The show's producers thought Jericho was safe despite sliding ratings, and they (not to mention the show's fans) were caught by surprise when CBS canceled the series instead. Fans organized a grassroots effort to convince the network to reverse its decision, bombarding their offices with online petitions and mailing millions of peanuts to executives. Why peanuts? It was a reference to one of the characters on the show quoting General Anthony McAuliffe's famous refusal to surrender to the German army during the Battle of the Bulge in World War II with the defiant statement, "Nuts!"

Sufficiently convinced, CBS renewed the show for a short, seven-episode second season. But this wasn't quite the reprieve many were hoping for. CBS president Nina Tassler tipped the network's hand when she said in a statement that they hoped to "develop a way to provide closure to the compelling drama that was the Jericho story." Fans didn't want closure, of course—they wanted the show to continue. But when CBS "renewed" the series, they were just planning to end it a second time all along.