Variety 專訪 Kiefer 問與答

Variety Q&A with '24's' Kiefer Sutherland
Actor talks about his time as Jack Bauer
By MICHAEL SCHNEIDER

DAILY VARIETY: Tell me how you, the producers, the studio and the network came to this decision.

KIEFER SUTHERLAND: I'm going to use a terrible metaphor, but if our show is a building, then Howard Gordon and the writers are the foundation. From a creative point, I think Howard was feeling that as confident and as strong as he felt about season 8, he was feeling that it was going to be very hard to do (a season 9). He and I both felt that the opportunity of making a movie, and doing a two-hour representation of a 24-hour day -- which would not be restricted by time -- was something that was appealing to he and I both.

In addition for us, at least creatively, it seemed like the right time to do it. It's very bittersweet. We had the most unbelievably loyal fan base that you don't want to ever disappoint. And you certainly hope to make up for it with a really great film.

But it's also, we have 90% of our original crew from day one. I think there have been 16 weddings, 30 some odd children born... it gets very sad. The idea that I'm not going to see these same people five days a week in three months, it's hard. And the joke is I knew it would be.

We were in the middle of season six and I looked up at the stages where we hang all the lights and I realized, it dawned on me, that we were closer to the end than we were the beginning. I took a moment and said wow, I knew that day would come and that it would be a sad day.

I'm unbelievably proud of everybody I've worked with, and the accomplishment -- to do 196 hours of real time television will be something hard to match.

DV: I remember back in 2001, it was such a unique idea. People wondered how you were going to keep this up.

SUTHERLAND: They wondered? Joel Surnow and Howard Gordon looked at me after we had done the first 13 episodes and "24" been picked up, and both of them said, "I don't know how to finish it, do you?" And the other one said, "No, I didn't think we'd get this far."

I don't think the reality of it set in until we got picked up, because they worked furiously on it for a while. And I've always said this, "24" has been the great learning experience of my career so far. And I think it was for them as well. And I don't think until you try to write in real time can you really fathom the difficulty of it. Until you're trying to actually do it, it's mind boggling.

DV: What do you think the show's legacy will be in both TV history and pop culture?

SUTHERLAND: I don't think it's really for me to say. It's for other people to say. It's a interesting question, but it's up to an audience member who watched it. My concern as an actor and a producer was that the story was interesting, that the drama was going to put you on the edge of your seat, and that we would maintain the quality that we feel that we accomplished in season one.

I believe very strongly that we did.

DV: Did you feel the weight of the show when you read about politicians citing "24"? Did if feel like there were moments when "24" took on a life beyond being a TV show?

SUTHERLAND: I can't help someone politicizing something. It was done by the right and the left. We had elected the first African American president on television. We brought down a right-wing president that was very naughty. It was politicized on both ends.

The only thing that I can really say about that is it's a television show, and as much as it's a complement that people blur the line between reality and non reality, "24" certainly did that. But I think we were generally used for someone else's advantage for a given moment, and it was not something that we could afford to pay a great deal of attention to.

Except that I think Howard Gordon did a really brave and smart thing in season six, when we had been brought into the torture debate -- which I don't really think was a debate in this country, I think everyone acknowledges that this is not something you should do and that it's not legally acceptable. At that point Howard based season 6 on that debate and put it front and center in the middle of the show.

But it' a TV show. We used all those circumstances to create unbelievable drama and try to show you how heightened the situation was and how important this information was. And in all fairness, we had shot the first season like that, months and months before the terrible events of 9/11. This was really a product of drama.

DV: The timing of the show was uncanny, given the events of 9/11. Back immediately after those attacks, was there ever a thought in your mind that maybe this show wouldn't get on the air?

SUTHERLAND: I felt for the first two weeks after 9/11 that I couldn't believe I had wasted my life as an actor. Those were the moments when I think, rightfully so, we truly valued the police officers, the firemen, the doctors, the nurses, the people who can actually physically contribute at that exact moment.

I was walking down the street in a daze like that, and a guy was walking down the street and said to me, 'Hey man, I can't wait to see your show." And I remember looking up and, I don't think I said anything, but I remember thinking, "How can you say something like that at a time like this?" And then I walked a couple blocks more and then I thought, "Well, how can you not?"

That's what we do, we create entertainment. Sometimes more thoughtful than not. But we provide an outlet for people to sometimes get away from something. In the case of Jack Bauer, that was a unique phenomenon at a time where I, myself, and a lot of other people felt so helpless about what was happening. Jack Bauer was this character that was doing something about that world. I certainly have heard from people that they felt a kind of gratification from that.

DV: What has this character and this series meant to you and your career?

SUTHERLAND: I wouldn't be able to fully articulate that. It's been the greatest learning experience I've ever had as an actor, and singularly the greatest opportunity I've every had. On a personal level I've been able to work with a cast and crew and writers and directors that will be friends of mine for the rest of my life. There's a sense of family that I will lose when this is over. Because we won't have the kind of proximately we've had over last nine years. That's going to be immediately the most difficult thing.

I've been able to work five days a week for eight years. I can't begin to describe what that does for your confidence and your ability to break down a script, break down a scene, find intention. That's something I know I will take with me, and I'm very grateful for.

DV: What's the status of the movie?

SUTHERLAND: Billy Ray is in the process of writing it right now. I'm very excited about the idea. He's a fantastic writer. I know he's been working with Howard recently. I'm very excited about the opportunity, and singularly because it's a two-hour representation of a 24-hour day. So for the first time, it will be very feasible in this 24 hours to go from England to Russia, or from China to Japan, depending on where they choose to set it. Before on the TV show, the crisis had to come to us, because the best we could do was get across town. And the two times we ever put Jack Bauer in a plane, it just didn't work. So it alleviates a huge hurdle that real time writing presented for us.

DV: Would you ever do TV again?

SUTHERLAND: Oh my gosh, yeah. Absolutely. My experience was phenomenal. It's really the home of the drama. I grew up and the films I wanted to do as an actor were films like "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" and "Urban Cowboy" and "Terms of Endearment" and "Ordinary People." They don't make those movies anymore.

Studios, when I started working, were making 50 movies a year, now they're making 13. And the drama got picked up by television. And that's why you're seeing a huge influx of very successful actors looking at television for work. When you at everything from "ER" to "The West Wing" to "The Sopranos" to "The Wire" to "Californication," there's amazing television out there. The traditional format of television is obviously changing, as advertising is changing. But I still think it's an unbelievably exciting place to be.

DV: What's the mood on the set as realization sets in that this is coming to an end?

SUTHERLAND: It's going to get sadder and sadder. But I think it's going to be tempered by a sense of accomplishment. These people have worked unbelievably hard. I can't say enough about our crew.

DV: Are you happy with how the show ends?

SUTHERLAND: I absolutely believe that creatively we finish in a really strong place, a much more definitive place. It's going to be pretty clear what Jack Bauer's plight is.

來自 USA TODAY

USA TODAY
Kiefer Sutherland and '24' draw a bead on a feature film

By Gary Levin, USA TODAY

The clock is winding down on 24, but fans can look forward to a possible feature film that would plant action hero Jack Bauer in Prague for a new two-hour chapter — and another very bad day.

Fox has announced plans to end the groundbreaking series when its eighth season concludes with a two-hour finale May 24; production wraps on April 9. The news leaves star Kiefer Sutherland "really nostalgic and really sad" at the end of what has been the highlight of his career. "Before this show, I wasn't working a whole lot."

As with many long-in-the-tooth series, high costs and declining ratings are to blame. But the real-time conceit of the series, which consists of 24 episodes that add up to a single very bad day for Sutherland's action hero, Jack Bauer, took an exceptional toll on writers.

"I know they get incredibly burnt and bent," Sutherland says. "Ultimately, we felt we had a much better opportunity of doing something special by doing a film ... than going back to another season and doing 24 more episodes. The more you do it, the more you paint yourself into a corner, and I think, 'How many times have I played the same moment over and over?' "

Viewers may have felt that way last week, when Counter Terrorist Unit analyst Dana Walsh (Katee Sackhoff) was revealed as the latest in a long line of "moles" subverting CTU's mission to save the world. Executive producer Howard Gordon urges viewers to "hold on before you throw your shoes at the TV set" and see how that story line concludes.

The decision to end the show was made earlier this month. "We all felt it was right to end it," Gordon says. "We've really had what feels like our last day. The real-time aspect was one of the propulsive devices, but it was very restrictive, even with the absurdities, the license we allowed ourselves."

The series, which premiered in 2001, played an important role in the rebuilding of the Fox network, and was a pioneering drama in its early seasons, even though initially low ratings left its future uncertain. But critics have seemed to tire of repetitive plots in recent seasons, ratings have faded, and the network wants to build new shows in the key Monday time slot behind hit medical drama House.

Although Gordon's contract to oversee 24 expires this year, studio 20th Century Fox tried to pitch the show to NBC when Fox bailed. Gordon calls that plan "a challenge," and NBC wasn't interested.

So this season's final hours (10 remain after tonight) provide a more "definitive" ending than others. "The show goes to a place that's far more complex and represents a bigger risk than we've ever taken," Gordon says. Events demonstrate "this is not something (Bauer) can easily recover from. The idea of a happy ending is just too dishonest for this character in his eighth terrible day."

Though the ending was not "retrofitted" to pave the way for a feature film, "they would be able to move together seamlessly," Sutherland says. A first draft of the script has been written by Billy Ray (State of Play) and would take place in a single day, though it hasn't yet been OK'd. Avoiding the real-time format will allow Bauer to travel across Europe.

The show's legacy includes not only that format but also its role in politics as justification — or rebuke — for the use of torture in apprehending and interrogating its many, many bad guys, especially after the incidents at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.

Sutherland dismisses the notion that 24 ever took sides.

"Do Howard and I believe that torturing suspected criminals is right? Absolutely not," he says. "Does it make for great drama? Of course. That's what I do. I wasn't running for office."

Kiefer Sutherland thanks fans after cult series 24 is scrapped

Actor Kiefer Sutherland has spoken of his “role of a lifetime” as Jack Bauer in cult television series, 24, following the decision to scrap the show after nine years.

Kiefer Sutherland is now working on a film version of 24

The final episode of the thriller series, which has been nominated for 68 Emmy awards since it began, will be shown by Sky in the UK in early June.

The American producer of the series, Fox, announced the decision on Friday.

The actor is now working on a film version of the programme.

Sutherland said he would be sad to see the end of the series, but was “eternally grateful” for the opportunity of starring in such a cult series.

He also thanked devoted fans of the show, which used an innovative real-time, split-screen format to present fast-paced interwoven storylines.

Each episode covered one hour of a season's 24-hour story arc.

Fans are now speculating on the possible storylines that will end the series, first broadcast in November 2001.

Sutherland said in a statement that the show's cast and crew "always wanted '24' to finish on a high note, so the decision to make the eighth season our last was one we all agreed upon."

He also said he was looking forward to creating a film version of "24."

"This has been the role of a lifetime, and I will never be able to fully express my appreciation to everyone who made it possible," he said. "But when all is said and done, it is the loyal worldwide fan base that made it possible for me to have the experience of playing the role of Jack Bauer, and for that I am eternally grateful."

The first six series were set in Los Angeles. Following a one-year break forced by a writers strike, season seven went to Africa and Washington, D.C.

In addition to Sutherland, the show has also seen guest appearances from stars including Dennis Hopper, Robert Carlyle, Anil Kapoor and Elisa Cuthbert, who plays Bauer's daughter Kim.

Sutherland is the only actor, however, to have starred in all 168 episodes of the show so far.

24 第八季確定為最後一季

來自Variety 消息

End of the day for '24'

Long-running show gets official cancellation

By MICHAEL SCHNEIDER

Jack Bauer lives.

"24's" clock has officially been stopped, but the franchise is far from over.

Not only is a movie in the works, with Kiefer Sutherland reprising his role as the federal agent who's had a few rough days. But 20th Century Fox TV also hasn't quite shut the door on finding a way to keep the "24" world active, perhaps through a spinoff of sorts at another net.

For now, though, it's all over. The cast and crew of "24" were given the official word on Friday: This season will be the show's last.

News, finally confirmed by Fox, had been expected -- Variety reported earlier this month that the network was ready to call it a day (Daily Variety, March 9). Sutherland, exec producer Howard Gordon and the studio were also leaning toward ending the show's run as well.

"For us, creatively, it seemed like the right time to do it," Sutherland told Variety. "It's very bittersweet. '24' was the greatest learning experience of my career so far. And on a personal level, working with this cast and crew and writers, these will be friends of mine for the rest of my life."

Fox had planned to inform the show's cast and crew earlier this month that it wouldn't pick up a ninth season. But first, sister studio 20th Century Fox TV asked Sutherland, Gordon and the rest of the show's producers to think long and hard about whether they had a strong desire to pursue a season nine.

At the same time, 20th took calls from parties toying with the idea of acquiring the show -- including NBC and DirecTV, which was rumored to be considering a production model in the vein of "Friday Night Lights."

"They're still talking," said Gordon, whose deal with 20th technically would keep him on "24" for another year. (Sutherland's pact is up.) "But they're certainly in the end stages of those conversations."

Ultimately, Sutherland, Gordon and company felt that they had accomplished what they wanted to with the show, and were ready to wrap things up.

"Kiefer and me and the writers had (a decision to make)," Gordon said. "What's the creative? What do we do? Is there any more story left to be told in this 24-hour format? We turned over every stone, and really determined that the story has come to an end in this 24-hour format."

Now that the decision has been made, "24" is on course to end its run with a two-hour finale on Monday, May 24 (the night after ABC ends its run of another long-running 2000s drama, "Lost.") Fox has 11 more hours left of the show to go.

Both Sutherland and Gordon said they're bullish now on moving Jack Bauer to the big screen, and compressing a 24-hour day -- yes, the entire movie's action will still take place in just one day -- over the course of just two hours.

"The opportunity to make a movie and do a two-hour representation was something appealing to he and I both," Sutherland said.

As Variety reported in February, scribe Billy Ray ("State of Play") is busy writing a screenplay; Gordon will produce.

"For the first time, we'll be able to go from England to Russia, or China to Japan, depending on where they choose to set it," Sutherland said. "Before on the TV show, the crisis had to come to us. The best we could do it was get across town... It alleviates a huge hurdle that real-time writing presented."

As for the final episodes of "24," Fox's marketing team will now be able to start touting the show's finale -- and will likely get a nice Monday night ratings bump as the show comes to a close.

Gordon finished up the final episode a few weeks ago -- calling it a "very emotional moment" when he hit "send" -- and that series ender is now in the process of being shot.

"There are risks starting around episode 17, and some real challenging things Kiefer was willing to go for," Gordon said.

The exec producer said the series will end on a tremendous, and suitable note that signifies that this isn't just another season ender. But here's a hint: Jack neither walks off whistling into the sunset, nor winds up in a body bag.

"We tried everything on for size, from Jack's demise to a happy ending," he said. "Both of those were unsatisfying for their own reasons."

Fox planned to make the official announcement on Monday, but longtime "24" director Jon Cassar informed his Twitter followers that the crew was given the firm word of "24's" wrap.

"News from the '24' set," Cassar wrote (cleaned up from his original text). "The crew has been told that '24' has come to an end. There will be no season 9. It's been a great run, thanks all for watching."

As Variety wrote on March 9, "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's adults 18-49 ratings crown.

But the cost of producing "24" has continued to increase (show's license fee hovers in the mid-seven figure range, as the network is now covering the aging show's entire cost), while ratings have dipped.

"24" was created by Robert Cochran and Joel Surnow, while exec producer Gordon runs the show through his Teakwood Lane 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.

"Bob and Joel created a revolutionary format," Gordon said. "They executed it for the first half of the series as my partners and friends, and those were some of the most remarkable years I had creatively."

Although it was developed before the terrorist attacks of 9/11, "24" debuted several months afterward -- and in many ways began to mirror the changed world, given the real-life fears over terrorism and debates over torture methods. The show's depiction of an African-American president was also seen as a ground-breaking precursor to the 2008 election of Barack Obama.

"('24') came at a time when our world changed and our perception of our safety and vulnerability changed," Gordon said. Gordon noted that the show had its supporters and detractors on both sides of the political aisles. Sutherland, meanwhile, said he was less concerned about the show's place in popular culture and more than it just be remembered as a strong piece of work.

"My concern as an actor and as a producer was that the stories were interesting, the drama was going to put you on the edge of your seat and that we would maintain the quality," he said. "I can't help someone politicizing something. It was done by the right and the left... the only thing I can say is, it's a TV show."

"24" won both the Emmy and the Golden Globe awards for outstanding drama, while Sutherland has scored both an Emmy and a Globe for drama 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, Cherry Jones, Anil Kapoor, Annie Wersching, Katee Sackhoff, Mykelti Williamson, Freddie Prinze Jr., Chris Diamantopoulos and John Boyd.

Howard Gordon, Evan Katz, David Fury, Manny Coto, Brannon Braga, Brad Turner, Alex Gansa, Kiefer Sutherland and Brian Grazer are executive producers.

Next up for Gordon, he's partnering with Alex Gansa and Gideon Raff to adapt Raff's Israeli drama "Prisoners of War" for U.S. audiences, through 20th.

Sutherland, meanwhile, said he'd be willing to try another TV series.

"There's amazing TV out there," he said. "And drama and kind of human interaction I was interested in as an actor is being done there."
24反恐任務第八季確定為最後一季了，預算不斷擴大、編劇已經寫不出好的劇本、收視率變差....等等幾個不利的因素結合在一起，讓福斯公司決定結束了。唉！！！天下沒有不散的宴席，曲終人散。

來自紐約時報消息

For ‘24,’ Terror Fight (and Series) Nears End

If any one show has represented the post-9/11 era on television, it is “24,” the Fox drama that has offered counterterrorism as entertainment for nine years.

On “24,” torture saves lives. On “24,” phones are tapped, plots are disrupted, terrorists are killed, and one man, Jack Bauer, will stop at nothing to protect the American people. For viewers, “24” is part sum of all fears, part wish fulfillment in an age of shadowy enemies.

For Fox, the show’s trademark clock is about to stop ticking. Nearly a decade after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks that so heavily influenced people’s perceptions of the show, Fox is planning to cancel it. The current season, its eighth, will be its last.

In an interview early this month, the Fox network’s entertainment president, Kevin Reilly, said, “It’s a hard decision for all involved.”

“24” first captured America’s attention in late 2001. The first season, which involved the explosion of a passenger plane and an assassination attempt on the president, entered production well before the 9/11 attacks, but had its premiere eight weeks afterward. At the time, a review in The New York Times noted the “deadly convergence between real life and Hollywood fantasy.”

After this season’s finale in May, “24” will live on, possibly as a feature film, and surely in classrooms and in textbooks. The series enlivened the country’s political discourse in a way few others have, partly because it brought to life the ticking time-bomb threat that haunted the Cheney faction of the American government in the years after 9/11.

Walter Gary Sharp, an adjunct professor of law at Georgetown University who taught the course “The Law of 24” in 2007-8, said “24” acted as “a tool to foster public debate to help the public and the government of all nations to consider the proper limits on democracies in their efforts to combat terrorism.”

The character of Bauer, a secret agent played by Kiefer Sutherland, became a stand-in for a stop-at-nothing approach to counterterrorism, and his tactics were evoked by Bush administration officials, Republican presidential candidates and even a justice of the Supreme Court, Antonin Scalia.

John Yoo, who helped shape the Bush administration’s interrogation techniques as a Justice Department lawyer, asked in a 2006 book, “What if, as the popular Fox television program ‘24’ recently portrayed, a high-level terrorist leader is caught who knows the location of a nuclear weapon in an American city. Should it be illegal for the president to use harsh interrogation short of torture to elicit this information?”

But for the same reasons the show found fans in Bush-era Washington, it has also faced severe scrutiny for its depictions of torture.

“On some level ‘24’ is just a big ole’ ad for torture,” David Danzig, a deputy program director of Human Rights First, a nonprofit group, wrote in an e-mail message. “Those of us who watch the show a lot — and there are tens of millions of us who do — know exactly what is going to happen as soon as Bauer starts to beat a suspect up. He is going to talk.”

The torture sequences were misleading, Mr. Danzig said, because they contributed to a “pervasive myth” that torture was effective. He recalled that Gary Solis, the former director of West Point’s law of war program, once called “24” “one of the biggest problems” in his classroom.

In an e-mail message earlier this month, Mr. Solis wrote that when he would preach battlefield restraint in class, a “not infrequent cadet response” would be something to the effect of “Yeah? Well, did you see Jack Bauer last night? He shot a prisoner right in the knee, and that dude talked.”

The cadets knew right from wrong, and the comments were usually made with a grin, Mr. Solis said. Still, “24” presented a conundrum for the law of war professors, some of whom personally enjoyed the show but wished the torture scenes could be toned down if not eliminated altogether.

Similarly, other officials have said that “24” and other shows influenced the behavior of interrogators at Guantánamo Bay and elsewhere. Diane Beaver, a military lawyer at Guantánamo, told a fellow lawyer that Mr. Bauer “gave people lots of ideas,” according to Jane Mayer’s 2008 book, “The Dark Side.”

Mr. Danzig’s group, Human Rights First, met with the “24” producers in 2006 and introduced them to real-life interrogators in 2009. He noted that the series did evolve over time — Mr. Bauer stood trial in Season 7 for his torturous actions — and said that “there is now a little more sensitivity toward the portrayal of torture.”

Still, he added, “the take-home message” has not changed.

While speaking to television writers in January, Mr. Sutherland said of the torture sequences: “It’s a television show. We’re not telling you to try this at home.”

He also refuted claims of a political slant to “24.” “One of the things that I was always so unbelievably proud of our show is that you could have it being discussed by former President Bill Clinton and Rush Limbaugh at the same time, both using it and citing it to justify their points of view,” he said. “That, to me, was incredibly balanced.”

For years, “24” regularly drew 10 million to 14 million viewers, and it became a bona fide hit on DVD, partly thanks to its groundbreaking real-time format. As the first serious serialized show of the decade, “24” reaffirmed that viewers would follow a complex plot for an entire season, setting the stage for dramas like “Lost.”

Much of the credit can be given to Mr. Bauer’s character, the archetypal hero of the counterterrorism age.

“Everyone loves a man of action, someone larger than life, like John Wayne, a hero that saves the day regardless of the personal sacrifice,” said Mr. Sharp, the law professor, “and Jack Bauer saves the day every season, if not every episode.”

Like many mature series, though, “24” has had an erosion in its ratings. So far this season it has averaged 11.5 million viewers. Its impending cancellation, which was first reported in early March by television trade publications, will be announced in the coming days, according to a person associated with the show who requested anonymity because Fox and its studio were declining to comment. Although NBC reportedly contemplated picking up the show, it has opted not to.

A “24” movie script is in development, although a film is not guaranteed. Mr. Sutherland said in a recent interview that the movie would be a “two-hour representation of a 24-hour day.” For Jack Bauer, there is always a ticking time bomb to defuse.

At End of the Day, a Show and a Superhero Had to Retire
It arrives near the end of every season of “24.” Call it the moment: the unmarked but discernible instant at which you know you can relax.
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Keifer Sutherland in “24.” The Fox drama will end after this season, its eighth.
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For ‘24,’ Terror Fight (and Series) Nears End (March 27, 2010)
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Not that there’s been any chance that Jack Bauer won’t save the day. But each season’s plot leads to the moment when all the turncoats have been exposed, all the innocent hostages rescued and we can be confident that no one else we care about will be killed. The music takes on a more triumphant tone and Kiefer Sutherland, as the superagent and chief worrywart Jack, starts to shed the death-mask expression he’s worn for the previous 22 hours or so.

That moment hasn’t yet arrived this season, the show’s eighth — at the end of Hour 13 on Monday, the strangely dithering federal agent played by Katee Sackhoff had just been revealed as a traitor (and if you didn’t see that coming, go wait in the interrogation room). When it does, it will be the last one, with Fox expected to announce within days that the show won’t return for a ninth season.

Most of the talk about “24” over the years has concerned its politics (perceived as being well to the right of most television dramas), its choices of villains and its forthright depictions of torture. None of those had anything to do with why I watched the show or how I responded to it, and as inescapable as those topics have been post-9/11, focusing on them in “24” always seemed a little beside the point.

That’s because it isn’t a show about ideas expressed through action-thriller mechanics. It’s essentially a superhero cartoon with a topical overlay, a cartoon that was well done from the start but was so rigidly formatted that it had no way to grow. Season 8, routine as it is, has not been the show’s worst — it would have to slip significantly in its last 11 hours to fall behind Seasons 7 or 3.

The great virtue of “24,” as with any traditional cartoon, is certainty — the knowledge that in moments of crisis, Jack Bauer will always come to the right conclusion and do the right thing (even if doing the right thing can sometimes lead to anguished second thoughts). The show may have been defined by its 24-hour real-time format, but at its heart has always been Jack’s comic-book rectitude, that fantastical but deeply satisfying combination of supercompetence and incorruptibility, and Mr. Sutherland’s performance in a role that easily could have become a winking caricature.

It was the demands of the format that doomed the show (though eight seasons is nothing to cry about). Repetition set in early, there was a limited stock of villains and it was impossible to up the ante on destructive threats, or absurdly byzantine conspiracies, year after year.

Maintaining a single central narrative across 24 hours required the invention of subplots that became famous for their implausibility — Jack’s daughter, Kim Bauer, versus the cougar in Season 2 has been matched by Dana Walsh (Ms. Sackhoff) versus her old boyfriend from her criminal past in the current season. Facing nuclear annihilation or biological attack, characters would wander away from their posts for the most mundane reasons.

Another problem has been turnover, as members of the counterterrorism team and their allies have been killed off or sent away. The Secret Service agent Aaron Pierce (Glenn Morshower), almost as dependable as Jack, has been missed this season, and the show has felt diminished since the decision to do away with the stalwart Bill Buchanan (James Morrison) in Season 7.

We’re left with Jack, and his mostly office-bound sidekick Chloe (Mary Lynn Rajskub). He’ll deliver the goods one more time — the moment should arrive in Hour 22 or 23, in May — and then, we can hope, retire to California, to repair his relationship with Kim (Elisa Cuthbert), and dandle his granddaughter on his aching knee. He’s earned it, eight times over.

LA街頭

現在電視上播出第七季，網路上有第八季，這張照片是在洛杉磯街頭拍攝的，目前已在拍攝第八季的最後兩集。說不定這是24的最終拍攝。
今年第八季在美國收視率降了一成，福斯公司好像不打算再讓滴搭聲繼續下去了，傑克鮑爾完成了這一天拯救美國的任務之後不知道還有沒有命過下一天，只希望有個好的結局。

看到這一幕說真的有一點...(第八季13集中槍倒地又被瞄準中...)。

紐約街頭

春日午後溫暖的陽光漫步在紐約街頭。

Howard Gordon 談"24"的未來?
'24' showrunner sets next project
Howard Gordon to co-write U.S. version of 'Prisoners'

By Nellie Andreeva

March 17, 2010, 11:00 PM ET
hr/photos/stylus/131114-24_341x182.jpg

"24"
"24" executive producer/showrunner Howard Gordon is going from trying to prevent a war to dealing with its consequences.

20th Century Fox TV, where Gordon is under an overall deal, has acquired rights to the Israeli format "Prisoners of War," which Gordon will co-write with "24" executive producer Alex Gansa and Gideon Raff; the latter created the original series for Keshet Broadcasting, whose recent launch in Israel has drawn a lot of attention.

The acquisition and Gordon's involvement underscore the growing popularity of Israeli formats, which have become a hot TV commodity in Hollywood and spawned two pilots this development season: Fox's "Traffic Light," also from 20th TV, and CBS' "The Quinn-Tuplets."

20th TV chairman Dana Walden said that after hearing Keshet's pitch for "POWs," it was an instant decision to take the format to "24's" Gordon and Gansa.

"The format is very smart and has all of the exciting elements that go into '24': an ongoing story, an incredible story engine and a very emotional situation," Walden said.

Featuring an all-star cast, the Israeli "POWs" tells the story of three soldiers who return home from 17 years in Syrian captivity and must readjust to life in Israel and reunite with their families.

Tentatively titled "Patriots," the American version will revolve around three U.S. soldiers presumed killed during the invasion of Iraq in 2003 who are found in a cave 10 years later.

"They come home greeted as heroes, but they are traumatized by the treatment there, and their families have become collateral damage to their captivity," said Gordon, who exec produces the project with Gansa, Gideon and Keshet's Avi Nir.

There will be some mystery about what happened during their years in captivity and the possible threat one of the soldiers might present, Gordon said of the project, whose genre he describes as "suspense, psychological drama."

The U.S. version also will introduce a new character, a counterterrorism agent -- and no, his name won't be Jack Bauer.

Speaking of "24," despite the continuous drumbeat about the veteran real-time terrorist drama coming to an end, Gordon was surprisingly optimistic about the show's chances to return for a ninth season.

"Discussions are still being held; the book hasn't been closed," he said. "If there is '24' past Season 8," he added, "I will be part of that," though probably not as showrunner. He also said that star Kiefer Sutherland, who has no deal for the show beyond the current season, "is inclined to do another season if there is a good story."

The show is now in production of the final two episodes of Season 8 and Gordon is bearing down. "Every year of '24' has a strong thematic closure," he said.

Gordon, Gansa, Raff and Keshet are repped by WME.

TMZ # 193

又上TMZ了，在洛杉磯私人派對裡，酒後的模樣。在TMZ 裡只有那張照片及以前撞聖誕樹的那一段。

介紹新人

Kiefer 在洛杉磯一個音樂吧介紹一位吉他手。

Thanks Benny.

Kiefer 談 Jack Bauer

原文為葡萄牙文用 Google 翻譯成中文顛三倒四詞不達意，翻成英文就不難懂了。Saturday, March 13
INTERVIEW | Kiefer Sutherland talks about Jack Bauer "Always considered a political figure"
Actor speaks to the creation of its most emblematic and says that the quality of TV is a reflection of the creative crisis movie

Gustavo Miller, O Estado de S. Paul

LOS ANGELES - "This is a mission for Jack Bauer." During the last nine years, even those who never watched a minute of 24 hours knows the meaning of this expression. The character, a mixture of McGiver as Captain Nascimento, is a pop icon.

When talking personally with Kiefer Sutherland, the aura around your creation is gone. He is short and does not scream, even though that voice whispered. Nor is a bully who gives lions kill at random. It is a gentleman. But make no mistake: Sutherland's lazy, it takes the responses and controls the time in your favor not to hear what does not. As Jack Bauer.

In Season 7, Jack claimed to have no reason to live. Now, grandfather, he seems to have every reason in the world. This is the footprint of the 8th grade?

If you look at the other seasons, the second was a small chance that it has a relationship with her daughter. That was in season 3 though. Had no reason to live and love in years 4 and 5. Hence, (his wife) was in an irreversible coma. Seasons 6 and 7, well, nothing to live. Now, he has every reason, hoping to reconnect with his daughter. The granddaughter was the catalyst for everything. He's not sure how, but want to be a grandfather who was better as a father.

But that clearly is going to change then?

Certain circumstances begin to indicate the beginning of a terrible day. The situation is literally knocking on your door while he is packing up to leave. This reluctance is quite interesting. 24 Hours, now goes in a different way than he wants. I mean, he's really trying to do everything possible to get out of New York.

That will be a shock?

I would not say so, but I can guarantee that the character was constructed in a manner different from that in the last seven years. He has a line that does not want to cross, but flirts with this possibility all the time. It is shocking. One of the things I love about Jack Bauer is that he has a sense of moral strong. When in action, it certainly will do their best and to hell with the rest. It is the right thing or wrong thing to do. Whether it succeeds or the opposite, that is not relevant to the show. In this context, I have always regarded Jack Bauer a very political character.

It's strange to be a grandfather?

No, I have a grandson of four years. He looks like a battered boxer: is falling all the time. He runs faster than a human can, and then fall off! It made me want to have fathered a little older, I would be much smarter. But do not think that fatherhood has changed me as a person. The easiest way to explain this is that I was a father and lived in a house with Billy Zane, Robert Downey Jr. and Sarah Jessica Parker (Laughter).

Do you believe that the best scripts and roles, those more challenging, are today on television? See shows like Mad Men, Breaking Bad and even 24 hours?

All are challenging. I do not want to get this to work on TV is better or more complicated. If you want to understand why the television industry have expanded so much, take a look at what happened in the film industry. Growing up, the U.S. made films like Terms of Endearment and Ordinary People. Try to find it now. We called this movie 15 or 20 million. Today only do it in Europe, from time to time arises or The Fighter Who Wants To be A Millionaire? The rest is Iron Man or another blockbuster with visual technology. This is the last year of the series? We do not know, bye!

Estadão
to Saturday, March 13, 2010

NBC 可能接手 24 下一季?

這全部來自網路上的文章不知是否真實但是總是讓人期待有好消息。
喜歡24的朋友等著看吧！

來自EW.com 24 may live to see another day after all.

Exclusive : NBC may make time for "24"

Multiple sources confirm to me exclusively that 20th Century Fox has approached NBC about picking up the series should Fox opt to cancel it — and the Peacock is considering it. “There’s definitely some interest,” says an insider close to the talks.

Earlier this week, reports surfaced that 20th (a.k.a. the studio) and Fox (a.k.a. the network) are nearing a mutual decision to end the serial thriller after eight seasons due to declining ratings and rising costs.

A move to NBC — while still considered somewhat of a long shot given the hefty price tag — would likely delay 20th’s plans to launch a Jack Bauer film franchise. From a production standpoint, 24 execs have long maintained that it would ne next to impossible to make a movie while the series was still on the air.

Reps for 20th and NBC declined to comment.

What do you think? Should NBC swoop in and save the series? Or is it time for 24 to pack it in and head to the big screen? Sound off below!
For 24/7 scoops, follow me on Twitter via

來自TV by the numbers.com

"Will 24 Move To NBC"
Days ago both Michael Schneider at Variety and Josef Adalian at The Wrap reported Fox would likely dump 24, and that it was being shopped to NBC. More than a week ago James Hibberd talked to Angela Bromstad and quoted her on NBC’s interest in 24.

But those days ago and week+ ago reports be damned. It’s Friday March 12, and today that whole story is Michael Ausiello’s EXCLUSIVE. What a douche nozzle he can be.

It sure seems to me that there’s no new news here. Fox was already shopping it to NBC and NBC was already at least interested enough to discuss it. I remain doubtful that Fox will strike a deal with NBC. The reason Fox isn’t interested in it itself is because of increasing costs and diminishing ratings. NBC needs to find its own hits rather than riding someone else’s long-in-tooth retreads into the ground.

However, it’s possible Fox (the studio) could cut NBC a sweetheart of a deal that changes my thinking. One additional reason Fox (the broadcast network) wasn’t interested is it needs that slot after House to try to launch a new series (I think it was Adalian who reported that — it might have been Schneider or Hibberd, too, but it definitely wasn’t Ausiello).

That makes some sense, and 24 was still a relatively strong DVD seller last season. I don’t see Fox offering it to NBC for dimes on the dollar, but I could see Fox at least discounting it a bit hoping to make it back up in DVD, syndication and any international licensing.

24 反恐任務將結束?

這是今天 USA Today 新聞：
"Time is up for '24'"
USA TODAY's Gary Levin reports that the clock has apparently run out on 24. Fox's real-time thriller is expected to end its run after eight seasons in May because of escalating costs and declining ratings, say production sources not at liberty to speak publicly before the announcement. The show averages 11.7 million viewers. But producers are mulling a feature film to extend the life of the groundbreaking series starring Kiefer Sutherland as an antiterrorism agent. Fox declined comment.
福斯電視公司好像決定不再拍攝下一季的２４。　
點選可以看到原文及許多評論及留言。　

來自Ｖariety :

"24’s” time is almost up.

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’s adults 18-49 ratings crown.

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 reviewers this season.

The studio is said to be considering shopping “24” to other nets -- but given the thriller’s age and price tag, it’s believed that the interest from other outlets will be limited.

But even as bell tolls for “24,” the franchise is far from over. Sutherland and the “24” team have been keen on turning the show into a movie property, 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 -- and is said to be eager to turn the long-running TV skein into a movie franchise.

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, given its feature-like shooting schedule. But with “24” 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 terrorist attacks of 9/11, “24” debuted several months afterward -- and in many ways began to mirror the changed world, given the real-life fears over terrorism and debates over torture methods. The show’s depiction of an African-American president was also seen as a ground-breaking precursor to the 2008 election of Barack Obama.

Show has also won both the Emmy and the Golden Globe awards for outstanding drama, while Sutherland has scored both an Emmy and a Globe for drama 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, Cherry Jones, Anil Kapoor, Annie Wersching, Katee Sackhoff, Mykelti Williamson, Freddie Prinze Jr., Chris Diamantopoulos and John Boyd.

Howard Gordon, Evan Katz, David Fury, Manny Coto, Brannon Braga, Brad Turner, Alex Gansa, Kiefer Sutherland and Brian Grazer are executive producers.

Technorati Tags: 20th Century Fox TV, 24, Fox, Kiefer Sutherland

好萊塢的星光大道上為影迷簽名拍照

上工準備

近照

這是最近在LA拍攝到的照片，看起來還沒恢復元氣。

Kiefer 恢復拍攝 24