Alas, Babylon, written back in 1959 by Pat Frank, told the story of the residents of fictional town of Fort Repose, Florida, and their struggle for survival after the U.S. endures a nuclear attack. The book is as frightening now as it ever was back in the late 50s and early 60s, during the height of the Cold War.

(Back then, as if part of some huge Pavlovian experiment, school kids were taught to duck under their desks whenever the civil defense sirens sounded. While school furniture was arguably made of sturdier stuff back then compared to today's junk, kids should have been taught to remain extremely limber so that, when the siren sounded, they could kiss their little butts goodbye. No desk would ever be adequate cover against a nuclear attack.)

While the threat of an all-out nuclear war between the superpowers (which included the U.S., Russia, and China) is greatly diminished, threats of an entirely different nature have people worried today. Terrorists, fanatics, and even your average nut-case now have the potential to wreak havoc and cause indescribable devastation to a jittery society.

So, imagine, if you will, an updated version of Alas, Babylon, where the nuclear attack is by terrorists, and the town, Jericho instead of Fort Repose, is in Kansas, not Florida. Keep all of the suspicion, intrigue, relationships, and tragedies, but kick it up a notch by adding secret organizations, some gun-play, and a hidden government agenda. Sounds like fun, no?

Such is the premise of the CBS show, Jericho, which premiered this past Fall. While many people watched Jericho more than a few did not, myself included. That's a shame because, judging from one of the free iTunes Store downloads for this week, Return to Jericho, it looks like we missed a really good show.

Return to Jericho is a 43 minute summary of the first season; it's kind of like reading an abridged version of a really good book: All of the basic stuff is there, but you miss a lot of the details. Even so, this summary was put together well. I enjoyed it so much I may start watching the show. It's not a classic, but it is great storytelling.

I also highly recommend reading Alas, Babylon, which is considered a classic in the same vein as Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 and George Orwell's 1984.

While the premise of Jericho may be a bit depressing, which is likely why some folks never bothered to watch, the show, itself, is actually quite good. There's enough plot twists and action to keep fans of 24 and Battlestar Galactica happy: In fact, judging for the summary episode, I'd say that Jericho may even be on equal footing as those two shows, which is high praise.

Grab Return to Jericho. I think you'll enjoy it.

U.S. audiences may have first been introduced to America Ferrera in the highly regarded independent movie 'Real Women Have Curves'. Ms. Ferrera's performance in Curves paved the way for her title role as Betty in the hit ABC comedy, Ugly Betty, in which she plays a 'Real Woman' trying to make her way in the artificial world of the fashion industry.

The iTunes Store is offering 'The Beauty in Ugly', a free music video from Jason Mraz. The song was written in support of ABC's 'Be Ugly' marketing campaign, which encourages people, especially young, impressionable girls, to look beyond the physical and learn to see the beauty in everyone.

The video features scenes from Ugly Betty and is quite good, and, of course, the message is one that we should all take to heart. (Now, if I can just lose 20 pounds and have this third eye removed...)

There's a lot more free stuff at the iTunes Store, check it out: