You remember my post in August titled “24 Hours in Burbank“? Well, the title was supposed to be a veiled reference to the reason for my trip: a visit to the set of the TV show 24 for a book I was contributing to called Secrets of 24 that will be published in December.
Since the book isn’t out yet I’m not sure how much I can say here. Even the photos of our visit were permanently embargoed. But I can say that, along with my editors, I toured the latest set (CTU is gone and there is a very fancy new Oval Office) and watched filming of Episode Two, Season Seven. We interviewed Carlos Bernard (Tony Almeida), Mary Lynn Rajskub (Chloe O’Brian), executive producers Joel Surnow and Robert Cochran, and writers Howard Gordon, Evan Katz and Manny Coto.
I don’t think I’m giving away much if I say that Cochran was unimpressed with Jane Mayer’s profile in The New Yorker last year, or if I say that Gordon, Katz and Coto think they were hard done by with the savaging they were given by critics during and after Season Six. But I do think there was a real sense among the writers that they needed to give Jack some of his humanity back if the audience is going to stick with him through Season Seven.
Judging by the trailer above, which reminds me more of a feature film than a TV series, the premise behind Season Seven is going to do just that. We see Jack (in a sunlit room!) defending his actions before a congressional hearing and being given permission to torture a suspect by somebody official looking. No more superiors turning a blind eye to Jack’s unorthodox methods. Meanwhile, it’s good to see Tony Almeida making a comeback, even if it is as a bad guy.
I got hooked on 24 working on the book this year. Season 6 may have been a letdown, but Season Four and Season Five included some of the most exciting television I’ve ever seen. It will be interesting to see in January whether Gordon, Katz and Coto have managed to resurrect the show.
And now for a little musical interlude from Rocco DeLuca and the Burden, one of the bands signed to Kiefer’s Ironworks Music label:
Secrets of 24
Now that I am an exhausted thirty something-er, I love me some good tv., especially whatever airs before 10 pm. Since the new season of Heroes sucks I guess I now have 24 to look forward, and of course Project Runway.