Premieres Wed., Sept. 20, 8PM ET on CBS

Premise: The residents of a small Kansas town deal with the aftermath of a nuclear mushroom cloud suddenly appearing on the horizon.

Cast: Skeet Ulrich
Ashley Scott
Gerald McRaney
Pamela Reed
Michael Gatson

Not since 1983's 'The Day After,' also set in Kansas, has network TV tackled the tough topic of the aftermath of a nuclear explosion. This time, though, the folks in this small Kansas town are not sure if it's all-out war, terrorists or an accident. This show has real promise to be a breakout, thanks to an excellent cast, a realistic but mysterious storyline and the pedigree of executive producer Jon Turteltaub ('From the Earth to the Moon,' 'National Treasure').

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Here's a synopsis of the pilot episode:

Thirty-two year old Jake Green (Skeet Ulrich) returns for a short visit to his isolated rural home town of Jericho, Kansas after a five-year absence. He has had no contact with any of his family or friends, except possibly his mother. Jake is hiding something, because as he is asked where he has been by the residents, he gives different answers, include playing minor league baseball and serving in both the Army and Navy. Jake returns to his home, where his mother is very happy and relieved to see him. Jake then discusses with his father, Mayor Johnston Green, the inheritance money his grandfather left for him. Johnston refuses to give Jake his signature for the inheritance money until Jake leads a more "productive life". Afterwards, Jake goes to visit his grandfather's grave, despite objections from his mother (who apparently knows where Jake has really been). Jake leaves Jericho that same day, telling his mother he has to return to San Diego.

As Jake is leaving town, the President is addressing a joint session of Congress about the rise in global violence. Simultaneously, all of the television and radio stations and telephone communication go dead. At the same time, a mushroom cloud is seen in the direction of Denver, Colorado over the small mountain range surrounding Jericho. Jake is distracted by the mushroom cloud when another driver, also distracted, drifts into his lane. Jake recovers just before impact and tries to steer clear but the vehicles still collide, killing both occupants of the other vehicle and knocking Jake unconscious.

Meanwhile, a schoolbus is returning late from a from a field trip (because it had to stop for repairs) with the elementary-school aged children of Jericho. The teacher accompanying them, who we later learn is named Heather, is looking at the mushroom cloud. The children are watching a deer running next to the bus for a few seconds then cross in front of the bus where it is hit, causing the bus to swerve off of the road. After Jake awakes, he finds that he has a leg injury, and checks the status of the occupants in the other vehicle, and shortly after leaving the road, is found by two children from the bus. Jake makes it to the bus where he finds the bus driver dead and the teacher with a broken leg. Only one of the children is injured, and Jake is able to save her life by performing a tracheotomy. He then drives the bus back to town.

While searching for the school bus, the sheriff and a deputy from Jericho find a prison bus that has crashed, mistaking it for the school bus. The sheriff and the deputy are both shot while investigating the bus.

The mother of one of the town's residents was leaving a message on his answering machine when a large explosion can be heard in the background. The boy plays the message for a group of adults who offer condolences thinking that his mother had been in Denver before he tells the devestated group that she had been in Atlanta, Georgia. Prior to news of the Atlanta explosion, the town's mayor had attempted to calm citizens by speculating that the Denver incident was isolated and possibily a military accident instead of a widespread enemy attack. Once news of this is shared with the rest of the town and the electrical power fails, residents swarm the gas station to fill up their vehicles and steal food. The situation becomes close to a riot when the mayor arrives and calms down the situation. It almost escalates again, when the school bus arrives with the children. Jake tells the crowd to help the children, and informs his brother that he drove past a prison bus that had crashed.

With communications and the power out, Jake and the small town of Jericho face the challenge of being physically and psychologically isolated from the outside world - not knowing what is left of that world, or how many others are still alive - and of finding a means of survival in the midst of panic and chaos.

The episode ends with Emily Sullivan (Ashley Scott), an old friend of Jake's and seemingly unaware of the day's events, driving on an isolated rural road. She is on her way to the airport to meet with her fiancee, who's returning from a trip. Feeling bumps in the road, she stops the car and gets out to see what the problem is. The road is covered with dead, black birds that seemingly just dropped dead form the sky.

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We've got a guy saving people after a disaster using medical training (just like Jack on Lost).

We've also got a crashed prison bus. You know the escapees will show up in Jericho (just like Kate in Lost).

Sounds like the creators of the show were drawing heavily from Lost.

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This doesn't sound good. The latest episode of Jericho was beaten by a re-run of the season opener of Friday Night Lights. Never good when a repeat episode beats you. This one will be on the scrap heap before long.

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Well, Jericho has been picked up for a full season.

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Thanks for the episode synopsis. This actually sounds pretty interesting. What network is it on?

Think it's on CBS if I'm not mistaken.

Yep, CBS is correct.

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The first half of "Jericho's" freshman season will end Nov. 29 with a cliffhanger finale. The series, starring Skeet Ulrich, will return Feb. 14 with a recap of the first 11 episodes, followed by a new episode every Wednesday for the rest of the season.

Back-to-back episodes of veteran comedy "The King of Queens" will fill in for the rookie series while it is on hiatus.

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A friend of mine said that he heard CBS was considering bringing the cancelled show back for an additional 8 episodes. Has anyone heard anything else about this?