AirLockAlpha.com

When CBS network officials look back to the decision they made in May 2007 about the fate of "Jericho," it should be looked upon on what not to do. At least so say some of the organizers of the campaigns to keep the post-apocalyptic drama on the airwaves.

"We feel 'Jericho' was not given a real chance," Tricia Kate, a fan from Michigan who operates the Save Jericho Now MySpace page, told Airlock Alpha's Michael Hinman. "Brought on as a new show, it was abruptly put on a three-month hiatus back in November. Any show is going to suffer from a break that long. In addition, when it reappeared in late February, promos in previous weeks were scarce. Not only that, 'Jericho' was brought back in the same time slot as a ratings monster, 'American Idol,' which was already in full swing."

Fans of the show and leaders of these various campaigns have a single goal in common: Don't just provide closure for the one-season series. Give it a renewal, and if fans don't show up this time around, then do what you want. That is if you ask one very passionate fan, Pittsburgh radio station operator Clarke Ingram.

"Most of the fans out there don't want a two-hour movie," Ingram said. "They want the show to come back. If we get a 13-episode order, and it comes back in January, that's great. If they put it on in January and promote it, and it doesn't do well, then we had our chance and it didn't happen. But we at least want the chance to prove the show can be a success."

Of all the shows that were cut by the networks last week during television fall season upfronts, it seems that no show -- not even "Veronica Mars" or "Gilmore Girls" -- is getting the public outcry that "Jericho" has. The show, according to Zap2it, dropped from nearly 11 million viewers in the first half of the season to just over 8 million in the second half. Some fans, many of them quite serious, point to how those numbers were better than Katie Couric's stint on the "CBS Nightly News," yet the network is continuing their investment there. Even the dark themes of life after multiple nuclear bombs destroying major American cities wasn't harsh enough to keep families away from the show, said Dallas resident David Haynes, who runs both SaveJericho.info and a Save Jericho MySpace page.

"Overall, it's pretty much a show the whole family can sit down and enjoy," Haynes said. "It has a very broad appeal, I'd say."

Some early critics cry that nuclear bombs and mass death was "gruesome" obviously hasn't caught the rest of CBS' lineup, Ingram said.

"I watch 'CSI: New York' and 'Criminal Minds,' and those shows can be gruesome," he said. "At its heart, ['Jericho'] is an optimistic show. They are fighting for their town, and yes there are some grim parts to it. But that doesn't interfere with the show's overall message."

Since "Jericho's" cancellation, Airlock Alpha itself has practically been taken over by the developing story. In the last couple of days, the site shared a statement from CBS entertainment president Nina Tassler saying that the network would explore some way to find "closure" for the series. The site then expressed its own view on what CBS should do about its "Jericho" dilemma. And earlier Monday, a New Jersey company called Nuts Online announced to the site they had just shipped more than 1,000 pounds of nuts to CBS' New York headquarters.

Not only have fans been writing to the networks, but to various news outlets as well.

"I think the reason many people have formed a special bond with 'Jericho' is because like its citizens, we knew as much about what was going on as they did," fan Ronnie Stedman wrote to Airlock Alpha. "It made me feel as if I was a part of the show, that I was part of the sacrifice and struggle of the town. It brought out the best in people, their strengths, their fortitude and the ability to overcome adversity."

Not everyone, of course, is demanding the return of the series. Some viewers believe that CBS made the right decision, such as one blogger known as Memles, who shared why they felt "Jericho's" cancellation was long overdue.

"For those fans of 'Jericho' who are upset about this, I really think that you need to think about this situation carefully," Memles wrote. "'Jericho' was never a good fit for CBS: Look how many of you are quickly swearing off the network in the wake of this announcement. It's a network of aging crime shows, one after the other, and the occasional spark of youth crowded out by the dead bodies [piling] ip around it.

"The network was an odd place to find a post-apocalyptic drama, and as a result, this was almost inevitable."

But just like the residents of "Jericho," fans of the show have hopes for a bright future despite the grim reality their series faces. And it's that optimism that keeps the fan movement going, Kate said.

"'Jericho' went through some ups and downs, [but it was] not entirely the fault of viewers," she said. "We believe these were flawed programming decisions and they can be corrected. Given the chance, 'Jericho' has the potential to become a real monster in itself."