Kiefer Sutherland and '24' draw a bead on a feature film
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."
