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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed shows.
Jericho
EMAILPRINTSERIES: CBS, Wednesday 10:00p (60 minutes)

Mixed or average reviews
Based on 30 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 214 votes
Read user comments
Rate this show >
Show Info
Genre(s): Drama
Created By:
Stephen Chbosky
Josh Schaer
Jonathan A. Steinberg
First Air Date: September 20, 2006
Summary
Starring Skeet Ulrich, Gerald McRaney, Ashley Scott, Pamela Reed, Kenneth Mitchell, Lennie James, Sprague Grayden, and Michael Gaston
In yet another "What the hell is going on?" serial, a small Kansas town is cut off from the outside world after a nuclear mushroom cloud appears on the horizon.
Episode Guide & More Info: More about this show at TV.com
Also On The Web: Official Show Site Television Without Pity Recaps
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Entertainment WeeklyGillian Flynn
Jericho works when it sticks to the eerie surreality of a nuclear attack... The show, unfortunately, flops about in its first two episodes, leaning too heavily on the action-adventure stuff.
Read Full Review >Chicago TribuneMaureen Ryan
"Jericho" has a surprising ability to create tension from the unthinkable.
Read Full Review >NewsdayDiane Werts
There's enough human drama here to keep us occupied without having the walls fall down, too.
Read Full Review >LA WeeklyRobert Abele
What’s intriguing about the series is the absence of a visible enemy -- with a citywide communication breakdown, hardly anything is known about the status of the rest of America -- and the focus on keeping citizens from becoming their own worst enemies
Read Full Review >San Francisco ChronicleTim Goodman
Discerning viewers -- and anyone who's hooked on "Lost" -- will realize that "Jericho" is doling out hints to a very large mystery at a very slow pace, which is never a good combination.
Read Full Review >New York PostAdam Buckman
It's not a bad scenario for a serialized drama, but be forewarned: The apocalyptic story unfolding on "Jericho" is, by nature, exceedingly gloomy, reviving memories of the Cold War and also serving as a reminder of the tense times in which we live now.
Read Full Review >Philadelphia Daily NewsEllen Gray
There's something faintly retro about a show that tackles fears many thought died with the Cold War.
Read Full Review >Los Angeles TimesRobert Lloyd
If the Awful Truth of the Global Meltdown is the big carrot "Jericho" dangles before you, it is no more compelling than the question of which of the available good-looking girls Ulrich is going to get close to.
Read Full Review >Newark Star-LedgerAlan Sepinwall
What you do after surviving the end of the world as you know it is an intriguing premise, and when "Jericho" sticks close to that, it's one of this season's more promising new dramas.
Read Full Review >Wall Street JournalNancy DeWolf Smith
"Jericho" doesn't pretend to be artistically risky, but it's got a scary and gripping theme in an age of terrorism and nuclear thuggery.
Read Full Review >VarietyBrian Lowry
Despite sharp casting, the real trick will be to develop Cold War-style fear while dribbling enough clues to elevate this above being just a post-apocalyptic "The Young and the Restless."
Read Full Review >San Jose Mercury NewsCharlie McCollum
For at least the first two episodes, "Jericho'' works better than it should, and there are some striking moments and images.
Read Full Review >SalonHeather Havrilesky
The second episode is much cheesier and less suspenseful than the pilot -- nothing quite beats those mushroom clouds in the distance, let's face it.
Read Full Review >Detroit Free PressMike Duffy
That morbid premise -- in addition to the so-so storytelling, devolving badly by the second episode -- sure feels morosely overwrought for 8 o'clock.
Read Full Review >USA TodayRobert Bianco
In Jericho, claustrophobia, paranoia and the threat of nuclear rain are merely an overlay meant to distract us from the mundane nature of everything else the town has to offer.
Read Full Review >TimeJames Poniewozik
There's something missing from this postapocalyptic drama, namely, a realistic feeling of apocalypse.
Read Full Review >Miami HeraldGlenn Garvin
It's an interesting approach, but despite well-drawn characters and the strong cast, there's a sense that the show is trapped in amber, a perfectly preserved relic from another age.
Read Full Review >Philadelphia InquirerJonathan Storm
There's tons of trouble in Jericho, and that starts with T and that rhymes with D and that stands for dumb. Not flat-footedly, spectacularly dumb, just a little bit too dumb to live up to its premise.
Read Full Review >The New York TimesAlessandra Stanley
The creators of “Jericho” deserve some credit for beginning where most thrillers end. But they rely too much on melancholy pop music to paper over weaknesses in the writing and characters.
Read Full Review >TV GuideMatt Roush
Downbeat and earnestly preachy about community and survival, this weird show is further hampered by glum Skeet Ulrich’s miscasting as the all-purpose prodigal hero.
Read Full Review >Boston GlobeMatthew Gilbert
"Jericho" turns nuclear catastrophe into an excuse for a series of suspenseful "24"-like set pieces, and the result is a ham-fisted concoction overcrowded with incident and rigged thrills.
Read Full Review >Washington PostTom Shales
It might sound callous to say that "Jericho" has managed to make nuclear war look boring, but there you have it.
Read Full Review >Hollywood ReporterBarry Garron
That's a lot of story potential, but most of it is squandered in trite and predictable ways.
Read Full Review >People WeeklyTom Gliatto
Mostly it feels like an instructional film about disaster preparedness. [2 Oct 2006, p.45]
The New YorkerTad Friend
“Jericho” lumbers; its townspeople spend all their time in the bar squabbling--they know one another so well that they haven’t got room to grow.
Read Full Review >Seattle Post-IntelligencerMelanie McFarland
A catastrophic nuclear crisis never looked as boring and convoluted as it does here.
Read Full Review >Pittsburgh Post-GazetteRob Owen
It had a weak pilot to begin with, but the second episode is even more of a tedious bore.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this show is 8.6 (out of 10) based on 214 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Gerry N. gave it a10:
The best show NOT on TV. What is wrong with CBS? Nina Tessler must go! She is a complete MORON!
Meg R. gave it a10:
I LOVE THIS SHOW! I never go out and rent dvds of seasons of shows, but at soon as I watched the first episode of Jericho I had to see them all. My boyfriend and I will watch one episode and immediately have to watch the next! It is full of adventure and suspense. There are always twists and turns in the story line, and never predictable. GREAT SHOW!!
Thomas C. gave it a10:
I hope that people don't read the comments of some ignorant television critics who would like reality shows to take over and allow those comments to distract people from the reality that in our time, this is a really great show. I'm appalled to even think about some of the surviving shows on the major networks and know that Jericho was canceled. I believe and so do around 25,000 others that i have seen so far, that this show is capable of being a prime time hit for many more than two seasons.
Spencer K. gave it a0:
There are very few shows I've watched that are as bad as this one. I'm five episodes in to the first season now, and I have no feelings for any of the characters in the show. Any one of them could die in the next episode, and it would mean very little to the overall plot. Writing, acting, and directing is all a flop. Decent idea for a show, but too bad J.J. Abrams is already busy with Lost.
Michelle H. gave it a10:
Intelligent, captivating, highly relevant television series. Please continue with new shows!
Noah D. gave it a10:
This is my favorite show ever!!!!! I cant beleive it was canceled!! bring it BACK!!!!!!!!!!!
Scott N. gave it a10:
This show is awesome - does it get any better than some F-16's smokin' some F-15's!!!!
