By Christina Radish

Cast members Ashley Scott, Skeet Ulrich and Lennie James with producers Carol Barbee, Dan Shotz, Karim Zreik and Jonathan Steinberg at Comic-Con held at the Convention Center in San Diego, Calif. on July 29, 2007.

Three of the stars -- Skeet Ulrich, Lennie James and Ashley Scott -- of the post-apocalyptic fantasy about a Kansas town toughing it out in the most dire of circumstances, along with producers Carol Barbee, Dan Shotz, Karim Zreik and Jonathan Steinberg, spoke with MediaBlvd Magazine about the resurrection of Jericho. 

MediaBlvd Magazine> Do you consider this 7-episode arc self-contained, like a mini-series?

Carol Barbee> Yes, through 7, it has an ending. But, it’s an ending that takes you to the next level. You’ll see what the next phase of the story will be.

MediaBlvd> Is this just an ending for the series, or are you hoping to keep it going?

Carol> We want to keep it going, but give fans an ending at the end of 7, that’s satisfying, but also takes you to the next level. We’re not going to end it.

MediaBlvd> But, there isn’t a commitment to go past the 7 episodes yet, right?

Carol> No. But, there’s the absolute hope that we’ll get a third season, or even extra episodes now.

MediaBlvd> When did you first hear about what the fans were doing to keep the show alive?

Carol> Shaun Daily, who does the Shaun O’Mac radio show, actually started the nuts campaign the Friday before they cancelled us. He was doing it to say, “Don’t cancel the show.” So, it had started before, and then, when they actually made the announcement, that’s when it really happened in earnest. We knew about it, to begin with, before we were ever cancelled, and then it just snowballed after that.

MediaBlvd> Did you feel that it would make a difference, or did you think it was just a futile effort?

Carol> It made us feel better, so it felt good. But, no, I didn’t think it would get us renewed. About three days into it, I got an email from Nina Tassler, saying, “I know you’re out of town, but when you get back, we need to figure out what we can do because we need to make the fans happy.” So, I knew something more would come of it, but what that was remained to be worked out. They wanted a two-hour movie, and we didn’t want to do a two-hour movie. I didn’t know that we would get renewed, but I thought something more would come of it.

MediaBlvd> Fans have tried to save shows, like Star Trek, before without much success. What was different about the fan response this time?

Producer> We never felt that there was closure to our show, on the final day of production and throughout editing. As soon as the protest started, we felt that the way it was organized and run, it differentiated itself from all the other protests that we had seen or heard of. And, the execs at CBS would continue to call Carol, Dan and I and fill us in on what was going on. They said, “You know what, it’s working. We’re talking about it.” It took awhile. It was three or four weeks of trying to figure out what to do and how to do it. Is it a mini-series? Is it five episodes? Six episodes? Seven episodes? They finally came to us and said we could do seven episodes, and we jumped at it.

Carol> Also, Star Trek had a much longer run. We were on for one year, and CBS was very happy with us, creatively, by the end of the year. They were very happy with what we were going to do for the second season. It just came down to an old way of looking at numbers. So, I think everybody felt that we had not told our whole story, we had not run our course, and we hadn’t completely found our whole audience, that was out there for us. There was more potential.

MediaBlvd> How surprised have you all been at how much fan reaction can have an impact on things? And, what role do you think the Internet had in mobilizing everybody and getting everyone on the same page?

Producer> It gave them a really good argument. Five or 10 years ago, if you didn’t have the ratings, you didn’t have the ratings, and there wasn’t much that you could argue. Now, they had a very good argument. People watch online and on iTunes. And, on top of that, it helps people to organize. Within 24 hours of us being cancelled, they were at full speed. They organized faster than people who get paid to organize that quickly could do it. You couldn’t have done this 10 years ago.

MediaBlvd> Does that mean that CBS, and possibly other networks, are looking at more than just the ratings now?

Carol> I hope that’s true.

Producer> I think they’ll definitely take it into consideration, but the networks are still all going by the Nielsen ratings. So, that’s why you’ll see Nina Tassler mention that we need to get more people to the tube for this seven episodes. They’re pushing for more people to come to the TV, but they’re also taking it into consideration.

MediaBlvd> Will this allow genre shows to survive with slightly lower ratings?

Producer> I don’t know if it’s a genre thing. But, Jericho made a concerted effort, in Season 1, to put as much content as we could on the Internet. So, we focused on marketing toward all our fans on the Internet, and growing an audience that way. When we were off the air for three months, all the new content with Lennie was straight on the Internet. It gave fans a home to go to, at CBS.com. I think it depends on the show. CSI is not considered a genre show, but if they wanted to put some effort towards the Internet, they could do it. I don’t know if it’s a genre thing, or more about what you put up, content wise, to give fans access.

Producer> I don’t necessarily think that the networks are going to be in charge of it, but people are going to be watching their television more and more on demand. They’re going to choose when they’re going to watch it and what they’re going to watch, and it’s up to the networks to catch up to the viewers. It’s not up to the viewers to catch up to the networks. In the situation we’re in now, people are going to be watching their television more and more on demand. The water cooler moments are going to be about huge live events and things that you literally can’t miss, the night they go out. With everything else, more and more people are going to choose when they’re going to watch it, and the networks are going to have to figure out a way of countering that.

MediaBlvd> What are viewers going to miss out on, with the short season?

Producer> Not much. It’s going to be chock full.

Carol> We had pitched a story to CBS, for Season 2, that took place from three different points of view. And, what we’re doing is telling the Jericho portion of that, and we’re just telling it in seven episodes. So, if we get more episodes, we’ll go to the next story. We have those other stories that we do want to tell, but that would be Season 3.

MediaBlvd> Long hiatuses tend to kill a show, and you guys have had a really long hiatus. Did you do more web content to keep people interested?

(left to right) Co-stars Skeet Ulrich, Ashley Scott & Lennie James at Comic-Con held at the Convention Center in San Diego, Calif. on July 29, 2007.

Carol> We realized that we really do have to hit it from two different places -- the Internet and the traditional level.

Karim> And, the fans went crazy about the Jericho production blog, where we blogged every day, on CBS.com, to the fans. Different people from the crew and different actors were telling them what was going on, what our days were like and what went into making the show, and the fans went nuts about it.

MediaBlvd> As actors, how did it feel to find out that you had this kind of fan support for the show?

Ashley Scott> It’s amazing. I’ve been doing TV for seven years now, and the whole roller coaster of it. To be cancelled, it was just so sad. I worked with these people for a year that I fell in love with, and I fell in love with the show. And, it’s taken away from you, in a way that has no ending. When you’re doing the show, you’re working. You see the numbers are coming in, but to be able to see the faces behind the force of what we’re doing this all for, is really amazing. It’s incredible. I’m so proud that people put themselves out there and won. I’m shocked. It feels really good. So, everybody has to watch, so that we have more time.

Lennie James> There’s no other way of describing it other than that it was a truly incredible thing. No one knew it was going to happen, even though we were doing all the things with the Internet. There was no way of measuring the effect that the show was having across the Internet, or getting the feedback from it. But, people were talking to each other, internationally, and the show was having an affect, not just in America, but around the world. For all of those people, at the end of it, their passion for the show took us by surprise, and it took them by surprise, that people just kept joining the fight. At each point, when you’d think, “Okay, it’s going to run out of steam,” a whole new bunch of people would join the fight. To a certain extent, we had nothing to do with bringing Jericho back. We all bought nuts, and that was great, but beyond the nuts, the fans of this show brought this show back, and that’s an incredible testament to the show. And, I think it goes for all of us, but I can only speak for myself, I’m incredibly proud to be a part of a show that the fans stood up for. I’m humbled by their love of the show.

Skeet Ulrich> It was incredible. Certainly, it’s very humbling, and it does put a face on what we do. I’ve always been proud of the show for the simple fact that, when people talk about it, they wind up talking about issues so much larger than the show, and about different cultures and politics and their beliefs. And, I think that’s part of what’s driven this fandom. For whatever reason, we’ve been able to cross cultures and reach people in a way that, obviously, has been enough to affect us. It was an incredible experience. Honestly, I didn’t think it would amount to us coming back. You hear about it all the time, with people fighting for different shows, but to actually see it affect the network’s decision making process was mind-boggling. I’ll never forget that phone call.

MediaBlvd> Jake and Hawkins seem to have a bond. But, are they also watching each other?

Skeet> Yeah, I think there is a bond there, but they are definitely watching each other. We see that very early on. Actually, the first scene we shot, coming back, shows that there still is a mistrust. But, there is a unique bond. I think we all have a different bond, after shooting at your neighbors and being in the trenches with each other. All of the relationships are a bit heightened, given what happened.

MediaBlvd> Is Jake going to be the new guy running things in Jericho?

Skeet> I don’t want to give too much away, but by leading the fight on the battlefield, I think there’s a certain amount of expectations. Whether he can rise up to them or not, is left to be seen. But, the attempt is there.

MediaBlvd> For the seven episodes, are you going to be getting into the conspiracy mythology, or will there be more character stories?

Carol> It’s actually both. With the 7-day shoot and our constraints, we’re telling a much more focused story. It really comes down to scenes between Jake and Hawkins, and about the bigger mythology. They have a mission together that has to do with the bigger mythology, but is taking place in town, so you get both.

Lennie> Also, the bond between Jake and Hawkins comes from their new mission, that has very much to do with the larger mythology, but that is also about two guys who have this forced trust for each other. And, in all the adventures that they’ve had before, they don’t really know each other and they haven’t shared anything other than getting the job done. Over this new mission, part of the journey is about these two guys actually investing in each other, and then having that seriously challenged in the final episodes.

MediaBlvd> Will anything more develop between Jake and Emily?

Skeet> Certainly. All the relationships become a little more heightened, and that one is a bit more charged and does develop a lot further.

MediaBlvd> Is the whole cast back for Season 2?

Carol> Everybody is back for now. Except for Gerald McRaney, unless we flashback.

MediaBlvd> Will Jake’s past in San Diego come back into things at all?

Carol> We’re going further back than that. You will hear a lot about where he was and what drives him, in these seven episodes.

Producer> Further back into his experience working with contractors in the war zones in Iraq and Afghanistan. You saw pieces of it in the first season, and that shows its face again.

MediaBlvd> Will it be in flashbacks?

Carol> No, it’s a little bit more immediate than that. There will be actual people. The past comes back to haunt him a little bit.

MediaBlvd> Are there any spoilers you can share?

Producer> There is a lot to give away, let’s put it that way. We took 22 episodes worth of mythology, and a big story about the world and the government, and crammed it into seven episodes, in a way that I think is pretty organic. At the end of this season, these people will be in a far different place than they are at the beginning of the season.

Carol> And, Esai Morales is on the show now.

MediaBlvd> What can you say about Esai Morales’ character?

Carol> He comes in as the face of the Cheyenne government. At the end of Episode 22, there is a new government that’s formed in Cheyenne, Wyoming, and they’re combing through the Western part of the country, bringing stability and keeping the roads safe. There are 21 stars on the flag for the Cheyenne government because that’s how many states, west of the Mississippi, have signed on to Cheyenne as the new government. Texas has kept itself separate, you’ll be shocked to find out. The stripes are still the 13 original colonies, it’s just going in a new direction because it’s a new country. So, those guys have come to town, and he is the head of that force in Jericho. He’s in charge of bringing peace and stability, but it’s not easy because the fights between Jericho and New Bern aren’t over. So, he has to deal with those warring tribes.

MediaBlvd> Is he a good guy, or a bad guy?

Carol> He’s a good man.

Producer> But, he’s also here to hunt Hawkins, and to hunt for the bomb. In the finale last year, when Hawkins stuck his head out to use the satellite thing, he drew some attention to himself. So, a lot of the backbone of this season is the hunt for Robert Hawkins, who the government is saying is a terrorist that is in possession of another weapon that could be used to further the attacks.       

MediaBlvd> Will we get to see more of Heather (Sprague Grayden)?

Carol> Yeah, she’s back. There’s lots of Heather.

MediaBlvd> What are some of the ideas and concepts to deal with nuclear war, that are from real world planning, that have worked their way into the show?

Carol> Every time we talked to an expert, they had a different opinion of what it would be, so we had to choose an expert and go with it. I think the “Fallout” (Season 1, Episode 2) was challenging because it turns out that nuclear war was not so bad. The fallout didn’t go that far, and if it rains, it gets rid of it. That’s the good news. The bad news is that it’s hard to break stories.

MediaBlvd> Is that why you introduced this nationwide Electromagnetic Pulse, to totally isolate the town?

Carol> Yes. We wanted to isolate Jericho and knock out the grid. So, that’s why we set off the EMP.

Producer> It’s very interesting when you get to certain pieces of information because the experts will all give you a spectrum of what it could be. The information you get from the government is very different from the information you get from other people, and that’s when you know you’re into something interesting. So much of it’s hypothetical, and everybody has a different opinion on what it really would be.

MediaBlvd> Are there plans for any licensed products relating to the show?

Carol> Merchandising at CBS is talking about a graphic novel. We’re talking about video games and action figures. Definitely the graphic novel would probably be the first thing. We’re thinking of focusing on a certain character that comes into the story this season, but that’s to be determined because we haven’t actually done the deal yet. It would be somebody who’s actually part of the story this year, and seeing where they’ve been, and telling the story that brings them into our story.