Jericho

Kristin and I have a new bane to our existence: Jericho. 

To put it mildly, we stumbled upon this show on Netflix the other day and now cannot stop watching it. To meet the Internet's quota for mandatory hyperbole I'd say that it's one of the best television series I've ever seen and I cannot stop thinking about it. Yes, I even dream about it now.

Where was I when this show was on CBS two years ago? I have no idea, but I know the agony of waiting 7 days for the next episode would have been excruciating. As it is now, we are in tremendous discomfort as we strain to muster the discipline we must exhibit to not sit and watch all 22 episodes (44 minutes long w/out commercials) of the first season at once. Having them at our proverbial fingertips via the ability to stream them one-after-the-other is as tempting as an apple in Eden.

For those who, like me, never seen nor heard of this show, allow me to explain. The show's title, Jericho, is the name of a tiny town in western Kansas and, well, one day 23 atomic bombs go off in major cities around the United States. It's the ultimate FUBAR situation. The town is cut off from the world, has no idea of what is going on, how long it will last, or who/what/why they were attacked. All they know at first is that there is a mushroom cloud rising in the direction of Denver. Little by little, they manage to gain some information about the extent of the attack, but as the days turn to weeks the town begins to run out of necessities and the small town starts to turn a little less friendly.

What makes this show so compelling is that the writing is actually very, very good. As is the acting. There are probably as many subplots and secret lives on display as there are in Lost (so I'm told, I don't watch it) and other than one or two characters who are supposed to be unlikable, the crew of characters are all people you want to learn more about. I guess the best thing I can say about this series is that it feels like a really good book. You want to just keep flipping pages or, in this case, you want to keep watching, episode after episode.

Update: I just learned that the show was originally terminated after one season, but fan support brought the series back for a second season in 2007. I believe there are 22 episodes in the first season and about 14 or so in the second season. Check out the pilot -- I guarantee it will hook you.