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To recap: Jericho ran a full season on CBS. The story? At first it seems to be a family drama, as the prodigal son returns home, fights with his parents, makes eyes at the girl who got away, then drives off into the sunset.

Actually, erase sunset and replace it with nuclear bomb. The good folks of Jericho, Kansas watch as the bomb goes off in the distance and hear enough radio & TV to know that several cities in the United States have been attacked. By whom? And why? Is it an outside enemy? Terrorists? Is the US at war?

Jericho's storylines include both the "regular folk" adjusting to the changed circumstances of life, as well as bigger storylines, such as survival, the identity of the bombers, and new, unexpected threats.

It is an awesome show. You will like it if you like any type of survivalist fiction, from Stephen King to Life As We Knew It to War World Z.

Now, here's the thing. CBS cancelled this show, and the fans fought back.

And won.

CBS has agreed to a second mini-series; if enough people watch it, they will show a full season.

If you want to watch from the beginning, it's starting soon: CBS to rerun first season of Jericho starting in July - TV Squad.

Why watch?

It's a good show; a lot of slow reveals, taking place over several episodes. Yet, also a ton of action. A lot of "what would I do" moments. Great acting.

And, well -- watch to show TV executives that they didn't make a mistake in listening to the fans and cancelling a cancellation. Because if Jericho doesn't make the numbers this time around, there will be no hope in the future for successful fan-driven campaigns.

SCBWI had a stand at the Cape Town Book Fair where members of SCBWI displayed examples of their work.

LeAnne Hardy from Jo'burg was one writer who took advantage of the opportunity to display her books. Other authors included Wendy Hartman and Reviva Schermbrucker.

Illustrators also displayed their books as well as examples of their work. Gauteng illustrators whose work was on display included Joan Rankin and Yvette de Beer. Other illustrators who displayed their work included Marjorie van Heerden and Paddy Bouma.

The stand was very busy throughout the fair. Many people went through portfolios and looked at the books published by SCBWI members. They took down names of writers and illustrators whose work they could commission. A popular attraction were the beautiful posters for sale. These were done by renowned artists such as Piet Grobler and were snapped up by eager teachers and librarians.

The SCBWI stand was next to the IBBY stand which displayed some wonderful examples of South African books. A large number of exciting children's events were also organised.

All in all, children's books were prominent at the Cape Town Book Fair.

FIVE different A2-size posters with illustrations by Joan Rankin, Marjorie van Heerden, Samantha van Riet, Piet Grobler and Paddy Bouma will be for sale at the SCBWI Stand at the Cape Town Book Fair 2007 @ R30.00 each. Avoid disappointment and pre-order one or more posters by e-mailing [email protected].

Click on the picture below to view the posters.

Network TV executives do hate their audiences. And also? They don't understand their audience. Sigh. You know, I'd have a better time adjusting to Jericho's cancellation if it had been for a real reason.

Edited to add:

A new CBS response gives some hope of "closure". Link from Sound the Sirens.

Here's the thing. The THREE MONTH hiatus did not help the show. And, apparently, watching a show via TiVo (or DVR) doesn't count as "watching" when the suits look at numbers.

Sophie & Melissa & I have long wondered about American TV not being able to break out of the "same old, same old" view of what a TV series and a TV season is. Look at all the great British shows that are less than the standard 22 episodes. Maybe it's time that TV not only considers watchers who watch via TiVo (and DVR and other nontraditional ways), but also reconsiders season length (perhaps shorter than 22) and also rethinks TV shows not being "open ended." Some shows need to know when they will end to be properly written and acted. A TV show shouldn't be viewed as something that only has value if it can last multiple seasons.

On a final note: I'm equally pissed at the people behind Jericho for giving us this cliff hanger with too many unresolved and open storylines. Supernatural did it right; they wrapped up the season long stories (Demon, Dad In Hell), and while they have a couple of new unresolved and open items (aka Jensen, don't ask for more money) if Supernatural hadn't been picked up, viewers would have had a sense of closure. That closure is missing in Jericho. (And for the record? I'm very scared that the Veronica Mars finale will be more Jericho than Supernatural.)

(And CBS, thinking you'll be edgy by having a vampire detective show? Do you really think it's never been done?)