Last nite was the long-awaited season premiere of Jericho on CBS. As a fan of Jericho from the very beginning, I was anticipating this premiere, almost as much as I was for LOST. Both shows have been on a long hiatus.

Maybe it’s the fact that I haven’t seen the show in awhile. Maybe it’s that I forgot everything that has transpired, every emotional exchange, every underlying plotline that has previously played out. But I felt ‘lost’ while watching the beginning of Jericho.

It almost felt like a whole new show. Not just a revamped show, but a new show, with a new plotline and new characters. Almost like a bad sequel from a previously successful idea.

Was the 60-second intro a recap of previous episodes? I don’t remember Robert showing Jake the bomb. I don’t remember Robert Hawkins wife calling the bomb “the smoking gun” of the terrorist attacks.

It’s very possible that I missed an episode that played at some random time over the last year. If that’s the case, I could’ve missed alot of necessary information, but my DVR is set to record every Jericho episode, at any time… so, I doubt that’s the case.

But, it seemed like they were trying to cram in too much information, in too little dialogue. Everybody seemed to have the answers. Robert came back from a four day hike and suddenly knew all of the answers. He knew exactly who was behind the attacks and how it went down. He suddenly had a rock-solid plan.

Of course, it could very well make perfect sense, but I barely remember how the show ended, so how can I immediately catch onto the season premiere?

Everybody knows that we are going to get a very healthy dose of reality TV, due to the writers strike. CBS had this unique opportunity to fill a void with previous episodes of Jericho. Not only to gain momentum for the upcoming season premiere, but to also gain a mass-following of wandering viewers bored with shows like ‘American Gladiators’.

All the while, CBS could be promoting the hell out of the premiere of Big Brother, which would air directly in front of the Jericho premiere, which could’ve equaled a huge contender for tuesday television. A golden opportunity for CBS to corner the beginning-middle of the television work-week.

But CBS didn’t take advantage of this opportunity. I barely saw any promos on television. Heard nothing on the radio, whether promos or interviews. Nothing late night or early morning.

What happened to the CBS that pledged they were going to do everything they could to ensure a successful Jericho return. Nina Tassler, President of CBS Entertainment, stated that in order for Jericho to survive longer than the extended 7-Episode’s, that it”needed more viewers.”

But how does CBS expect Jericho to gain a respectable following from a cold start? As a very loyal fan of Jericho, who sent in a package of Jericho Nuts a few months back, I was left wondering one thing:

Does CBS want Jericho to survive?

If so, then CBS didn’t pull it’s weight. Jericho won’t survive longer than the 7-Episode pardon, if CBS doesn’t promote it more.