"Jericho" Pilot (TV Episode 2006) Poster

(TV Series)

(2006)

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8/10
JERICHO: an actor's perspective
actressninabell11 October 2006
During this time when serial melodramas like LOST and 24 reign supreme, JERICHO does an excellent job of competing while carving out it's own niche.

There's a feeling of strong helmsmanship from director/executive producer Jon Turteltaub, who obviously understands that strong relationships are what make a story compelling (if only more studio execs would get that). He avoids pushing the action into wrinkled brows, teary eyes and quivering lips, and instead keeps the drama realistic and understated, something you'd actually expect from real people in that situation. The cast is fairly diverse and depicts a small Kansas town of breathing, thinking, feeling humans, rather than walking clichés.

Gerald McRaney and Pamela Reed bring a lot of class to the show. Gail Green's (Pamela Reed) love, for both her husband and her son Jake (Skeet Ulrich) is palpable and moving. Skeet Ulrich continues to impress after turning out wonderful performances in INTO THE WEST, and the short lived but fascinating supernatural drama, MIRACLES. He deserves the award for "Most Improved" when comparing his present work with his early years.

There were technical problems, music was mixed too loud, and it was obtrusive; Also, some strange camera angles that neither matched nor were flattering to the actors, especially in an early scene in a parking lot between Skeet Ulrich and Ashley Scott, who was less than stellar.

It will be interesting to see what happens with the show, now that we are smoothly over that first bump known as "pilot," which is usually rife with overly expository dialog, and tries too hard to impress. JERICHO impresses without trying.
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7/10
Interesting offering...
radioannouncer20 September 2006
Warning: Spoilers
The subject matter is interesting, considering our current world situations.

I am not going to dive deep into breaking the story down...basically the movie opened with Jake Green returning home to Jericho, and after establishing some backstory with his family and ex, the bomb goes off after 15 minutes and the action commences. The remainder of the pilot deals with the unknowns that arise after the mushroom cloud is spotted - Are they alone? Were there more bombs? All no doubt to be explored in the future episodes.

I personally rate the pilot as a 7 out of 10...interesting story and I can't wait to see what's next.
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10/10
LOVE and Miss Jericho !!
jseph1234-262-61748818 December 2018
I KNEW I was going to love this show from the Pre-season trailer for it in 2006. I EAGERLY awaited the premiere and CBS is CRAZY for not allowing Netflix to purchase this Show and continue it after they cancelled it on the ADORING fans of Jericho in 2008!
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6/10
Not as great as it looked
mrkita0820 September 2006
Now that its fall madness and new series are starting everywhere I decided to give Jericho a try. The pilot episode starts like a movie showing the main character Jake returning back to his small town for some money, running into old friends then leaving. About fifteen minutes or so in you see two kids playing hide and seek and then the one sees a giant mushroom cloud in the distance. Cut to a group of kids on a school bus. They are driving back home and then they see a deer running frantically along side of the bus and then crash. Naturally parents in the town are going crazy and yelling. When the power goes out the town starts practically rioting. Eventually we learn that the bomb hasn't gone off near Denver but it has also gone off near Atlanta.

When CBS advertised the show they said something to the extent of "It'll keep you guessing the entire season." Being an avid fan of LOST I thought it would be cool to have another mystery drama the same night as LOST. So I watched it and was thoroughly unimpressed. The story seemed predictable and the plot twists were expected. I might tune in next week in hopes of just a cruddy first episode but I'm doubtful. 6/10 at best.
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5/10
Wasn't bad
morgana-3121 September 2006
Someone finally drops the 'big' one - or was it a couple of smaller ones?

I decided to give this pilot a shot, for the sake of having nothing better to do last night. It wasn't bad for a first episode but I can see the novelty wearing off pretty quickly. It's all been done before anyway, hasn't it?

I found most of it pretty predictable, and the characters seemed rather one dimensional. But I suppose (well HOPE) they'll develop as the weeks go by.

It doesn't seem, at this point at least, as though I am likely to be hanging on the edge of my seat waiting to find out what happens next. Well I'll watch it next week and, who knows, it might develop a twist and I'll be forced to eat my words.
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1/10
Turn Down the Music
artlofty20 September 2006
Are you kidding me? The music was SO LOUD in this show I could often not even hear the dialog. And the music was nothing great. Anyone know what Jake's mother said when he walked in the door??? And the mushroom cloud looked pretty close to have so little instant devastation. Anyone research the effects of nuclear fallout before writing this one. I felt like a bunch of sit com actors were sent on location and didn't know what to do with dramatic dialog. And what does a Kansas teen know about shopping in Soho....couldn't we have had a better line here? Was bored to tears and only kept awake by the jarring blare of the over-mixed way to loud music.
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1/10
Old dog, old tricks
nemesis-8826 September 2020
America is under attack. A nuclear mushroom rises on the horizon, yet no shockwave is felt. A boy watching it from the roof is not swept off, but just enjoys the view. It does, however, start cliche avalanche.

Lights go out a few hours after explosion. Not during the day when the explosion happened, but AT NIGHT. That's a must. An angry crowd is looting a gas station. We can't do without it in a post-apocalyptic show!!!

A bus carrying children is stranded after it hits a deer. The driver is killed... BY WHOM? BY WHAT? The deer's family came in to show them who runs the city? Some outcast character performs a tracheotomy on a first grader. Where did he learn to do it? In a military school! Of course! Who need a university degrees if a self-proclaimed "screw-up" can do it!

BS-du-jour: Bus filled with children runs out of gas. Really? How was the driver going to return home? Anyway, the children must "walk to the stop sign, turn left"... And this is where a FIRST GRADER asks The Question: "Which way is left?". I mean, yes, I heard complaints that American school education is not what it used to be, but... THAT BAD!?!?
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Cliché-ville
clone6525 November 2006
Hmmm, words that come to mind about Jericho... 2-dimensional, predictable, Star Trek like in it's lack of connection between some episodes (why are they so concerned over getting the generator from the airdrop when they made such a fuss in an earlier episode about the generator at the hospital? Does that generator no longer work? Who knows because it wasn't mentioned. What happened to the perfectly good doctor they rescued from the mercenaries? He's in one extra episode then just disappears)

Watching this show is like having a bad tooth, you know it's just going to bring you pain but you keep hoping that it will get better. Every time you touch that tooth you get reminded that instead of getting better, it's all pain.
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4/10
Why Why Why
nebohr5 January 2021
13:09 1/5/2021

1) How Much Does It Cost Jake Green To Store A Car For Five Years? And 2) Why Is There No Dirt On The Canvas When Jake Green Pulls It Off His Car? And 3) Jake Green Has Been In The Army For Five Years? And 4) What Happened To The IRS Lady? And 5) Why Is The IRS Auditing The Richmond Family Roadside Vegetable Stand? And 6) Why Does Stanley Richmond Give Bonnie Richmond "The Bird" Over A Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie? And 7) Why Does Jake Green Give Bonnie Richmond A "Chin Flick" Over The Same Pie? And 8) Why Does The "I Know" Girl Use The Lip Gloss Then Put It Back On The Shelf For Someone Else To Buy? And 9) Jake Green Has Been Playing Minor League Baseball For Five Years? And 10) Why Is The Alcohol Not Separated From The Rest Of The Store? And 11) Why Are Minors Allowed In A Store That Sells Liquor? And 12) Why Is A Minor Allowed To Work In A Liquor Store? And 13) You Don't Need Straight Teeth To Be A RL Runway Model? And 14) Emily Sullivan Is A High School Teacher Who Bought A House On The "Upscale" (East) Side Of Jericho In "The Pines" With Her "Banker" Fiancé? And 15) Jake Green Has Been In The Navy For Five Years? And 16) Emily Sullivan KNOWS B.S. When She Hears It? And 17) Jake Green Knows She Knows He's B.S.ing Her? And 18) How Does A Dog Remember Someone After Five Years? And 19) 05:36 ..."And Desire And Love And Empty Things"... And 19) When Were The Apologies Offered And 20) What Actions Did He Take To Make Amends And 21) Why Is There A Fight Over Grandpa's Money And 22) Why Does This Series Even Exist ???
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