BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. -- "Jericho" producers had already conceived of a story for a 22-episode second season before cancellation. Post-resurrection and with only a 7-episode order, producers have tightened the story and reigned in the number of locations where the story will take place, something producers first indicated last month.

"We set up a couple of big cliffhangers at the end of [episode] 22 and pay them off in the beginning of [the second season's first episode]," said "Jericho" executive producer Carol Barbee. "We start with the battle and you see what happened and we time jump to a couple weeks later and we're rebuilding and you see what happened to the town."

The feud between Jericho and neighboring town New Bern will continue to simmer, while the government from Cheyenne, Wyo., will come in as an occupying force to help the towns.

"We get back on the grid," Barbee said. "We get lights back, power, communications."

With the occupation, Barbee said the show will take a page from Iraq, similar to what "Battlestar Galactica" did earlier this year, to explore "what does it feel like to be the people having to be held apart and occupied?" Barbee said. "This is their government, it's not a foreign occupation. It's someone saying, 'Hold on, I'll tell you what to do for a little while. This is what you need to do to make this work.'"

As season two begins, Stanley (Brad Beyer) and Mimi (Alicia Coppola) will get engaged, but the big story will be "the mission Hawkins (Lennie James) and Jake (Skeet Ulrich) have to do to save the world," Barbee said.

The show's large cast will shrink somewhat. The only series regular, in addition to those above, listed in press materials are Kenneth Mitchell, who plays Eric Green, and Ashley Scott, who plays Emily Sullivan. The others will have recurring or guest roles, including Sprague Grayden, who plays Heather Lisinski. Guest star Titus Welliver, introduced in the season finale, will not be back due to scheduling conflicts, but another character will be introduced to take his place.

Barbee said the decision to kill off series star Gerald McRaney at the end of last season was made to allow the Jake character to evolve into the leader he was meant to be. She did not rule out a McRaney guest spot in a flashback episode, but it's not planned for the second season.

"Jericho" production begins next week with the whole season filmed by late September, which will be before the show gets back on the air (expect it to join the schedule as soon as CBS's first drama fails).