In a positively stunning and wonderful development, it appears that the fan campaign to save Jerichoactually worked! According to the L.A. Times, “CBS executives are in discussions with the show’s producers and actors to resuscitate the show — killed just last month — for an eight-episode run in mid-season.” And it wouldn’t necessarily end there. According to executive producer Carol Barbee, “The idea would not be to bring it for eight and out, but to bring it back for eight with the hope that it would keep going.”
In TV Guide’s words, “To say this would be a huge victory for crazy TV fans everywhere would be the understatement of the frakkin’ millennium.” Barbee, for her part, sees those crazy fans as the wave of the future: “I really think that what has been learned here is that networks are going to have to look at numbers and who is watching their show and who is downloading their show in a different way from here on out. I think they have to understand that the Nielsens are not telling the story anymore and that the 18-49 demographic they’re all so keen on is online and that’s how increasingly they are getting their news and entertainment.”
P.S. There will most definitely be no Gerald McRaney, however: “he actually quit the show before it was canceled (which is why his character was killed in the finale), and he will not be returning to Jericho, regardless of the show’s status.” Nuts. I was hoping for some flashbacks or something.
As long as I’m at the Apple Store (for reasons I’ll elucidate in a new post later), I might as well point out Apple’s new TV ads for the iPhone, which comes out on June 29. I think this is the coolest one:
Will any of y’all be buying an iPhone? I won’t, because a) I can’t afford it, b) I’m under contract with Sprint until next May, and c) as cool as it looks, I’m skeptical of whether the touchscreen with no tactile feedback would work for me. Besides, I figure it’s better to wait until the initial kinks have been worked out. I’m sure iPhone ‘08 or iPhone ‘09 will be even cooler. :)
The SciGuy is worried about how Houston will handle the next Rita (or worse, a Rita that actually hits Houston). Money quote:
If anything, Rita provided a longer-than-usual time for emergency planners to call for and implement an evacuation. Next time there may well not be as much time, and those looking to escape the winds during the height of the storm will have few options.
Tropical Cyclone Gonu has mercifully weakened, though it retains major-hurricane status as a Cat. 3 with maximum sustained winds of 120 mph. The official forecast calls for it to remain just offshore of Oman as a Cat. 2 tonight (Eastern time), then make landfall in southeastern Iran as a Cat. 1 tomorrow night (again, Eastern time). Margie Kieper and Dr. Jeff Masters, the Weather Channel Blog, Weather Matrix and The Oil Drum have more.
