This web page is dedicated to 24's Kiefer Sutherland. You will find articles and web sites relating to him on this page. Hopefully, you will find something that will interest you.
FOX TCA Party - Red Carpet - Actor Kiefer Sutherland arrives at the FOX TCA Party at Pacific Park on the Santa Monica Pier in Santa Monica, California on July 23, 2007 – Lester Cohen, WireImage.com
How Many Lives Does 24's Tony Almeida Have?
Comic-Con is traditionally reserved for big movies like Iron Man or The Watchmen or, for the small screen, sci-fi shows like LOST and Heroes. When it was announced that 24 would be hosting a Q&A panel this year, something seemed wrong. The show doesn't really fit into a comic book world, though Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) can easily be called a superhero.
So color me surprised when the 24 panel delivered some of the most awesome bits of information thus far at Comic-Con, passing that boring LOST panel by leaps and bounds. Aside from the season 7 preview (Jack in D.C. getting grilled in a Senate committee hearing) and the movie news (not until after the final season), came something truly stunning: Tony Almeida may be alive.
That's right, Jack's trusty sidekick, who, by all accounts, died in season 5, may in fact be roaming the world, waiting for the right moment to come back into Jack's life. According to the panel, which featured show producers Jon Cassar, Evan Katz, Manny Coto and David Fury, we may yet again lay sight on the man who once made the soul patch the must-have fashion accessory for the cool at heart.
The revealed that a possible cliffhanger for season 6 included Jack, staring off at the water as he did, suddenly hearing a familiar voice telling him they have a lot to talk about. Tony Almeida's voice. As a die-hard fan of the show from minute one, I nearly jumped out of my seat the first time I heard that. Sure, it didn't happen, but man, if it did? How sweet would that have been? That flash forward thing on LOST would be nothing.
When I first heard this, it seemed absurd. Tony, as I recall, died in season 5 at the hands of Jack's former mentor, Christopher Henderson (Peter Weller). Then I thought some more, and it all made perfect sense: Tony Almeida is an immortal (and, possibly, the Highlander). Not really, but think about it: season 2, he broke his leg and spent most of the season on crutches. Season 3, he got shot in the neck (and was back running CTU a couple hours later). Season 4, he got tortured by Mandy in an apartment building. The man takes a licking and keeps on ticking.
Speaking of ticking, the return of Tony also explains one huge problem from the otherwise excellent season 5. When he "died," there was no silent clock, something they typically do for the major characters. In fact, Edgar got one the previous hour, and fans (myself included) were angry at the producers who didn't show Tony the same respect. But perhaps they didn't because they knew he wasn't really dead. In hindsight, I forgive you, 24 producers, because you're geniuses!
Season 6 wasn't the show's best (and could easily be its worst), and at the Comic-Con panel the producers shared the fans' disappointment. But if Tony Almeida returns, I'm pretty sure I'll forgive them. I want my soul patch, and I want it now.
John Kubicek – Buddy TV
July 27, 2007
24's a grind, says Kiefer, but the fans' attention is great
By Alex Strachan - The Ottawa Citizen
July 30, 2007
The following conversation takes place between 7 p.m. and 8 p.m. on a summer night. Events happen in real time.
Two minutes, 20 seconds: Kiefer Sutherland appears fitter and healthier than Jack Bauer on this night -- more tanned, fewer creases on his face, less of a burden on his shoulders. And why not? His only responsibility is to himself and to the fans of 24, the Emmy Award-winning real-time TV thriller that stumbled last year to its worst season creatively, if one of its best in the ratings.
24 will return to Monday nights in January, and Sutherland is about to resume filming on the first four episodes, which will air over two consecutive nights to kick off yet another bad day in Bauer's joyless life.
A small group of reporters is huddled around Sutherland at the Fox network's fall-season launch party at the Santa Monica Pier. A giant sun is setting over the Pacific and Sutherland has found himself a quiet corner at the edge of the pier, far away from the red carpet and the sea of black limousines that has jammed the parking lot.
"Every year is an effort to make fewer mistakes," Sutherland says, soft-spoken and buried in self-reflection. "Every year has been a battle against too little time, but I think that is the cost of trying to do something different. Each year, we start the season off a little slower, trying to avoid as many bumps as we can before we start."
Three minutes, 30 seconds: "I'm grateful the fans take it so seriously. We feel we have this huge responsibility. If people are going to care that much about the show and get as involved as they have, we have an incredible responsibility to make it as good as we possibly can. And that's what we try to do. Really, it's incredibly flattering. Trust me, I've had long moments in my career when I was making small independent films that three people would see. Which is not why I became an actor. I wanted people to see the work I was doing. This has been an unbelievable experience, not just for me but for everyone involved with the show."
Six minutes, 50 seconds: "Last year was like every year. Every year there are moments that are better than we ever expected, and there are moments that are a pain for us. Some of the decisions I agreed wholeheartedly with, and some of them I did not. Again, I think the first four episodes we did last year were the best episodes we've ever done. And there are moments when we struggled."
Fourteen minutes, 40 seconds: It's inevitable that the Torture Question will come up eventually, and it does. Sutherland shows his first flash of irritation of the night, but it's carefully modulated. Not like Jack Bauer. No paroxysms of rage here.
But Sutherland is fed up with being asked -- make no mistake.
"It's the show. If you don't like it, turn it off. I'm sorry, but that's what we do. What we have done is, within the context of the show, is show how it's affecting Jack Bauer. In episode three or four last year, he says, `I can't do this, I can't do this any longer.' It is affecting him. But it's a television show. Yes, I believe in the Constitution of the United States; I believe in due process; I do not believe in torture. Within the context of our show, these are unbelievably extreme events that within matters of hours the entire place will be gone. Here's a guy who goes in a straight line and gets something done. There's a fantasy element there. If anyone has a problem with it, there are 500 channels."
Seventeen minutes, 10 seconds: Bauer is not a lucky man, despite his ability to take a beating and keep on ticking.
"He's never won. He saves the world, he saves the president, he loses his wife. Not one year has he ever walked out with his goal being accomplished. But he's a guy who's going to give everything he can and try as hard as he can. And I think a lot of people feel that way. I think a lot of people feel that they are trying their hardest, and they're not getting it all. They're not getting it all done. And so I think there's a huge identification with this character, based on that."
Eighteen minutes, 10 seconds: some spoilers about the upcoming season. It will start in the morning again. CTU, Los Angeles' Counterterrorism Unit, has been disbanded. The season will feature its first woman U.S. president, Allison Taylor, to be played by Tony Award-winning actress Cherry Jones. "I think it's going to be a really interesting perspective for the show. I'm very proud of the fact that we were the first show on television with an African-American president, and I think a female president will add a whole new perspective."
Nineteen minutes, 10 seconds: but not too many spoilers.
"I don't like talking too much about the actual show or episodes themselves, because that's part of the fun of it for us, part of the fun for you, if you're seeing it for the first time, and certainly for the audience."
Nineteen minutes, 45 seconds: "It's never been easy. We write 24 episodes, two more episodes than most shows. We have a shorter break than anyone else. It's a grind. It feels like it's been a seven-year job. It doesn't feel like it ever goes away. But we're very flattered by the attention. It means everything to us."
Sutherland is gracious in the face of criticism
By Alan Pergament
The Buffalo News
July 27, 2007
SANTA MONICA, Calif. — Kiefer Sutherland was literally cornered by a small group of television critics at a Fox party at the Santa Monica Pier, taking his punishment for what many believed was the worst season of “24” in its six-year history.
You might have thought that Sutherland would have viewed the party as his character, Jack Bauer, views Chinese prison cells. It was classy to come to the party, which often is ignored by stars once they become as big as Sutherland.
A Dallas critic said that Sutherland deserved The Dennis Franz Award, unofficially named for the accessible former “NYPD Blue” star who never missed a party or turned down an interview. But back to the criticism of Season Six and rumors of problems with Season Seven.
When I asked about last season, in which Bauer battled his traitorous father and the Chinese government before preventing another nuclear disaster, Sutherland was slightly in denial.
“I felt the same about last year as I did every year,” said Sutherland, who was nominated for a best actor Emmy though the series was not nominated. “I read a lot of the criticism. Some I agreed wholeheartedly with, and some I did not. I thought the first four episodes of last year were four of the best episodes we’ve ever done. I felt the same way about the last four. And there were moments in between where we struggled.”
He felt the writers got “a little cute” with the CTU scenes. “And they had a hard time kind of getting my story line going without obviously repeating a lot of stuff that we have already done,” he said.
The “CTU stuff” shouldn’t be as big a problem next season as avoiding repeating things. Sutherland confirmed the unit is being downplayed, though Chloe (Mary Lynn Rajskub) will return. He also confirmed that the writers have had to start over with next January’s plot line, but added that wasn’t unusual.
“We do it every year,” said Sutherland. “The first four episodes have such a different context than any of the others because they are seen in two nights, they are seen back to back, they inform the rest of that day and they have to be right.”
He only gave broad details about next season, which will begin months from the end of Season Six. “I think the last episode was the most clear [Jack’s] been,” said Sutherland. “He was idealistically following orders of this government. He kind of saw things where they were for the first time. He starts off this year having to explain a lot of the things that he’s done.”
He endorsed the decision to make the new president a woman, played by Broadway actress Cherry Jones. “I think it is great,” said Sutherland. “I was really proud of the very first season having the first African-American president on television. This obviously won’t be the first woman president, but it certainly is a political reality in this country and a possibility.”
He hinted that this could be the show’s last two years. “One of the things [they are talking about] is, if we are going to do two years, it is really interesting to almost string them together, whereas we’ve had quite long breaks in between the others,” said Sutherland.
The only time he got testy was when a critic asked him about the continuation of the torture scenes on the series. “That’s our show,” said Sutherland. “If you don’t like it, turn it off. Sorry, that’s what we do.”
“Yes, I believe in the Constitution of the United States, I believe in due process, I do not believe in torture. In the context of our show, these are unbelievable extreme events that within a matter of hours the entire place [could] be gone. And it’s a fantasy about that and those are the devices we use in the fantasy.”
Asked why viewers embrace the fantasy, Sutherland gave a thoughtful speech that would have made any presidential candidate proud.
“We live in a very bureaucratic world and here’s a guy who goes in a straight line and gets something done,” said Sutherland. “It is only after six years people treated it like some sort of morality play. It wasn’t about that. It was about there is a crisis happening and it is urgent and I have to get from point A to point B as fast as I can, cut through all the red tape to accomplish [it].”
And at a great cost. “He’s never won,” said Sutherland. “He saves his daughter, he saves the president, he loses his wife. Not one year has he ever [ended] with his goal being accomplished. But he gives everything he can and tries as hard as he can. And I think a lot of people feel they are trying their hardest and they are not getting it all done. I think there is a huge identification of the character based on that.”
Bauer would be fortunate when he explains things next season to do it as well as Sutherland did here.
Kiefer feels the heat
By Bill Harris
TorontoSun.com
July 25, 2007
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. -- Kiefer Sutherland paused for a few seconds when asked if the pressure of keeping 24 vibrant has made the show less enjoyable for him.
"Uh ... uh ... no, it doesn't take the fun out of it ... but I've lost some sleep at times, yeah, you know?" said Sutherland, the Canadian actor who stars as Jack Bauer in Fox's hugely popular action series 24.
"If people are going to care that much about the show and get as involved as they have, we have a responsibility to make it as good as we possibly can. It's incredibly flattering. Trust me, I've had long moments in my career where I was making much smaller independent films, films I would be proud of, that three people would see.
"That's not why I became an actor. I wanted people to see the work I was doing. And this has been an unbelievable experience. I couldn't even express to you how exciting that feels. But it also adds an incredible amount of pressure."
Fans and critics started to get down on 24 last season for being derivative, among other things. Sutherland earned another Emmy Award nomination, but he wasn't deaf to the word on the street.
"I read a lot of the criticisms," Sutherland said. "Some of them I agreed wholeheartedly with, and some of them I did not. I felt the first four episodes of last year were four of the best episodes we ever have done. And I felt the same way about the last four. But there were moments in between where we struggled."
Sutherland, who is under contract for two more years, pointed out there have been high points and low points in all six seasons of 24.
"Every year is an effort to make fewer mistakes," Sutherland said. "We've run into bumps all the time. I think that is the cost of trying to do something different or new. And each year we start the season off a little slower, trying to avoid as many bumps as we can before we start.
"Last year was a huge learning experience for us, but it didn't feel to me any different than any other year. I'll go all the way back to the cougar (from season two) -- there's stuff where all of us just went, 'What were we thinking?' "
Sutherland said 24 had been so critically acclaimed for so long that it was inevitable the tide would turn eventually.
"We have done well and we have been given so much incredible support from (the critics)," Sutherland said. "You have to take a shot at some point, and last year was as good a year as any. And we certainly knew it was coming. We always were looking over our shoulders a little bit.
"So you know, it is what it is, but our job stays the same. It's such a complicated format to write for, with the real-time aspect. And every year there will be struggles, we just know it. But we try to do the best we can."
We would expect nothing less from Jack Bauer.
The seventh season of 24 begins next January.
No 24 movie until the series ends: Sutherland
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. -- Kiefer Sutherland says a 24 movie won't happen until the TV series has run its course.
"We are so focused on the (TV) show right now, I couldn't even imagine that any of the writers have even thought about any of that," said Sutherland of the oft-rumoured 24 film.
"I think we collectively have agreed that will be the first thing we would do when we finish the show."
Meanwhile, this summer Sutherland was in Romania filming a movie called Mirrors.
Other snippets of 24 information, courtesy of Sutherland
The supposed time elapsed between season six and season seven is going to be months, not years. "In all fairness, they haven't put an absolute time down, but I just know it's not going to be four years or three years. The jump between season five and season six was quite large, and I think they're conscious of the aging thing."
The new season is going to start in the morning again. "That's as much a production issue as anything else. We shoot in the summer when it's daytime and we get longer days, and we shoot night scenes in the winter when we have longer nights."
Sutherland is a big fan of 24's regular influx of new characters, but the one constant always will be Chloe, played by Mary Lynn Rajskub. "Yes, she will be back."
Sutherland is thrilled about the addition of a female president, who will be played by Cherry Jones. "I was really proud of the very first season having the first African American president on television. This obviously won't be the first woman president (on TV), but it certainly is a political reality (in the United States) and a possibility."
“24” To Fight Climate Change
Starpulse.com
July 23, 2007
“24” will strive to become the first television production ever to save enough energy and reduce enough carbon emissions over the course of a season to render its entire season finale "carbon neutral."
In addition to making significant changes to its own production practices, the series aims to educate and inspire its millions of viewers to take climate change and the fight against global warming seriously and personally, before it's too late, said executive producer/show-runner Howard Gordon and Twentieth Century Fox Television Chairmen Dana Walden and Gary Newman.
"We care deeply about this issue at “24”, and we wanted to do our own small part to be part of the solution," commented Howard Gordon. "We looked at how we produce the show, and realized that there were some substantive changes we could implement which would make a real difference. But even more importantly, we hope to inspire our audience to look at what they can do in their own lives to help stem global warming. We think this will be the beginning of a conversation with our millions of viewers that will hopefully inspire them to take action around the world."
"Fighting the dangers of climate change is an initiative that this whole company takes very seriously, and what better show than “24” to lead the way?" commented TCFTV Chairmen Newman and Walden. "This series has a proud tradition of innovation and futuristic thinking and we couldn't be more excited that Howard and his team have embraced this bold challenge. Not only can we encourage other television series to follow their example, but we intend to use our powerful platform as content providers to communicate directly with the people of the world about how we can reverse this serious environmental threat."
Beginning with production on Season 7, "24" intends to implement the following carbon emission reduction techniques and important initiatives:
Previously, the show powered its electric generators and large transportation vehicles with diesel fuel. This season, the show intends to use a combination of petroleum diesel and biodiesel (a clean-burning alternative fuel produced from renewable resources), which should result in emission reductions ranging from 5% on the vehicles to as much as 100% on the generators.
Through the L.A. Department of Water and Power, the show will purchase all of its energy from renewable power sources (such as wind, water and solar). As a result, this "green energy" will be brought into the Los Angeles power grid from outlying areas, thereby reducing overall emissions and pollution in greater Los Angeles.
Previously, one of the two stages housing "24"' had insufficient power capacity necessary to light the sets and run the equipment, necessitating the use of supplemental diesel-gas-fueled generators. Twentieth Century Fox Television is investing in rewiring this building, which it leases, so that no diesel generators will be needed this season.
This season, the show intends to incorporate as many lower-emission vehicles as possible into departments that require considerable road trave,l such as Locations, Transportation and Production Assistance.
Kiefer Sutherland has already shot a public service announcement describing "24"'s commitment to this issue. This season, the series intends to participate in a series of PSAs educating viewers about climate change and offering information about how they can be part of the solution.
Carbon neutrality refers to a product having a balance of zero between the amount of carbon absorbed and the amount of carbon released into the atmosphere during the production of the product. Carbon neutrality is achieved through energy reduction, green power use, and purchasing "offsets" which represent investment in alternative energy and carbon reduction.
"While the changes we are making are ambitious and groundbreaking, they are really just the beginning of our industry getting behind this issue," commented Walden and Newman. "There are still considerable obstacles to overcome, whether it's encouraging investment in greener television production technologies, or simply forcing ourselves and our partners to think and do things differently. That said, we believe that we should not let what we cannot achieve get in the way of the things we can. And the next season of “24” is the perfect place to start."
'24' to Have Female President in Upcoming Season
Associated Press
July 22, 2007
Beverly Hills, CA – The United States will have a female president next year – on the Fox TV series “24”.
Tony Award-winning actress Cherry Jones will play President Allison Taylor when the show about the exploits of counterterrorism agent Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) returns in January for its seventh season, the network announced Sunday.
Jones' term will coincide with Democratic Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's presidential bid, but Fox Entertainment Chairman Peter Liguori said fiction and real-world politics will not intersect.
"It's a dramatic decision. The president is a very important piece of '24," Liguori told The Associated Press. "We've had a broad array of presidents on the show; why not a female president?"
The series has been an Oval Office groundbreaker before, with Dennis Haysbert playing President Palmer, the nation's first black president.
Asked whether Fox would scrutinize scripts for potential election-year political content, Liguori said that, as with any show, "24" will be looked at "from a dramaturgical perspective, not a political perspective."
Series co-creators Joel Surnow and Robert Cochran and fellow executive producer Howard Gordon have always kept real-life politics from the show, he said.
"'24' took place in an election year in the past," Liguori said. "How you see Joel, Bob and Howard articulate drama is telling on how they deal with politics. The two are separated."
In a February article in The New Yorker magazine, Surnow described himself as a rare conservative in Hollywood. But show producers say they hold a variety of political viewpoints and deny "24" takes a solely conservative approach, the magazine reported.
Jones, winner of best-actress Tony Awards for "The Heiress" and "Doubt," has appeared in films including "Ocean's Twelve" and "The Perfect Storm" and has guest-starred on TV shows including the White House drama "The West Wing."
Liguori and newly appointed Fox programming chief Kevin Reilly appeared Sunday at the summer meeting of the Television Critics Association to discuss the upcoming TV season on Fox, owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp.
Liguori said he wouldn't call the past season "disappointing," when asked about the fact that "24" failed to gain a best drama series Emmy nomination last week after winning the award in 2006.
He said he admires the "creative courage" of the producers as the show "re-sets the table each season" with a new story. "It's fun to see them spit-ball ideas," Liguori added.
Notes from all over
Jeannette Walls – MSNBC
July 10, 2007
While in Brazil recently, Kiefer Sutherland gave a glimpse into the upcoming season of “24” and what his character, Jack Bauer will be up to. “Bauer will be his own boss, at the end of the sixth season he’s tired, disillusioned with the government and doesn’t want to have anything more to do with the presidency,” Sutherland said while in Brazil recently. “He’s going to be on his own.” Sutherland was in country shooting an ad for Citroen.
24 Plot Tossed, Production Delayed
Michael Ausiello Report - TV Guide
July 10, 2007
Season 7 of 24 promises to be its most tense yet – at least on the set.
Execs at the Fox hit have scrapped virtually their entire story line for the season, delaying the start of production by roughly three weeks. According to sources, the 11th-hour time-out was called after the network put the kibosh on a costly plan to shoot a number of episodes in Africa. Producers briefly toyed with the idea of finding a location in Los Angeles that could sub for the continent, but they ultimately decided to ditch the whole concept and start over from scratch.
Although a Twentieth Century Fox spokesperson declined to comment, 24’s expert scowler, Mary Lynn Rajskub, confirms that the clock for Day 7 has been reset. "I don't know what's going on over there, but they're going crazy," says the scene-stealer, who learned only last week that Chloe would be returning. "We usually start [back up] at the end of July, and I don't think we're starting until a couple of weeks into August now. It's kind of exciting, because I think [the postponement] means that they're really having to dig in there and come up with new stuff."
The show's creative team was no doubt already feeling the pressure: Day 6 was considered to be about as explosive as a wet firecracker, so for Season 7 they really needed a plot that was incendiary. In fact, news of the setback comes on the same day the semiannual Television Week critics' poll (in which yours truly participated) named 24 the second-worst show on TV, behind ABC's best-not-traveled October Road.
Kiefer donates to The 1 Second Film
Celebrities Join Thousands to Produce Biggest Shortest Film Ever Made
Press Release from The 1 Second Film
July 8, 2007
LOS ANGELES, CA – Kiefer Sutherland, Kevin Bacon, Pierce Brosnan, Christina Ricci, and Stephen Colbert are just a few of the dozens of celebrities that have joined over 7,500 people from 45 countries to produce a 70mm film that will last only one second.
The innovative non-profit collaboration, aptly titled “The 1 Second Film,” creatively utilizes the internet to enable anyone in the world to become a film producer along with major stars, simply by donating $1 or more via the film’s website: www.the1secondfilm.com
“A lot can happen in one-second,” says Nirvan Mullick, an award-winning director turned social-entrepreneur, who started the film 7 years ago while a student at California Institute of the Arts. A single second of animation consists of 24 frames of film. In this case, each frame is a giant collaborative mural painted by hundreds of people.
Nirvan began fundraising after graduating, setting out to bring the world together for one second. With no budget and a simple Xeroxed flier he began pitching the film to anyone he met. His first celebrity pitch was to George Clooney, whom he ran into in a Burbank parking lot. “I was pretty nervous,” Nirvan admits, “Clooney passed, but later I got a dollar from a lady at the grocery store.”
After that initial encounter, Nirvan continued to improve his marketing materials and his 1 Second pitch. Hundreds more donated and soon even randomly encountered celebrities started chipping in. Christina Ricci, met on a sidewalk, donated $5.50, Spike Jonze became a $12 producer at a movie theater, and Tom Arnold gave $100 outside of the Hollywood Guitar Center.
Nirvan made a website listing the celebrity and non-celebrity producers in order of amount donated. Word spread virally, and thousands around the world began donating online. Dozens of Christina Ricci fans have since given $5.51 to be listed above the star, while comedians Tom Green ($220.00) and Andy Dick ($211.11) are engaged in an escalating battle for top billing.
After raising over $160,000 of a $1,000,000 goal, the production recently launched it’s own online social-network, giving its thousands of producers unique profiles. “Imagine if everyone on MySpace was making a movie together,” says Nirvan, “that’s the goal. Micro-collaboration.”
“I love what these guys are doing, and the way they are doing it,” says Kiefer Sutherland, one of the film’s top Executive Producers, who recently donated $600.23 at a restaurant.
With thousands of producers, from gas-station attendants to the director of Independence Day, the film’s end credits will last an astounding 90-minutes. A star studded “making of” documentary will accompany the feature-length credits, detailing the (often absurd) adventures of bringing the world together for one-second. All profits raised by The 1 Second Film will be donated to charity.
A two second film is already in development (The 2 Second Film). For more information please visit www.the1secondfilm.com or email press@the1secondfilm.com.
The 1 Second Film is a grassroots non-profit collaborative film project that anyone can help produce, alongside stars like Kiefer Sutherland, Kevin Bacon, Stephen Colbert, and many more. The project is the brainchild of Nirvan Mullick, an award-winning director turned social-entrepreneur, who started making the film while studying animation at California Institute of the Arts. The project is being overseen by The 1 Second Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization devoted to using collaborative art and media to create social change. The Foundation’s Board of Directors includes Julie Taymor, Albert Maysles, Stephen Nemeth, Ben Goldhirsh, and Nirvan Mullick.
The 1 Second Film
PO Box 861117
Los Angeles, CA 90086
www.the1secondfilm.com
Press Contact: Juli Crockett
press@the1secondfilm.com
323-251-9645
24 To Elect First Female Prez?
By Michael Ausiello
TV Guide.com
July 9 – 15, 2007
Geena Davis, call your agent. Word on the street is that the commander if chief on next season’s revamped 24 will likely be a 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.”
As I reported last month, 24 – in an effort to reclaim some of the creative and ratings steam it lost this year – is shaking things up in a big way for Season 7. For the time in the show’s history, CTU will be MIA as the majority of the action moves outside L.A. Washington, New York City and London are among the new locales being considered.
One thing’s for sure: Peter MacNichol’s smarmy White House aide Tom Lennox won’t be back. The actor as selected a deal to return to CBS’ Numb3rs full-time. Producers, meantime, are said to be adding a female FBI agent to the mix. Kristen Bell, call your agent. Better yet, let me do it.
Additionally, of last season's cast, only Kiefer Sutherland and Mary Lynn Rajskub are shoo-ins to return.
FilmMagic
Kiefer: Lighting Up the World
TMZ.com Staff
Filed Under Wacky and Weird, 24
June 20, 2007
A TMZ insider was attending a bachelor party in Bucharest, Romania. When a mysterious figure came out of the shadows to offer a helping hand, er, light.
Our source had a killer craving for a cancer stick and asked his friends if someone had a light. From the darkness crawled Kiefer Sutherland, dressed in ash black, saying, "Did someone ask for a light?" Kiefer then exhaled, "It is good to hear familiar voices." Random!
The "24" star is overseas filming his new flick "Mirrors." Minutes later, Jack Bauer disappeared back into the shadows.
Animated 24: Day Zero morphs animation, action and advertising – Smallscreen
By Stone Martindale – Monsters and Critics.com UK
June 6, 2007
Like the Transformers, there is more than meets the eye in today's advertising, which has taken a complete turn from the days of the Philco radio hour. Now you can watch an animated series voiced by the cast of a hit television show that is promoting an anti-perspirant.
24: Day Zero can be found at the official site of Degree-Men and it is the animated prequel 24: Day Zero, taking place just before the very first season of the hit Fox show.
When season 6 of "24" ended, "24: Day Zero" was launched. From the producers of the live-action series, the online saga will contain nine vignettes, revealing Bauer as he teams with fellow agents Nina Meyers, Tony Almeida and George Mason to catch a treacherous mole working within CTU.
Flash-animated by Icebox, Day Zero features Kiefer Sutherland vocally reprising his role as Jack Bauer.
It is a series of flash animations that go back to the world of 24 before the first season began.
The animators promise to show us an early adventure of Jack and Nina and Mason, as well as a peek into the domestic unrest between Jack and Terry that led to his affair with Nina.
Fans of the show will get a feel for the Jack and Nina chemistry that threatened Jack's marriage.
The animation is basic, combined with a dramatic score and the use of split screens and the bonus is Kiefer Sutherland's voice over helping fans of the series fall into the storylines.
There is also a multiple choice test of your mental capacity, and then a series of videos that are designed to test your surveillance skills.
Kiefer Sutherland gets intimate with HELLO!
June 6, 2007
In an exclusive interview accompanied by intimate photos hunky 24 star Kiefer Sutherland opens up to HELLO! magazine about his family, including his famous parents and his 18-year-old, aspiring actress daughter Sarah.
As the son of acting veterans Donald Sutherland and Shirley Douglas, the hunky 40-year-old - who plays a counter-terrorist agent on the hit TV series - is as close as it gets to Canadian acting royalty. And in the exclusive report in this week's issue Kiefer talks about what it was like being raised by screen stars, as well as his fears and feeling about fame.
He also shares with readers the importance in his life of daughter Sarah, who’s carving out a name for herself in dad’s profession. "She’s actually a very talented young actor, though it took me a while to deal with that fact," says the doting dad. "I can't figure out whether it's my own ego that's saying, 'This is what I do', or if it's a parental fear of, 'Please, baby, you don't want to do this; there's nothing but heartbreak'.”
Learn more about Kiefer and his family in Issue 40 of HELLO! magazine on sale on Canadian newsstands from Thursday June 14.
Katz has more time for '24,' 20th projects
By Nellie Andreeva
Hollywood Reporter
June 6, 2007
"24" executive producer Evan Katz has inked a new rich seven-figure overall deal with the series producer, 20th Century Fox Television, to continue on the real-time drama and develop new projects.
The new two-year pact, which has an option for a third, replaces Katz's existing two-year overall deal with 20th TV, which had another year on it.
"Evan has done a fantastic job on '24'," 20th TV president Dana Walden said. "It's clearly such an important series for the studio, so we found it to be a very good business decision to (secure) every writer who is important to the series for as long as posasible, and Evan is at the top of that list."
Katz worked on several series at Paramount Network TV -- UPN's "Special Unit 2," which he created, "JAG" and "Seven Days" -- before he joined "24" at the beginning of the second season in 2003.
"The show's been very good to me in every way," Katz said of "24." "It's the first time I've been on a show that is an out-and-out commercial and critical success and has created a cultural footprint. It's been an eye-opener and a very satisfying experience."
On "24," Katz serves as executive producer alongside co-creators Joel Surnow and Bob Cochran, showrunner Howard Gordon, star Kiefer Sutherland as well as John Cassar and Brian Grazer.
"It's been an honor and a pleasure to work with Howard Gordon and the rest of the writers and producers on '24,' " Katz said. "I look forward to another two seasons of terror, betrayal and murderously dysfunctional relationships."
"24" was recently picked up by Fox for two more seasons, and Gordon has made it clear that the real-time thriller is headed for a major makeover in the fall.
"It's alternately exciting, maddening and rewarding trying to reinvent the show, but I think we figured out a way to do it," Katz said.
Extending his relationship with 20th TV was an easy decision, and getting the opportunity to develop again is exciting, Katz said.
"I appreciate Dana and (president) Gary (Newman)'s continued faith in me," he said. "The shows I created before working on '24' all incorporated humor, and I'd like to put that back into my work."
On the feature side, Katz has thriller "The Amateur" in the works at Fox 2000 with Hugh Jackman attached to star and produce with his producing partner John Palermo.
Katz is repped by Endeavor and Michael Gendler.
