The TV Zone

“Jericho” fans who’ve been rejoicing over the revival of their once-canceled fave now have another campaign to undertake -- getting new viewers to join them in watching the saga.

CBS announced it will repeat first-season episodes starting Friday, July 6, at 9 p.m. (with the series pilot), and those hours need to be seen before the continuing saga returns with new outings at midseason. Otherwise, how will newcomers know about The Bombs that sent up mushroom clouds and cut off small-town Jericho, Kansas, from the rest of the world? How would they keep straight the strong family relationships, heated rivalries, criminal conspiracies and political mysteries that made this human drama so riveting? [Right: Ashley Scott and Skeet Ulrich in CBS photo.]

On July 13, CBS airs its “Return to Jericho” first-half-season summary hour, followed by the intriguing backstory 12th episode, “The Day Before” (8-10 p.m.). Then the network plans to air episodes 13-22 weekly to bring everybody up to speed. (They’re all streaming online, too, at cbs.com.)

“Big Brother” is also on CBS’ summer slate, back with its eighth edition Thursday, July 5, for what the network is calling “a multi-platform summer.” Translation: The closed-doors reality competition airs this season not only on CBS (Tuesday at 9 p.m., Thursday at 8 p.m., Sunday at 8 p.m.), but also on the ShoToo digital channel in a supposedly uncensored nightly three-hour “Big Brother: After Dark” late-night live feed (midnight-3 a.m., seven days a week). There’ll also be plenty of “Big Brother” content online, including another live 24/7 subscription web feed, with other goodies at CBSmobile.com and cell phone providers. All the details in CBS’ press release here.