The series is "a drama about what happens when a nuclear mushroom cloud suddenly appears on the horizon, plunging the residents of a small, peaceful Kansas town into chaos, leaving them completely isolated and wondering if they're the only Americans left alive. Fear of the unknown propels Jericho into social, psychological and physical mayhem when all communication and power is shut down. The town starts to come apart at the seams as terror, anger and confusion bring out the very worst in some residents. But in this time of crisis, as sensible people become paranoid, personal agendas take over and well-kept secrets threaten to be revealed, some people will find an inner strength they never knew they had and the most unlikely heroes will emerge. Skeet Ulrich (Scream), Gerald McRaney (Ike: Countdown to D-Day), Ashley Scott (Birds of Prey), Pamela Reed (Proof of Life), Kenneth Mitchell (The Recruit), Lennie James (Sahara), Sprague Grayden (Six Feet Under), Michael Gaston (Prison Break) and Erik Knudsen (Saw II) star."
News: (07/24/06) - Gerald McRaney, who plays Mayor Green in CBS' upcoming post-apocalyptic series Jericho, downplayed the idea that the show is a response to a climate of fear created by the current craziness in the world (terrorism, the wars in the Middle East and the nuclear threat of North Korea). "I was a kid when the Cuban missile crisis was on," McRaney said in a news conference at the Television Critics Association's summer press tour on July 15 in Pasadena, Calif. "My father was a small child when World War I was on. There has always been this feeling of a dread. It doesn't paralyze us, but it's always there. So I don't think right now, today, is that remarkably different from 1918, 1962, this time last year, or this time 100 years ago. There's always that sense that something remarkably bad could happen to us, and we will have to cope with all the trappings of civilization disappearing."
"This is just another example of 'How would people cope with a situation like that happening?'" McRaney (Deadwood) said. "It's always been an interesting thing for people who write fiction to explore."
"We have a nuclear bomb, I see, in our promotional [ads]," executive-producer Jon Turtletaub (While You Were Sleeping) said. "But, so far, we know two bombs have gone off [in the pilot]. And it's a little centric to think that if, say, five went off in the United States, that destroys the world. ... The notion of this type of thing happening, truly, for us, ... is not relevant to our times. If you remember when, whether it was War of the Worlds came out in the '30s, ... [that's] far more close to what that paranoia, that sense of [distrust], that sense of 'What's out there that can hurt us?' that, I think, has been a notion of humanity for a long time."
(05/18/06) - CBS announced that it has picked up Jericho for fall 2006-2007, where it will air Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT. Sprague Grayden and Kenneth Mitchell will also star in the series.
(03/14/06) - Pamela Reed will join the cast. She will play the role of Gail.
(03/10/06) - According to The Hollywood Reporter, Ashley Scott (Birds of Prey, A.I. Artificial Intelligence, Dark Angel) has joined the cast of the pilot.
(03/02/06) - According to The Hollywood Reporter, Skeet Ulrich (Miracles) will star in the pilot, from executive producers Ridley and Tony Scott. Ulrich is set to play the mayor's youngest son, who becomes an unlikely leader. Erik Knudsen (Saw II) will play a character who was raised in a trailer park and is left orphaned by the apocalyptic events in the pilot. Gerald McRaney has also joined the cast for teh pilot.
| Episode # | Prod # | Original Air Date | Episode Title | ||
| Season One | |||||
| 1. | 1-1 | 20-Sep-2006 | Pilot | ||
| 2. | 1-2 | 28-Sep-2006 | Fallout | ||