Jericho - September 14th Ep- Coalition of the Willing and September 15th Why We Fight

Today over at Fan Central we get notice that on September 14th Coalition of the Willing will be on at its regular time, 9pm EST, and then we get to really experience the whole shows finale so much better because the next night, September 15th we get to see Why We Fight at 9pm!

This is great as far as I am concerned, having them played so close like this!

Thanks CBS!

And as Shaun said -

We all know what the season finale triggered don't we?? Lets relive that moment once again.

Relive, and cry all over again.This time we know for sure that another 7 are on the way! But that does not mean we can sit back on our laurels and feel secure that more is ours, no... rather we have to assume that we have, as Shaun put it so well at the CBS boards, a new hill to take!
I have no problems at all in getting my battle gear ready to take this new hill, as a matter of fact like any veteran I am armed and ready.
Let the two shows on the 14th and 15th move you to renew your efforts to gain viewer support for Jericho. Remember while you sit through Why We Fight how you felt when you heard it was cancelled, and how you felt as we rallied around all our co fans efforts to save the show. We became the greatest fan base ever, and we did the impossible!
Let it move you again to show CBS exactly how far you are prepared to go in order to have Jericho for many many more seasons to come.

I will also be doing a totally new recap, and the I will sit back and re read what I wrote after the first showing of these two episodes.

Introducing... Gerald McRaney

Introducing.... Gerald McRaney ( AKA Johnston Green)


During the 1980s I recall watching Gerald McRaney and always thinking "this man seems so nice!" And when I began watching Jericho, I quickly came to the conclusion that though the writers may indeed have written his character on the show, Johnston Green was simply a layer of the person Gerald McRaney, an extension of his character as a man.

Imagine my surprise today when I went to his IMDb page, and saw that in 1969 he played a KILLER in a show called Night of Bloody Horror. And to see that he was the last person to have a shoot out with Matt Dillon on Gunsmoke, wow! ( his character lost I read). I saw immediately that doing this post on Gerald McRaney was going to be more in depth than I had realized. His career is immense and interesting, what memories he must have!

His list of credits is impressive, starting as I said with the 1969 Night of Bloody Horror, and moving into the 1970s where he was on some of the best of television, Cannon, Alias Smith and Jones, Night Gallery, Mannix, Gunsmoke, The Waltons, Police Woman, Petrocelli, to name a very select few.
In 1981, Gerald costarred in a show called Simon and Simon, which went on for 156 episodes, ending in 1989 as a hugely popular show with a large following.

After Simon and Simon ended Gerald continued to do wonderful television, in such shows as Touched By an Angel, and Promised Land. In the mix of wonderful parts and shows he has been in, Deadwood was said to be one of the best. I have not watched before, but have been told by many fans how great he was in the show. Then for a little while, we got to have him on our show, Jericho. He played the father of Jake and Mayor of Jericho; Johnston Green. From the first episode, I feel in love with his character, but not in the way you would think.

He so reminded me of my father, his mannerisms, his strength in times of trouble, the way you just feel his integrity. I hold people up to my father, and if they resemble him then they pass muster with me. I could not see this for the reason why I always enjoyed Gerald when I was a younger person in the 80s, but I do see it now. And when I found out that he had been ill, I was a bit confused because although he did look older ( as we all do) he still had that vigor and strength emanating from him. I just could not see him any other way. I was very glad to hear that his illness is a thing of the past and that he is doing great!

When the character he played on Jericho, Johnston died in Why We Fight, I was deeply affected. I had come to love being able to hear his sage words, and feel his comforting presence during the terrible times Jericho faced. Never did his character lose control of the situation. This is of course mostly due to the writers, but in a large part it is more due to Gerald McRaney because he just shines with assurance, with the promise that all will be well. It was in a small way like I had lost a father figure as well. I recall that night after the episode aired, feeling the deep need to tell my Father just exactly how important he is to me, and feeling so happy to know that I have the relationship I do now with my Dad. The scene where he is walking down the street with his father, and Jake is looking on, well....still cant recall it without feeling both sadness and great happiness; it was a prefect scene.

I will miss Johnston and I am quite sure all the fans of Jericho will as well. I know for the sake of the story that his death was important however I wish I could still count on Dad being there to see each week. His character on the show was just one of a collection of great characters, but without his Jericho would not have been the same show.

Reading this personal quote attributed to him from IMDb, I cant help but see that my opinion of him ( thought I do not know him personally) is dead on, Gerald McRaney is the man I see him as...

"It occurs to me that the only way you can have a positive effect on people's lives through your work is by filling the loneliness -- letting people know they're not in this thing alone."

I hope with all my heart that he knows the impact he has had on his fans, we will miss him in Jericho very much.

I wish him all the best in his next venture, and have all hopes of seeing him in yet another great show in the future.

Watch Jericho now

I thought it might be time to introduce everyone * those who might not know already * to what is available for the fan of Jericho over at CBS.

The main site has links for the forums ( which by now I think most people are comfortable with) but there is also a wiki for Jericho which also has discussions going on. There is the cast area, where you can get photos of the cast, read their biographies, and also an area to ask the Directors questions, watch interviews with the producers.
I don't think any other show has made so much available to its viewers. CBS allows so much more interaction with the viewer and the show.
I know my time was always spent this way, watch the show on CBS, then run as fast as I could to the web, watch the countdown videos, and then I would post my thoughts... and I am opinionated. That is just one reason why this website is so great though.

So, watching Jericho right now is as easy as clicking your mouse. You can watch right from CBS website if you don't mind seeing it on a tiny 17 inch screen ( I am pitching here for my husband to buy me a nice 27 inch monitor, he does not see the need for it, cant see why not?) Anyway, all the episodes are there, along with the countdown videos which are almost my second things to see there. You can also get photos of the cast there, read bios, watch the directors and Carol talk

As you can see, I have an iTunes graphic here, and yesterday I contacted them via Apple, in order to see how to get the iTunes graphic to display Jericho instead of John Mayer. Right now, if you just can't wait to summer to start watching the show right now... you can down load it from iTunes! That's right.

Imagine.... Jake, Stanley and Eric all at your fingertips whenever you want them!

I actually think its a great idea... I watch the shows over and over on Innertube.... but to have it on my computer, well that would make my Hard Drive worth every penny.

I also hear its down loadable at XBox live, not sure of the procedure on that, have to ask my daughter; but its still another means of downloading the episodes.

So, lets hope Apple gets back to me soon, time is of the essence!

Dont forget tho, that the episodes are all right there on CBS and if you have either media player or real player, you are good to go to watch.... as many times as you want for FREE!
And to show you how easy it really is, here is the link for ~Why We Fight.

Watching Why We Fight

I have always been the kind of person, who if a book I get becomes my favourite, I will read it over and over. Something about seeing it from different angles.
I have never been this way with television. Now, I will watch Dances With Wolves over and over, but it would be ruined for me if I saw it more than a few times a year.
* Dances is probably my second all time favourite Romance Movie - Gone with the Wind is always going to be my first *
So, its rather funny that I can sit and watch these episodes over and over like i have been doing. I am not exactly sure what I get from watching the shows over and over. I think that some of the reason has to be that I HATE being denied information, LOL.

Mostly, I just miss Jericho.

It breaks my heart to see Johnston die, and when Gail comes into the room, I cant help crying.
The writers did a great job of not going over the top with these scenes.

That kiss between Jake and Emily, wow that was a kiss. I know some on the boards want Heather to win, and trust me so did I in the beginning, but its Emily Jake loves, and no one can ever stop true love.
* at least , so I have been told*

I see at the forum that we made it to CNN this afternoon. I went and watched but did not see any mention, and my kids rebelled and wanted their channel back! I will fight CBS tooth and nail for Jericho, but I run like a screaming like a girl if my kids get antsy over their TV time.
And there is now a running list of what news outlets are carrying this news, which I will post here this afternoon.

Just as soon as I am done watching Skeet and company prepare to kick some New Bern ass.

Why We Fight - Episode 22

Well, this episode was the saddest of all. Poor Johnston.
So, we get into tonight's episode with flash backs of Eric and Aprils' wedding. Apparently, Eric had a tiny problem with Jake, and was not happy to have Jake as his best man. But their mom made Eric chose Jake, now at first I was unsure what this had to do with what is going on in Jericho. During this flashback, we see Jake, Emily and Jake's Granddad at the bar, during the wedding, and Jake's Grandfather is telling a story of a time in WWII when an American Unit was surrounded by the Germans, trying to hold this small piece of land until the American reinforcements arrives. The German leader radios to the American leader telling him that if he surrenders his men will be alive, that he was totally outnumbered and such. The American leader tells the German, NUTS; "go to hell".
So Johnston's plan was to use the tank, and Hawkins was at home using his Satellite to track the men from New Bern. This was not such a great plan though, it was the only plan that would work but it backfired on Hawkins. As Hawkins and Marcy are in the basement, using the satellite to track the New Bern men, someone ( three guess who) picks up on his use of the device and begins the process of locating him! Marcy proved she is a smart cookie, picking up on the fact that the uranium was the 'fingerprint' on the bomb, and that those people who Hawkins thought were after the witnesses attached to the bomb were really after getting the bomb to keep everyone from knowing who started this whole war. Just before Hawkins has to shut the laptop down, he sees a train coming at Jericho, loaded with New Bern men! He knows he has to stop that train.
The towns people under Johnston's steady leadership all decide to only try to hold onto Stanley's farm, to keep from being spread too thin. And their backup is that tank they got when the 'fake' army people came into Jericho. They only had one mortar tho, so they had better make it count!
As the men from New Bern round the bend in the road at Stanley's farm, one of their gunners opens fire, and war has come to Jericho.
It looks pretty grim for a while, and Jake decides he needs to climb a nearby hill to try and take out the shooter in a truck. As he gets up the hill and into position, he sees a tank coming over the hill practically on top of him! Its Johnston and hes packing a loaded tank.
We watch as the fight begins to get intense until the New Bern guys see that tank, and when they realize what that is coming at them, they begin to fall back, but not far enough. The tank's mortar goes off and there is a nice explosion!
The people of Jericho are enjoying a small win, when Jake and Eric realize that their Dad is lieing on the ground, he has been shot.
Here is where we know for sure one thing at least, Johnston is not going to make it back home tonight. I was not particularly attached to his character, but I was actually sad during the death scene. It was really realistic as far as the emotions coming from Gerald McRaney. He is an excellent actor, and was a credit to the show.
Johnston does get to clear the air with Jake and Eric though, telling them both how much he loved them, and was proud of them. It was hard to watch, even knowing it was not real.
He passes before Gail could get there, and his last words were " tell your mom I love her".
Jake and Eric share a moment of pain , but the war is not letting them have even this moment in full. Jake and Emily share some moments as well, and she is actually able to be a comfort during this time to Jake. She tells Jake that his dad is there, watching over him and everyone from town during this fight. This seems to be good for him. We then see Gail brought into the house by Emily. Jake and Eric let her know they are there for her, and then every leaves the house. Gail walks to Johnston and leans down and hugs on him, kind of like what Mrs. Reagan did at Ronnie's funeral, and I can tell you it was as sad tonight as it was then. She will miss him, but will go on.
Jake then gets a call from Constantino, who tells Jake that he was told of Johnston's death, and that he was sorry. Jake thinks a moment, and then proceeds to tell Phil "NUTS", go to hell. The he says to Constantino, "about my dad, its you I am coming after".
Hawkins shows up on horseback and asks for the tank, Jake and Stanley tell him there is no more ammo for it, and he says he doesn't need it. He had better move fast to get that tank into position, to do what I think he is going to do. All he has to do is derail that train far enough away from Jericho to make it not advantageous to the New Bern men to try and make a go at Jericho.
In between the scenes with fighting and the flashbacks , we see that Heather in fact is not dead but rather found out what New Bern was about to do, and tried to run from New Bern to warn Jericho. She was in an accident, and left for dead. The Army ( whose, we see later) finds her lying by the wrecked car, and takes her to their Nebraska camp to be treated. When she comes to, and finds out where she is, she goes off to find the Captain and she asks for his help with the New Bern-Jericho war. At first he tells her he cant help in that matter. Later we see him talking to a few people on some television screens, and one person we see is old baldy himself. The evil person who is behind the whole war!
This man tells the Capt. that they had tracked a 'terrorist suspect' to within 200 miles of Jericho, and that the Capt. and his men need to go to Jericho, stop the war and then find this terrorist!
At the end of the show, we see Hawkins on the tank and over his head comes helicopters. The Army, is on its way, but its not the Army we know or trust. We go back to Heather, when she was thanking the Capt for going to help Jericho ( she has no idea what is going on) she looks over to the flag on the pole and its the flag with vertical stripes, a non military flag. She seems to know something is not right.

Is this ending a clear indication of a second season? I have not read any new news about this, I could have missed it, and will check in with the wiki after I post this tonight to see what folks know. What ever I find out, I will post. If you have info, story lines I missed or just some thoughts, please feel completely free to post away!
As for the countdown video and extras or previews, I don't think I will get those up until tomorrow, but i will sure try for getting it done tonight.
End was great, but very sad.

add on info - this link at an about.com site for which shows might be saved or cancelled - shows Jericho as a pretty good shoein for being picked up for second season, will post more as soon as I hear more.

Safe From Cancellation: Renewed 2007-08 Television Series