They will also be able to socially engage viewers with features such as sharing, polls, ratings, and contests.

Jericho had decent, but not “great,” Nielsen numbers for traditional viewing. They went up considerably when you took DVR (time-shift) viewing into consideration. Take into account the folks who watched the episodes online, on CBS’ own website and the numbers were unknown. But based on the online chatter, it was not insignificant.

If folks could watch CBS content without even having to go to the CBS site (or using BitTorrent or other — generally illegal — download sites), imagine how many people would watch shows online.

Mashable has an important point, though:

The big question will be whether or not iWidgets will be able to handle the incredible bandwidth requirements this endeavor will demand, especially when it comes to High Definition content down the road.

Speaking of Jericho, the Blackjack Fairgrounds Jericho Blog Carnival is alive and well, and this month’s installment is hosted over at Kricka’s blog, Short Story Life. The theme this month is “Jericho Minstrels: Fan Fiction, Videos, Poems and Songs.”

Thanks to Kricka for an excellent hosting job, to Gwen for keeping the carnival alive and to all those who contributed their considerable creative talents. For past and future hosts and to submit entries, go here.

Photo courtesy of CBS.

Asked “How many new TV series will you watch at least one episode of this fall?”, the answer that got the most responses was “1 or 2,” with seven tallies.

This was my vote, for what it’s worth, because it takes a lot for me to sacrifice another hour or two for new series, so the pitches have to be particularly impressive or unique.

The lone new series I’m making a point to watch this fall is “Fringe,” and that’s primarily due to Lance Reddick, the actor known to faithful viewers of “The Wire” as Cedric Daniels. Other than that, nothing new on network TV interests me and I have about eight active shows that I keep up with on a regular or semi-regular basis.

Besides, I spend plenty of time doing things other than watch TV. That doesn’t make me a snob; my frequent use of semicolons does.

That’s due in part to the writers’ strike limiting production on pilots, resulting in networks having fewer choices from which to pick.

However, five votes were tallied among those who plan to watch at least one ep of “3 or4” new series, and an additional five were from RA readers who will watch “5 or more” series this fall. Hope you clear enough space on your DVRs, people.

A couple of voters said they’d watch no new series due to a lack of time and another voter said they’d watch none due to a lack of interest.

The next Remote Access poll is the brainchild of fellow Accessory Brian Howard: “What series from the last decade have you never seen but most want to catch up with?” My answer is “Lost,” because much like “The Wire,” which I have seen and love, the complex plots of the ABC drama and voluminous previous seasons are what keep me from tuning in.

Now, I know what some of you are thinking, and here’s my reply: This poll requires the honor code. We know how many of you RA readers watch “Jericho,” “The Wire” and “Deadwood,” so please don’t vote for your favorite show just to tilt the balance if you’ve seen one or more episodes. Play fair, kids.

The theme this month is “Happenins in the Jericho Fandom.”

So mosey on over and check it out.

And remember: No guns, thieves will be strung up, and be sure to leave before nightfall!

I was already intrigued by that production tandem’s next H-B-Opus, the seven-part miniseries “Generation Kill,” which chronicles young Marines’ first 40 days of America’s invasion of Iraq in 2003. But it was downright serendipitous when I realized that James Ransone, the actor who played one of “The Wire’s” wildest Season 2 characters (Chester “Ziggy” Sobotka), would be one of the stars of “Generation Kill.”

Ransone’s re-emergence shouldn’t be too much of a surprise, considering how much HBO (rightfully) recycles its talented series cast members. Former “Deadwood” actors popped up frequently on “John from Cincinnati,” for example. Devout “Jericho” fans (AhemAmyVernonCough) might also recognize the scrappy actor, who played Daryl in the 2007 episode “A.K.A.” of the recently canceled CBS series.

In addition to Ransone, the “Generation Kill” ensemble cast includes Alexander SkarsgÃ¥rd (son of Stellan SkarsgÃ¥rd; not to be confused with “Jarhead” star Peter Sarsgaard), Lee Tergesen, Jon Huertas and Stark Sands.

After the break is a partial transcript of HBO’s “Generation Kill” synopsis.

Based on the award-winning nonfiction account of the same name by Evan Wright, the journalist embedded in the lead Humvee of First Recon’s Bravo Company’s Second Platoon, the miniseries is a precise retelling of the early weeks of the military campaign from the point of view of the guys on the ground: the non-commissioned officers and platoon-level commanders who led the way to Baghdad.

Real events are depicted. Real names are used. As much as possible, the film employs the precise dialogue reported by Wright, a Rolling Stone correspondent assigned to First Recon Battalion during their last weeks in Kuwait. The filmmakers made every effort to recreate Wright’s account of Bravo Two Marines riding from the Kuwait border into the slums of Baghdad.

(Photo courtesy of HBO.)

They raised $5,380 to send 219 Season 2 DVD sets to military personnel overseas. In addition, they include recorded messages by writers and producers of Jericho. A sampling:

Co-Executive Producer Dan Shotz: “Jericho, at its core, is a show about hope.  You guys define hope.  Thank you for all you do.”

Executive Producer Jon Turteltaub: “You’re an inspiration to all of us.

The DVDs, just as they were with the lot from the first season, will be shipped straight to the front lines from the Staten Island Project Homefront, a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting U.S. troops by providing them with leisure items including snacks, CDs, books and personal items.

Tidbits on the DVD collection this time around:

• 21 sets “came from a middle school classroom in Boca Raton, Fla., where teacher Susan Oyer challenged her students to help make a difference. Through money earned by doing chores and hunting for spare change on schoolroom floors, they raised nearly $450 for the cause.”

•  Jericho4Kids raised $267.

• “An auction of show memorabilia obtained and donated by Jericho on-set dresser Mike Loomer produced an additional $975 for the campaign.”

Here’s some other humanitarian efforts undertaken by the Jericho Rangers:

• A $20,667 donation in 2007, with the assistance of www.Nutsonline.com, to Greensburg, KS to aid in a massive rebuilding effort following a catastrophic F5 tornado;
• A charity auction at Jerichon, the annual convention hosted by www.guardiansofjericho.com that  produced nearly $4,000 for Greensburg and VFW efforts;
• Ongoing care package shipments of toiletries, games, books, DVDs, etc. to a designated military  contact and Jericho fan on behalf of other troops serving in Iraq;
• The current Spreading the Nutty Love campaign, in which nearly $1,080 worth of peanut butter  (378 jars) and other food essentials are being donated to the Kansas Food Bank (in a state especially hard-hit by tornadoes)

Wanna know more about the program? Check out www.jerichorangers4ourtroops.com.

Banner image courtesy of JR4OT. 

I know, people tell me it’s amazing. I’m also fiercely intimidated by joining a complicated show so late in its run, which is why it took me so long to give “Deadwood” a try—and wow, I’m glad I did. But I’m also unmotivated to catch up on a series with season after season on DVD, especially when that honor is currently bestowed on “The Wire.” I just finished the fourth episode of Season 2, when Freamon looks 10 years younger than he does in Season 5 and Daniels is slowly working his way up the po-lice ladder. And it’s fantastic, obviously.

But there’s no disputing the powerful, almost cult-like fan base of “Lost.” One friend of mine only watches one show with any regularity and it’s “Lost.” And even people who feel like the show has lost its footing still watch it every week, much like fans of “The Sopranos” would complain that it would never live up to the quality of its first two seasons, but watched all the way through to the end for fear they’d miss something groundbreaking. (Insert joke about that series finale here.)

For a cliffhanger show like “Lost,” the stakes for season finales are much higher than, say, “30 Rock” (which I love, by the way). So when crazy things happened and new twists were revealed—can you tell I didn’t see it?—a heckuva lot of you (31 percent of voters) seemed to like what happened and voted accordingly in the latest Remote Access poll, deeming it the best season finale among fall series we regularly cover on this blog.

Placing second with 26 percent of the vote was “Jericho,” which filmed two endings and wound up using the one that worked more as a series finale.

Placing third (too low!) with 8 percent of the vote was the finale of “The Office,” which was by far the best episode of Season 4 and featured a command performance by “Wire” veteran Amy Ryan, as evidenced by this classic one-minute snippet when she endears herself to Michael and millions of “Office” fans:

Tied for fourth were the finales for “Heroes” and “House,” with 6 percent of the vote. Find out the rest of the results—and our latest poll—after the break.

Our next poll was suggested by fellow Accessory, Jenny Higgons, and it works nicely with the buzz surrounding the spin-off of “The Office” that’s in the works. What’s the best TV spinoff of all time? I’ve compiled some of the best ones she suggested as well as others listed in a related MSN article.

As usual, we’ve started with our list, but you’re more than welcome to add your own as long as they’re actual spin-offs. Scroll down the right margin and vote away!

(Photo courtesy of ABC)

Fortunately, the Blackjack Fairgrounds blog carnival has been resurrected and is hosted by Jane at The Monster.

So I’ll skip the articles that are in the carnival and just share other things I’ve come upon:

• Lost the link for this, but the upcoming series Crash, on Starz (based on the movie of the same name) snagged two Jerichoians for its cast. Clare Carey (Mary Bailey) plays “Christine, a mother living in Brentwood and married to a successful real estate developer” and D.B. Sweeney (Goetz – boo!)  plays “Peter Emory, a real estate developer, husband to Christine and father to a teenage daughter.” If you know the article/post this came from, please let me know and I’ll hyperlink it.

• Also lost the exact link on this, but the SunHerald.com had an article about Scrabble celebrating its 60th anniversary with a big old celebrity charity game in which Skeet Ulrich was among those who advanced to the finals. See, he has brains in real life, too.

• Brad Beyer (Stanley Richmond) and Ashley Scott (Emily) are up for doing a Jericho feature movie if the opportunity were to arise and a third season were definitely out of the question.

Photo courtesy of CBS. 

Jericho truly is a special experience for the fans (myself included) and all those involved in producing the show.

Take the latest missive I received today from the Saving Jericho Again folks:

Jericho Executive Producers Jon Turteltaub (“National Treasure,” “National Treasure: Book of Secrets”) and Carol Barbee (CBS’ “Swingtown”) also have posted messages on www.savejerichoagain.com, applauding the TV ad as “brilliant” and “amazing.”

Both Turteltaub and Barbee also thanked Jericho fans for their continued support and passion, affirmed that meetings regarding Jericho’s future were ongoing, and asked fans to hang tight on the collective fight to resurrect the canceled show starring actor Skeet Ulrich.

The ad first aired June 10 and since then, the SJA folks inform me, the site has received more than “9,000 visits, with over 26,000 page views and 6,300 absolute unique visitors (visits from a single IP address) from 66 countries and territories and viewed in 44 different languages.”

Wow.

The ad on YouTube has had more than 13,000 views and folks have downloaded a hi-res version of the TV ad more than 300 times.

Plus, folks have downloaded “Save Jericho” postcards more than 1,250 times.

Says Rubber Poultry:

The response has been tremendous. I haven’t seen this kind of activity since the show was originally renewed. The cast, crew and producers are really excited, too. They’ve expressed their excitement both publically and privately about what fans are doing.

Here’s the note from Gwen about the carnival:

For those of you who have not heard of a Blog Carnival, it is a collection of links about a particular subject.

Blackjack Fairgrounds is looking for submissions that are of interest to Jericho fans. These submissions can be announcements, articles, blog entries, discussions, fan fiction, humor or anything else that might interest a Jericho fan.

As long as you can provide a link you can submit it!

The submission deadline is June 25th, and the current edition of Blackjack Fairgrounds will open on June 30th.

Submissions can be made here or you can e-mail blackjack@jerichojki.com.

Blackjack Fairgrounds is also looking for hosts. If you want Blackjack Fairgrounds to come to your corner of the Jericho fandom, then offer to host one of the road show editions. Our host for the June road show edition is The Monster.

Thanks, Gwen. Remote Access will continue to be a FOBF (Friend of Blackjack Fairgrounds), and I’ll be posting each month to let you know that it’s posted.

Photo courtesy of CBS. 

A big ol’ billboard in downtown Los Angeles? Just getting started.

Last night, the biggest fan effort ever in the history of television takes to the airwaves in an effort to save the post-apocalyptic drama Jericho. Again.

More than 200 commercials will air on cable in and around Hollywood, Beverly Hills and the South and East San Fernando Valley, narrated by Brad “Stanley Richmond” Beyer and designed by the extremely talented fan who goes by the handle Rubber Poultry.

From May 9 to June 1, fans from around the globe (besides all over the U.S., from Sweden, Croatia, Australia, Canada, France, Spain, Romania and the Netherlands) raised $6,314.88 to purchase airtime for the 30-second ad.

It’ll air on Sci Fi, Discovery and the History Channel, during primetime and on shows that include Ghost Hunters, Deadliest Catch, a special on Area 51 and a special on Greensborough, Kansas, a town devastated by tornadoes for which Jericho fans raised thousands of dollars to help residents recover.

It’s amazing how much this show’s fans have done to resurrect this show. Any network would do well to pick it up. For all the info and to check out the ad, which is great, check this site out.

Other coverage: Click here.

Oh, and Jon Turteltaub sent the fans this message:

Jon Turteltaub here and I have to tell you… Wow! I am beyond impressed with both the enthusiasm and the talent that went into the commercial you made. It’s brilliant!

People say we work in a cynical business, but I can tell you that none of us on “Jericho” feel anything less than grateful and encouraged by your support, effort and passion.

We’re still fighting…. and knowing you’re all out there, fighting right along with us, has completely kept this fight alive.

In my career, I have never experienced anything like this. Sometimes, the quantity of fans, viewers and theater goers is only visible in ratings and box-office numbers. But on “Jericho”, you are all very real and very special to us.

Thanks for being there… and for giving us the belief in our show, and in you, even when times are tough.

We’re not done yet!!

Jon Turteltaub

Other Jericho news:

• Fans are on a mission to fill the warehouse for the Kansas Food Bank with peanut butter. Read all about it here. You can order through the group’s Amazon Wish List (coupon code: SKIPPY13; include it at checkout to receive 25% off your order, valid until June 30) or bid in the Ebay auction of postcard from Oakley, Kansas (the site of the 2008 Jerichon), signed and auctioned with permission by Jericho Producer / Writer Matt Federman and On-Set Dresser Mike Loomer (remember Loomer Ridge? named for him!). More info here.

• Season 2 DVD. All the info on extras is here, Lots of audio commentaries, as well as tons of deleted scenes and, of course, the alternate ending.

• Finally, Mary Bailey herself, Clare Carey, is co-starring with Dennis Hopper in the Starz TV series adaptation of the Oscar-winning film, Crash. She’ll play “Christine, a frustrated mom who is married to a successful pre-bust real estate developer.” And Sanford Bookstaver, who directed three awesome episodes of Jericho (“Long Live the Mayor,” “A.K.A.” and “Why We Fight”), is directing the first episode.

Photos courtesy of CBS. 

I don’t blame anyone. Life’s busy. You have more important things to do with your time than remember a silly blog carnival. Heck, last time around, I didn’t have time to submit an entry! And the guest hosts — Anna, Margie & Edna and kricka — all did stellar jobs when their turn came. I even had two more guest hosts lined up.

But I fear that although the interest in reading a carnival is still there, the interest in keeping it going is not. If anyone disagrees and would like to take over ownership of the carnival, please e-mail me and I would be happy to transfer ownership of the carnival.

Anyway, there’s been no lack of articles out there about Jericho, so after the one entry for this week’s carnival, I’ll post quickie notes on all the things I’d been saving up in my drafts folder:

fanshawe shared Blood, peanuts and the future of television posted at cinemarealm.com. The article is a long, articulate look at how television needs to figure out how to adapt to the new viewing habits and Nielsen is a dinosaur that has little relevance.

And here’s the stuff I’ve stumbled across in the past couple weeks:

• Dan Shotz and Karim Zreik posted on the CBS boards that they’re still working to find a new home and that CBS promised it would not take down the Jericho fanboards without giving plenty of advance notice. Here’s a snippet from their post:

We can’t share too much, but meetings are taking place and we are doing everything we can to find us a new home in many different incarnations. Your work is helping as always. Your dedication is unmatched.

• A couple of trailers for fan-based shows set in the Jericho universe are on YouTube. One is for “Beyond the Blue Line” and which refers to the “blue line” of U.N. Peacekeepers along the Mississippi. Then, there’s Grapevine, about the events in Grapevine, Texas, after the bombs dropped and then the second American Civil War began.

• A fun profile of Lennie James in London’s The Independent. Did you know:

When I was a child I wanted to be… Daredevil, the blind superhero. I spent hours walking around my house – in fact, the whole neighbourhood – with my eyes closed, trying to increase my senses.

The moment that changed me for ever… was when my mum died. I was 10, and my brother and I went to live in a children’s home. Having shared a home with my mum and brother, I found myself sharing a house with 18 other children.

• Rich over at Copywrite, Ink, as usual, delivers insightful analysis of Nielsen, Nuts to Nielsen and television ratings.

• Jericho-Kansas Inc set up a photo gallery that shows the Jericho set having been slightly adapted to become the set for CBS’ summer show, Swingtown (whose showrunner, Carol Barbee, was Jericho’s showrunner). The news means that if Jericho were to find a new home, the set hasn’t been dismantled.

I’d been saving up so many links that I’ll give you a carnival-day bonus, a quick linkapalooza.
• Join in the Second Annual DVDs For The Troops Campaign. What’s that? Simple: help purchase Jericho Season 2 DVDs to send to the troops deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan. Last year’s campaign was such a success that Amazon.com is helping out with pooled donations. Click on the above link for all the details. In addition, Jericho4Kids is doing a raffle of cast autographs for those who donate.
• The efforts to find a new home for Jericho continue to get press. Besides the SciFi Channel and Comcast, which previously had been cited, the afore-linked-to article mentions the Hallmark Channel.
• OK, we knew this already, but Jericho was one of the top time-shifted programs on broadcast television in January, February, March and April. Not that that mattered to CBS.
• Nice post about the keep Jericho alive movements.
• Great video on YouTube.
• About the Nuts to Nielsen movement.
• The Jericho page on a South African network’s website.
• Where you can see Sprague, April and other Jericho actresses elsewhere on the dial.
• Students in Boca Raton learned about civics and economics using Jericho as a real-life case study.
• Variety gets shelled. The nuts are yummy, they say!
• CBS may have canceled Jericho, but the net couldn’t cancel Jerichon! (May 23, 24, 25, & 26 in Oakley, Kansas.)
• Another Nuts To Nielsen! article, from The Tampa Tribune. NorsU is interviewed.
• And another, Nielsen is based near Tampa. This one’s from the Tampa Bay Business Journal.
• Jericho4Kids interviews J.D. Streett from the Jericho special effects team.
• Dan Shotz and Jon Steinberg talk to IFMagazine.
• More on Nuts to Nielsen, from BuddyTV.
• And here’s one more.
• And a last one, from Forbes.com, not about nuts or Nielsens, but about News Corp.’s president, Peter Chernin, who wants to bring Hollywoood kicking and screaming into the Internet age.

Needless to say, we are quite excited by the prospect, as Erika is the funniest girl in the room and a fellow child of the ‘80s.

But we still need your help.

We have several entries already, but let’s step it up a bit, give Erika some WORK to do.

Please submit entries by clicking here and feel free to ask me any questions if you have them (in the comments below or by e-mailing me).

You can submit a blog entry, an article on a website, a forum thread link. Generally, we request that you submit only your own work, but if you see an article that you think really belongs in the carnival, submit it and just make it clear in the submission that you’re not the author so credit can be properly given.

I’m also looking for future guest hosts. Gwen at Jericho-Kansas.com is our next hostess with the mostest, coming up May 29. I’m seeking hosts for June 12 and 26.

Photo courtesy of CBS. 

Kansas weather, computer glitches and then real life all conspired to get in the way of getting the carnival posted by Thursday, but we finally are here to present it to you. Lots of good stuff, thanks to all for submitting articles —  yours and others’.

I may be moving the carnival to a monthly basis, and need to sort some things out about it, so stay tuned… But submissions for future carnivals can be made by clicking here.

Thanks again, Anna!

They raised the funds to put full-page ads in Variety (April 25)  and The Hollywood Reporter and have put Jericho up for sale, metaphorically speaking.

These Rangers just don’t give up, do they?

If you head on over to Jericho4Sale.com, you’ll find out all you need to know about the latest in the ongoing effort to ensure a third season for Jericho.

Film.ca helped spearhead this effort and has copies of the final ad artwork. Fans raised more than $11,000 for the advertisements, designed by DangRabbit.

Meanwhile, Slice of SciFi chose one sci-fi show from each of the “conventional” networks that aired in 2008 so far and is polling folks as to which is the best. Next week is the cable network poll.

The options are:
• Lost – ABC
• Jericho – CBS
• Supernatural – CW
• Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles – Fox
• Journeyman – NBC

Vote like it’s Chicago —  early and often!

Photo courtesy of CBS. 

Maybei/Vicki, fan extraordinaire, sent e-mails to Timothy Omundson —  yay! (Constantino —  boo, hiss!) —   and Lennie James (the ever-awesome Hawkins) to ask if they’d take questions from fans, and both said, basically, “Sure, why not?!”

Anyhow, if you want to submit your questions for Omundson, go here or e-mail her at Jerichomaybei@aol.com. She’ll then post the questions and answers.

If you want to submit your questinos for Lennie, go here or e-mail her at the address above.

• The CW (Dawn Ostroff): Reaper and Aliens in America have not been canceled. They have not been picked up, either, but they haven’t been canceled. The network seeks to cater toward young women, so Gossip Girl and the new 90210 spinoff are perfect for that demographic. Seems as if the network’s willing to give shows a chance to catch on (of course, it’s easier to do that when you’re the bottom-ranked network —  nowhere to go but up).

• Fox (Kevin Reilly): Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles has already started staffing for a fall season. The network’s looking for the next That ‘70s Show or Malcolm in the Middle to “bring young comedy loyalists back to the network.”

• CBS (Nina Tassler): Shark is still on the bubble. Cane is a longshot to return. Moonlight has a decent shot, as it wins its time period. The New Adventures of Old Christine and How I Met Your Mother aren’t a lock to return, but they’re looking good. Comedy is good. She mostly sidestepped any mention of Jericho.

So please head on over there today to read what folks had to say about Jericho in the past couple of weeks and what Margie & Edna had to say about them.

Enjoy and the next carnival will be in two weeks (May 1) at A Day in the Life.

And thank you ever so much, ladies, for being such gracious hostesses!

After a tie of 171 votes apiece, Fischer broke away from Beyer and claimed the honor. She finished with 222 votes; Beyer claimed 203. (Photo of Jenna Fischer courtesy of NBC/Universal.)

Like last week’s results, actors from their shows also filled the poll’s next two slots: Rainn Wilson (92 votes), Dwight on “The Office,” and reader-submitted Skeet Ulrich (73 votes), Jake on “Jericho.” (I’d still contend that Ulrich is a lead actor, but it’s an interesting poll trend regardless.)

Rounding out the top 10 were Michael Emerson as Ben on “Lost” (43 votes); Robert Sean Leonard as Wilson on “House, M.D.” (36 votes); Tricia Helfer as Number Six on “Battlestar Galactica” (32 votes); Summer Glau as Cameron on “Terminator: The Sarah Conor Chronicles” (25 votes); Masi Oka as Hiro on “Heroes” (18 votes); and Allison Mack as Chloe on “Smallville” (17 votes).

Our new poll, in the right margin of this page, is all about elbow grease: Who is the hardest-working TV personality? We’ve even given you a few suggestions to get you started.

From “Lost” to “Cloverfield,” it seems like JJ Abrams is everywhere these days. “Daily Show” alumnus Steve Carell rocks “The Office” and is an A- or B-list movie star at this point. “Saturday Night Live” alumna Tina Fey is the MVP writer/producer/star of “30 Rock” and also has movie cred with “Mean Girls” and “Baby Mama.” Ryan Seacrest hosts “American Idol,” the Emmys, “New Year’s Rockin’ Eve,” his own radio show, E! newscasts, “American Top 40” and pretty much everything that needs an emcee. And Oprah Winfrey’s talk show continues to rule and her presence extends into prime time, politics and international charity work.

As we like to do here at Remote Access, we’re giving you the option to submit your own nominations as well. So feel free to do so. Remember: We’re looking for people who got their start and/or are best known for their contribution to television. Movie stars making a TV cameo now and then shouldn’t count. Vote, vote, vote!

Check out the rest of the results of the supporting actor poll after the break.

I can say I’m glad, though. And I appreciate all the folks who’ve volunteered to host the carnival int the coming weeks. I’m still finalizing the lineup for the next few carnivals, but the first one, of course, will be hosted by Margie & Edna, in their basement, next Thursday, April 17. The submission deadline will be 4 p.m. April 16.

Those of you who have volunteered who haven’t heard from me yet, do not fear, I’m just trying not to double-book anyone, so I’m going one at a time. I’m only on the second volunteer so far. All will get to host, and it’s much appreciated. I’ll be in touch to explain how it’ll work.

But the hard part comes next: Entries.

For those of you without blogs, we’re looking to you to help keep an eye out for good entries about Jericho. Urge those bloggers, posters, etc. to submit their entries, here. Entries don’t have to be completely about Jericho, but can also discuss the issue of television ratings, viewing habits and the like, so long as Jericho IS MENTIONED SOMEWHERE in the post.

If there’s an especially well-written or important post on any of the message boards (CBS boards, RFJ, Jeritopia, JerichoNet2, any others I’ve momentarily forgotten!), suggest that the poster submit that comment, even. If it’s on the Internet, it can be submitted. You just need a URL.

If you have any questions, send me an e-mail here or post a comment below.

Even though Season 2 of Jericho is over, she asked, would the carnival continue?

Before that moment, to be honest, it hadn’t occurred to me to continue it. TV blog carnivals tend to post a few days after each new episode. During the off-season, the carnivals generally are on hiatus.

But I didn’t e-mail Anna back right away (well, four days later, when I finally got back to my e-mail), because I started thinking about it.

There’s a heckuva lot of Jericho news out there these days and a lot of interesting stuff being written.

So I’m game if you are.

Let me know in the comments under this post what you think. My main idea is that it would be every two weeks rather than every week.

But this is what I’ll need from you:

• Guest hosts. This basically entails being the host blog for the carnival each week. You have to read the submitted entries and post a sentence or two that sums them up. Check out Jane’s turn as guest host to get the idea. If you have a blog, livejournal or website of any kind, you can guest host. you’re interested, e-mail me.

• Entries! If you see an article that should be in the carnival, urge the writer to submit it. If you write an article about Jericho, submit it. I think we can expand the carnival to posts about the state of television ratings and the like, but those posts should still mention Jericho.

Share your thoughts, and if there’s enough interest, I’ll bring back the carnival. Fair?

And here’s a little more bloggy goodness for you:

• Love crosswords, word search puzzles AND Jericho? This is the page for you.

• Want to pre-order Season 2? Go here. The list  price is $39.99, but Amazon’s selling it for $25.99 and you can get free shipping. Gift wrap available. (Hey, Christmukkah is only 8 months away!)

• Want to know the extras on the Season 2 DVD? Check out the info from iF Magazine. The alternate ending, natch, is among them, as well as a featurette called “Nut Job” about how fans brought the show back.

• Learn how to keep Jericho on people’s minds just by clicking a lot on IMDB (c’mon, you know you’re on the site all the time anyway), on filmmaker Penny Ronning’s blog.

And, remember, tell me how you feel about continuing the carnival in the comments below. (Though I can figure out how that’s going to go already, I think.)

It’s the Jericho ending Hollywood doesn’t want you to see.

Here’s one excerpt:

HAWKINS: Jake, our nation is under attack. It’s being attacked by things like “celebreality” and Tom Bergeron. There’s a bigger disease out there than HRV, and it’s called TMZ. But you can stop it, Jake. You can get that “bomb” to Los Angeles, and you can find executives who make Jennings & Rall look like philanthropists. And you can speak for the people, Jake. Let them know that real Americans don’t want a world where you can’t watch compelling drama without having David Caruso in the picture. People have to be made to understand!

This is along the lines of the deal that NBC announced last week that it had struck with DirecTV to keep Friday Night Lights on the air for at least one more season. The satellite television provider will subsidize the production costs and in exchange will get the right to air it first.

Here’s how FNL got saved:

From NBC’s perspective, “Friday Night Lights” did not draw enough of a crowd to be continued. On average, about 6.1 million people tuned in to it this season, but fans were loyal enough to send thousands of mini-footballs to NBC to lobby for the show.

NBC knew it needed a partner, and an opportunity arose in January when Eric Shanks, the executive vice president for entertainment at DirecTV, struck up a conversation with his friend Ben Silverman, the co-chairman of NBC Entertainment. DirecTV licensed the rights to the “first window” of the show, meaning that DirecTV subscribers will see the new episodes four months before the broadcast audience.

The difference with Comcast is that it’s a cable provider, and you still can’t choose your cable company in most areas. Where I live, it’s Cablevision. When I was in Arizona, it was Cox. I’ve actually never lived anywhere served by Comcast (except maybe in my poor college days when I didn’t subscribe because I couldn’t afford it, but I don’t even know what cable companies served Chicagoland or Louisville).

But that’d still be better than nothing, eh?

Anywho, I kept meaning to hold up my end of the bargain, and I finally have. It’s the movie meme, and the idea is that I’m supposed to look up my 15 favorite movies on IMDB, choose quotes from them, list them here and make you figure out what movies they are.

Aha, but this is a TV blog, I hear you thinking! Never fear, I’ve got that all figured out. No worries, I didn’t choose a bunch of Lifetime women-as-victim movies. Rather, I started with actors from our favorite TV shows. Then, I found relatively well-known characters they played in movies, found quotes from them and posted them here.

So not only do you have to figure out what movie the line is from, but you also have to figure out which actor uttered it. To make things a weeeeeee bit easier, I’ll tell you the actors I selected, but they’re not in the same order as the quotes. I’ve alphabetized the actors, by last name:

Adam Baldwin (Chuck)
Alec Baldwin (30 Rock)
Summer Glau (Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles)
Katherine Heigl (Grey’s Anatomy)
Cheryl Hines (Curb Your Enthusiasm)
Jim Krasinski (The Office)
Hugh Laurie (House)
Chi McBride (Pushing Daisies)
Mary McDonnell (Battlestar Galactica)
Sandra Oh (Grey’s Anatomy)
Edward James Olmos (Battlestar Galactica)
Donald Sutherland (Dirty Sexy Money)
Kiefer Sutherland (24)
Skeet Ulrich (Jericho)
Ray Wise (Reaper)

NO CHEATING. You may not look the quotes up on IMDB and then get all the answers correct. You must use your brain; you know, the part of your brain that stores all that useless movie trivia. You all have it; if you didn’t, you wouldn’t be reading a television blog now, would you?

After the break, the quote list:

1. Now Sid, don’t you blame the movies, movies don’t create psychos, movies make psychos more creative! Skeet Ulrich in Scream (Erika)

2. Well, that’s ‘cause he’s the television version. America isn’t ready for the real me. Kevin Spacey in L.A. Confidential (Nick) (Note: Kiefer played the same character Spacey did in the unsold TV pilot, which makes this quote rather ironic, though ineligible for this quiz.)

3. Was that M.C. Hammer?

4. Don’t write this down, but I find Milton probably as boring as you find Milton. Mrs. Milton found him boring too. He’s a little bit long-winded, he doesn’t translate very well into our generation, and his jokes are terrible. Donald Sutherland in Animal House (Nick)

5. I don’t have to tell them right away, I’m only gonna start to show when I’m like, I don’t know, 6 months or something like that. Katherine Heigl from Knocked Up (Yvonne)

6. You’re getting really good at this; people might think you actually like it.

7. Boy, it sure would be nice if we had some grenades, don’t you think?

8. I am El Cyclone, from … Bolivia. One-man gang. This classroom is my domain. Don’t give me no gas, or I’ll jump on your face and tattoo your chromosomes. ... If the only thing you know how to do is add and subtract, you will only be prepared to do one thing: Pump gas. Edward James Olmos in Stand and Deliver (Yvonne)

9. My place is with you. I go where you go. Mary McDonnell in Dances with Wolves (Yvonne)

10. Tiny little vandals! Hugh Laurie from Stuart Little 2 (Yvonne)

11. They’re creepy. Creepy Italian trees. Of course, the baby’s going to like them cause it’s going to be a creepy Italian baby who goes around saying things like ‘Ciao mama’ and doing that weird backward hand wave thing. Life is strange.

12. If you haven’t noticed, my right boob is way up here in Maine and my left boob is danglin’ down here in Florida. Cheryl Hines from Waitress (Adam)

13. Today, thirty years later, I’m asking you twelve ladies and gentlemen to act boldly; to hold this defendant accountable and find him guilty … simply because it is right, it is just, and Lord knows, it is time. Is it ever too late to do the right thing?

14. You better be careful. You know those flight attendants ain’t like regular women, Viktor. They’re flying back and forth between all those time-zones kinda messes with their biological clock or something. Always ready for sex. Why do you think they can’t stop smiling?

15. It isn’t mine. The memory, it isn’t mine. And I shouldn’t have to carry it. It isn’t mine. Don’t make me sleep again. Summer Glau from Serenity (Nick)

Post your guesses in the comments section; I’ll cross ‘em out and give credit where credit’s due as the correct answers are posted. Extra points if you guess which actor.

File photo by Jesse Mobley/The Journal News.

We had dozens of initial options at the start—I offered at least one actor for every scripted show we at Remote Access cover on a regular basis—but after 630 votes, it seems to have built itself up into a two-way throwdown between Jenna Fischer (Pam on “The Office”) and Brad Beyer (Stanley on “Jericho”).

Each had 171 votes—27 percent of the total vote apiece—as of this post’s publication.

Interestingly, actors from those shows also fill the poll’s next two slots: Rainn Wilson, Dwight on “The Office,” and reader-submitted Skeet Ulrich, Jake on “Jericho.” (I’d argue that Ulrich is a lead actor, but it’s an interesting poll trend regardless.)

We’re going to keep this hotly contested poll open until Monday, April 14, so you’ve got a little more than a week to launch your last-ditch campaigns for your favorite supporting actors in the poll, which appears in the right column of this blog. Mail all your Northern Attack and Office Tally friends using “limitless paper in a paperless world”! Give your “Jericho” friends on Jeritopia or JerichoNet2 more incentive by shipping them a few packages of nuts! Or throw everyone a curveball and convince “Chuck’s” Adam Baldwin to record a YouTube video requesting your vote for this very poll. (How cool would that be?)

And remember, it doesn’t have to be Fischer or Beyer. As long as it’s a supporting actor, you can pick another name on the list or submit your own.

(Photos of Fischer and Beyer courtesy of NBC and CBS, respectively.)

Dubbed “Nuts to Nielsen,” the idea is that folks send peanuts to Nielsen to point out how many people are uncounted in the company’s ratings sampling program. It comes, of course, from last season’s successful Nuts to CBS effort, which got Jericho a (short) second season. That, of course, came from Jake Green’s response to the suggestion that Jericho surrender to New Bern. Which, of course, comes from that famous story from the Battle of the Bulge … and so on.

The thing that intrigued me about this campaign is that it zeroes in on why quality shows often get canceled before they’re really given a chance —  or, sometimes, even when they have a huge following. The ratings, it seems, reflect less and less of the reality of television viewing, as more television consumers don’t watch television in “traditional” ways, i.e. sitting down in front of the boob tube at the appointed hour and take potty breaks during the commercials.

So I decided to track down the brains behind the campaign to find out how this all came about.

Jon Whitesell, known on the CBS and SciFi boards as NorsU, is 43, married and a father of two boys. Nookie, their dog, is also a huge Jericho fan and watched religiously with the family —he growled every time Valente showed up on screen! (Good dog! I’ll send you a virtual doggie bone.) Jon’s a Controller/CPA with 20 years experience mostly in Telecom startups in the Northeast corridor. He lives in Boston Metro West and is an avid Red Sox, Celtics and Dallas Cowboys fan. Despite his poor taste in sports teams (duck!), I found he had rather good taste in television, as he’s a big Jericho fan.

I sent Jon a few questions via e-mail about the Nuts to Nielsen campaign and then about how he got into Jericho in the first place. My questions are in italics, followed by his responses:

Why Nuts to Nielsen?

The Nuts to Nielsen was an idea that actually snowballed as Season 2 progressed. It started early on in Season 2 and piqued my interest in the whole ratings system. It really started when I started tracking all the online rankings and was fascinated how popular Jericho was online. Weekly, right out of the gate, Jericho was # 1 on iTunes downloads. It was frequently #1 downloaded and always top 10 at Amazon and Xboxlive as downloads. Then I noticed that Jericho was in the top 8-12 on TiVo for DVR Season Pass. [Amy note: That’s when folks set up their DVR to record any new episode of a series.] Then I started noticing that when they added back DVR viewers to the Nielsens, Jericho was always top 10-15 and approximately 1.2 million to 1.5 million viewers were added. That’s where the whole “Nielsen is Nuts” idea started. The only stat that appeared wrong were the Nielsen numbers. I also just felt all along with the media buzz, press and word of mouth that there was no way that there were not more Jericho viewers.

Then I found the interactive DirecTV “what is hot” button. I have since learned that this is a live tracking of a very big sample of DirecTV viewers, about 30 million. I started tracking Jericho and for big blocks of most episodes it showed up as #1 or #2. On a few occasions ABC was a distant 3rd, 4th or worse. Yet the next day, Nielsen always had Jericho #3 and ABC #2 and it just didn’t sit right with the DirecTV results. In this time frame I actually started to get mad and once cancellation occurred I was ready to shell Nielsen with nuts! The Nuts to Nielsen just seemed like it had a good ring to it. And it also was eye-opening that 99.999% of all TV viewers are not counted. That just does not seem right in 2008 that a bigger sampling can’t occur.

I want to stress that the campaign to save Jericho’s main priority is to write to CBS (Paramount) and SciFi Channel to further chances to have Jericho picked up. I felt that sending Nuts to Nielsen would bring some media attention to the Save Jericho cause and at the same time be part of raising the issue of antiquated ratings at Nielsen and the various issues inherent with Nielsen. To date over the weekend on a few sites combined a modest plus or minus 1,000 pounds were sent to Nielsen for delivery on March 31st and April 1st! The protest has been picked up by about a dozen media outlets, websites and blogs to date. There are thoughts of expanding scope to other TV show fandoms to raise the stakes, so to speak, and is in the works.

Why do you think the networks continue to rely on old media methods while so aggressively touting their new media offerings?

Honestly, they almost have no choice as Nielsen holds near-monopolistic power over the TV advertising industry. I also sense that the major networks are comfortable with the relationship. Both parties are extracting mega $ from advertisers; why topple the applecart! And who foots the bill? Us, the consumers, and we get antiquated and inaccurate data to boot that decides the fate of shows. Nielsen had to admit over the weekend that it botched ratings backwards to October 2007. I do see a change in thought process as evidenced by CBS Interactive’s Quincy Smith, who has starting to sell the value in online platforms and viewing. He even went as far as to say in USA Today that Jericho had more online viewers than traditional TV viewers. Well, that would be greater than 6 to 7 million views! Eventually, the advertisers are going to demand to pay on an actual view basis versus a Nielsen “estimate.” If I am running a business, I would demand to know exactly how many viewers actually watched my show, not an extrapolation.

And who exactly are these Nielsen viewers? I have never met one or know anyone that knows anyone who was a Nielsen viewer. I hear representations of 20,000 Nielsen boxes, but Erin Media has reported this number may be as low as 8,000. Just not an adequate sample with all the digital information available!

Do you think that sends a mixed message?

Yes! Because they are announcing a service that they can’t deliver any time soon. In fact, Erin Media  —  which recently settled an antitrust lawsuit with Nielsen  —  is pursuing litigation against Nielsen for this recent announcement about enhanced new media offerings. Erin Media has exclusive technology that could count actual views of 30 million cable viewers. Erin Media’s website proclaimed this Nielsen’s press release and unfair contract practices caused Erin Media to miss out on critical financing. The settlement with Erin Media is the latest of victories for Nielsen, which has fended off competitive challenges from Arbitron, AGB, R.D. Percy & Co., and SMART. Nielsen is the 800-pound monkey in this game and stomps out potential competition. And, yes, that they are saying they are going to be offering these new services implies that their existing service is dated and obsolete.

[This site, run by the businessman behind Erin Media, gives some background information on this and this article from Variety explains it far better than I can, but the main thrust of the anti-trust suit is that the way Nielsen staggers its contracts makes it all but impossible for a competitor to get into the TV ratings market.]

What do you think the answer is?

I think the answer is to count a significant number of actual viewers. I foresee a convergence of all online viewers and traditional viewers. With DirecTV and cable, well over 70% of all households can be counted. The day of [a few thousand] Nielsen box samples cornering the TV advertising $ will go the way of the dodo. It’s just a matter of time, but I don’t see that day happening soon if Nielsen has its way.

Jericho-related questions:

When did you start watching Jericho?

I actually did not start watching until the final 3 episodes of Season 1. I started to pick up that my wife and two sons (ages 10 and 13) were always watching a show together. I started to question what they were so interested in — they said, Jericho. I eventually gave in and sat in and was immediately hooked. I then did a mad dash to CBS Online and did my best to catch up on Season 1. Ironically, I had just finished catching up on Season One when CBS canceled Jericho. The reason I started posting and have spent so much time doing all I can to save this show is for my youngest son. The day I told him Jericho was canceled, tears welled up and he was devastated. It was right then that I jumped in to save his Jericho! I’m a grown professional man and had NEVER been involved in a save campaign before. Intrinsically I was drawn in and never for a second doubted that we would not save Jericho! And how did it feel to make history? Satisfying.

What hooked you?

What hooked me was the acting and the storyline. I somehow felt really connected to the characters and the storyline. There was a lot of character development and action. Candidly, I thought Gerald McRaney carried Season 1 as Johnston Green. He is such a commanding actor and presence. The other angle that hooked me was that I was watching a show as a family unit in an era where that is not the norm. It was connecting and drawing in multiple generations. I also felt the show really depicted the good in people as well as the bad, in the ultimate battle for survival. It’s also a show that once the episodes are over you can’t wait for the next one, it’s just that good! I think that last factor is why the show is so big on iTunes downloads, online playbacks and DVR/TiVo.

Who’s your favorite character?

I guess I would have to say I have several favorite character(s). I already mentioned Mayor Johnston Green in Season 1. I think Hawkins is a masterful character. He is kind of MacGyver meets Jack Bauer! He [Lennie James] plays his role so well you almost can’t tell if he’s one of the good or bad guys! Season 2, I thought Jake’s [Skeet Ulrich] character grew as he emerged as more of a leader role with some of the rash decision-making traits that harkens back to his earlier bad-boy days. The character I thought stole the show Season 2 in his episodes was Goetz. D.B. Sweeney so nailed this character! He was the absolute perfect casting to portray the evil and corrupt Ravenwood leader. I could go on and on. One last add is that Bonnie [Shoshannah Stern] will be greatly missed!

++++

Thanks for taking the time to “talk” with me, Jon.

It’s been a really interesting ride, and I think that, no matter what happens with Jericho, its legacy will be that the way television viewers are counted will be changed forever.

Today, Jericho Monster has this post about how CBS is touting its huge online viewing audience for basketball. The same online viewing audience that counted for nothing when it came to Jericho’s ratings.

I honestly don’t think it’s a matter of the network being disingenuous, but a matter of the chief of the online portion of the network talking up how well his division is doing. But the network’s top guys are still used to looking at the traditional numbers when it comes time to make programming decisions.

NBC is looking into a new form that’s actually very old  —  single-sponsor shows. Think “Jericho brought to you by Sprint.” Banner at the beginning and end, maybe a commercial in the middle, maybe a little product placement, but one big sponsor. That’s how TV started. Maybe it’s the future.

The world is changing when it comes to all media — TV, movies, music, news — and everyone involved is trying to make sense of it. But until the sense is made, the decision-makers are going to rely on the tried-and-true methods of measurement, because that’s what the advertisers are looking at.

Have you ever tried to turn around a cruise ship? It doesn’t stop or turn on a dime. Think of the entire media industry as a cruise ship the size of the Atlantic.

It can’t — and won’t — turn around overnight.

But it can’t — and won’t — turn around if the captain’s allowed to fall asleep at the wheel.

Photo of Skeet Ulrich with the infamous peanuts courtesy of CBS. 

Starting at 10 Eastern tonight and every Tuesday night for the next 28 weeks, Jericho fans everywhere are going to be glued to their computers for 44 minutes (is that what it is, commercial-free?) watching every episode of Jericho online. The effort is clled The Great Jericho ReWatch. Learn more about it on Radio Free Jericho.

The pilot will be the subject of tonight’s ReWatch, on “The big Green’s couch in Jeritopia.” The idea is twofold:

First, chat with you friends and fellow fans while you watch (always better than watching alone, right?).

Second, well, I’ll let maybei’s words speak for themselves:

That way we show CBS we are still here watching and not watching what they air and not defecting to another network.

Images courtesy of RFJ and Jeritopia, click on the pix to be taken to their sites.

They taken the next web-savvy step in their efforts to get someone else to pick up CBS’ twice-canceled post-apocalyptic drama, setting up an alternate “official” Jericho site in anticipation of the one on CBS “going dark.”

Here’s the full text of the official press release, so any of you not familiar with the entire Jericho resurrection story can get up to speed:

March 23, 2008 – “How does it feel to be part of history? Don’t Tread on Me!” It’s the new battle cry of the next Jericho fan revolution. On March 22nd, CBS once again canceled Jericho, and within minutes, the fan efforts to solve the problem had kicked back into action. CBS’ serial drama Jericho, originally debuting on September 20, 2006, had been canceled once before, but the network resurrected it after the fans paid homage to Jericho character Jake Green (portrayed by actor Skeet Ulrich) uttering “Nuts!” to a request for surrender during the heat of battle. This line inspired a fan protest involving 40,000 pounds of nuts being shipped to CBS, forcing the network to reconsider its decision and to agree to a seven-episode Season 2.

According to CBS, Nielsen ratings had not been high enough this time around to encourage the network to buy into a third season for Jericho, leading to the show’s second cancellation before the March 25th airing of the seventh and final episode with had been shot with two alternate endings: a cliffhanger if picked up for another season, and an open-ended, show-ending conclusion to the seven episode arc storyline. CBS aired the latter version, and fans, deeming it also to be a cliffhanger itself, were inspired to begin the fight again to preserve Jericho for another round of storytelling.

Rumors had already begun circulating that Jericho’s Executive Producer Carol Barbee had been already ‘shopping’ the show to cable networks – where Jericho’s ratings, considered sub-par by CBS, would be stellar elsewhere. According to Barbee and other sources close to Barbee, the SciFi and CW networks continue to be possibilities for picking up Jericho. Fans have now sprung into action, currently sending e-mails and letters and making phone calls to both networks.

Jericho fans – well-versed in their abilities to make a difference through efforts involving over $20,000 in donations to the Greensburg, Kansas, building fund, DVD shipments to troops overseas, and an affiliation with Project Homefront – are now refocusing their endeavors toward an organized multiphase effort to win a new home for their favorite show. They also have set up an alternate online rally point in anticipation of CBS’ Jericho Web site eventually going dark.

For more information about Jericho’s latest fan revolution, or to learn how you can offer your assistance and your voice to making history again by finding Jericho a new home, please log onto www.jerichonet2.com/board to check out the New Save Jericho Campaign details for addresses, contact numbers, and ongoing efforts to give Jericho new life.

Other Jericho goodness:

• Vote for Stanley!!!! Over in the right on this blog, there’s a poll. Stuff the ballot box for Brad Beyer, as the supporting actor most crucial to his show (that’s why no Skeet or Lennie!)... He’s catching up to Jenna Fischer, but c’mon, you can put him out front!

• IF Magazine has this interview with creator/producer Jon Steinberg and co-executive producer Dan Shotz. Here’s a taste:

STEINBERG: I think there are a lot of different options being explored right now, and they all have their ups and downs. Hopefully something will pan out, we’d love to continue telling stories in the JERICHO universe in some shape or form.

SHOTZ: We are working with our studio to explore outlets. We feel like JERICHO could exist in many places and in different forms. We want to pursue that as quickly as possible.

• Not specifically Jericho, but definitely related, join The Television Viewer Union, the TV fan effort to get the Nielsen formula overturned.

• And, speaking of Nielsen, JerichoMonster has picked up NorsU’s suggestion to send Nuts to Nielsen for its admission of botching how ratings are measured. NutsOnline, anyone?

Len Neighbors shares his usual wry recapping of the finale, emphasizing his belief that “a company this predictable and incompetent couldn’t take over the kazoo market, much less the Western United States,” and wishes the Sci Fi Channel would pick up the show, in Jericho Commentary: Episode Seven, “Patriots and Tyrants” Season Finale posted at Athens Exchange.

Myles McNutt laments what could have been if the show’s producers hadn’t been so crushed for time, if the finale, at least, could have been spread over two hours, in Series Finale – Jericho – ‘Patriots and Tyrants’ posted at Cultural Learnings.

fred really liked Season 2 (especially Hawkins kickin’ some butt!) but says he wished the end had been, perhaps, a little less happy, in Jericho: Patriots And Tyrants posted at TVoholic.com.

Terocious talks about how Skeet Ulrich made Johnston Jacob Green’s evolution over the course of 29 episodes wholly believable, in Where have you been? posted at Jericho Junction.

Doug Mataconis tells us how he loved the finale, particularly the scene in which Beck’s men tear the ASA flag badges off their uniforms, in Patriots & Tyrants: Jericho 2.7, and discusses looks at various reasons why the second season didn’t do better in the ratings, in A Jericho Post-Mortem, both posted at Below The Beltway.

Erika (kricka) refuses to eulogize Jericho in Don’t Say It’s Over!, posted at Short Story Life. She has a great new bunch of motivators posted, too, you’ve gotta check them out. Erika also points us to The Fall of Jericho over at The Grub Report — Jericho’s the show that made this snarky recapper feel, dammit!

Anna can’t believe it’s over, so she won’t and gives us links to find out more about saving Jericho, after her usual excellent recap, in Jericho 3/25: “Patriots and Tyrants”, posted at A Day In The Life. (Anna: You’re welcome, and thank you for taking part! Thanks to all of you for making this carnival a success, actually!)

Jane is so in with the In Crowd that Jennie Sword (Townsperson Jennie) sent her a photo of herself with April Parker (Darcy) at the wrap party and a lovely note. You can read all about it over at Monster Exclusive: Jennie and April posted at Jericho Monster.

Amanda decides to focus on the positive and talks about all the good stuff that happened, in Jericho 2.07: Patriots and Tyrants, posted at FADPOV.

Edna & Margie, Jericho’s oldest residents and good friends of Remote Access, share their tale of how they came to little Heather Lisinski’s defense in Margie and Edna vs. Major Beck posted at Margie and Edna’s Basement. Remind me never to get them ticked off at me. Oh, and speaking of, here’s an interview they did with yours truly, in Amy Vernon tells all!

And, don’t forget, the ladies did this week’s guest blog, here.

Finally, here’s the links to this week’s Jericho posts from yours truly: My thoughts on the cancellation. My live thoughts on the finale. My aftermath thoughts.

Don’t forget to vote for Brad Beyer/Stanley Richmond in our poll over on the right!!!

Jericho became the little town that could. It became a town that inspired, nurtured dreams, and fed spirits.

What will be Jericho’s fate?

Will Margie and Edna know?

++++

Margie: Edna, you know Mr. Hawkins gave us this phone when he went to Cheyenne because he was afraid something would happen to him. He wanted us to be the ones to tell Darcy.

Edna: Margie, don’t you talk like that. Let’s hope that we won’t have to give any bad news to Darcy. Besides, you know you love having that phone because you think you’ll get some inside information with it.

Margie: Well, Edna, I don’t want bad inside information. You know it was bad enough that Stanley had to wait four days to bury Bonnie.

Edna: Oh, I know, wasn’t that just horrible? With everything else going on in town, and all the hiding-out they had to do, I’m glad he finally got to take her out to the Richmond farm where she belongs.

Margie: Oh, mercy, Edna, it’s the phone! It’s Mr. Hawkins. What? Who shot you?
Edna: Margie, don’t you hog that phone! What’s he saying? Who shot who? Is he dead???

Margie: Oh, Lordy, Edna. He says John Smith shot him. Wait! Jake shot Smith. Oh, Edna, Hawkins is hurt bad!

Edna: Who’s John Smith?? My lands Margie, you’re not even making sense! You tell Jake to get Mr. Hawkins to a doctor, and fast!

Margie: Oh, Edna, get my salts! I’m about to faint. He’s not on the phone anymore. I lost him!

Edna: Margie, are they still in Cheyenne? I’ve been so worried ever since they left to go get that awful bomb back. I’ll be so glad when all of this is over, but I’m worried it won’t ever be! So many awful things have happened in town lately, my nerves are on edge.

Margie: One of the worst things, Edna, is that awful Beck locking Heather in the slammer.

Edna: Oh my lands, don’t even get me started, Margie. I don’t know what he was thinking, locking up a nice girl like Heather. Someone ought to horse-whip him. What has this town come to?

Margie: They’re all idiots, Edna. Phone! Oh my stars! Hello? Mr. Hawkins, are you alive? Edna, they’re in Texas. Hawkins saw a doctor.

Edna: Texas?? What are they doing in Texas, Margie?

Margie: Edna, they’re at the Texas Embassy.

Edna: In Cheyenne? Well mercy, that was a good idea, are they getting some help there, since Texas isn’t part of the new government yet?

Margie: Mercy sakes, Edna, you do rattle on. The Governor is helping them. They have the bomb.

Edna: Now you listen to me Margie, you’re the one with the phone and all the information, so you can excuse me a little rattling on. This is all very confusing! They have the bomb? What are they going to do now?

Margie: What, Mr. Hawkins? The Governor gave you a plane? Do you need me to come fly it?

Edna: Margie, has anyone ever told you that it’s rude to carry on two conversations at once? Mr. Hawkins, if you can hear me, don’t you let Margie fly that plane! She crashed our Model T, you know. Besides, Jake’s a pilot, he knows what he’s doing.

Margie: Edna, why did you grab the phone like that? What’s he saying?

Edna: Oh dear, we lost him again. I think I pressed a button or something Margie, these phones today are so small.

Margie: Edna, maybe it’s that your small mind can’t grasp new-fangled things like mine can.

Edna: Well grasp this Margie, our town is going to H-E-L-L in a handbasket, and right quick too. Little Heather is in jail, poor Stanley’s out burying his sister, and I heard Eric Green is going to strike a deal with that awful Constantino to fight back against the military. My lands, what next??

Margie: I heard they may take my house, Edna. They may even shoot you on sight.

Edna: Your house? You mean our house, you ninny. And they can try and shoot me, but I’ll run them through with my sword. I don’t care if they do call us insurgents, or some such nonsense, they can’t just run us out of our homes. We still have the Constitution, you know.

Margie: Edna, don’t you know they want to have their own Constitution? Where do you think Gray went?

Edna: I’m not an idiot, Margie, I know where Gray went. He’d better do the town right while he’s in Cheyenne. I want to be able to keep my right to bear arms.

Margie: I’ve got my sidearm right here and I’ll blow their heads off. Bring it on, Beck!

Edna: Margie, you always were a hot-head when it came to your pistol. You just calm yourself, we need to think clearly about what’s going on here. I heard that they’re going to send a group of soldiers out to the Richmond farm to arrest poor Stanley!

Margie: Edna, that’s one of the craziest things you ever said. That boy killed that old Goetz in self-defense.

Edna: It wasn’t self-defense, Margie, when he shot him, although I don’t really blame him for doing what he did. Poor Stanley must have been out of his mind with grief. But still, you know that Beck is taking orders from Cheyenne, and he means to keep order in Jericho no matter what. Besides, my information is reliable, even if I’m not getting “secret” phone calls from a spy.

Margie: Reliable? You don’t know what the word means. My source told me that Beck has Hawkins’ laptop.

Edna: Well, I heard the same thing, so I guess your source isn’t so choosy, are they? Did your source also tell you that he looked at it and was mighty surprised at what he saw?

Margie: I know that, Edna. I also know he may be changing his mind about all this.

Edna: Well, my source told me that he let Heather out of jail, how do you like them apples?

Margie: Edna, my source is… Who is yours?

Edna: Margie, I’m not telling you who my source is, you can’t fool me. Just know that they’re reliable. And out of jail…oops.

Margie: Well, did your source tell you that Beck is letting Stanley go?

Edna: My source did tell me that! My source also said that Beck told Cheyenne he’s not taking orders from them anymore. Margie, let’s cut the nonsense, you know we have the same source.

Margie: Maybe we do, Edna, but I can’t say. I’m sworn to secrecy.

Edna: Margie, did your source tell you what Eric decided to do about Constantino?

Margie: I wish he’d killed him.

Edna: Margie! Hush your mouth, you don’t mean that. Eric knows better than to stoop to Constantino’s level, he has more humanity than that.

Margie: I know. Eric is like his daddy. He realized he had to walk away from that evil man.

Edna: You’re so right. Speaking of walks, what do you say that you and I take one? Now that we’re not getting tossed out of our homes, I think we can take a little time to get some fresh air.

Margie: That would be lovely, Edna. I do enjoy a nice stroll. I’ll take this phone too.

Edna: Yes, don’t forget that, we don’t want to miss a call from Mr. Hawkins. Margie look, Gray Anderson is back in town. What’s he doing there with the flagpole?

Margie: Edna, what does that flag say?

Edna: Margie, that looks like Mayor Green’s old “Don’t Tread on Me” flag. My lands, it sure does look nice up there in the breeze, doesn’t it?

Margie: I love that flag, Edna. It means something and it makes me proud of Jericho.

Edna: Me too, Margie. And it’s so much better than that awful Cheyenne flag. This flag means that we won’t go down without a fight, which is what I’ve always loved about the good folks in Jericho.

Margie: Phone! Hello? Mr. Hawkins? What? Oh, say that again. Thank you, Mr. Hawkins.

Edna: Margie, what’s he saying??

Margie: Edna, I’m prouder than a goose. Mr. Hawkins says all is well and we have made history.

Edna: Oh, Margie, do you mean it? Did he really say that? They got themselves and the bomb to Texas safely?

Margie: They’re safe and the bomb is safe.

Edna: Oh thank heavens, that’s the best news I’ve heard in ages. But I still can’t help feeling like things are still up in the air. Do you have that feeling, too?

Margie: Edna, I only have one word for you: NUTS!

Afterword, by Amy:

When I first asked folks I’d never met to do guest blog recaps on Jericho for Remote Access, I was a bit nervous. What if not everyone followed through? What if they were a mess and really poorly written?

It soon became apparent that neither was a rational fear. Several folks did multiple recaps for us and the style, panache and sheer creativity shown has blown my mind on more than one occasion.

Want to thank all who’ve contributed recaps to us and hope there could, somehow, some way be a third season for which you all can continue recapping for us. But for now, I thank you all. I’m not going to name names, because you all know who you are and I don’t want to inadvertently leave anyone out. I think all (or most, at least) of the recaps can be accessed through this link; they definitely are available through this link, to lots more Jericho stuff is on the second one.

Edna & Margie image by Beth/LisiBee; all photos courtesy of CBS.