With the recent upsurge in “post-apocalyptic” TV shows and especially in light of the glaring flaws in the current crop of said shows (Revolution, The Walking Dead), I did a sort of discontented look through the collection on Amazon Prime streaming video and discovered a gem. It is a show named “Jeremiah” and in my opinion it is the closest I have yet seen to this genre done right.
Jeremiah is the name of a post-apocalyptic themed TV series that ran on Showtime from 2004. It was created from the Herman Huppen comic by J Michael Straczynski of Babylon 5 fame , and had an ensemble case of whom the main players were Luke Perry and Malcolm Jamal Warner. The setting is 15 years after a global pandemic killed off virtually all people who were in/past puberty. This concept of a disease killing off all the adults and the children fending for themselves has been seen before (for example there was an episode of Star Trek TOS that had such a planet) but this is the most extended treatment of it.
Structurally, this is a semi-serialized show. In other words, while the episodes are somewhat standalone they also all feed into overarching plotlines. Also, like Babylon 5, it followed a plan for the whole show. Straczynski wrapped it up after two seasons because he had finished telling the story he wanted to tell (Showtime tried to get him to reconsider but no dice).
So, why do I feel it is the closest to being done right?
First, its picture of the world is consistent. We see a fragmented society of small settlements living in the remains of the old world. Those who were older kids at the time of the pandemic (called the Big Death) tend to be leaders as (for example) they knew how to read before all the adults died. There are some patches here and there where some technology has started to resurface but generally things are at a roughly “old west” level.
Second, the characters have logical and understandable motivations and are consistent over time. There is a bit of shipping going on but again its logical shipping in the context of the plot. One can actually identify with these characters and they are well played. Some of the actors/actresses we see today got their start in Jeremiah, including Joanne Kelly (who has a GREAT turn in this show).
Third, I really like that the overarching theme of the show is about rebuilding. Instead of the usual way the genre is approached where all we see is people getting beat down and sinking lower and lower, here we see people struggle to start the road back to civilization. As such, the characters all feel like they are part of a bigger story. This feel is to me what shows like The Walking Dead lack. This was also why Babylon 5 (for example) could have some “soap” elements without being soap-fi; those elements existed to serve the larger story.
All in all, I found Jeremiah to be interesting in the overarching story, the themes it explored, the characters it presented and also its tone – it managed to have pretty dark places and moments without making the whole show dark. Well done.
Jeremiah is the name of a post-apocalyptic themed TV series that ran on Showtime from 2004. It was created from the Herman Huppen comic by J Michael Straczynski of Babylon 5 fame , and had an ensemble case of whom the main players were Luke Perry and Malcolm Jamal Warner. The setting is 15 years after a global pandemic killed off virtually all people who were in/past puberty. This concept of a disease killing off all the adults and the children fending for themselves has been seen before (for example there was an episode of Star Trek TOS that had such a planet) but this is the most extended treatment of it.
Structurally, this is a semi-serialized show. In other words, while the episodes are somewhat standalone they also all feed into overarching plotlines. Also, like Babylon 5, it followed a plan for the whole show. Straczynski wrapped it up after two seasons because he had finished telling the story he wanted to tell (Showtime tried to get him to reconsider but no dice).
So, why do I feel it is the closest to being done right?
First, its picture of the world is consistent. We see a fragmented society of small settlements living in the remains of the old world. Those who were older kids at the time of the pandemic (called the Big Death) tend to be leaders as (for example) they knew how to read before all the adults died. There are some patches here and there where some technology has started to resurface but generally things are at a roughly “old west” level.
Second, the characters have logical and understandable motivations and are consistent over time. There is a bit of shipping going on but again its logical shipping in the context of the plot. One can actually identify with these characters and they are well played. Some of the actors/actresses we see today got their start in Jeremiah, including Joanne Kelly (who has a GREAT turn in this show).
Third, I really like that the overarching theme of the show is about rebuilding. Instead of the usual way the genre is approached where all we see is people getting beat down and sinking lower and lower, here we see people struggle to start the road back to civilization. As such, the characters all feel like they are part of a bigger story. This feel is to me what shows like The Walking Dead lack. This was also why Babylon 5 (for example) could have some “soap” elements without being soap-fi; those elements existed to serve the larger story.
All in all, I found Jeremiah to be interesting in the overarching story, the themes it explored, the characters it presented and also its tone – it managed to have pretty dark places and moments without making the whole show dark. Well done.
