Friday, June 24, 2005

Jack Bauer’s Love Life

More potential spoilers for season five:

One of the new season five characters is named Craig Huxley. Craig is 15 and he lives in a small desert town, the type of place where people don’t ask questions and the type of place Jack Bauer could easily blend into. In the story the town is supposed to be around the city of Bakersfield, California; which is about 110 miles north of Los Angeles. Craig is a sophomore in high school and his mother is dating Jack. Craig and Jack don’t get along and Craig doesn’t want Jack around and he hates that Jack is dating his mother. Craig has an attitude and he isn’t afraid to speak his mind.

Jack Bauer must be a freaking pimp. He’s had a different chick in three of the show’s four seasons... too bad he’s poison. One died. One he just decided to not call back. And the latest one’s husband was killed because of Jack. When will he learn to become celibate?

But this time... this time it will be different. Instead of having to deal with an ignorant eye-candy daughter (who has apparently fallen off the face of the Earth, in Jack’s world), a crazy sister, or an estranged husband, Jack will have to come to terms with a high school boy. I can’t even begin to imagine what’ll happen.

D’ah, screw it... I’ll give it a shot.

At some point Jack’s cover will be blown by the kid and the baddies will come after Jack. Not being able to get Jack, they’ll take the kid and Jack will pursue. At a very dramatic moment, Jack will have to do something unbelievable and the kid will have to decide whether he trusts Jack or not.

Fox, give me a job.

Friday, June 17, 2005

A 24 Movie? AKA, Two Crappy Hours You Pay For

Some potentially disturbing news came across the news wire today:

The Calgary Sun reports that a movie based on popular Fox series 24, starring Kiefer Sutherland as Jack Bauer, is in the works.

Canadian director/producer Jon Cassar said, "The last I heard, the first hour will not be in real-time, but then something big will happen and real time will kick in. It still has to be worked out -- it's at a stage where they need to write it."

Cassar will not predict a storyline for the big screen version of the show. He says the script will likely depend on what's happening on the series prior to the movie coming out.

"It could still be two years from now, so it's far too early to say," he says, adding even if he did know, he wouldn't give it away.

"The last I heard, the first hour will not be in real-time, but then something big will happen and real time will kick in???"

What a joke... the last I heard was that this show is seriously sucking.

Sunday, June 05, 2005

Season 5 of 24

With Season 4 having just ended, there's already a steady flow of information coming in about Season 5... and what an amazing season it promises to be. Heh. Let's review what has been posted over at The 24 Insider (WARNING: THIS MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS):

  • The scheduled production start date for season five is July 26th.
  • RUMOR: I’m hearing that the season will start off with the terrorist bombing of a “high-value target”. It’s unclear if the high-value target is a person or a building but it's looking more and more like a combination of both a prominent building and a high-ranking government official who will be among the many killed in the terrorist attack. There are several other scenarios I’ve heard rumblings about and every single one of them has the same concept of a terrorist bombing of a building with extremely strong international ties. They are also thinking about bringing back a former character to be among the many dead in the massive explosion.
  • The new season has already been in pre-production since April. New writers Manny Coto and David Fury are quickly getting accustomed to writing a real-time script. 24 has sought out the advice of novelist Richard Marcinko and he is playing an advisory role in the shaping of season five’s story. 24 sent out casting calls for a major female role in April and the role has already been cast but the actress hasn’t been revealed.
  • What happens next on "24" is one of the most guarded secrets in Hollywood -- but Vince Flynn has some answers. The best-selling Twin Cities-based author of political thrillers like "Transfer of Power" and "Term Limits" spent a week in Los Angeles recently, helping creators of the unpredictable Fox drama come up with future story lines. He'll go back in late summer or early fall to help wrap up some of the stories and possibly even pen a script. Flynn wouldn't dare give away any major revelations but he did let slip that some major characters get blown up in next season's opener.
  • "We'll pick Jack up in a very different place, roughly a year later. Of course, the show is the show, so it won't be long before he's back in the saddle. But we'll explore a little bit of what he's been doing with his life and the situation he's gotten himself into. That will certainly have an impact on his behavior when he gets involved in the streets".
    Source - Quote from 24 writer/producer Robert Cochran from TvGuide interview
  • Jack, Chloe and Curtis will be back.

Looks like we're in for another great season. First off we get a bombing of a "high-value target." Haven't seen that one yet. We might also get to see a former major (?) character die in the explosion... we can only hope it's Defense Secretary Heller. And as for Flynn helping the unpredictable show with new storylines... are they talking about the same show in season four? Because that was pretty damn predicatble.

Of course Jack is coming back, why wouldn't he. I don't mind Curtis coming back, but Chloe??? At this point I'm thinking she's just a fan-favorite, or something. There's no way someone with her character flaws would be in such an important position at CTU.

As for Jack getting back in the saddle... c'mon! Switch it up already! Make Jack work from the outside the whole season. Make it seem like he really is dead. Or do something I heard someone else mention, make season five about Jack escaping from the US Government into another country. I'd like to see an entire change of pace from the show.

More as information becomes available.