A couple of weeks ago I ranted about how my favorite shows all end up getting the axe, despite loyal followings of millions of viewers as evidenced on the ‘net. I specifically mentioned Jericho as being one of these unfortunate victims. Well, it looks like Jericho’s rabid fan base just won’t let the thing die.

The second season of this riveting drama ended a few weeks ago, barely getting a chance to finish it’s seven-episode run before being cancelled — again.

Now, it looks like Jericho’s producers at CBS Paramount are starting to realize that it may not be in their financial best interests to simply pull the rug out from under the 8 million-or-so loyal Jericho followers. They’re apparently working on a deal with cable television giant Comcast to revive the series yet again, and produce a third-season with Comcast footing a part of the bill. Comcast would then gain first-to-air rights to Jericho, before the networks at large have their opportunity to cash in. This is both out-of-the-ordinary, and quite revolutionary in what it proposes.

I’ve long wondered why networks don’t believe they can make money with properties bringing in millions of viewers. Why not shoot the show and put it online interspersed with ads or direct-to-DVD if the viewership doesn’t meet expectations? There’s got to be a reasonable way to profit from all of those unwavering eyeballs.

In this case, it’s certainly nice to see the industry start to reevaluate their funding and distribution options for content, and instead of dropping brilliant episodic material for more rehashes of “Survivor” and “American Idol”, finding an alternate means of bringing in revenue from the shows that we think truly matter.

To the corporations that control what we see, it all comes down to the dollar. Finding these new avenues for profit will allow for greater creativity and quality to survive, and maybe even flourish, in a market that is all-too-often about dumbing things down.

There may yet be hope for television. Until then, there’s Graboid Video.

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