'Jericho' May Rise Again On Netflix

With networks cancelling shows before a full season has even aired, it’s hard for a series to gain a fan base that would be devoted to it. It is possible. After all, look at ‘Firefly’. It’s been close to 10 years since the last episode aired and the series only lasted for one season. The same can be said about the CBS series ‘Jericho’. Hope is in the air as the creator of the series, Stephen Chbosky, has stated that “new developments” with Netflix may see the show returning.

This may seem like repetitive news as back in May, we reported that the company had already started talking to CBS about bringing the series back but nothing has been heard since then. However, in an interview with Nerdacy at this year’s Santa Barbara International Film Festival, Chbosky did give an update about the fate of ‘Jericho:’

“You know WME (William Morris Endeavor) Agency, who represents me, Jon Turteltaub and many other people, and they’ve been talking to Netflix and you never know. I can’t say what it will be in season 3, but I’m excited for the new developments.”

‘Jericho’ followed the inhabitants of a small Kansas town and their struggle for survival after a devastating nuclear attack hit the United States. The series premiered in 2006 with 11.7 million viewers, but after some lack luster first season ratings, CBS decided to pull the plug on the series. A fan campaign to bring the show back on the air began with fans sending peanuts to the network.

If you were wondering why peanuts were chosen, that’s because in the final episode of the first season, the town was under siege from a neighboring community. They were asked to surrender but lead character Jake Green (Skeet Ulrich) responded with one word: “Nuts.” This became the town’s rallying cry and the town of Jericho went to war. The word then became a rallying cry for fans who thought they would never see the outcome of the battle when CBS cancelled the series, but their campaign was successful and a second season was ordered. Unfortunately, the ratings were worse than Season 1 so CBS cancelled the series permanently.

The series did go on for another season but in the form of a comic series much like ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ and most recently ‘Smallville.’ This past summer, a Season 4 comic series was released by IDW but so far only 1 issue has been published.

Since the comics are considered canon, picking up the mantle for ‘Jericho’ may be a little tricky. Of course, the series couldn’t pick up where the comics left off as it would alienate those fans who haven’t read them. Using the comics as inspiration for Season 3 (like AMC has done with ‘The Walking Dead’) may seem repetitive but seems to be an option.

When asked how the storyline for ‘Jericho’ would continue, Chbosky replied: