It certainly looks that way.  Jericho, the cult hit from the just completed television season, was effectively canceled by CBS last month when the show was left off the Fall TV schedule.  Fans of the apocalyptic drama did not respond well to this decision.  After weeks of protests, CBS has listened and it looks like they have changed their mind about Jericho.

Over the last few hours, there have been reports from various media outlets (Variety, LA Times, The Hollywood Reporter, E! Online, Ain't It Cool News) that CBS has heard enough from outraged fans and plan to bring Jericho back to the airwaves.  The news is not final at this juncture, but everything looks promising. 

Apparently, the actors all have options and getting them to come back shouldn't be a major problem.  There are other issues, like setting a budget and finding a home for the sets, and determining how many episodes will be ordered and exactly when Jericho will return to the air.  The early reports claim that CBS plans to bring Jericho back at midseason for eight new episodes and, if those perform reasonably enough, more new episodes will follow.

This is all incredible news for Jericho fans and is the kind of situation that will give hope to fans of canceled shows for years to come.  Networks are beginning to learn that in the world we live in now, a world that contains DVR/Tivo, iTunes, torrents, DVD sets, and Slingboxes that pure Nielsen ratings aren't telling the whole story.  Shows like 24 and Lost may not be top ten ratings giants, but they clean up in the DVD game.  The Office was in danger of being canceled until NBC learned about how heavily downloaded the show was. 

It's getting to the point where it might be wise for all networks to wait on canceling shows to see how rabid their respective fan bases are when it comes to things like DVDs and downloading.  It's a new world out there, folks.  Welcome back, Jericho.

-Oscar Dahl, BuddyTV Senior Writer