CBS Splitting First Season Of Jericho

CBS will split the first season of its nuclear-holocaust drama Jericho into two half-seasons of all-original episodes, following a similar programming strategy by ABC’s Lost. The Hollywood Reporter said that the first half of Jericho’s freshman season will end November 29 with a cliffhanger finale. The series, starring Skeet Ulrich, will return Feb. 14, 2007, with a recap of the first 11 episodes, followed by a new episode every Wednesday for the rest of the season. The split is designed to avoid repeating episodes, a la Lost, which ended the first half of its season on November 8 and will disappear from the airwaves before returning in February. The pattern also mirrors the fall/spring season scheduling for Fox’s Prison Break, which was introduced last year. During Jericho’s 10-week hiatus, CBS will continue the show’s first 11 episodes on the network’s broadband channel, Innertube, where Jericho has been the most-streamed CBS program.