Television series

Jericho

Name: Jericho
Genre: Drama, Action, Science Fiction
Released: 2006
Cast: Skeet Ulrich, Lennie James, Ashley Scott, Kenneth Mitchell, Brad Beyer

A small Kansas town isolated after nuclear strikes across America must rebuild civilization while navigating government conspiracy, resource scarcity, and the collapse of law itself. Jericho balances intimate character drama with mounting stakes, asking what ordinary people become when society stops working. It's for anyone hungry for grounded post-apocalypse fiction that trusts the audience's intelligence.

TVMaze rating

4.0

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you like post-apocalyptic stories told through ordinary neighbours arguing over food, power and trust, and you enjoy seeing a town slowly pull itself back together.

Skip it if you want a fast, action-led disaster series; this one is talky and deliberate, with long stretches spent on town meetings and gossip rather than set pieces.

What it asks of you: Expect a patient rhythm across 29 hour-long episodes over two seasons, with attention needed for a large cast of townsfolk whose loyalties shift as pressure builds.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

The Walking Dead2010

A masterclass in survival drama where a community must navigate both external threats and internal power struggles. Like Jericho, it's as interested in what binds people together as what tears them apart.

But By season three it becomes repetitive—communities form, collapse, repeat. The pacing meanders and some seasons lose sight of why we care.

Dark2017

A dense mystery where small-town secrets cascade into apocalyptic stakes. Both shows build dread through careful plotting and demand the audience piece together what's really happening.

But It's deliberately obtuse. Tracking four timelines and forty characters across three seasons requires a spreadsheet and genuine commitment.

Revolution2012

A world where power grids fail, forcing humanity backward. It shares Jericho's fascination with infrastructure collapse and the politics that emerge when supply chains break.

But The plotting becomes incoherent by season two and it never recovers. Characters make decisions that betray everything the show established about them.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Jericho

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

The Road2009

Both insist that survival is not the same as hope—that the question isn't whether people can rebuild, but whether they should.

McCarthy's vision of civilizational collapse stripped to its most intimate: a father and son crossing ash-gray America. It shares Jericho's unflinching look at what humans preserve when everything else is gone.

But It is relentlessly bleak and offers no uplift. The violence toward children is the whole point and not everyone needs that kind of exhaustion.

The Last of Us2023

Infection, isolation, and the moral compromises survival demands. Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey carry a story about what we'll do to protect the people we love.

But If you want the end-times plot mechanics of a game, you'll find the emotional intimacy gets in the way. It's the opposite problem: too character-driven for pure survival thrills.

Severance2022

Corporate conspiracy fiction that trusts viewers to distrust authority. The mystery unfolds with the same careful plotting as Jericho—clues planted, connections delayed, paranoia earned.

But It's visually baroque in a way that can feel pretentious. The show sometimes seems more interested in looking unsettling than in emotional stakes.

The Fall of the House of Usher2023

A generational saga where secrets destroy a family and the institutions they built. Mike Flanagan's gift for layering backstory and present-day crisis echoes Jericho's structure.

But It's deliberately gothic and frequently nasty—sexual violence, addiction, decay. Not everyone wants their mysteries wrapped in that much darkness.

Arrow2012

A city in crisis, a conspiracy that reaches into government, and a protagonist torn between vengeance and community. The first two seasons especially balance mythology with street-level stakes.

But The plotting becomes repetitive by season five and the show doesn't know when to end. Later seasons feel obligatory rather than essential.

Designated Survivor2016

An ordinary man thrust into extraordinary power when government decapitation forces him to rebuild. It scratches the same itch as Jericho: how do normal people lead when civilization unravels?

But Kiefer Sutherland's intensity overwhelms subtlety and the plotting can be cartoonish. It wants to be urgent but sometimes just feels rushed.

Under the Dome2013

A town cut off from the world must confront isolation and the power vacuum it creates. Stephen King's premise gives you the same bottleneck tension as Jericho.

But The science is nonsense and the show knows it. If you need internal logic, you'll spend most of your time frustrated.

Slow Horses2022

Both dramatize the gap between official narratives and truth—the work of figuring out what's really happening when authority lies or fragments.

MI5 bureaucrats and damaged agents pursuing institutional conspiracy. British spy-craft done with comedy and real stakes, where incompetent people must stop powerful ones.

But It's deliberately slow-burn and British. If you prefer American urgency and clear good-guy/bad-guy dynamics, the pacing will feel glacial.

Ghostland2018

Both ask: when extraordinary events test ordinary people, what do we learn about their reserves? What do they become?

A raw, precise thriller about survival and trauma. It echoes Jericho's understanding that disaster reveals character and that recovery is psychological long before it's logistical.

But It's violent toward women in ways some will find exploitative. The twist divides viewers sharply—some find it earned, others feel cheated.