# I love the "post-apocalyptic" genre, is that shoe "Jericho" any good? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 19, 2007, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-the-post-apocalyptic-genre-is-that-shoe-jericho-any-good/400789 "2007-04-19T15:20:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Shamozzle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shamozzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shamozzle)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2007, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-the-post-apocalyptic-genre-is-that-shoe-jericho-any-good/400789/1 "2007-04-19T15:20:08Z")
Is “Jericho” a good TV show? I don’t really like network TV drama (except for LOST), I’m more of an HBO kind of guy… ---
**Author:** ![Turek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/turek/32/18782_2.png) [@Turek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turek)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2007, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-the-post-apocalyptic-genre-is-that-shoe-jericho-any-good/400789/2 "2007-04-19T15:35:55Z")
There are many threads floating around about the individual episodes. The consensus seems to be (and I agree, btw) that it’s deeply flawed but mildly entertaining. In general, it doesn’t live up to its potential. If you’re looking for well-thought out science and realistic behaviors, this may not be the show for you. ---
**Author:** ![RumMunkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@RumMunkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RumMunkey)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2007, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-the-post-apocalyptic-genre-is-that-shoe-jericho-any-good/400789/3 "2007-04-19T15:36:28Z")
Nope. It’s deliciously bad in fact. We keep waiting for the _bwain eatin’ zombies_ to show up but so far no luck (haven’t seen last night’s episode yet though, so maybe by now). If you’re looking for a “good” show that makes sense, you don’t want Jericho. If you’re kind of into looking at train wrecks and car accidents, this is your thing. Jericho has it’s pluses. I wouldn’t watch it if were downright _unwatchable_, but its not “good”. It’s… what the word… “entertaining”. Some of the devices that show up leave you scratching your head sometimes, but if you don’t think too hard about them you can enjoy the overall production I think. At least I do. Oh, and don’t worry. You’ll (kinda) get used to Skeet Ulrich’s teeth eventually. ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2007, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-the-post-apocalyptic-genre-is-that-shoe-jericho-any-good/400789/4 "2007-04-19T15:39:38Z")
Not that this is even remotely what you asked, but since you said you like the post-apocalyptic genre, have you read “The Road”? Not only did it win a **Trunkie** in the category of “best book I’ve read since probably. . .oh. . .‘The Grapes of Wrath’ 15 years ago”, but Oprah made it a book club book, and in other news, it won the freakin’ Pulitzer prize. It also made my wife cry. It’s really amazing. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2007, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-the-post-apocalyptic-genre-is-that-shoe-jericho-any-good/400789/5 "2007-04-19T15:40:52Z")
What **Turek** said. I like post-apocalypse stuff too, but from what I’ve seen and read, Jericho has managed to avoid everything that makes post-apocalyptic situations interesting. ---
**Author:** ![Caridwen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c89c15/32.png) [@Caridwen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caridwen)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2007, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-the-post-apocalyptic-genre-is-that-shoe-jericho-any-good/400789/6 "2007-04-19T15:45:28Z")
[QUOTE=AuntiePam] What **Turek** said. I like post-apocalypse stuff too, but from what I’ve seen and read, Jericho has managed to avoid everything that makes post-apocalyptic situations interesting. [/QUOTE] Very true. I was really looking forward to it. It’s not terrible but not what I’d hoped it would be. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2007, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-the-post-apocalyptic-genre-is-that-shoe-jericho-any-good/400789/7 "2007-04-19T15:56:20Z")
[QUOTE=AuntiePam] What **Turek** said. I like post-apocalypse stuff too, but from what I’ve seen and read, Jericho has managed to avoid everything that makes post-apocalyptic situations interesting. [/QUOTE] I think you hit the nail on the head for why I, another p.a. junkie, can’t really get into this show. A good p.a. book that I haven’t read yet? Amazon.ca, here I come! ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2007, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-the-post-apocalyptic-genre-is-that-shoe-jericho-any-good/400789/8 "2007-04-19T16:06:44Z")
As post-apocalyptic soap opera goes, it ain’t all bad. Except the lack of flesh eating zombies, natch 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2007, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-the-post-apocalyptic-genre-is-that-shoe-jericho-any-good/400789/9 "2007-04-19T16:09:06Z")
[QUOTE=Shamozzle] Is “Jericho” a good TV show? I don’t really like network TV drama (except for LOST), I’m more of an HBO kind of guy… [/QUOTE] I watched it for a while, but there was way too much soap-opera type stuff, and it just felt like they were playing it safe; very much a network family show. I’d like to see a show with the same premise on HBO, done as a very gritty, unflinching, realistic story. ---
**Author:** ![pinkfreud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pinkfreud/32/17603_2.png) [@pinkfreud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkfreud)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2007, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-the-post-apocalyptic-genre-is-that-shoe-jericho-any-good/400789/10 "2007-04-19T17:42:04Z")
[QUOTE=Baldwin] I watched it for a while, but there was way too much soap-opera type stuff, and it just felt like they were playing it safe; very much a network family show. I’d like to see a show with the same premise on HBO, done as a very gritty, unflinching, realistic story. [/QUOTE] J. Michael Straczynski spearheaded a post-apocalyptic series called **Jeremiah** on Showtime that was mighty gritty and unflinching. ---
**Author:** ![Shamozzle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shamozzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shamozzle)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2007, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-the-post-apocalyptic-genre-is-that-shoe-jericho-any-good/400789/11 "2007-04-19T20:42:57Z")
Thank you all for your insight! I think I’ll have to hunt down “The Road” and give it a whirl. ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2007, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-the-post-apocalyptic-genre-is-that-shoe-jericho-any-good/400789/12 "2007-04-19T20:49:15Z")
[QUOTE=pinkfreud] J. Michael Straczynski spearheaded a post-apocalyptic series called **Jeremiah** on Showtime that was mighty gritty and unflinching. [/QUOTE] Based on a comic but also staring Theo Huxtable and Dylan from 90210. I think the show is fine. It seems more like people dealing with an extended natural weater crisis then a nuclear attack(s) on the US. The problem with doing a real post-apoc show is that characters would be dying out… and it would be REALLY depressing. It kind of works in movies but a weekly series in that mindset would have a hard time maintaining a mainstream audience. It always looks like things are getting better for the characters on Jericho. I think most of us would rather see it get worse. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2007, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-the-post-apocalyptic-genre-is-that-shoe-jericho-any-good/400789/13 "2007-04-20T05:04:12Z")
The thing about Jericho is that it isn’t really **quite** a post-apocalypse. To my way of thinking, a true post-apocalyptic scenerio is one where the old order has been so totally destroyed that the survivors are basically on their own and free to rebuild things as best they can; the forest has been clear-cut back to meadow. Jericho is ambivalent to just how much things have been knocked down; we know the destruction was primarily of the continental United States and that much, perhaps most of the outer world remains untouched. Is this all just a temporary confusion until order is restored? Does _just_ enough of the old order remain that various factions will contend with one another over who’s in charge? It’s looking sort of like the centuries-long collapse of the Roman Empire, in which something that purported to be the government, or a piece of it, dragged on for a long long time. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2007, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-the-post-apocalyptic-genre-is-that-shoe-jericho-any-good/400789/14 "2007-04-20T05:19:35Z")
> [@Shamozzle](#): > > is that shoe “Jericho” any good? I think it might be a good fit for you… 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Shamozzle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shamozzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shamozzle)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2007, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-the-post-apocalyptic-genre-is-that-shoe-jericho-any-good/400789/15 "2007-04-20T05:49:53Z")
[QUOTE=Leaper] I think it might be a good fit for you… 😃 [/QUOTE] Yea, I read that later and had a bit of a laugh… :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Winston\_Bongo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a9adbd/32.png) [@Winston\_Bongo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Winston_Bongo)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2007, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-the-post-apocalyptic-genre-is-that-shoe-jericho-any-good/400789/16 "2007-04-20T06:17:46Z")
[Ed Sullivan]“It’s a rrreally big shoe!”[/Ed Sullivan] ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2007, 11:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-the-post-apocalyptic-genre-is-that-shoe-jericho-any-good/400789/17 "2007-04-20T11:09:02Z")
I like it. It’s got interesting characters and I think it’s pretty well done. ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2007, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-the-post-apocalyptic-genre-is-that-shoe-jericho-any-good/400789/18 "2007-04-20T11:51:42Z")
I know that some people are thinking post-apocalyptic like zombies, and mutants, and Road Warrior, but for another great piece of “real” PA literature, I’d also recommend Nevil Shute’s novel “On The Beach”. It’s older, and was made into a movie that I never saw (and which I doubt could actually be good). It’s striking in its contrast to “The Road”. Both of these are two of my favorite books.