CBS's new show Jerhico got me thinking...

So, I’ve seen the coming events for the new CBS show Jericho and I have to say it’s grabbed my interest. Whether or not it turns out to be any good is another story. For those of you who don’t know, the gist of Jericho is that it’s a small town outside of Denver that can see a “large explosion” in the mountains off in the distance, which is relative to where Denver would be located. Although no one knows for sure, it’s pretty evident this is from a nuclear blast. The town is cut off from all outside communication and the power is down, likely due to an EMP (although the previews don’t mention that). In addition, someone was on the phone or listening to a message from a family member in Atlanta when a blast hit there. The story is driven by a few key characters who’s stories and histories intertwine even if they don’t know it (ala Lost), but I don’t know too much about that.

I’ve always been a fan of “end of the world” series, and what the aftermath might be like. I remember watching “The Stand” when I was in high school and I loved it. I remember watching the made for TV movie “The Day After” as a kid and being scared shitless. I remember sitting there, watching the people look up as missiles took off heading away from them, toward the then U.S.S.R. and putting myself in their place, knowing that at any moment my life would end. I remember watching the movie “Testament”, and being so sad as all of the main characters family members died of radiation poisoning. “War Games” is one of my favorite movies of all time. “Mad Max” is an incredible film. I remember an episode of the twilight zone where a woman who could stop time had to do so as a bomb approached. I loved the movie “Red Dawn”. I can go on. At any rate, this type of thing I’ve always found interesting, maybe because it scares the living shit out of me.

Jericho especially got my ear when they mentioned Atlanta, where I live, and that it was “hit by a blast.” In this day and age I’ve often wondered about the likely hood of Atlanta being a target of an attack (by military, not terrorists) if war broke out. I used to think it wasn’t likely and then I found this. Fact number 17: “States with the largest number of nuclear weapons (in 1999): New Mexico (2,450), Georgia (2,000), Washington (1,685), Nevada (1,350), and North Dakota (1,140).” Georgia is the state with the second biggest standing arsenal of nuclear weapons in the US. YIKES! Upon checking the link provided I see that there is a large naval base here, which is where I assume most of them are kept, but it’s still scary. In addition, Atlanta has 4+ million people in and around the densely populated Metro area, perfect for a big bang. I live about 30 miles north of the city, safe distance from the initial blast, but boy, would it suck afterwards.

Anyway, all of this just brought me back to feeling scared again, like during the cold war in the 80s when I first realized how good a chance we end up killing ourselves. I’m not going to live my life in fear on a daily basis, but there is defiantly a larger sensitivity to the issue than there used to be. I mean, with all hell breaking loose in Israel and Lebanon right now, North Korea shooting missiles, and Iran building nukes, tensions are running high. Sure, Russia, the US, and China seem to all realize that blowing everyone up would make it really hard to make money anymore (which is really the world is all about now), that’s not to say the three of us wouldn’t get dragged into a large scale global war should the wrong cards fall the right way. It’s a very real possibility, and one that may or may not happen in my lifetime, which is the scary part.

This brings me back to Jericho, something which has me morbidly fascinated. I’m not a big TV guy anymore, and don’t watch much (other than wrestling, the occasional sporting event, and random things I record on my DVR), but I do like to try out new dramas from time to time. I love Lost, enjoy the CSIs, like Law and Order, SVU, and will be sure to check this out, or at least record it and watch it when I can.

-Steve