Jericho CBS Premiers Sept 20

Pilot
First aired: 9/20/2006Writer: Stephen Chbosky Director: Jon Turteltaub Guest star: Alicia Coppola (Mimi), Kristen Rodriguez (Lisa Whalley), Bob Stephenson (Jimmy), Richard Speight, Jr. (Bill), Clare Carey (Mary Bailey), Vic Polizos (Shep Cale), Darby Stanchfield (Ann Green), Beth Grant (Gracie Leigh) , Taylor Nichols (Norman Perry), Leon Russom (Sheriff), Joey King (Sally), Joseph Castanon (Woody), Germaine De Leon (Alvie), Beau Dremann (Irate Father), Steve Hibbert (Business Man), Helena Barrett (Clerk), Madison Pettis (Stacie Clemons), Mackenzie Hannigan (Lucas), Al Vincente (EMT Crew Chief), Marlene Forte (Teresa Clemons), Thom Williams (Burly Man), Robert C. Koch (Riley), Bruce Bohne (Old Man Oliver), Princess Lucaj (Sara, PD Radio Operator), Stevie Walsh Junior (Danny), Ariel Winter (Julie), Alex Carter (Fire Chief), Tiffany Thornton (Staphanie Lancaster)

Pssst! I have a secret.

I’ve seen the first episode of CBS’s new series Jericho.

(from CBS's press release) JERICHO is a drama about what happens when a nuclear mushroom cloud suddenly appears on the horizon, plunging the residents of a small, peaceful Kansas town into chaos, leaving them completely isolated and wondering if they're the only Americans left alive. Fear of the unknown propels Jericho into social, psychological and physical mayhem when all communication and power is shut down. The town starts to come apart at the seams as terror, anger and confusion bring out the very worst in some residents. Jake Green, the prodigal son of the town's mayor, becomes a reluctant hero when a school bus crashes as a result of the explosion. Mayor Johnston Green is conflicted with the return of his estranged son, but is called to action when the town begins to riot. Johnston’s wife, Gail, is the strong, savvy first lady of the town who runs interference between her husband and her favorite son. Attempting to usurp the mayor’s power is Johnston’s political adversary Gray Anderson, who is not above putting his personal agenda before the welfare of the very community he wants to lead. Though the cloud appears in the distance, it affects all the residents in Jericho, including Dale Turner, the 16-year-old trailer park kid everybody picks on who finds himself in a position that could change his status; Robert Hawkins, a mysterious stranger who seems to be a jack-of-all-trades as he steps in to help restore order; Heather Lisinski, a pretty, young school teacher on the bus with her students returning from a class trip when the glare from the explosion causes a terrible accident; Emily Sullivan, Jake's high school sweetheart who lives outside of town and innocently goes about her business unaware of the catastrophe, Bonnie Richmond, a pretty 17-year-old who is hearing impaired; and Bonnie’s older brother Stanley, Jake’s best friend from childhood and an avid car lover who works on the family farm. In this time of crisis, as sensible people become paranoid, personal agendas take over and well-kept secrets threaten to be revealed, some people will find an inner strength they never knew they had and the most unlikely heroes will emerge.

Skeet Ulrich as Jake Green
Ashley Scott as Emily Sullivan
Sprague Grayden as Heather Lisinski
Kenneth Mitchell as Eric Green
Lennie James as Robert Hawkins
Michael Gaston as Gray Anderson
Erik Knudsen as Dale Turner
Gerald McRaney as Mayor Green
Pamela Reed as Gail Green

The first episode had a lot of promise. Skeet Ulrich plays the lead, the sort of black sheep rebel rouser who left town years ago without word. He arrives back in Jericho full of secrets, and a different answer to his whereabouts for everyone who asks. The town is a sort of nice small town in the desert type of place. After awhile of the usual homecoming, and recrimination all hell breaks loose. We get no warning; we get nothing, nothing but a mushroom cloud on the horizon. This is actually very well done, and the immediate consequences of the blast are what fuel the rest of the episode.

People start to panic, there is no communication, no one knows what is going on… I’m not going to spoil it for you, I am just going to tell you things you’ve seen in various clips on the web… OF course when you see the episodes and realize, that the clips sort of misled you, that its not as clear cut as you were first led to believe. It’s pretty awesome actually. So, in the confusion a school bus of children is missing, so are various other residents of Jericho. The mayor tries to calm the people, and sends the police to find the bus, and well.. They do… sort of.

We set Jake Green up as a hero pretty early on, but there is something dark in his past, where was he? Why was he being so mysterious? And they ay we find out that Atlanta is gone, that was a nice little WTF moment right then and there. Pretty awesome.

I give this ep a 5 star on the premise, the setup, and the acting. I will leave it to CBS to see where it goes from here.

The show will premiere on September 20, 2006 on CBS.
Wednesday nights at 8 PM