'Jericho' fans shell out for peanuts

Loyalists relaunch effort to save CBS show

By BILL EDELSTEIN

Rabid fans tend to get inventive when their favorite shows get pinkslipped: "Angel" viewers mailed boxes of postcards to reporters to voice their chagrin. "Roswell" loyalists sent crates of Tabasco sauce, the fave food of the show's aliens. And "Everwood" faithful set up a Ferris wheel outside the CW's Los Angeles offices.

Last year, fans of CBS' "Jericho" sent boxloads of peanuts to the network and to newsrooms around the country -- and the show was given a reprieve. So when the axe recently came down on the show again, "Jericho" devotees ramped up again, sending box after box to newsrooms bearing the simple message: "Save Jericho! NUTS to Nielsen!!!"

It was a laudable, tasty effort to be sure.

But when planning the next campaign to save a low-rated show from the chopping block, better to consider "Salted nuts to Nielsen."