Esai Morales will be joining the cast of Jericho its abbreviated second season.  Esai will play the mysterious Colonel Hoffman, an Iraq War veteran who returned to the states just as the bombs went off and has lost contact with his wife since his return.  Hoffman will take up residence in Jericho and will impact the chain of command there as Jake (Skeet Ulrich) begins to establish himself as a leader in the community.

Morales has been embroiled in some messy personal claims, including a lawsuit by a former girlfriend, but has taken the high ground since the controversy broke out speaking openly and honestly to his fans.

Among Morales’ previous credits is Fox’s short lived Vanished, the pilot The Cure, NYPD Blue, and perhaps most notable the feature film “Fast Food Nation.

So far, not much has been said about Jericho’s second season plot line other than that the first few episodes will wrap up all the cliffhangers from season one and then the story will embark on a story arc that is based completely within the confines of Jericho.

If Jericho does well enough when it returns, CBS could expand the second season run by an additional six episodes.   Of course, if the return turns into a smashing success, Jericho would be given a full order for the fall season on its third time around.

Fans who pelted CBS execs with nuts in order to convince the eyeball to reverse their decision on Jericho are continuing their efforts, this time formulating grass roots campaigns aimed at bringing new viewers to the show.

At last weeks television critics press tour, CBS exec Nina Tassler  admitted for the first time that the networks unfashionably long hiatus between the first and last half of Jericho’s first season was a definite contributing factor to the shows ratings woes.

Look for more Jericho coverage this coming weekend when BuddyTV checks in with the Jericho panel at the San Diego comic-con.

– Jon Lachonis, BuddyTV Senior Writer
source: The Hollywood Reporter
(Image Courtesy of IMDB)

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Senior Writer, BuddyTV