It's easy to assume the producers of Jericho are just playing on our fears right? With everything the USA has been through, there is something morbidly fascinating about watching characters struggle through the worst-case-scenario. In a recent Reuters interview, Jericho creator Jon Turteltaub confessed, though, that there was a little more being the decision to move forward with the show. "If people had no fear of nuclear bombs, then this show would kind of suck," he says. "But if America was in a panic over nuclear bombs, we probably couldn't make the show."
Tutletaub is right that the scenario had to be shocking, but not so shocking that it becomes merely a study in post-apocalyptic decay. It had to be a story of hope to resonate with people in this day and age, and it is this aspect Tutletaub attributes to Jericho's success so far. "Most of us are pretty wonderful during the good times, but our true character comes out when we're confronted with tragedy and disasters. True leadership appears, and really hard choices have to be made." Of course, stories of appealing small town heroes aside, Jericho is still a story of terror at the ultimate level, a fact that - all good intentions aside - Tutletaub does service at a gruesome level. "When we see a suicide bomber on a TV show, we think it's a sign of the times," he says. "But when we see a nuke explode, we think: 'Holy crap, where did that come from? That doesn't happen! TV and movie stars always stop the bomb with two seconds left on the timer -- they don't actually explode!' In this show, they do."