First, I have to say I was thrilled with the premiere. I thought it was a compelling hour of television (check it out here if you didn’t see it last night), and accessible to anyone who might be interested, not just Season 1 fans. But I’m biased.

That leads me to this: I’m incredibly disappointed in Jericho’s showing in the ratings: 7.15M viewers, according to TVBytheNumbers.com. It didn’t even win its 10 p.m. timeslot.

I honestly don’t know what to make of that. CBS, in the past few weeks, has really made an effort to get the word out. Fans all over the world (literally) have been telling everyone they know to check it out. Virtually every newspaper in the country has run a story, either its own or a wire story, on Jericho’s resurrection and return.

Why did more people not check it out?

I haven’t a clue. All I know is that if the ratings don’t significantly pick up in the next week or so, that’s it. The version of episode 7 that we’ll be seeing is the one that wraps up the whole story. But I refuse to accept that just yet. It ain’t over ‘til it’s over.

So, I decided to do one more roundup of all the stories that came out yesterday that I didn’t get in time for my post yesterday. And stay tuned to Remote Access this week, because Friday we get to hear what Margie & Edna have to say about Reconstruction, and we’ll also have the Blackjack Fairgrounds blog carnival.

• Check out this vid for Sprague Grayden’s most memorable moment from last night’s episode. And listen to what she has to say about the fans and how she and the other cast members are humbled by the fans’ support and her nerves in filming these seven episodes were from wanting to be as good as the fans deserved. Have I mentioned lately how classy these folks are?

• Speaking of class, Lennie James took time out on a very busy premiere day for him, I’m sure, to conduct a live phone interview with Shelby and Zac of Jericho4Kids. Once upon a time, it turns out, he wanted to play professional rugby. He also played for hours with his Six Million Dollar Man (his favorite show, along with Happy Days) action figure when he was a kid and was a huge Marvel comics fan. UPDATE: By the by, check out this interview a Kansas City news station did with Shelby and her family.

• Entertainment Weekly had an interesting review. I disagree much with what he had to say (especially his thoughts that Maj. Beck is not an authoritative figure), but he’s an original fan and so has the right to opine as such. And the engagement scene still made him cry.

• iO9 had almost exactly the opposite assessment as Entertainment Weekly and liked the premiere a lot.

• MediaBlvd Magazine re-ran a transcript of a rountable with some of the cast and producers from the July Comic-Con. I hadn’t seen this before, and I’m quite interested in this tidbit, from Carol Barbee. I’m wondering if she’s speaking of Esai Morales’ character, Maj. Beck:

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.

• ComingSoon.net had a story by a fan thrilled the show had returned.

• An article in the New York Times discusses the resurrection, goes over all the new stuff we already knew about and talks about the parallels between Jericho and the war in Iraq, quoting Jon Turteltaub:

People, and by people I mean our bosses, probably prefer to not get all political. But that said, ‘Jericho’ is not ignoring the political and social landscape.

• The Canwest News Service gives a lukewarm review overall, but has nice things to say about our boy Skeet and says the show is fun overall. Here’s what it has to say about Jake/Skeet:

Skeet Ulrich is terrific as the hero, the prodigal son who returns to save friends and family from the blue meanies in the outside world. Ulrich is one of the real reasons to watch Jericho: He’s empathetic and easy to like as Jake Green, rugged individualist and haunted hero. He’s almost too good to be true—the loyal friend and reliable neighbour you always wish you had. Ulrich has the unshaven look of a survivalist down cold, a natural born leader who’s impetuous and given to emotional outbursts, but who’s benevolent and benign under all that surface crustiness.

• Blend Television sums up Season 1 and says that with the dearth of new shows on, the writer’s going to give Season 1 a shot and start watching Season 2.

• PopMatters gives a solid thumbs up and says in Season 2, Jericho’s turned into Battlestar Galactica. To someone like me, that’s rousing support. Plus, the writer calls Darcy Hawkins “super-cool.”

• IFMagazine has a solid (and looooong) interview with our boy Skeet Ulrich. He talks about a lot, including his favorite scene from Season 1, and its the one from “Winter’s End” in which April dies.

There was a moment in Episode 14 with [actor] Kenny Mitchell where his wife dies. She’s already gone through the surgery and is on her deathbed and wakes up and sees that he is sitting there. That look on his face, even thinking about it, brings tears to my eyes. Before any dialogue is spoken, just him seeing her eyes open, you can tell in every ounce of his body, there’s no way he can say anything. There is nothing he can say to tell her what he wants to tell her. Little moments like that.

• TVGuide.com has this inside look at Resurrection, including an explanation of why Gail Green won’t be seen much in these seven eps — don’t worry, Pamela Reed got work as Eli Stone’s mom (but she’ll always be Gail Green to me):

The actress reportedly addressed her not being given a contract during a panel on ageism at the Los Angeles Femme Film Festival. “Losing Pamela broke everyone’s heart,” says John Turteltaub, executive producer. “We were asked to cut our cast and put more action into the show. Your mom is not going to be a focus of the action.”

• And last, but not at all least, here’s SyFy Portal’s take on Resurrection. I do agree that you’d never know the budget had been scaled way back. And I wholeheartedly agree with the following:

The fans are getting exactly what they wanted and deserved by the return of “Jericho.” Let’s all make sure we’re there to support the show, and not have all these efforts be for [naught].