On Friday several sources, including Hollywoodreporter.com, TVGuide.com, and E!'s Kristin Dos Santos, reported that CBS had issued a press release stating that "Jericho" would not be returning for a third season.

"The March 25th episode of Jericho will be the series finale," the press release stated. "Without question, there are passionate viewers watching this program; we simply wish there were more. We thank an engaged and spirited fan base for keeping the show alive this long, and an outstanding team of producers, cast and crew that went through creative hoops to deliver a compelling, high quality second season. We have no regrets bringing the show back for a second try. We listened to our viewers, gave the series an opportunity to grow, and the producers put a great story on the screen. We're proud of everyone's efforts."

It became increasingly clear since the season premiere on February 7th that the ratings were not going to be enough to sustain "Jericho". Despite heavy promotion by CBS, including tie-ins featured on lead-in series "Big Brother 9", and the show's return at a time when most original programming was still recovering from the just-ended writers' strike, ratings in fact decreased from Season One, to just a 1.9 among the crucial 18-49 demographic.

There is still hope that "Jericho" will be picked up by a different channel such as the Sci-Fi Channel, which has been airing reruns from Season One as part of its prime-time schedule. Executives, however, believe that the show's production costs are too expensive for cable.

The series finale, "Patriots and Tyrants", will air at 10 P.M. EST on Tuesday, March 25th. CBS will air one of two finales shot by producers per the network's request, which will offer more "closure", where the other finale was more of a cliffhanger. TV Guide, however, has quoted star Skeet Ulrich as saying that fans will be "not too happy" with the ending to be aired. No word yet on whether fans will be able to see the alternate ending at some point.