Jeremiah is an American post-apocalyptic science fiction action drama television series developed and produced by J. Michael Straczynski and loosely based on Belgian writer Hermann Huppen's comic book series Jeremiah which takes place in a future where most of the adult population has been wiped out by a deadly virus.
The series aired in the USA on Showtime from 3 March, 2002 to 24 September, 2004. There are 35 hour-long episodes in two seasons.
Jeremiah originally aired in South Africa on SABC3 from 14 March, 2003 to 12 November, 2004. It later aired on TopTV's Fox FX channel. See "Seasons" below for seasonal broadcast dates and times.
Season 2 premiered on Fox FX on Friday 31 May 2013, at 20h30. New episodes broadcast weekly. There are 15 episodes in the second and final season.
Synopsis
Jeremiah is a Platinum Studios comic-book-to-film adaptation based on the award-winning European graphic novel series by Belgian author Hermann Huppen.
Set in the future, the series focuses on Jeremiah (Luke Perry) who must navigate his way through a world populated by the survivors of a deadly epidemic that spared only those who had not yet reached puberty.
Now those same survivors must find their way in a decadent civilization and attempt to create a new world order of hope.
Jeremiah, a loner by nature, is joined by the naïve yet colorful Kurdy (Malcolm-Jamal Warner) on a quest to find the mysterious "Valhalla Sector".
Together they set out on a journey during which they discover rival social factions at war and young people who must make decisions without wisdom from those who lived before them.
As the series begins, Jeremiah lives in a post-apocalyptic world following "The Big Death," a mysterious but devastating plague which claimed the lives of billions of people - everyone above the age of puberty.
The world, for this generation of lost children, was shattered forever when they were forced to bury their parents. Life has become a bleak and seemingly soulless attempt to stay alive - to plunder, forage or barter for food and clothes and to seek out the sordid and fleeting pleasures that briefly distract them from their lives of terror and savage desperation.
Fifteen years have gone by since the world "ended" - literally for one generation, symbolically for Jeremiah's generation.
Jeremiah is 27, cynical, cautious and intense. He is one of the few left with a conscience and with a sense of debt to his dead parents and the brother whom he unwittingly let die in the chaotic aftermath of the epidemic.
He is grimly determined to find the location of the "Valhalla Sector" which his father spoke about shortly before he died. He is also determined to help those less fortunate than he, as a vindication for his brother's death.
Jeremiah writes ritualistic, poignant notes to his dead father, keeping him apprised of his progress. On his way to a town where he has heard there is a good information network, he meets Kurdy, a loner who's accustomed to taking care of "number one" and who tries to steal Jeremiah's freshly-caught fish.
Jeremiah takes pity on Kurdy and shares his meal, and although Kurdy disappears shortly afterward, the two are destined to hook up again.
As Jeremiah enters the town and approaches the free market, a scuffle breaks out. Armed bandits try to rob market vendors. There is gunfire from a building nearby, thugs are dispatched, and the true power of the town becomes apparent - the self-styled leader Theo (Kim Hawthorne), a tough-as-nails woman who has trained a team of ferociously loyal jocks and nerds to keep order and to research technology.
Jeremiah saves Theo's life from sniper fire and they have a meeting.
Later, in a bar, Jeremiah meets Simon (Daniel Gillies) and Matthew (Curtis Bechdholt), who witnessed his quick response to the sniper. Matthew speaks to Jeremiah about recruiting him for their "cause" and they agree to talk later. Jeremiah and Kurdy reconnect in the bar and resolve their differences.
Meanwhile, Theo's thugs have discovered a camoflauged Land Rover, belonging to Matthew and Simon. It's so unusual to have a vehicle, especially one with fuel, that Theo knows Matthew and Simon belong to some sort of organisation. She has them captured and is prepared to torture them to find out the truth.
Theo discovers that Simon was speaking to Jeremiah in the bar, and has Jeremiah captured as well. Kurdy witnesses Jeremiah's abduction and, in a rare moment of unselfishness, follows and decides to help him escape.
He creates a riot by spreading the rumor that Theo has been holding out on the town members by hoarding supplies. In the ensuing confusion Kurdy breaks into the school in Theo's compound and releases Simon and Jeremiah. Matthew has already been shot to death by Theo.
The three companions escape in the Land Rover, but Simon is fatally wounded in the process. As he is dying, he makes Jeremiah promise to return the Rover to "Thunder Mountain" and warn the leaders that the "Big Death" may be coming again.
Jeremiah and Kurdy find "Thunder Mountain," an underground government nuclear bomb shelter where 2000 people are living, unknown to the outside world. They are under the charismatic and idealistic leadership of Marcus Alexander (Peter Stebbings), who believes Jeremiah's story about Simon's and Matthew's death.
Together they formulate and carry out a plan to foil a mass murder of minorities by "skinheads" twenty miles from the compound.
An alliance is forged, and Jeremiah and Kurdy agree to continue to help find out more about whether the "Big Death" is in fact coming again, as well as ways to help make the world a better place.
Armed only with Simon's journal of networks/contacts and the Land Rover, Jeremiah and Kurdy head back to the outside world to help rebuild a new society on the ashes of the old.
Seasons
Season 1 (20 episodes)
Channel: SABC3 | Premiere: 14 Mar 2003 | Finale: 25 Jul 2003 | Fridays, 20h30/21h00
Channel: Fox FX | Premiere: 11 Jan 2013 | Finale: 24 May 2013 | Fridays, 20h30
Season 2 (15 episodes)
Channel: SABC3 | Premiere: 6 Aug 2004 | Finale: 12 Nov 2004 | Fridays, 23h00
Channel: Fox FX | Premiere: 31 May 2013 | Finale: 6 Sep 2013 | Fridays, 20h30