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"Hurt" by Criticism, 24 Boss Plans to "Reinvent" Show
Kiefer Sutherland by Kelsey McNeal/Fox
Let's face it — 24 simply ain't what it used to be. Granted, living up to last season's benchmark was a near-impossible feat, but still... this season has been lambasted by many for being highly derivative of "days" gone by and even harder to believe than expected. Addressing the backlash, executive producer Howard Gordon tells the Los Angeles Times, "It hurts to hear the criticism," then goes on to say that such words which haven't killed Jack Bauer will only make him stronger next time around. "It's been a challenging season to write... but it's reinvigorated our determination to reinvent the show," says Gordon. "This year could be... the last iteration of its current state."
What sort of "reinvention" does Gordon have in mind? "I've got a couple of ideas, none of which I could even begin to share responsibly," he says. "[But] it won't be a musical." So much for ever hearing "It Had to Be CTU (Bauer's Ballad)."
How would you "fix" 24? Vote in our new poll.
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May 1, 2007 9:56 AM
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How about tweaking one of the songs from the "Scrubs" musical episode, and have "It All Comes Down to CTU."
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May 1, 2007 10:20 AM
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I think the best change they could do, and it's not one of your poll choices, is to have the writers sit down and plot out the whole season before they start filming. When it's this obvious that they're making it up as they go along, it's a problem.
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May 1, 2007 11:21 AM
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Hallelujah! Last year's Season 5 hit a few peaks using the current format that would be hard to repeat. And anyway, reinvention is all the rage!
Battlestar Galactica did it (albeit decades late), James Bond's "Casino Royale" did it: it is your turn, Jack. And I look forward to it.
On a side note, hopefully you will move your location to, let's say, Chicago. Sweet Home Chicago.
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May 1, 2007 11:41 AM
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I would add to the list of choices "less romantic entanglements" - they have definitely been a huge deterrent this season. But killing off Jack will be the end of my 24 viewing. 24 without Kiefer is not even a possibility.
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May 1, 2007 11:47 AM
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A change of scenery maybe? What if something happened while Jack (who has been made an ambassador) is in London with his trusty assistant, Chloe?
And a definite pullback on the blood and gore would be fine. Just a warning to the producers: we were stationed in England for 3 years with the Air Force. I know London. They try to go more than 3 blocks in any direction in under an hour...forget it!
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May 1, 2007 11:50 AM
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1. First and foremost, work on a strong villain for the season. Our interests in these kinds of show often hinges as much around a good villain as it does around the hero. Remember how much fun Nina and Sherry Palmer were? One reason Heroes is working is because they've got Sylar, the conflicted HRG, and Linderman.
2. New location. We're all sick of threats to L.A.
3. Different kind of danger for Jack than terrorist threat to a city (maybe something personal-- a nearly unstoppable assasin goes after Jack or something)
4. Give Jack a love interest and make her a tough but likeable warrior. Let's see a strong woman the show can focus on at times; someone we'd care about and who can save Jack's butt sometimes, not just the other way around.
5. Dump CTU. It's played out. Make it personal for Jack (characters we like from CTU can help him behind the scenes, but we're done with CTU moles and people bickering behind computer screens).
6. Bring back a few characters we actually care about. It'd be a stretch if someone like Tony Almaeda is still alive (faked his own death), but it wouldn't be less believable than much of what we've seen this season.
7. Vow never to leave popular plotlines unresolved. The Charles and Martha Logan storyline, introduced and then suddenly dropped, is the point where I gave up on this season of the show. Fans actually care about these characters (see previous point) and the way they were treated this season was inexcusable. This whole season feels like it was written with a kid with Attention Deficit Disorder. Interesting storylines were introduced, but then dropped, ignored or forgotten about. Hello, there was a nuclear bomb dropped on L.A., etc.
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May 1, 2007 11:57 AM
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Quit killing off the characters that we, the viewers, invest in.......you almost killed it for me when you killed off Tony Almeda....in my mind he's the only one that could have EVER taken over if you wanted to kill off Jack, (I want my Tony back!!!!!!!) and yes, we need a new scenario for Jack to work on. This season I have noticed less Jack and more white house and CTU fluff, which may be another reason for the lackluster season.
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May 1, 2007 12:16 PM
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ditto, BobbyJoe - sounds like a perfect agenda for season 6!
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May 1, 2007 12:47 PM
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I think the show needs to draw back the scale of the threats. The first year's storyline was great when it revolved around the attempted assassination of David Palmer. Remember how it also took place "on the day of the California presidential primary"? Why can't future seasons revolve around a special occasion like "on the day of the Super Bowl" or something cool like that?
vickiejean, it takes more than an hour to get anywhere in LA, too, but that hasn't stopped the producers from setting the show here. How come Jack never gets stuck in rush hour traffic?
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May 1, 2007 12:50 PM
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I would like to second that call to move the series to Chicago. Specifically, the South Loop area. Perhaps with me in Morris' role.
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May 1, 2007 12:53 PM
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the only thing in the poll that i somewhat liked was, no more bomb threats. that is so played out. the only other thing i could think of is, have characters on the show i actually like. for me it's, chloe and jack. everyone else i could care less about. i think they really screwed up when they killed off edgar, michelle and tony. STOP KILLING OFF THE LIKEABLE CHARACTERS! they need to keep the show centered around CTU. do you think they would move grey's anatomy out of a hospital? no, that would be a death wish for the show. keep jack working for ctu and keep ctu in the picture. maybe with chloe and morris being on the outs they could move the show to a different location and chloe could follow jack. that would be sweet!
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May 1, 2007 12:58 PM
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Get the show out of CTU and LA.
Focus more on Jack Bauer character (the only reason I'm still watching).
Hire actors who 'can' act.
Get back to more personal storyline for Jack, like in S1.
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May 1, 2007 1:14 PM
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How about Jack and Audrey go on a cruise and the ship is hijacked by terrorists? I know it sounds a little like one of the Die Hard movies, but they could make it work. At least Jack could relax and be happy for 10 minutes, and we'd get some nice scenery, instead of underground bunkers in DC and bombed out warehouses/factories/oil refineries in LA.
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May 1, 2007 1:18 PM
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I agree about killing off past characters. They kill off good ones like Tony, Michelle, Edgar, etc, but they keep around these total idiots, Morris, Milo, Nadia. They said that the story lines for Tony and company were dead but what kind of story do these new people have? Morris has a 2-3 show about his drinking? That was the dumbest ever!
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May 1, 2007 1:22 PM
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