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 until Oct. 9 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?’”
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After all the critical drubbing last season got, I was shocked that last season was actually quite good and exciting. Perhaps because season 5 was so phenomenal that anything that followed was just not up to par, but I really enjoyed season 6.
disappointed that in effect we have lost a season because of the writers strike.
No Jake, season 6 got scorched by critics and fans beacuse it was damn near unwatchable. Season 5 rocked more than usual but seasons 1,3 and 4 also blow away anything part 6 had to offer.
oh yeah, and this news does not exactly inspire confidence
Season 6 wasn’t a total disaster. The first third was incredible. Jack being released from China only to be turned over for execution; his escape from his captors; and the explosion of a nuclear bomb in LA. It was a great setup. They just up the rest of it.
They couldn’t get us a season last year and now they can’t come up with an ending this year? Not promising. I hope this show gets back on track.
WOWWWWW. Hey, if they have the time, they might as well make it not suck!
I agree with Jake; season 5 was such a completely compelling story with amazing actors. Season 6 just couldn’t have been as focused and tight because the bar was set. They had WAY too many storylines going and when they realized they had to get back to characters living the action instead of the other way around, it was too vast and thinned out. I hope they come back to DC and film – now, that would be the “Change” this town needs.
I think 24’s biggest problem lately has been repetitiveness.
Every season is about a big terrorist threat and every season (except for 1 and 3) starts between 6-8AM. Note that in seasons 2, 5 and 6, the big terror threat was usually resolved around 10PM and then the cover operation, going after the chip, recording and component always happens in the middle of the night.
I honestly believe that a dramatically different start time (how about late afternoon or early evening, which has NEVER been done) would automatically change the tone and structure of the season.
Also, I believe the unique 24 hour format does not require terrorism as its main threat. Why not have a smaller, but equally suspenseful storyline about a serial killer out on the streets? Maybe Marilyn Bauer could be one of the victims so Jack’s involvement in the show would still make sense!
I don’t know if you remember, but this will actually be the third time that Day 7 has shut down.
Day 7 was supposed to begin filming in July of 2007, but after FOX nixed their plan to go to Africa to film the first few hours they put production on hold until August 27th to try to come up with a new plot.
Then the August 27th start date was moved to September 10th because they didn’t have scripts ready.
After the decision was made to delay the series an entire year due to the strike the producer’s discussed how they had the entire season plotted for the first time ever and wouldn’t be flying by the seat of their pants like they normally do. Now they’re taking another break while they cobble together a new ending.
Day 7 is scaring me. Especially after the horror that was day 6 and seeing evil, bearded Tony in the trailer released late last year at 24trailer.com
Please don’t suck!
24 was great every year but last year in my opinion and simple reason is writers got lazy and casting got lazy,after thye killed curtis there was really no one good left…i hope this season is great and i think best way change the show is to turn it into jack movies instead of the 24 format lets get this series turned into movie franchise before its to late like x-files did.
To improve 24!
Show JACK eating
Show JACK use the bathroom
Show JACK sleep
Show JACK change
Show JACK NAKED
….okay jk but ugh we never see any of that!
I think they need move from L.A. period um hello Im sure HOUSTON gets threats too…you can get NASA involved. IM TIRED OF L.A. maybe it would be intriguing if it was a threat against a small town! The small town effect would help bring other characters to life. . .or have drama for 2days (back 2 back) and the end of day one is a huge cliffhanger and day two starts the following season!
I love htis show and i will watch it regardless…
in the words of jack bauer = dammit!
they all went to comic con and talked about how great this season was going to be, and what a blessing in disguise it was to have breathing room to plot out the whole year instead of flying by the seat of their pants.
i also saw where the 2hr movie in november is changing the title. used to be 24:exile and now it will be 24:redemption.
i got behind with 24, so we did a marathon weekend of season 5 and then a few weeks later a marathon weekend of season 6. definitely season 5 was MADE OF AWESOME WIN but i didn’t think season 6 sucked that bad. it just wasn’t near as good as s5, which was a pretty high bar, you know?
they better not screw up this show, dammit. jack bauer ftw!
Hopefully things will work out fine creatively as the show needs a big time bounce back after last years very up and down season. Theres no doubt that this has to be a tough show to keep fresh after 6 seasons.
To Jaime:
Do you REALLY want to see Jack eat, sleep, and go to the bathroom that badly? (as for seeing him naked, perhaps if this were a cable show).
I don’t. As the producers have explained, showing him performing mundane tasks might be more realistic, but it would slow down the pace of the show. “24″ fans like me want to see ACTION (and Chloe), not bathroom breaks.
To Garry:
It was a joke but seriously how long does it take you to pee. . .yeah shouldnt take long. It would not hurt to make it realistic. . .I love the action too but come its a 24hr day…he needs to pee at least once..lol! Oh and love chloe like alot. . .i heard she wasnt going to be in this day. . .or not the whole day…maybe im making that up but i think i read that.
I’VE BEEN WATCH YOUR SHOW SINCE IT FIRST AIRED ON TELEVISION. IT’S THE BEST ACTION PACK SHOW I’VE EVER SEEN. THERE’S NEVER A TIME WHERE I KNEW WHAT WAS GOING TO HAPPEN NEXT. THESE ARE SHOWS THAT KEEP YOU WANTING TO KNOW WHAT’S NEXT. SO YOU TUNE IN EVERY WEEK OR EVERYDAY WHENEVER IT’S ON TO SEE AND KEEP UP WITH WHAT’S GOING ON. I’VE ACCEPTED OTHERS TO WATCHING YOUR SHOW AS WELL UNTIL THEY GOT HOOKED THERE SELF. THAT’S WHY I KNOW THAT THIS SHOW COULD NEVER BE UNDER RATED. WITH PEOPLE LIKE MYSELF INVITING OTHERS TO WATCH, THIS SHOW WILL ALWAYS GET THE RATING THAT IT NEEDS TO CONTINUE. THANK YOU FOR BRINGING THIS SHOW TO TELEVISION FOR PEOPLE LIKE MYSELF WHO KNOWS HOW TO ENJOY A VERY GOOD SHOW.
I like how some people are complaining about how the writers are taking their time crafting a great final bunch of episodes. They have the luxury of time so why shouldn’t they use it. I am confident that the people behind 24 are trying to make Season 7 the best season yet.
As much as I love (loved) ‘24′, it’s not ‘The Sopranos’ – meaning it’s not strong enough to disappear for over a year and a half, and still expect fans to follow. With the disaster that was Day 6, and now this… I’m hoping for the best but, just like Jack, I’m bracing for the worst.
My son and I are great fan of 24 and i got my sister and niece caught in this addiction. We bought every season 1-6. Please, Please… don’t stop the series, i don’t know what i would do if 24 was cancelled!!!!
Even a bad season of 24 is better than 90% of the other crap on TV-Gossip Girl I’m looking in your direction…
I’m thinking it seems like time to hang things up…clearly the shows having major problems behind the scenes, and this is starting to smell like we’re in for another, gulp, Heroes season 2.
It’ll be cool to see Tony back…but he DID die in Jacks arms, and suddenly hes alive and a villain? Smells a bit desperate.
Plus the return of Kim Bauer. How many fans actually want to see her back?
I’ll still watch it, and hopefully it will be pretty good, but I have too many doubts. Plus no more Peter MacNicol! Damn!
Earl, there is no comparision between the great show 24 and junk like HEROES. 24 will be fine this year.
wow.. thats just crazy. this season better be good.. because they had SO MUCH time doing it.. a failure would just be out-of-question
Amen, Chad Smith!!! Perfectly put.
I think this is good news that the writers and Howard Gordon want to work out the kinks of the final 6 episodes. Also, they already have 18 episodes in the can plus the 2 hour 24: Redemption TV movie, so I am not concerned at all. If anything there want this season to go out with a bang.
HIRE – BETTER WRITERS!!! KIEFER’S TALENT DESERVES THE BEST!!! AND, UNLIKE MOST ACTORS, HE KNOWS WHAT A GREAT SCRIPT LOOKS LIKE!!!
[ http://WWW.3RDCOAST-PRODUCTIONS.COM ]
This season has trouble. Big trouble. They’ve had a year and a half to work on it, they’ve shut down repeatedly, and they keep saying, “No, everything is fine.” I am dubious.
Actually, it wouldn’t be too bad to see Jack wolf down an energy bar stashed in a glove box, or take a few sips from an old water bottle he keeps handy in a CTU vehicle.
I agree that broadening the plots to include other regions increases the realism and adds variety.
After watching seasons 1-6 in a fairly short time frame, I noticed that a lot of bad guys have been tracked to buildings on Figuroa or Sepulveda. Perhaps CTU should just station some guys on those streets… just in case?
To jamie:
Actually, in season 1, when Jack got detained in CTU for his actions during the first half of the day, you see him eating lunch. It’s been a long time since season 1’s first airing, and even I forgot about it until I watched that episode again over a year ago, so no biggie.
I can’t say this news is exactly comforting, but I hope the writers use the extra time to make this season as strong as possible. After the lackluster day 6 (even though it started out wonderfully, it became almost unwatchable halfway through) and almost two years between seasons, day 7 needs to be good, if not great, to keep the show from going under.
P.S. Heroes season 1 was slightly fortunate that it aired opposite of a bad season of 24. Had it been season 5 – one of 24’s greatest seasons – even Heroes would’ve had a hard time diverting attention from the fans, including me.
I seriously doubt that they’re shutting down for “rewrites”. There’s a good possibility SAG will strike in about three or four weeks. SAG’s been holding off on a strike until they have their board elections and the Emmys take place.
24 has a different production schedule from other series; they shoot two episodes at a time. I believe they’re wrapping up episodes 17 and 18 right now. They do have six episodes left to shoot for next season, but I suspect they know they can’t prepare and complete another pair of episodes before a possible strike is called.