By Greg David

Plans in place if CBS cancels the post-apocalyptic drama again






'Jericho' star Skeet Ulrich

Either way, Jericho fans are going to get closure.
That’s the word from Carol Barbee, executive producer of Jericho, who says an alternate ending to the upcoming second season has been shot – and will air if the drama isn’t picked up for Season 3.
“The ending that we planned was always meant to be a payoff for the seven-episode arc,” Barbee told the media. “It won’t close off the whole story, but it will show you where we would go in a third season. It gives you a huge mythology so that you understand so much about what has happened.”
Season 2 – scheduled to debut in January 2008, but could come back sooner if a new CBS series gets cancelled – was ordered after an aggressive campaign by die-hard fans had the suits at CBS stay the drama’s execution, and Barbee gives some tantalizing hints as to what is in store.
“We [left] on the brink of war with New Bern,” she says. “The government has broken up into factions, and there are several people claiming to be the legitimate government. One of them is Cheyenne, Wyo., so the Cheyenne government comes to town. They’re there to stop the war with New Bern, but they’re also there for a secret agenda.”

Published: Saturday, October 6, 2007