Jericho Nuked by CBS
http://www.eonline.com/news/article...m_medium=rssfeeds&utm_campaign=rss_topstories
Jericho Nuked by CBS
By Gina Serpe
Fri, 21 Mar 2008 12:02:01 PM PDT
RECOMMENDED (0)
0.0COMMENTS (0)TEXT SIZE + A | -A
Aw, (pea)nuts.
Despite getting a fan- (and legume-) powered reprieve, CBS has given the heave-ho to Jericho.
The latest—and likely final—cancellation of the apocalyptic series came Friday, per the Hollywood Reporter, after CBS execs determined the resurrected series had not generated big enough ratings. The season/series finale will air Tuesday night.
CBS has yet to comment on the axing, though a formal announcement is expected later today.
However, in what's no doubt an attempt to ward off another 25-ton delivery of peanuts to the network's New York and Los Angeles offices, the Reporter claims that two potential endings for the series have been filmed, and the one chosen for air isn't as definitive as it could have been.
Per the Reporter, the selected ending won't necessarily preclude the series from coming back to the airwaves, albeit on cable, if at all. Producers have been told the show's run on broadcast television has ended.
Last June, CBS Entertainment president Nina Tassler, in the wake of the enthusiastic peanut-sending campaign that has already gone down in the annals of TV fandom, ordered a seven-episode second season of the show, hailing the overwhelmingly persuasive nature of sending the nuts—an idea borne from a line in the inaugural season's finale—but warned that "for there to be more Jericho, we will need more viewers."
Unfortunately, follow-through doesn't appear to be Jericho fans' strong suit. The show has continually been on the losing end of the Nielsen fight since its relaunch last month. After the new season premiered, Jericho suffered one of its sharpest declines ever, losing nearly a quarter of its viewers from the previous week.
It does, however, continue to be a bankable hit online, both as one of CBS' Innertube's most-watched shows and as an iTunes performer. The second-season premiere sold more than 700,000 copies, making it one of iTunes' most downloaded shows.