anything.
So what will be the results of the "Jericho" repeats? Here's hoping they at least do better than "Drew Carey." If they don't, now that would just be nuts.
(Here's an article with more info on the CW and Media Rights Capital situation.)
Source: blogs.pioneerlocal.com
0 comments:
Post a Comment