LOS ANGELES -- January 18, 2007
Although CBS decided that TV critics needed only a small panel
discussion with the "Jericho" team, a room overflowing with reporters
turned up to hear what's coming up on the post-apocalyptic drama.
Amidst a mushroom cloud of mystery, "Jericho" went off the air at the
end of November, starting a multi-month hiatus that won't conclude
until Feb. 21. During that time, denizens of the Internet have been
left to buzz about a first-year series that has, thus far, been more of
a solid performer than a bona fide hit. That left critics to inquire
how "Jericho," recipient of mostly tepid reviews, has developed its
following.
"They love the mystery of who is Robert Hawkins, and where has Jake
been," says executive producer Carol Barbee, referring to the lead
characters played by Skeet Ulrich and Lennie James. "I mean I think
people love that mystery. And then, of course, there's the whole
contingency of people who just blog about who's sleeping with who and
who they'd like to match up, and that's fun."
Co-star Ashley Scott, one of the show's potential love interests adds, "A lot of blogging about my humungous boobs."
Here's the problem: Viewers watching "Jericho" only to blog on Ashley
Scott's chest probably don't require narrative resolution. The show can
go in circles as far as they care, just so long as characters
occasionally get caught in the rain. On the other hand, viewers who
tune in to get wrapped up in the mythology actually need to know things
and as the producers on "Lost" can tell you, denying gratification to
those fans can lead to frustration in a hurry.
The "Jericho" team swears that before this season is over, many of the first season's key questions will be answered.
"I will tell you that by the end of this season -- we always planned to
close off or satisfy certain mysteries than open doors to a new level
of mystery," Barbee promises. "And
so by the end of the season, you will know where Jake's been for the
past five years. You will know what Hawkins' involvement is with the
bombings, and you will also know who was behind the bombings, who did
it. Why is a different reason and who
else is involved and who of our people are still involved and what that
second wave of attacks is going to be -- all of that stuff sort of is
the next level."
Barbee notes that the "Jericho" creative team has been monitoring
activity on the web, but she comes up short of assuring bloggers and
message board addicts that their words are changing the direction of
the show.
"I think we serve the fans best when we stick to the story we meant to
tell and it has an integrity to it," she says. "But, yes, I would say
that if 90 percent of the fans are sort of shifting in a certain way,
we have to look at that issue. Or if one fan says something that's
really cool, we'll go, 'That's a great idea.' So we do listen, but I
would say that 99.9 percent of what we're doing is we know the story
we're trying to tell."
For the season's second half, that
story will include some dark dealings involving Scott's Emily, whose
father is James Remar's outlaw Jonah. Jake and Hawkins will apparently
be forced to work together more extensively. Plus, the residents of
Jericho will enter into a trade agreement with a neighboring town with
mixed results. The nuclear attack will
still linger in the background, but the producers promise the series
will concentrate as heavily on the character-based subplots.
"The goal is to get people talking and thinking about themselves in the
context of a very changing world and in a world that could have serious
consequences, not to scare the crap out of everybody and say, 'Oh, my
God, this is going to happen,'" says executive producer Jon Turteltaub.
"It's more a question of 'Who are you?,' 'What would you do?' and
'Aren't these people really hot?'"
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Subject: Jericho Producers promise several answers 
Wed Jan 24, 2007 10:16 pm