24 Season 8 Premiere!! Jan. 17th

[lurkey]

It hasn't been exactly a lovefest at over at Lost either . . . I guess I better bump the thread and give out the bad news about Libby and gossip about non-lovefest at Lost

[southerngale]

The second worst show on TV?

[Stephanie]

OUCH!

The producers have thrown out the ENTIRE plot for Season 7 as production was set to begin.

I think 24 is reaching an end... this is BAD.

http://community.tvguide.com/blog-entry/TVGuide-Editors-Blog/Ausiello-Report/Exclusive-24-Plot/800018254

In fact, news of the setback comes on the same day the semiannual Television Week critics' poll (in which yours truly participated) named 24 the second worst show on TV, behind ABC's best-not-traveled October Road.

October Road was awful... I don't think 24 was nearly THAT bad.

First of all, what was "October Road"???

Secondly, like music, QUALITY isn't appreciated anymore, only ratings and $$$. It wasn't 24's best season, but it CERTAINLY wasn't the worst show. What about Trump's LA Apprentice. Where the heck did that fall in their votes???

[Category 5]

Second worst show on TV? Have they seen this new reality shows?

I hope it keeps going. The first 5 months of my year aren't complete without it.

[Brent]

The second worst show on TV?

I know... I think maybe it should have been #2 on the most disappointing list. The quality did go down quite a bit, but it wasn't nearly that horrible.

However, 24 in Season 5 was very critically acclaimed, so this is bad. It won an emmy.

[lurkey]

Female President Next for Fox's '24'
Jul 22 05:55 PM US/Eastern
By LYNN ELBER
AP Television Writer

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) - The United States will have a female president next year—on the Fox TV series "24."

Tony Award-winning actress Cherry Jones will play President Allison Taylor when the show about the exploits of counterterrorism agent Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) returns in January for its seventh season, the network announced Sunday.

Jones' term will coincide with Democratic Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's presidential bid, but Fox Entertainment Chairman Peter Liguori said fiction and real-world politics will not intersect.

"It's a dramatic decision. ... The president is a very important piece of '24," Liguori told The Associated Press. "We've had a broad array of presidents on the show; why not a female president?"

The series has been an Oval Office groundbreaker before, with Dennis Haysbert playing President Palmer, the nation's first black president.

Asked whether Fox would scrutinize scripts for potential election-year political content, Liguori said that, as with any show, "24" will be looked at "from a dramaturgical perspective, not a political perspective."

Series co-creators Joel Surnow and Robert Cochran and fellow executive producer Howard Gordon have always kept real-life politics from the show, he said.

"'24' took place in an election year in the past," Liguori said. "How you see Joel, Bob and Howard articulate drama is telling on how they deal with politics. The two are separated."

In a February article in The New Yorker magazine, Surnow described himself as a rare conservative in Hollywood. But show producers say they hold a variety of political viewpoints and deny "24" takes a solely conservative approach, the magazine reported.

Jones, winner of best-actress Tony Awards for "The Heiress" and "Doubt," has appeared in films including "Ocean's Twelve" and "The Perfect Storm" and has guest-starred on TV shows including the White House drama "The West Wing."

Liguori and newly appointed Fox programming chief Kevin Reilly appeared Sunday at the summer meeting of the Television Critics Association to discuss the upcoming TV season on Fox, owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp.

Liguori said he wouldn't call the past season "disappointing," when asked about the fact that "24" failed to gain a best drama series Emmy nomination last week after winning the award in 2006.

He said he admires the "creative courage" of the producers as the show "re-sets the table each season" with a new story. "It's fun to see them spit-ball ideas," Liguori added.

___

[lurkey]

From ComicCon:

From the “24” panel: Season seven will begin with Jack Bauer in hot water, facing the U.S. Senate over perceived crimes.

[lurkey]

LOS ANGELES (Aug. 16) The seventh season of the spy thriller "24" is facing another production delay.

The real-time Fox drama starring Kiefer Sutherland was scheduled to start filming Aug. 27, but will now begin shooting Sept. 10 so that the writers can complete enough scripts for the new seasonlong plot.

Production was originally set to begin in late July-early August, but the producers' original set-in-Africa story line fell through and they went back to the drawing board.

There has been only one new casting on the show so far -- Cherry Jones as the U.S. president -- with a couple of other deals at different stages.

"24" is going through a major revamping this year after coming off a lackluster sixth season.

[lurkey]

Tony comes back to '24,' despite being dead
Perhaps it’s the “Ugly Betty” influence on television. Or maybe the producers of “24” just couldn’t get enough of Laura Spencer’s brief return to “General Hospital” last year.

When “24” has its seventh season premiere on Jan. 13, Tony Almeida (Carlos Bernard) will somehow be miraculously resurrected. We use the term “miraculously” because, even though executive producer Howard Gordon declared in a Fox news release today that Tony’s fate was “uncertain,” we’re pretty certain we saw Tony taking his last breath in Jack Bauer’s arms in Season 5.

This belief was further reinforced when we interviewed Gordon, Bernard and star Kiefer Sutherland, and they all expressed how sad they were that Jack no longer had his running buddy. But they all agreed that it was in the service of telling a good story.

What could that good story be now? According to Fox, the season opens with Jack on trial in Washington, D.C., for his actions in the pursuit of justice. CTU no longer exists and there is a woman, played by Cherry Jones, running the White House. The only thing stated about Tony’s return is that it is “shocking.”

In lieu of facts, let's spin some fan-fiction:

So that he could go on special assignment in Timbuktu, CTU faked Tony’s death. In his new location, he met a Russian spy, they fell in love, and she was kidnapped and taken to South Africa.

Trying to rescue her, Tony almost died when an RPG blew up the boat he was driving. His lover assumed he was dead and went back to Russia. Months later, Tony washed up on the shores of Cape Verde and was taken in by a monastery when they discovered he had amnesia. With no memories of his past life, Tony became a priest and was sent to Russia, where one day, walking through a market, he ran into his spy lover. One look into her eyes and it all came back.

They joined the Peace Corps and started adopting African babies. But then her past caught up with her and she was killed. Tony had no choice but to pack up his family and head back to Los Angeles.

When he hears that Jack is on trial, he flies to D.C., marches into the courtroom and screams, “Jack Bauer es inocente!”

Update:

The producers have spoken: The answers are all in the silent clock.

You will recall that when lovable Edgar Stiles (Louis Lombardi) died in the episode right after Tony Almeida took his last breath, there was a sad, sad silent clock that marked the passing of our favorite CTU analyst.

There was no such clock when Tony died in Jack's arms and this was deliberate, executive producer Howard Gordon wrote in an e-mail to The Times this afternoon.

"We didn't give him the silent clock because we always wanted to keep alive the possibility for some kind of (admittedly) miraculous resurrection ... which we will explain," Gordon wrote. "He's definitely NOT the Almeida we once knew."

The horror! Could it be his Evil Twin?

-- Maria Elena Fernandez

[southerngale]

Here's the trailer for 24:

http://24trailer.com/


The 2 hour premier is January 13th... I can't wait! The only show I care about right now is House. I'm ready for 24 and LOST to start!

[Brent]

First of all, NOT a fan of Tony returning. It kind of cheapens the whole idea of people dying on this show, and I don't like that. I would be fine with it if the death was off screen, but this was NOT. Silent clock and everything. It sucks.

That said, the trailer looks great but I can't help but feel like we've seen it all before. CTU is gone, but everything else is the same it seems. I will watch the premiere and give it a fair chance, but last season plus Tony returning has left a bad taste in my mouth about the whole thing, and the fact that I'm watching 5,000 other TV shows, it needs to not disappoint. Last year's premiere certainly didn't, but it went downhill after that. Hope this season is planned out better. The delays in production to me don't bode well either, and we all better hope there's not a writer's strike coming up.

[southerngale]

First of all, NOT a fan of Tony returning. It kind of cheapens the whole idea of people dying on this show, and I don't like that. I would be fine with it if the death was off screen, but this was NOT. Silent clock and everything. It sucks.

That said, the trailer looks great but I can't help but feel like we've seen it all before. CTU is gone, but everything else is the same it seems. I will watch the premiere and give it a fair chance, but last season plus Tony returning has left a bad taste in my mouth about the whole thing, and the fact that I'm watching 5,000 other TV shows, it needs to not disappoint. Last year's premiere certainly didn't, but it went downhill after that. Hope this season is planned out better. The delays in production to me don't bode well either, and we all better hope there's not a writer's strike coming up.

Wrong, Brent. No silent clock for Tony. For that reason, I, and many other fans, have always held out a glimpse of hope that perhaps he didn't really die.

Tony was always one of my favorites and he was there from the start, so I doubt I'm the only one excited to see him back. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like he's a good guy anymore, but I can't wait to hear the story with him. Remember... a lot of us have watched from the beginning (whereas you just recently started watching), Tony was there in the beginning, and everyone loved Tony. I'm dying to see what in the sam hill happened that he's not a good guy anymore? Huh? This looks like it could be a great season. We'll see, though. Out of all six seasons, although I liked it, last season was my least favorite, and I know the same holds true for others. Of course the producers hear the feedback as well.... I don't think this season will disappoint.

[Brent]

First of all, NOT a fan of Tony returning. It kind of cheapens the whole idea of people dying on this show, and I don't like that. I would be fine with it if the death was off screen, but this was NOT. Silent clock and everything. It sucks.

That said, the trailer looks great but I can't help but feel like we've seen it all before. CTU is gone, but everything else is the same it seems. I will watch the premiere and give it a fair chance, but last season plus Tony returning has left a bad taste in my mouth about the whole thing, and the fact that I'm watching 5,000 other TV shows, it needs to not disappoint. Last year's premiere certainly didn't, but it went downhill after that. Hope this season is planned out better. The delays in production to me don't bode well either, and we all better hope there's not a writer's strike coming up.

Wrong, Brent. No silent clock for Tony. For that reason, I, and many other fans, have always held out a glimpse of hope that perhaps he didn't really die.

Tony was always one of my favorites and he was there from the start, so I doubt I'm the only one excited to see him back. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like he's a good guy anymore, but I can't wait to hear the story with him. Remember... a lot of us have watched from the beginning (whereas you just recently started watching), Tony was there in the beginning, and everyone loved Tony. I'm dying to see what in the sam hill happened that he's not a good guy anymore? Huh? This looks like it could be a great season. We'll see, though. Out of all six seasons, although I liked it, last season was my least favorite, and I know the same holds true for others. Of course the producers hear the feedback as well.... I don't think this season will disappoint.

Oh I liked Tony as well(I have since seen the early seasons), I'm just not used to TV shows bringing people back from the dead like this.

I also want to know what happened to make him a bad guy.

and hmmmmm, I thought there was a silent clock. Maybe I'm confusing it with Lynn who died around the same time saving everyone else.

[southerngale]

First of all, NOT a fan of Tony returning. It kind of cheapens the whole idea of people dying on this show, and I don't like that. I would be fine with it if the death was off screen, but this was NOT. Silent clock and everything. It sucks.

That said, the trailer looks great but I can't help but feel like we've seen it all before. CTU is gone, but everything else is the same it seems. I will watch the premiere and give it a fair chance, but last season plus Tony returning has left a bad taste in my mouth about the whole thing, and the fact that I'm watching 5,000 other TV shows, it needs to not disappoint. Last year's premiere certainly didn't, but it went downhill after that. Hope this season is planned out better. The delays in production to me don't bode well either, and we all better hope there's not a writer's strike coming up.

Wrong, Brent. No silent clock for Tony. For that reason, I, and many other fans, have always held out a glimpse of hope that perhaps he didn't really die.

Tony was always one of my favorites and he was there from the start, so I doubt I'm the only one excited to see him back. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like he's a good guy anymore, but I can't wait to hear the story with him. Remember... a lot of us have watched from the beginning (whereas you just recently started watching), Tony was there in the beginning, and everyone loved Tony. I'm dying to see what in the sam hill happened that he's not a good guy anymore? Huh? This looks like it could be a great season. We'll see, though. Out of all six seasons, although I liked it, last season was my least favorite, and I know the same holds true for others. Of course the producers hear the feedback as well.... I don't think this season will disappoint.

Oh I liked Tony as well(I have since seen the early seasons), I'm just not used to TV shows bringing people back from the dead like this.

I also want to know what happened to make him a bad guy.

and hmmmmm, I thought there was a silent clock. Maybe I'm confusing it with Lynn who died around the same time saving everyone else.

How many people can save the world in just 24 hours though? I mean, come on, Superman sleeps in Jack Bauer pajamas. You have to give in to reality a little when you watch 24.

There was a silent clock for Lynn, as well as Edgar, and others. There wasn't for Tony, though.




Edit: This is from Wikipedia.

Carlos Bernard will return as Tony Almeida in the premiere of season 7 as one of the main antagonists. Show-runner Howard Gordon explained that Tony's "uncertain fate" left the door open for his return[18] and cited the lack of a "silent clock" as a deliberate move to keep his death ambiguous.[19] "We didn't give him the silent clock because we always wanted to keep alive the possibility for some kind of (admittedly) miraculous resurrection ... which we will explain," and followed up with "He's definitely NOT the Almeida we once knew."[19].

[Brent]

How many people can save the world in just 24 hours though? I mean, come on, Superman sleeps in Jack Bauer pajamas. You have to give in to reality a little when you watch 24.

Oh believe me... I have suspended disbelief on a LONG list of things on this show.

[AussieMark]

whats your guys favourite season of 24?

From the ones I have seen season 2 was my favourite

[Brent]

whats your guys favourite season of 24?

From the ones I have seen season 2 was my favourite

Season 5, Season 1 is close behind. It was so "different" back then and I was surprised at how much I liked it. The others(excluding 6) were great, but had some weak spots, Season 6 was decent but had some really bad parts. It started with tons of promise but blew most of it.

[lurkey]

24 -- The Unaired 1994 Pilot

[Brent]

In case people aren't reading the "what are you watching" thread... 24 has been indefinitely delayed due to the writers strike. FOX wants to wait til it can air all 24 episodes without a break. It's not just the strike that is to blame though, it got a very late start due to production problems, and Kiefer's jailtime isn't helping matters.

[RL3AO]

So sad.