LIFE IN `JERICHO' INVOLVES A DAILY ANXIETY ATTACK.

Byline: David Kronke Television Critic

Just because ``Jericho'' eerily reflects our society's current anxiety as few TV shows have dared doesn't mean people will happily tune in. It's dark, it's provocative, and, though it allows for moments of hope and grace, it's pretty creepy.

Set in the small Kansas town of the title, ``Jericho'' focuses on Jake (Skeet Ulrich), who returns to his hometown for what is intended to be a quick visit. He informs old friends, variously, that he's been in the Army, the Navy, playing minor-league baseball, and so on.

Clearly, the guy has some secrets.

Before he can vamoose with his cover secure, America is attacked by a number of nuclear blasts (artistic license allows Jericho's residents to view the one devastating Denver from afar), isolating the town from communicating with the outside world, and leaving them in the dark, literally and otherwise -- no one knows who's behind the attacks.

Chaos threatens to ensue, and Jake's dad, town Mayor Johnston Green (Gerald McRaney), summons all his powers to keep his constituents united. And if a nuclear apocalypse isn't enough to keep jaded viewers jittery, a bus filled with students returning from a field trip disappears, while convicts from a prison bus escape in the area.

In future episodes ...

Next week, radiation inexorably seeps toward Jericho, eliciting an inspirational speech on the nasty particulars of radiation poisoning and causing further panic, and the number of cities known to be destroyed expands urgently.

But fear not, because the series' creators have thoughtfully cast the show with a bevy of beauties whom Jake can romance in future episodes: His ex, Emily (Ashley Scott), whose fiance is conveniently out of town when the bombs hit; Heather (Sprague Grayden), a spunky high- school teacher; and Bonnie (Shoshannah Stern), who's equally spunky despite her hearing impairment.

Whether viewers will be content to watch Jake juggle his enviable social life (must be slim pickings in Jericho, since Ulrich is pretty dour company) around scenes of their waking nightmares remains to be seen. But for those with iron constitutions, the show is pretty compelling.

David Kronke, [phone]

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JERICHO - Three stars

What: A small Midwestern town copes with being isolated after nuclear attacks on America.

Where: CBS (Channel 2).

When: 8 tonight.

In a nutshell: The most anxiety-driven series since, well, ever.

CAPTION(S):

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Photo:

Jake (Skeet Ulrich) and Emily (Ashley Scott) feel tension in the air in ``Jericho,'' premiering at 8 tonight on CBS.