JMS AT CULT TIMES SAID:
DEC.1.2002
The basic concept is that a major virus, similar to Ebola, kicks in
the to immune system of every Human over the age of puberty and kills them off. Fifteen years
later, surviving children are now grown up and, inevitably, there comes a time when you can
either continue a downward slide and root in the ashes of the old world or you can start to
rebuild and re-establish a better one. Jeremiah comes at the cusp of this scenario and
centers around what has happened to the country in the time between the devestation and
re-evaluation; what this new world looks like and who makes up the new order determined to
restore power and government.
Jeremiah is a post-apocalyptic show with hope. What we see in this show is Jeremiah's
search, not just for his parents and this Valhalla Sector, but his journey through the dark
times to some semblance of hope at the other side.
Althought the overall theme is one of optimism, these are dark and difficult times.
JMS AT RASTB5M SAID:
FEB.18.2002
The Showtime series tracks the aftermath of the Big Death, which
wiped out roughly six billion people, anyone over the age of puberty. It's now 15 years
later, and people have been ridinng on the ashes of the old world for the most part, the
available resources slowly declining and running out. It's a moment of transition: either
the decline continues, or now that they are adults, people start to rebuild a new world
out of the ashes of the old one. The question is what shape will that world take, and
who gets to choose?
The show is often a bit of a romance, there's lots of humor, lots of action, there's an
overarching mystery and an arc to it...it is, at times, oddly a show about small victories
and gemstones found amid gravel. I can't think of any other series quite like it in tone
and attitude and look and design. It's allowed me to do some things, and write some
stories, I could never get on broadcast TV in a million years, particularly
"... And the Ground, Sown With Salt" I'm quite proud and pleased with it, and I think it's worth checking out.
JMS AT MGM NEWSLETTER SAID:
FEB.1.2002
Can you talk about Jeremiah in terms of how it applies to the
post-September 11 world?
Well, you must understand, that is hard meat core. Science fiction is an optimistic genre.
It says that we do go on, that there will be a tomorrow; it may not be the best of all
possible tomorrows, but we do go on. The cockroaches don't inherit the planet. And we tend
to think sometimes that it's too hard, things are too hard. We endured September 11, how can
we go on? What Jeremiah says is that no matter what you throw at the human race, we will
persevere. Even if you wipe out half the planet, those who survive will go on, that beauty
goes on, that art goes on, that the noble struggle for meaning and consequence goes on, that
there's something indominable and stubborn in the human makeup that transcends even death.
Death as in mega-deaths, deaths as in billions of deaths; we will go on. And in light of
September 11, in particular, that's a very important message to communicate. A tragedy does
not weaken us; it makes us stronger.
JMS AT SCIFI WIRE SAID:
DEC.20.2001
The main premise is that there's a virus of some kind that gets
loose more or less in present day and wipes out about two-thirds of the
population—anybody over the age of puberty. It targets hormones. Whoever has adult
hormones gets nailed. It's now 15 years later, and the kids who survived the big death
are now coming into their own. They've been riding, if you will, on the ashes of the old
world, through clothes they'd grown into and food still in cans. Now they're at a point
where they can keep on declining and running out of things, or they can begin to rebuild
the world. It's at that cusp of the rebuilding where our story takes place. So it's a
story not about endings, but beginnings.
JMS AT RASTB5M SAID:
DEC.4.2001
[T]his show isn't about endings. It's about beginnings. It's about
building a new world out of the ashes of the old, and who gets to decide what that world
looks like, and what our responsibilities are toward that world.
It was designed specifically to be a show about hope, set after what could have been the
end, because humans persevere.
Don't judge it until you've seen it.
JUL.20.2001
Right around now in our timeline, a virus wipes out everyone on
the planet over the age of puberty (figure around 12-13).
It is now about 15 years later. Those who were once children have now grown up and are in
their late 20s on down. For 15 years, they have been living on the scraps of the old world;
now they must either continue the downward slide, or begin to rebuild the world, taking
responsibility for themselves and the world and each other.
It is, oddly enough, a post-apocalyptic series about *beginnings* rather than endings,
about hope rather then despair. It is about the new world rising out of the ashes of the
old world, what shape that world will take, and who will get to decide that shape.
JUL.19.2001
This is going to be a heavily dramatic series, character-oriented,
with a measure of action and humor as well. Because this is pay cable, they've taken off
the usual broadcast TV handcuffs and told me to take it to the wall creatively, no
restrictions, so I plan to do just that. [...] But in my view it's a terrific team, and
it's going to be a fun show.
