Second Wave’s 24 Blog

I don’t know what Kiefer Sutherland was high on when he did this, but it’s pretty funny.

Sutherland Exiled

One of the biggest casualties of the writers’ strike this winter, 24’s Jack Bauer, never made it out of the gate and his seventh “day” on Fox. The Emmy-winning hit still will not return until January, but fans will get a Bauer visit sooner than that!

Jack is taking the action to Africa in 24: Exile, a two-hour, real-time prequel airing this November.

“The conflict that starts in the prequel is the conflict carried all the way through season seven,” star and executive producer Kiefer Sutherland explained between panels at the TCA press tour. “It was a great way to incorporate a storyline that we love in a stand-alone, two-hour deal. We wanted to have something out in November instead of just January.”

The intense storyline that takes Jack to South Africa was initially conceptualized as part of the new season, but logistics made that impossible. When the season was delayed a year, however, show runners seized the opportunity to tell their African story.

The break also allowed the creative team to fine tune the entire season.

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I’m sick of everyone complaning about Elisha Cuthbert’s upcoming return to 24. Sure, she was a bit annoying, and she had some pretty rubbish storylines in the past, but who doesn’t want this on 24?

Howard Gordon-Bleu

Apparently Jack Bauer needs a little breather: After the completion of episode 18 on Sept 15., production on Fox’s hit drama 24 will shut down for more than two weeks while the writers reshape the upcoming season’s creative direction — specifically the transition leading to the end game. “We had a couple of scripts that we weren’t happy with” 24 exec producer Howard Gordon tells EW.com. “We just couldn’t get this direction to work, and we found another one that we liked better, so we wound up retooling it.

Production shutdowns are usually cause for concern — and 24 is coming off its least critically beloved season — but Howard assures fans that everything will be on track, and the season will not be interrupted. He says that the show is ahead of schedule, which means the airing of season 7 — which begins in January 2009 — will not be affected. (You may remember that 24 had the first eight episodes of this season in the can when last fall’s WGA strike occurred; Fox decided to delay the launch until 2009.) “The only, only, only concern at all is getting it right,” Howard says. “Our feeling was this: We’re so happy with what we’ve done so far, and to the extent that we had that luxury [of time], we said, ‘Why not make it as good as we could?’”

Source

Here’s a cool article from Starpulse: is 24 still addictive?

Fans have been waiting over a year for the return of 24, one of television’s most addictive dramas (or is it?). On Sunday, November 23, the wait will be over as FOX presents a special two-hour prequel event.

In the meantime, do you think “24″ is the most addicting show on television? Two Starpulse writers weigh in on whether the fast-paced Fox drama is truly habit forming or merely a passing enjoyment.

‘24′ Is Like Crack

I follow a ridiculous amount of television shows, so much in fact that my roommates and I had to get a second DVR box to accommodate all the shows we watch, since you can only record so many at one given time. Arguing about what show is the most “addictive’ may be futile since there are so many great ones, but “24″ definitely makes its case for being a very strong form of crack, only it comes in the form of digital video disks.

First, the creation of the groundbreaking show was designed to be addictive. No other show in history had been constructed in real-time. Each episode is an hour, and an entire season makes up a day. Early on, Kiefer Sutherland commented that “24″ was like “Dynasty on crack,” and to some extent he was accurate.

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Remember how a few weeks ago a trailer was leaked online for Exile (Now Redemption)? Well here’s the official version of it, with an intro by Jon Cassar.

NOTE: It still says 24: Exile at the end.

In a bizzare twist of fate, 24 has renamed their Season 7 Prequel to 24: Redemption from 24: Exile. Because, apparently, “Redemption” just sounds redemption-er than “Exile”, FOX has officially changed the subtitle of the upcoming 24 TV movie premiering later this year. What won’t change, though, is the TV movie’s plot, which still finds Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) in Africa working as a missionary and trying to escape his wanted status in the United States, but finds himself in the middle of an African warlord’s warpath instead.

“24: Redemption” hits DVD shelves on November 25th from Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, the Tuesday immediately following the network television premiere over the weekend.

Crazy, huh?

Some interesting news on the 24 front was released today about a returning actress to the show! Don’t keep reading if you don’t want to know this spoiler.

Question: What’s the latest on Elisha Cuthbert returning to 24? — Dominic
Ausiello: Ladies and gentleman, we’ve got a signed contract! Sources confirm to me exclusively that Cuthbert has inked a deal to reprise her role as Jack’s lightning rod of an offspring for a season-ending arc that will no doubt trigger a new round of wholly outdated and painfully unfunny cougar jokes. Per my 24 mole, Kim will return minus her old beau (sorry, C. Thomas Howell) and plus a child! That’s right, Kim’s got a little puma all her own!

Source

Yes, an all new site has been launched for the recently redesigned Sky1, the broadcaster of 24 in the UK. What’s more, the site has a load of new 24 related stuff, including the article I posted yesterday about 24’s origins, information about what is in store of Day 7, news from Comic Con, Jac Bauer facts and images of all the 24 Season 7 cast.

However, the site has lost a lot of its old features, including promotional images from Season 6, polls, competitions and other interviews with the cast and crew. Hopefully by the time Season 7 launches up it will have more stuff!

Check out the site now here!

24 Creators/Executive Producers Joel Surnow and Robert Cochran reveal their first conversations about 24’s development.

Joel: I was in the shower one morning and for some reason it just hit me, 24 hours in one day, 22 episodes in a standard TV season – why not add two more episodes and do a whole season about a single day? I knew if there was anyone who would love this idea, it was Bob.

Bob: I hated it. A whole season in real time, no flashbacks or time cuts, each episode starting when the last one ended? Impossible. But Joel persisted. He pointed out that it would be a chance to do something really ground-breaking if we could pull it off. So we started kicking around ideas.

Joel: What story could keep characters going for 24 hours straight? It had to be adrenaline-charged, tension-filled, with a ticking clock. The world of counter-terrorism seemed right, and we also needed personal stories compelling enough so that the characters couldn’t put them aside, even for 24 hours.

Bob: That reasoning led to the idea for the first season – the hero, Jack Bauer, has to stop an assassination attempt on the same night that his daughter runs away from home. That balance – saving the world on the one hand, an agonizing personal crisis on the other, along with Kiefer’s fantastic portrayal of Jack Bauer – has defined the series ever since.

Joel: The first season was tough. We were in uncharted waters – no one had ever done a real-time series before. When it was over, we considered changing the format and having each episode take place in 24 hours. We even wrote a sample episode based on that premise. But we quickly realized it wasn’t the show.

Bob: For better or worse, we had to stick with the original premise and make each season last day. That meant we had to keep coming up with major threats and crises, as well as all the smaller twists and surprises that made the first season work. I can’t say it’s gotten easier; in fact, the desperation you see on the screen reflects the desperation in the writers’ room.