K.T Simpson
First of all – I totally called this one. Following the crashing and burning of “24: Legacy”, it seems FOX isn’t quite ready to bury the franchise yet, with talks to reinvent it, but moving in a new direction – away from terrorism. Of course the show was always set within the Counter Terrorism Unit (CTU), but it seems network execs see potential for the show in a different location.
Chairman of Fox Dana Walden spoke at the TCA session about the future of the show, noting that they were having preliminary discussions with executive producers of “24” Howard Gordon and Brian Grazer, as well as co-creator Joel Surnow.
Via Deadline: “We are really exploring what the future, the next version of 24 might be, maybe in more anthological storytelling,” she said, adding that they had met with the 24 trio who “have a very exciting idea that I thought was very compelling.” Walden declined to elaborate further, noting that the project is in very early stages.
Fox Entertainment President David Madden contined saying that they’d keep the ticking time format )which is probably the most original aspect of the show), and will have the same urgency, just not within the CTU.
If the last season taught us anything, it’s that you can’t flog a dead horse, so if the network do want to bring the show back for more, it’s clear it needs a good shake up to keep people intrigued.
“I think that partly what is exciting is, we’re opening up the possibility of it being anything where that 24-hour clock is at the most critical period of a story, so I don’t want to limit them,” Walden said after the session. “It can only be an action-oriented show, maybe not. It can only be an emotional thing. The opportunity is for them to think their biggest thoughts.”
So if the series does indeed return, it will be goodbye Bauer and hello to….someone else I guess.
