24 - Season 7 info

[Jenni Lou]

From Ausiello @ TV Guide

Exclusive: 24 to Elect First Female Prez?
Geena Davis, call your agent.

Word on the street is that the Commander in Chief on next season's revamped 24 will likely be a (drumroll, please) woman. Casting could begin any day now on the sure-to-be-plum part. A show rep, however, cautions, "Nothing about next season has been absolutely decided as of yet."

Assuming it does happen, 24's lady prez would be in office just as Hillary Clinton's bid for the White House kicks into high gear. Coincidence? Hmmm?.

In other 24 news, the show is also said to be adding a female FBI agent to the mix.

As I first reported last month, 24 - in an effort to reclaim some of the creative and ratings steam it lost last season - is shaking things up in a big way during Season 7. For the first time in the show's history, CTU will be MIA as the majority of the action moves outside Los Angeles; New York, Washington D.C. and London are among the new locales being considered. Additionally, of last season's cast, only Kiefer Sutherland and Mary Lynn Rajskub are shoo-ins to return.

But back to the female prez: Aside from Geena Davis, what other candidates should 24 producers put on the ballot? (Did someone say Mary McDonnell?) Post your suggestions below!

Most of which I knew. Some of which I didn't. Sounds promising!!

I started a new thread because were going a little off topic in the s6 thread discussing the next season.

[LRae12]

yes, we were...mostly my fault...LOL.

From the other thread:

As for Audrey....Kim Raver is in a new show that got picked up on ABC for midseason so she is contracted out. She may be seen again but perhaps not in a large capacity.

Well, I'm still going to hold out for Audrey...she was in 'The Nine' this season, and we still got to see her this year (though she only said like 2 lines... )

As far as a female president, I wouldn't be opposed to Karen being president...that would be cool, and keep another character on board.

Great that Chloe is returning, so hopefully Morris will as well, being the proud papa and all. I wonder how much time is going to have lapsed this time?

[Jenni Lou]

Well, I'm still going to hold out for Audrey...she was in 'The Nine' this season, and we still got to see her this year (though she only said like 2 lines... )

Although technially, The Nine was cancelled so she was available.

But I do like Audrey. Poor Jack needs something good!

[Rosely]

Karen for president sounds really good to me. But I wonder if that's possible since she and Bill had to resign due to that 'scandal'.
I do like Audrey and I don't think that she won't be back, they didn't start this whole 'Audrey is insane' storyline just to leave it like that.

Chloe and Morris as mum and dad can be fun! I love them as a couple with all sarcasm and all

I hope season 7 is going to be more exciting then season 6. The last season was okay to watch one time, but not to see another time, and with all other seasons episodes were easy watchable a second or even third time.

[LRae12]

So, has anybody heard anything yet about the upcoming season? I don't know of any 24 spoiler sites, and I'm starting to crave 24 again...does anybody even know when the new season will start?

[Jenni Lou]

The new season will start in January, as it does every year. As for spoilers, they're aren't many yet. They did cast the new female president but her name escapes me at the moment. And I actually do know of a pretty god 24 spoiler site, but I am at my laptop at the moment and don't have it bookmarked on this computer. Will have to remember to post the link a little later.

[Ehlwyen]

I guess I missed the thread when all these spoilers were new. That's really cool about their being a woman president. Leave it 24 to boldly go where the US fears! First the Palmers and now breaking the gender barrier. I miss David Palmer, he was such a calm and caring president.

I wonder how they will portray a woman president. I hope good because we have had a string of ineffectual presidents on 24. Though I am wary that will create unfound appreciation for Hillary Clinton come voting time. Yet, it's all very cool that 24 stays ahead of the times.

Glad that both Jack and Chloe are set to return!!! They are my favorite! I'm not a fan of Morris. Chloe's a strong lady and I do love to see her independent.

Do we know how far in the future S7 is set?

[Jenni Lou]

I'm not sure how far in the future the next season is set. I remember reading about it awhile ago but I just don't remember. Anyway, here's that 24 spoiler site: http://spoilertv-24.blogspot.com/

[Jenni Lou]

Newest info.

Source. TV Squad

24 director Jon Cassar and producer/writers David Fury, Evan Katz and Manny Coto fielded an hour's worth of questions from Comic-Con attendees and fans. I've posted some of their insights after the jump in case any of them might be construed as spoiler-esque in spirit.

- CTU will be disbanded by the government at the start of Season 7. Jack will be hauled in front of a Senate Committee to explain his actions over the past several seasons. The show, itself, will be set in Washington DC and not Los Angeles.

- While it wasn't filmed, there was an alternate ending to Season 6 discussed. It ended with Jack walking away from the cliff and hearing a voice. "Jack, we have a lot to talk about." Jack turns, and who should he see, but Tony Almeda - alive and well. The panel reminded us that unless we have seen someone dead, deader than a doornail, they very well may not be.

- While a 24 movie won't be made until the television show is complete, one of the devices they considered using for it was making the first hour of the movie in movie time, and the second half in real time. As in, something would set off the clock in the second half. They may not go with this structure, but it was put on the table.

- They thought once or twice about filming a prequel, but realized that the show's drama is dependent on putting people in grave danger. Since we know Jack lives, it just wouldn't be much fun.

- Josh is not Jack's son, but they did consider making him Phillip's son. They decided against it because it made them feel icky. Me, too.

- There are no immediate plans to bring Chase back.

- Peter Weller (Christopher) talked himself out of being killed off before Tony and even talked himself into way more episodes than he was originally intended to be in.

- The fan phone kept on director Jon Cassar's desk will be turned back on in January. Don't leave a message.

And from Kristin

We spoke with 24 executive producer and director Jon Cassar recently to find out what's in store for Jack Bauer and friends in season seven. Read on to find out where they're going, who might be coming back and what they're planning for lady president Cherry Jones.

Apparently, Africa is hard to mimic in L.A. Have you talked about where you might place the action for the next season?
Well, we are still talking about placing it out of L.A., so that's a good sign.

Out of the United States, too?
No, just outside of Los Angeles, but again, it's not only up to us. I mean that is going to be up to the studio, up to the network, because we have a budget [that] expands every year. If you look at the case of Law & Order where there show isn't physically that big, but they've been on for so long that everything gets expanded. We're using the same people; we don't wanna lose our crew, so we pay them a little more. Same with the writers and the directors, so your budget is always going up.

From the studio/network point of view, they're not crazy about that. So, when somebody says we're going to need another $4 million to go to Africa, it's a tough thing for them to swallow. That is part of the reason behind whether we will go or not.

So, it's still going to happen?
Right now Africa is out, but somewhere in the United States is in, but we are right in the middle of writing, so this is the worst timing in the world. From Friday to today, it's changed 100 percent. We're very proud of the show, we've always been proud of the show; the audience loves the show. You guys have been clamoring for questions that we can't answer from the very beginning. And we were crucified at the very beginning. After the first year there wasn't a single press person who said, "I can't wait for the second year; it's going to be great." Everyone took the bandwagon of "They did it one year...its impossible they will ever do it again." "Never" is what they said, and we did it a third year, a fourth year, a fifth...

[Executive producer] Howard Gordon says you guys are going to try and shake things up a bit because he was like, "we don't want it to be just Jack capturing terrorists and torturing them for the answer for a while..." Have you talked about what that might look like?
Well, we've talked about it, but there's nothing for certain.

Can you tell us about Chloe's character and where she will be in the next season?
Um, no because again it changed from Friday to today. It changed so drastically. I was ready to give you guys the goods...

Do we know how far ahead we're jumping?
We're definitely jumping ahead, but probably not too far. Again, the president's [story] is probably going to depend on how far we jump and what her entrance into the story is.

When you chose the woman president, did you think at all how in the real world people would react to that politically, that you were going to be hinting towards pro or con Hillary Clinton?
We've heard that. The interesting part for me about the show is that our writers are split right down the middle. So, we've had one side of politics saying, "hey, look they represent us" and we've had the other side saying, "no, they represent us," and we've had presidents that represented one side, and we've had presidents that represented the other side. That will continue on the show. Only because the writers are so split...I mean our lunchtimes are awesome. We should tape those, and those should be a show.

On my end, as a filmmaker, especially as a director on the show, I personally don't care. I have no political agenda. I'm Canadian, so I really have no political agenda, but basically my whole thing is [making] a good story. I need the president to have a good compelling story. Whatever side of the fence you think that person sits on is...that's going to be up to you. And you should also know we are writing the story as we go, so it's not like there is a great plan of what we want this woman president to do. We know the first situation, and we know how she is going to react. We have an idea what her family is going to do, roughly.

Have you cast the first husband?
No, Ms. Cherry Jones is the only who is cast yet. Although when people come in to play the first husband, they get very excited over the fact that Cherry Jones is the president.

She's amazing!
Yeah, people are very excited about that, and again, it's also the cachet of our show. We had no trouble in getting Cherry Jones. She's very excited about the show; she loves the show. It's very exciting for us to be at that point now where the show attracts that kind of talent.

Will we see any returning characters besides Chloe? Will we see Kim Raver? I know she has another show...
Possibly...

People also want Tony back from the dead. We get that a lot.
People don't believe he's dead...

How about Curtis?
You want Curtis back, too? Maybe we'll bring back everyone we've killed, and then we will see what you guys say about us next year.

But I guess it's all still up in the air as they keep changing ideas...personally I like the idea of Jack being hauled in front of the Senate.

And how about those hints about Tony not being dead!!!!?? :eek: Craziness, I say! But who doesn't love Tony? I mean, really?

[LRae12]

I would do CARTWHEELS if Tony was still alive!!! And Michelle! Maybe she should be alive too...they were so my favorite!

Thanks for posting this Jenni Lou...

Does anybody know of this Cherry Jones? I've never heard of her...I'm gonna go google her here in a minute to see what I can find out...

Hmmmm...in front of the senate...that sounds interesting. And they're disbanding CTU? I wonder why? They've done such great work in the past...maybe Jack's just gone rogue one too many times...

Maybe it'll be another assasination attempt, since it's going to be set in Washington this season...understandably there could be a lot of flack about a female prez...maybe someone wants her dead?

Oh, I can't wait until January!

eta: ok, so Cherry Jones is fairly famous, I guess, though I've never seen or heard of her before....here's a pic of her for those of you who are like me and never heard of her...

http://broadwayworld.com/columnpic/01CherryJones.jpg

[Cori]

Some new spoilers from Michael Ausiello re season 7:

Question: Comic-Con has started some crazy rumors on possible character returns for 24. Tony might (again) be alive! Any news of that sort on your end?- Jordan

Ausiello: I'll tell ya, these Tony resurrection rumors just won't die. Ba-dum-bum. According to my 24 mole, producers briefly toyed with the idea of making Tony the Big Bad of Season 7, but that plot was scrapped. I know this because reliable sources say the show recently reached out to Gary Oldman to play Day 7's evil genius.

OMG! I am so beyond relieved that the producers scrapped the plan to make Tony the Big Bad in season 7! As much as I would like to see him again on the show, it would suck so much if they turned him evil, that would be pure character assassination IMO.

Gary Oldman as a villain, however, would be awesome! I hope he agrees to work on the show!

[Jenni Lou]

Some new spoilers from Michael Ausiello re season 7:



OMG! I am so beyond relieved that the producers scrapped the plan to make Tony the Big Bad in season 7! As much as I would like to see him again on the show, it would suck so much if they turned him evil, that would be pure character assassination IMO.

Gary Oldman as a villain, however, would be awesome! I hope he agrees to work on the show!

1. Yes, I concur completely! The only reason they would do that would be for shock value because, as you said, it would be character assassination and totally NOT COOL.

2. Yes, I concur again! I wouldn't put money on it, of course. But film actors have been turning to television A LOT lately. People I would never think would want to. It's crazy. James Woods, Holly Hunter, Glenn Close...

[LRae12]

oh, turning Tony evil would turn me evil, and nobody wants to see that... So I guess it's good that that plan is scrapped...though, he still didn't answer the question of whether or not we'll actually SEE Tony...hmmm.

Don't know who Gary Oldman is, so not really reacting much to that spoiler.

I have a quick question, probably one that nobody would know, but a couple of years ago I heard a rumor that the producers of the show had approached Roy Dupuis to be on a season of 24 (he played Michael in La Femme Nikita) but Roy turned them down...does anybody know what part they offered him? I'm just curious, being a LFN lover and all...

[Jenni Lou]

1. Well, they seem to imply that Tony may still be alive. Every time it is mentioned they refuse to say one way or they other. SO I guess they want to leave the possibility open.

2. Gary Oldman....well, he was Dracula in the early 90s version. You'd know him if you saw him 'cause he's like legendary. He's in a few Harry Potter filsm but I don't watch those...he was Lee HArvey Osawld in JFK...True Romance, Batman Begins, The Fifth Element, Air Force One...he's quite adept at playing the bad guy.

3. Sorry, I don't even know who Roy Dupuis and I didn't follow much behind the scenes stuff for 24 a few years ago.

[Nikki]

1. Well, they seem to imply that Tony may still be alive. Every time it is mentioned they refuse to say one way or they other. SO I guess they want to leave the possibility open.

I was thinking about that at the weekend. I noticed they didn't silence the countdown clock at the end of the episode when Tony died. They did it the episode before for all the dead at CTU but not Tony. And now I wonder why. I can't believe they just didn't think of it, a character like that dying just at the very end.. so maybe it's something that could mean he's not really dead.

But I can't believe that he wouldn't have been told about it during season 6, he spent a lot of time with Bill who must know either way. My mind is dead, I can't even remember how season 6 ends.. but surely if Tony was alive Jack would know by now. But if I wished one thing for this show it would be to have Tony back /sigh

If Tony was the big bad I would stop watching, simple as that.

[Jenni Lou]

My mind is dead, I can't even remember how season 6 ends.. but surely if Tony was alive Jack would know by now. But if I wished one thing for this show it would be to have Tony back /sigh

If Tony was the big bad I would stop watching, simple as that.

S6 ends with the Chinese picking up Jack.

And yeah, I think making Tony the big bad would have lost a truckload of fans and that is probably why it was ultimately ditched as an idea. IMO, it should would not have made any sense at all.

But I did like the alternate ending for this last season. Basically, Jack gets into a car or is told to get into a car or something like that and there's this voice that says something like "We have a lot to talk about" and it's Tony! I read this on a spoiler site but I think it might have been made up by fans. But I liked it.

[LRae12]

S6 ends with the Chinese picking up Jack.

Wait, I thought that was how Season 5 ended? Wasn't this current season Season 6? Or are we getting ready to watch Season 8 in January? *is confused now*

I think this season was S6, and if it was then the ending was

Spoiler:

with Jack standing on the cliffs outside of Audrey's house after walking away from her sickbed

[Jenni Lou]

Wait, I thought that was how Season 5 ended? Wasn't this current season Season 6? Or are we getting ready to watch Season 8 in January? *is confused now*

I think this season was S6, and if it was then the ending was

Spoiler:

with Jack standing on the cliffs outside of Audrey's house after walking away from her sickbed

*smacks forehead* I must have been thinking wrong. I guess I figured Nikki couldn't have possibly forgotten the end of S6 already...'cause it just happened!

So, yeah. I stupid.

[Cori]

OMG! This day is awesome for spoilers! I have just discovered the latest 24 s7 news courtesy of the Ausiello Report. Check it out:

Exclusive: Janeane Garofalo on 24? No Joke!

No, Ashton Kutcher has not commandeered my keyboard, and no, this is not a really early April Fool's Day gag: Funny lady Janeane Garofalo is joining the cast of 24.

Although details of the casting are few and far between at this point, what I can tell you is this: 1) come fall, she'll be a regular, 2) her character is a government agent who is part of the team investigating the crisis befalling Jack Bauer and Co. in the upcoming season, and 3) since the comedienne's persona often brings to mind Mary Lynn Rajskub's prickly Chloe, the potential for on-screen fireworks is greater than it has been during any of the show's previous bomb threats.

For that matter, there's a good chance that there will be a few explosions behind the scenes, too, since the Ben Stiller Show alumna is legendarily liberal, and 24's executive producer, Joel Surnow, is notoriously conservative. (Keep an eye out for future blind items. I kid. I kid!)

So what do you think, folks? Is Garofalo the fresh blood that 24 needs to get itself pumping again? Or should she hit the set running because of that shark she's going to be asked to jump? Don't hold back.

I love Janeane Garofalo so I'm beyond psyched about this news! I can already picture her and Mary Lynn Rajskub sparring, that's gonna be sarcastic humour heaven!

[Jenni Lou]

I read that last night and I have to admit, it sounds awesome! I love when she gets an oppotunity to venture outside of comedy. Hopefully they will use the right way and not just discard, like the essentially did with Regina King last season.