Long running action show “24” will end at the close of its current, eighth, season, according to Variety. While Fox has yet to make an official announcement, the industry paper says that the studio will do so within the next couple of days. “24” was one of the top rated shows of the 00s for the Fox network – along with reality show “American Idol” and medical drama “House” – and set a benchmark for its then highly novel “real time” approach, as well as perhaps helping to make history by depicting America’s first black President in the form of David Palmer (Dennis Haysbert), several years prior to the real life election of Barack Obama.
In recent years, though, the critics have been less kind, and with ratings falling but the cost of production continuing to skyrocket, many are less than surprised by the network’s decision to can the show at the end of this year. That doesn’t mean, however, that indestructible secret agent Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) will never be seen again – far from it. The end of the show now seems to almost guarantee the long talked about “24” cinema film, which gained momentum after Fox hired writer Billy Ray (“Flightplan” and the US movie version of BBC mini series “State of Play”) to craft a script for a movie version, based on a pitch which sends Bauer to Europe. Making a movie with the series still in production would have been a logistical nightmare, but if the series ends while still relatively popular, a film looks more than likely. Jack Bauer will no doubt survive to have yet another really bad day.
