About Angela Wilson
Location: Midwest
Occupation: Web Producer/Freelance Writer
Bio: I love to read - and write - and surf. My FAV genres include mysteries, romantic suspense and thrillers. I'm finally working on my own thriller (under a pen name) and writing a book on marketing/PR for authors. I blog about writing at www.wickedwordsmith.com, and have accounts on various sites. You can find me on MySpace, Facebook and more by visiting www.angelawilson.net.
Posts: 222
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Any television show or miniseries that tackles the fanaticism, suspicion, fear and violence in a post-nuclear America must battle stereotypes and tired story threads from similar Ghosts of Television Past. To be successful, creators must provide something new, brilliant and exciting that captures the audience in an unexpected way – and sends them online to burn up server space with their comments and theories and fan mail.
Yes, that’s a tall order, but with competition from the Internet, radio and gaming, television producers must be at the top of their game. If not, viewership will dwindle fast or be nonexistent from the start.
Jericho started off with a whimper, provided a few bangs in the middle and fizzled at the end with a finale that leaves viewers wondering why they bothered to watch. The show consistently did not offer the tension or speed it needed to maintain interest. It also did not offer much in the imagination department. Offerings on the online community were much more interesting at times than the show itself. Not good. What saves the show from the dreaded straight to DVD status is solid acting. We have former Simon & Simon star Gerald McRaney, Pamela Reed, Lenny James and the hunky Scream star Skeet Ulrich.
Character development was not bad, but not great, either. Robert Hawkins was a great character who needed more airtime. Antihero Jake had some interesting secrets in his past, but did not cause a sensation the way he should have. After all, Skeet Ulrich’s character was the one we heard the most about when the show started. Mayor Gray Anderson is a good fanatic to Johnstone Green’s stoic resolve. Mimi’s acerbic tongue was hilarious at times, and young man Dale – the owner of the Jericho trading post – was a character to watch. He was minor, but developed incredibly after he killed the man who murdered Gracie. Emily the Blonde needed to go; Heather the cute brunette needed to stay. Heather was much more interesting. Valente is also a character we should know – or we should care more about – since he appears to be behind the chaos.
There were opportunities for characters that may seem stereotypical, but aren’t. Where was the pastor fanatically preaching about the Apocalypse? This guy is the Jim Jones of post-nuclear America. He is charismatic. He gets the people to take the Kool-Aid, then, like a vulture, sweeps in and takes their land to become incredibly powerful in the war for the U.S. of A. See? A little creative thinking can provide a different evil character in this deadly time. What about the old crazy guy that every small town has? He lives on the outskirts of town and only shows up when absolutely necessary. He has and old pick up, many guns and hunts and fishes for his food regularly. He has a stash of supplies ready for harsh winters when he can’t get out of his home for weeks at a time. He is a survivor, a survivalist and people poke fun of him – until he comes in with his incredible strength of will and intelligence and teaches them a thing or two about survival. Hey, maybe he was a former government agent and he knows Mr. Bald Guy Valente.
By now, viewers should know more about what happened in the states, who is fighting and somewhat of an inkling of who the enemy is, though they don’t need to know just yet. The war with New Bern and characters putting together the fact that Jericho is valuable because it is outside the nuclear fallout should have happened much sooner. If the farming community of Jericho, Kan., is important to the overall structure, we should know how who controls the town and surrounding areas will impact the future of the nation.
Jericho would have made a great miniseries. For four nights, creators could have wowed audiences with incredible characters, intricate story threads and unique twists on the tired post-nuclear society meltdown in the Land of Opportunity. The online community should have started before the miniseries with intriguing questions and video – that works with DSL and dial up customers – to build interest with fickle primetime viewers.
Fast, tense and incredibly interesting. Those are the words needed for every episode - and qualities that peeked through only a handful of times the entire season.
If Jericho is renewed next season, it needs a shot of adrenaline. It’s got potential, now the creators need to tap into it – if it is not already too late.
