latinoreview.com — 24 has grown more than a little tired over the years, with story-lines and plot devices that have become incredibly familiar. That's because much of what we see has occurred before and every story line, plot thread or turn of events feels directly copied from previous seasons.
Click here for :24 Plot Devices They Keep Recycling On '24'
Earlier this month it was reported that this season of 24 would likely be the last for the series as the ratings have dropped and Fox seems disinterested in continuing production. At the time it was mentioned that the studio is considering shopping the series to other networks, but everyone believed that interest would probably be limited due to the high costs involved. It was later reported that Fox has been approached by 
News from the 24 set,the crew has been told that 24 has come to an end. There will b no season 9. Its been a great run, thanx all 4 watching
Previously:
Last month it was announced that Billy Ray had been hired to pen the screenplay for a big screen 24
At the time, studio insiders cautioned that a 24 movie “is still very much in the preliminary stages,” and that there are “a number of factors influencing how quickly it moves ahead, including the fate of the TV show.” Fox had not yet decided if they want to order a ninth season of the series, although it has been expected that this will be the final
It is hard to imagine that Fox would spend the millions and millions required for a big screen feature if they weren’t impressed with the ratings enough to renew the television series for a tenth season. Stranger things have happened (Arrested Development was canceled and will eventually become a big screen feature). Sutherland is said to be eager in getting the series to the big screen. It would be nice to see a big screen 24, with a big blockbuster budget. But without the real-time structure, won’t it just another action
A big screen movie would probably guarantee that Bauer will survive his eighth crazy day. Since first discovering the series in 2001, I had hoped that Bauer would someday die on screen, in the possible biggest twist the series could possibly pull. I know a lot of fans would hate for that to happen, but I think it would be the ultimate way to conclude the series — with CTU and Jack’s friends having to save the day without him, in his honor. Sutherland and 24 producers have always said that Bauer’s death was an extreme possibility
By MICHAEL SCHNEIDER
From http://www.variety.com/
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20th Century Fox TV and Fox appear ready to end the long-running hit after this season, the show's eighth.
Studio and network execs declined comment -- but it's believed that the final decision will be made in the next day or two. Move is not a huge surprise, but still reps the end of an era for Fox.
"24" helped usher in Fox's ratings surge in the 2000s, as the franchise -- along with "American Idol" and "House," among other series -- led the network to the No. 1 spot in the adults 18-49 demo.
But the cost of producing "24" has continued to increase, while ratings have dipped. A one-time critical darling, "24" has also received its share of knocks from critics this season.
The studio is said to be considering shopping "24" to other nets -- but given the thriller's age and pricetag, it's believed interest from other outlets will be limited.
Yet even as the bell tolls for "24" in primetime, the franchise is far from dead. Sutherland and the "24" team have been keen on adapting the show as a feature film, and have made major strides in recent months toward making that long-term goal a reality.
Twentieth Century Fox's film side recently hired scribe Billy Ray ("State of Play," "Flightplan") to pen the script for the feature version (Daily Variety, Feb. 8.)
Ray's pitch, which takes Jack Bauer to Europe, was a hit with Fox execs and producers of the high-concept television series.
Script is said to have come through "24" star Sutherland, who's also an exec producer on the series.
Such a move into the features world was considered impossible while production continued on the TV series -- given that "24" takes much of the year to produce, with its feature-like shooting schedule. But with the show expected to end its run, the ability to focus on a movie could now finally be in sight.
"24" was created by Robert Cochran and Joel Surnow, while exec producer Howard Gordon runs the show through his Real Time Prods. banner.
Brian Grazer's Imagine Entertainment produces the show along with 20th Century Fox TV.
Sutherland has starred throughout all eight seasons as Jack Bauer, a federal agent and member of the Los Angeles Counter Terrorist Unit (and who has saved the world several times over). "24" made noise for its real time format, in which all 24 episodes take place as consecutive hours in the same day.
Although it was developed before the attacks of 9/11, the show, which bowed Nov. 6, 2001, in many ways began to mirror the changed world, given real-life fears over terrorism and debates over torture methods. Skein's depiction of an African American president was seen as a ground-breaking precursor to the 2008 election of Barack Obama.
The show has won the Emmy and the Golden Globe awards for drama, while Sutherland has scored both an Emmy and a Globe for actor. "24" has also received Emmy Awards for writing and directing; last year, Cherry Jones won an Emmy for supporting actress in a drama.
This season's edition of "24," which takes place in New York, stars Sutherland, Mary Lynn Rajskub, Jones, Anil Kapoor, Annie Wersching, Katee Sackhoff, Mykelti Williamson, Freddie Prinze Jr., Chris Diamantopoulos and John Boyd.
Other exec producers include Evan Katz, David Fury, Manny Coto, Brannon Braga, Brad Turner, Alex Gansa and Grazer.
 Gregory Itzin (Getty) |
As the hero of the television action series, Bauer became a modern icon of rugged American values and a fictional flag waver for the Bush administration's determination to defeat terrorists.
The intelligence agent, played by Keifer Sutherland, has never been afraid to torture or shoot to kill while tackling villainous foreigners intent on waging war on the American homeland.
But now US conservatives are up in arms that the election of President-Elect Barack Obama has led the show's producers to pander to the liberal consensus in Hollywood, which they claim has led to the blacklisting of those who disagree with their anti-war views.
When the series returns for its seventh season on Sunday night, Bauer will mouth the views of Mr Obama, who has vowed to end "enhanced interrogation", also known as torture, and close the Guantanamo Bay detention camp.
And in an apparent bid to get in tune with the new president, the new season opens with Bauer facing a congressional investigation probing his use of torture and summary executions in previous series. "It's better that everything comes out in the open," Bauer says, echoing Democrat demands for greater transparency over US counter-terrorist tactics.
"We've done so many things in the name of protecting this country, we've created two worlds. Ours and the people's we've promised to protect. They deserve to hear the truth and decide how far they want to let us go."
The transformation of Bauer has left the American Right fuming.
"It's clearly a sign the producers are trying to adapt to a new political reality," said the conservative commentator Christian Toto.
"That approach might generate a few new fans, but it could turn off those who saw 24 as that rare Hollywood product that took the threat of terrorism seriously - and didn't feel the need to rationalise taking extreme measures to protect the innocent."
The capture of Bauer by the Hollywood's liberal elite comes as conservatives in the entertainment industry are complaining that their support for the war in Iraq has made them victims of a Left-wing witch hunt.
A new book by an Oscar-nominated screenwriter, published later this month, claims that those with conservative views are victims of an informal blacklist, like the McCarthy-era ban on communist sympathisers in Hollywood during the 1950s.
Roger Simon, who penned the scripts to Enemies: A Love Story and Scenes From a Mall, said that those who oppose the liberal anti-war consensus in Hollywood have been ostracised by the major studios and television networks.
In his book Blacklisting Myself: Memoir of a Hollywood Apostate in the Age of Terror, Simon writes: "I am sure this new form of the blacklist exists, but not nearly to the formalised extent of the original list of the Forties and Fifties with its dramatic hearings in front of the House Un-American Activities Committee."
He says the new blacklist "operates through an almost invisible thought control" in which writers, actors and directors who refuse to join in the chorus of condemnation against President George W. Bush and his wars faced career death over the last eight years.
He claims anyone voicing support for the war "would be dismissed as a fool, a warmonger, or a right-wing nut (all three, probably) and therefore have had little or no chance at the writing or directing job that brought you there."
Conservative actors are few and far between. Only the Die Hard star Bruce Willis, Kelsey Grammer of Frasier fame and the Oscar winners Jon Voight and Robert Duvall have any real clout.
When the novelist and film director Michael Crichton, the creator of Jurassic Park, died on the day Mr Obama was elected, his passing received little publicity, conservatives claim, because he wrote a thriller questioning the liberal consensus on global warming.
Even Arnold Schwarznegger, the former film star and Republican Governor of California is seen as a captive of the Left because of his liberal environmental policies.
But some conservatives are fighting back. Last week activists in the entertainment industry launched a new website to rally support from conservative voters for films and television programmes that reflect their values.
They believe that the recent glut of anti-war films that bombed at the box office - including Rendition, which starred Reese Witherspoon and Jake Gyllenhaal; In the Valley of Elah, featuring Tommy Lee Jones and Charlize Theron and Lambs for Lions, Robert Redford's political drama with Tom Cruise and Meryl Streep - are proof that Hollywood is out of touch with the American public.
Andrew Breitbart, the founder of the new Hollywood site, issued a call to arms: "Until conservatives, libertarians and Republicans - who will be the lion's share of Big Hollywood's contributors - recognise that (pop) culture is the big prize and that politics is secondary, there will be no victory in this important battle."
Michael Wilson, director of the documentary Michael Moore Hates America, said Hollywood and grassroots conservatives need to fight harder to "impart their ideas into pop culture" by putting up the money for films that hide a conservative message in a popular format.
He said: "Hollywood doesn't like us. They don't like our pro-American, pro-liberty, self-interested way of life, and they certainly don't think our ideas would work on film.
"The trick to transforming the very real liberal bias in Hollywood is to change the formula that Hollywood uses by finding and financing films and television projects that engage people emotionally first and speak to ideology second."
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