Seeing as tomorrow brings us the return of Jericho, there are tons of news articles out there, across the nation. This list is by no means comprehensive, but covers a lot of them, plus a couple of bonus links:

• First, we have the San Jose Mercury News, focusing on the two local folks in the cast, Michael Gaston (Mayor Gray Anderson) and Shoshannah Stern (Bonnie Richmond). Writer Chuck Barney points out five things you need to know about Jericho: The setting (Jericho, Kansas); Jake Green (Stern points out that Skeet Ulrich “apparently” is “pretty cute”; Robert Hawkins; Cheyenne, Wyoming; and Nuts. Here’s a snippet from the article, a quote from Stern:

When I found out about my story line, I was just over the moon. (Viewers) will get a look at just how complicated and beautiful her relationship with Stanley is. You’ll finally see her deal with the emotional consequences of losing her parents at such a young age.

• Next stop, the Orlando Sentinel, where critic Hal Boedeker opines that the show deserve its second chance “Sticking with the series pays off.” Let’s hope the viewers and the network believe it.

• The Kansas City Star says the writer’s strike is good for Jericho. That, and the fact that it’s not up against American Idol.

• The Gannett News Service also points out the benefits of airing at the tail end of the writer’s strike and in a better timeslot. Also offered a tidbit I didn’t know. I’d heard Skeet called Lennie James (Hawkins) in England to let him know the show had been resurrected; I didn’t realize he also broke the news to Kenneth Mitchell (Eric), who was in China at the time. A snippet, from co-creator Jon Steinberg:

The first season was about the absence of law and government. The second season is about restoring government.

• The Boston Globe applauds both CBS for giving Jericho a second chance, and the fans for pushing for it. And the writer, Joanna Weiss, had this to say:

The world is well-constructed, down to the details: By the third episode this season, Ulrich’s hair has grown into a messy and convincing frontier mullet. And the characters are intriguing; Esai Morales is notable as an Allied States Army major who might soon be convinced that his superiors are up to no good.

• The Washington Post goes in-depth on how the resurrection happened, giving Carol Barbee, Lennie James and others the opportunity to basically say how fantastic the fans were/are. Barbee told the writer, about the second season:

We had nothing to do with it. The fans all did it themselves. I think it will probably be one of those things that will always be one of the highlights of my career.

And she spills a little “nuts” tidbit I hadn’t heard before:

Skeet found it very difficult to deliver that line. He was like, ‘I just feel so silly,’ and then he did it, and he did it well. But none of us thought that somebody would think about it as peanuts. It’s like this perfect storm. It’s one word. It’s kind of funny.

• The Oregonian quickly recaps the nuts campaign; gives a short explainer of the past; discusses the present, a “mystery”; and prophesizes the future.

• Newsday laments that although New York survive the nukes on Jericho, it didn’t survive the pared-down action of Season 2 (the plot was to have unfolded in Jericho, Cheyenne and New York City, but with a short seven-episode order and a shrunken budget, that got scrapped). Barbee told them:

The story of season 2 walks in the door with Esai Morales and he’s a brand-new character. That happens in the top of act one, and we’re going to be following that story through the whole season. So it’s easy for new viewers to come in. These seven episodes go like wildfire, because every episode, something huge happens.

• The Deseret Morning News has two stories. This one talks about how Season 2 is even better than Season 1. This one talks about the resurrection. And the nuts. The latter article also interviews Nina Tassler of CBS, who had kind words for the fans (and even reveals that the guy waiting on her at her camera store recognized her and told her he’d sent an e-mail and that her doctor, “before giving her the results of some tests, handed her a bag of peanuts.” (!!!):

What was extraordinary is, I went on those message boards. I read many of those e-mails. And what you saw was a huge segment of the population that really felt they were not being counted. More specifically, that they had a knowledge and awareness of the show that was so detailed and so committed and so passionate, we said, ‘Look, this is a rare opportunity for us to really interact with our audience and take another shot.’

• The website IGN had a rountable discussion with Carol Barbee, executive producer John Turtletaub and producers Karim Zreik and Dan Shotz. Here’s a smidge of what Turtletaub had to say:

We’re coming back at a different time slot, which is part of it. That’s a case of CBS being agile enough to change what they were doing before. If our show stunk up the ratings, there are not enough peanuts in the world to have brought back the show.

• The Providence Journal tells how Skeet’s phone call to Brad Beyer to tell him the show had been resurrected nearly cost us our beloved Stanley.

I was in my car [on the I-405 freeway in Los Angeles], checking the voice mail on my cell phone, and there was a message from co-star Skeet Ulrich that CBS was going to keep us after all. I almost ran off the expressway.

• The Los Angeles Times has an opus about the fan protest and what Season 2 will bring and shared these stats: “In 22 days, nearly 5,000 fans from around the world spent $54,968 to send 40,377 pounds of nuts—about 8 million peanuts.” Wow. And I loved this quote from exec prod Jon Turteltaub:

I’ve seen these kinds of fan campaigns before and they didn’t work. But we knew it was getting traction when CBS executives called us to ask for help in quelling the riot. To which our response was to pretend the phone wasn’t working. To me, that was like your ex-girlfriend asking you to help her with her new relationship. You broke up with us—good luck with your new boyfriend.

And this, a quote from Nina Tassler, was a tidbit I hadn’t heard before:

Before we canceled the show, Skeet and Lennie came together into my office in L.A. and they sat side by side, and I have to tell you, they spoke with such intimate detail about how they felt about the show, how they felt about their characters and how the cast members felt about each other. The fact that these two actors had taken it upon themselves to come in and represent the personal and human drama behind the show spoke volumes about their commitment. At the network, we can be very removed from what makes a show special, and when they came in together, that’s what I saw. And it really stayed with me.

• TV Barn points out, like others, that the show is strike insurance and talks about the series’ reboot.

• TVbytheNumbers.com promises to have all the ratings info on Jericho as the season goes by, and has last season’s numbers, as well.

• Here’s another behind the scenes look at Season 2 from CBS.

• Rich over at Copywrite, Ink. counted down the days this weekend, looking at it from a consumer point of view, and what the ramifications might here are only three full days left before many of the questions surrounding Jericho, the television series given a reprieve last year, begin to shift from speculations and to undeniable facts. Starting Feb. 12 and for the weeks that follow, CBS executives will be considering which of two second season episodes shot will air on week seven.

• Finally, The Sudbury Star lists the movies due out on DVD tomorrow, and they include this gem from 1997 (actually, it’s a pretty good cast and Elmore Leonard’s a hoot; I should check this one out):

Touch: Skeet Ulrich, Bridget Fonda, Christopher Walken and Tom Arnold star in this film based on an Elmore Leonard novel. Ulrich plays a man who discovers he can heal the sick with a touch of his hand. This attracts some folks who would like to capitalize on his powers.

Photo courtesy of CBS.