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.
24 movie postponed, says co-creator
Reports that the movie of hit series 24 starring Kiefer Sutherland was getting ready to shoot some time this summer appear to have been quashed.
The show's co-creator Robert Cochran was talking to Larry King on CNN about the film, which was initially expected to be made in between the sixth and seventh series of the show.
The sixth is due to start on Fox on Sunday.
However, Cochran suggested that a big-screen version of 24 is now more likely to be made towards the end of the show's run which, thanks to Kiefer's huge contracts, will probably be around 2009.
Kiefer himself was excited about the prospect of a movie last year and went so far as to say that it was planning to film in London and Europe during 2007.
Now though, it seems like the focus of the franchise will be on television.
Most of the living characters from last season will make a return for the new series, although Kim Bauer, a.k.a. actress Elisha Cuthbert, hasn't yet been signed up.
Metro.co.uk
January 10, 2007
'24' Marathon Shows Perils of DVD Habit
By Jocelyn Noveck, AP National Writer
January 10, 2007
New York (AP) -- A few nights ago, just into the 97th hour of my exhaustive, exhausting quest to watch every existing episode of "24" before the new season starts this weekend, there was one of those big payoff moments.
It was a sit-up-straight-and-gasp surprise, the kind you wait for in this adrenaline-fueled series about a counterterrorism unit — more unexpected because it happened in the first moments of the fifth season, almost as the credits rolled. Former President David Palmer — pensive, strong, seemingly indestructible — was standing calmly by a window when an assassin's bullet crashed through and killed him. Whoa.
It would have been even better if I hadn't known it was coming.
That's one big problem with watching TV shows on DVD, months or years after the show has actually aired. You risk finding out things you don't want to know, merely by glancing at a newspaper or stumbling onto a Web site or chatting with another human being. In this case, some TV critic spoiled the Palmer surprise for me, as many others have been spoiled — even by my own colleagues. And now, undoubtedly, I'm spoiling it for someone else.
But that's not even the main problem with gorging on 120 hours of one show. The real issue is: Who the heck has time for this sort of thing?
Certainly not those of us who have full-time jobs, kids with busy schedules and other such pesky distractions from our TV viewing. Little did I, a moderate TV-watcher ("Grey's Anatomy,""The Daily Show," some late-night CNN), know what I was getting into a year ago on New Year's Eve, when two fellow journalist friends — they know who they are — recommended that my significant other and I check out "24."
I added the first disc to our Netflix queue. It sat for months on top of the TV set, waiting in line behind some erudite foreign film that we'd been sort of avoiding, like homework. (DVD guilt: That's a whole other column.)
But eventually we watched that first episode, and an obsession was born. It became an unspoken contract: We were going to watch the whole thing, no matter what — even if we stopped liking it, even if it got boring. Why? Would it be trite to say "because it was there?" Leaving the job half done, as federal agent Jack Bauer might say, was "not an option."
We started going out less. Magazines went straight to the "read later" pile. Dinner became a regular date in the living room: us and Jack, that square-jawed, resolute, impossibly loyal yet subversive federal agent played by Kiefer Sutherland. And, like Jack himself (yes, we're on a first-name basis by now), we had good days and bad, but we were pushing through the pain, single-minded in our pursuit.
There were, necessarily, breaks for business trips or vacations. And there were countless times when one of us annoyed the other mightily by falling asleep mid-episode (because of the late hour, not the content) — meaning we had to rewind and start over. Woe to the one with drooping eyelids. Me to him: "Open your eyes!" Him to me: "Sit up straight!" Or, the most evil weapon: forced feeding of Haagen-Dazs, as an emergency sugar injection. Somehow, we got through four seasons and counting.
All of which begs the question: Is this good for us, or for anyone? All this available entertainment content, waiting to be devoured? Every week a new series comes out on DVD, dozens and dozens of hours of it. Now we have our childhood favorites back, too — "Bewitched,""I Dream of Jeannie,""Get Smart." These days, picking a new show is a major investment. Or as a colleague sighed, when I encouraged her to try "24": "Sorry. It's just too much of a commitment." Another friend did try, but told me she was too "intimidated." Give it a few dozen hours, I advised.
Obsessive TV-viewing has been around as long as the medium itself, according to TV historian Tim Brooks. In the late 1940s it was Milton Berle, "Mr. Television," the first real TV icon. In the '50s it was "I Love Lucy." Of course, back then, there was only one way to watch. "When 9 p.m. on Monday came around, you'd better have been in front of the TV," says Brooks, also an executive at Lifetime.
Now, a half-century later, you don't need to know what day or time your favorite show airs. With DVRs, DVDs and downloading from the Web, it's virtually irrelevant.
DVDs supplanted VHS tapes in the late '90s, but it's really only in the past five years that TV shows, as opposed to feature films, have become established in the format. Now, says Netflix Inc. spokesman Steve Swasey, they're a huge part of the online DVD rental giant's business: fully 20 percent of the 7 million DVDs it sends out per week are TV shows.
"The real phenomenon is people renting a whole season or an entire series," says Swasey. "They'll have a 'Lost' weekend" — pun intended — "watching the whole thing straight through. I know people who had a 'MASH-athon,' wearing fatigues, stethoscopes, the whole thing." Among the most popular series? "Entourage,""Lost," and of course, "24."
So back to our own ticking clock: We're at 107 hours, and coming down the home stretch. We have 13 hours to get through by week's end. Unless we really pace ourselves, that last day could be, as Jack himself would say, one of the longest days of our lives.
And while nothing topped the novelty of the first season, the suspense is still there, although you quickly learn certain immutable rules of the series. Rule No. 1: Jack will never die. (Sutherland has a long-term contract, silly.) But he comes close all the time, and no one else is safe. That's Rule No. 2.
With the end in sight, and only a weekly smattering of "24" to anticipate this season, we're kind of wondering what will happen in our household. Will we start watching our foreign films again? Get caught up on the bills? Clean out my desk? "Maybe," my viewing partner mused the other day, "we'll have to start talking to each other again."
Here's what he doesn't know: I've already ordered the first season of "Lost."
Canadian comic turns up as terrorist on 24
CBC
January 9, 2007
Shaun Majumder, the Canadian comedian known for his role on This Hour Has 22 Minutes, is about to debut on the action series 24 as a terrorist.
Majumder will turn up in the third and fourth hours of the hit U.S. series, locked in battle with fellow Canadian Kiefer Sutherland who plays federal agent Jack Bauer.
The man he plays, Hasan Numair, is first glimpsed as a prisoner garbed in a bright orange jumpsuit and, Majumder says, he's a very bad dude.
Majumder can't reveal exactly how bad because 24 likes to keep its plot twists secret. The segment will air next Monday.
"It's going to be an odd twist for Canadian fans, isn't it? They're going to be waiting for a joke," says the 34-year-old Newfoundlander.
On This Hour Has 22 Minutes, Majumder plays the somewhat damp Hindu reporter Raj Binder, as well as a clueless news anchor.
He has appeared at the Just for Laughs Festival, on Fox comedy series Cedric the Entertainer Presents and in the movie Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle.
Majumder says he spends part of each year in Los Angeles, looking for U.S. parts.
"I have to say that if you don't live here, opportunities like this don't come along," he said.
He welcomes the chance to show he's more than a comedian. "What it does is it gives people who only see me in a comedic light a surprise that I can do drama," he said.
Kiefer Sutherland Talks 24 the Movie and 24 the Series
From: Fred Topel
About.com
January 3, 2007
Fans are getting ready to start the next day-long movie quality TV season of 24, but also eagerly anticipating the 24 movie in the works. As he kept secrets about the upcoming sixth season of the show, Kiefer Sutherland suggested a lot to be excited about regarding the 24 film, to be shot this coming summer.
What can you tell us about the 24 film?
“It’s something that we really, really want to make. The real key difference would be that the 24 hour film would be a 2-hour representation of a 24 hour day. It would be the first thing that we didn’t do in real time. Mainly, you have to understand, we’re making two episodes every three weeks. We would have three months to make a two hour [movie]. Just to have that kind of time to really allow our cinematographer and our director and the writers to focus on such a finite thing, and actually be able to do a film that really has a conclusion, I think would be really exciting not only for us to make but I think for an audience as well.”
What gives you the confidence that it’ll work without the real time format?
“Because I think after five years and specifically when we go to shoot it after six years, the characters have been even more defined. I think that the sensibility of the show is really entrenched. The audience that it would be going after really understands those characters and has a certain expectation, and we will do everything we can to meet that.”
Will at least the first hour be real time then the second hour not, like was reported?
“In the film, no. I think probably the opposite. I think the film will really be a 2-hour representation of a 24 hour day. In answer to your timeline question, there will be a timeline. It just will not be in real time. You might not have read wrong. Someone might have reported it wrong.”
Will the movie fit within the timeframe with the TV show?
“It will be outside of the TV show.”
Before or after?
“That is the writers’ option. They’re working on it now and in all fairness, I’ve heard rough ideas kind of in every direction. But the thing that I’m most excited about that is that we’re going to make it within the context of still running the show. Everybody compares it to X-Files the movie, except with X-Files the movie, the show was done - or at least he was done with it - at that point. I actually believe that the film and the show can actually coexist and for quite some time. I think once that starts to happen, the dynamic between television and film will really change in a major way.”
Are you working on anything else?
“There’s a couple things that I’ve heard from other writers. We started this production company that’s with Fox and there’s a couple things we’re very excited about in that area. But we’re in the process of just kind of getting that on its feet. This summer was the first summer that I didn’t take a film. I really wanted to take some time, anchor myself and I really wanted to focus. I think every year we’ve always noticed the first four episodes get more difficult to really make those work, and I wanted to work with Jon Cassar and the writers as much as they were available so that we would really have as much a head start as we could when we started filming.”
Is there a type of project you’d like to do?
“It really is what strikes my fancy at the time. I’ve been really fortunate over the course of my career to be able to have a lot of different opportunities. Why I would choose a film like Dark City was really my mood that week, and why I would then go choose to do The Glass Menagerie for six months was another mood. It’s generally whatever I start to think I got a shot at doing well.”
Until we get to the 24 movie, we'll have to tide ourselves over with weekly hours of Jack Bauer's real time days. Last season ended with Jack taken into Chinese custody to answer for the accidental death of an ambassador during one of his raids in Season Four. The Season Five DVD has a Season Six prequel of Jack in China, but no word on where Season Six will actually pick up.
Will there be anything tonally or thematically different this year?
“The one thing - the show is political. It’s not that the show has not been political but I think last season it became political, because people observing it drew a political angle from it. I remember Joel Surnow, the writer, saying it’s really quite amazing to have the right kind of adopt the show the way they have and then have the left, Barbra Streisand and so many people on the left adopt the show for themselves as well. And that it’s managed to run this kind of mutual political ground while having very strong political aspirations within the context of the show. This year, there’s a couple statements that are very political. They are on purpose from the writers and I think they chose to address a really interesting situation in our society.”
How do you find new aspects of Jack's character every year?
“A small example is the whole reintroduction of Audrey as a character and myself as a character that is alive. Every scene that I had with her, I wanted three beats or three lines to really play how much he loved her and how much he wanted to be with her, and the fourth beat would always be, ‘I can’t. The second this is over, I have to disappear.’ And then the next beat, the new measure would be, ‘I love her, I love her, I love her, I can’t. I love her.’ I know it sounds really simplistic but it’s not an easy thing to keep that meter in your head. Or maybe it is for others. It’s not for me. It takes me a minute to get into that groove, but I remember when it worked, Jon Cassar turned around and went, ‘What was that?’ It was just a complexity of playing two things at the same time which is not something normally as an actor, I’m a huge fan of not the obvious but sometimes things are obvious for a reason and I see some people avoiding it at such a cost that they miss the whole point of the characters. This has taught me to kind of try and find a blend of both.”
Are you worried that all the new serialized shows will eat away at your audience?
“I don't think people like the show because it’s serialized. I think people like the show because the characters are working and the writers do a fantastic job creating a world that they’ve found entertaining. Again, I can’t tell you how lucky that is. I’ve been doing this for 20 years. I’ve never had an experience like this in my life. I certainly know I could have worked for another 20 and never had it. So I think again, it’s not a question of… Law and Order is a fantastic show and it was absolutely serialized in a perfect package episode to episode to episode. This is not, and I think they work in different milieus for their own different reasons. Again, I think it comes down to creating a situation that is interesting for an audience and ultimately creating characters that you care about that are in that situation.”
Does the political climate affect people’s interest in the show?
“Absolutely. I think escapism is a very broad word. I think all entertainment on some level is, and I think it can also be informative and I think it can be a variety of things. But absolutely. It was uncanny the timing of us coming out with our show and the terrible events of 9/11. It certainly awakened an ear in this country regarding terrorism that I don't think was as pervasive before. So yeah, absolutely. I think the world has changed incredibly since that terrible day and our show certainly deals with aspects of that. Again, in the context of a television show, not reality.”
What's the timeline for next season? How much time has passed?
“I think it’s about a year and a half.”
Will President Logan be back?
“Yeah, he will be on in some capacity.”
Will Jean Smart be back?
“She and Greg [Itzin] both, absolutely. I think that that was a really dangerous part and the fact is that she really did take it on as Mrs. Lincoln, the ultimate First Lady, and that was one of those great moments where you saw an actor instead of trying to defend herself from it, absolutely attack what could have been a death blow to that character. Just truly one of the most amazing performances I’ve seen and someone I’ve had the pleasure of working with. I think they both are going to be, in which capacity and how much I don't know. I don't know that yet.”
Is it still important to you to do interviews to promote 24?
"You know what? If I [didn't feel] that way, I wouldn’t have come here. I’m so grateful, I was saying earlier. We wouldn’t have been even picked up had it not been for this event 5 years ago. It was the energy that was kind of created out of the screening of the new pilot and by you guys that got Fox, because we were on the fence and we were teetering off it in the wrong direction. I’ll never forget that. This has been one of the most amazing experiences of my life and certainly I think the most amazing of my career to date. I’m really grateful for it.”
Anything else you can say about this season or about Jack?
“Certainly from Jack’s point of view, he’s at the end of his line. Something’s going to have to really rejuvenate him from the position that he’s in. So in that area, there’s going to be a character shift within the context of the show with his character. There has to be. Otherwise he’s just going to be dead. And he’s been put through it. So it’s going to be interesting at least to try to come from a very dark, really deep, dark place and actually try and come up as opposed to starting in an up position and going down. That’ll be different.”
Will there be another romance for Jack?
“That might be possible, but you also have to know that that doesn’t stop Kim [Raver] from coming back to do our show. She’s contractually free to do both shows, so we have to see what happens.”
How many more days can Jack handle?
That’s up to an audience. Me, I love doing it and I’m glad that they let me do it as long as they have.”
One More Cast on '24'
Jamison Jones lands recurring part on FOX series
Zap2it
December 29, 2006
The sixth season of "24" has added yet another actor to its already sprawling cast, with Jamison Jones taking a recurring role on the show.
Jones has signed on to play the head of President Wayne Palmer's (DB Woodside) Secret Service detail, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The show is scheduled to return to FOX on Sunday, Jan. 14 with a two-night premiere spanning four hours.
The casting is actually a return trip to "24" for Jones; he had a small role as a deputy in two episodes of the show's second season. His other credits include guest spots on "Crossing Jordan," "NCIS" and "Alias" and the feature film "He Was a Quiet Man," which is due for release sometime next year.
Season six of "24" will pick up 20 months after we last saw Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland), who was on a slow boat to China after being apprehended by operatives from that country. The country, now under the leadership of Wayne Palmer, suffers a series of terrorist attacks.
Among those logging time on the show this season will be Regina King ("Ray"), James Cromwell ("L.A. Confidential"), Peter MacNicol ("Numb3rs"), Powers Boothe ("Deadwood"), Kal Penn ("Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle") and Rick Schroder ("NYPD Blue"). Gregory Itzin, Jean Smart, Mary Lynn Rajskub, Roger Cross, James Morrison, Jayne Atkinson, Eric Balfour and Carlo Rota will reprise their roles from past seasons.
In this Jan. 16, 2006, file photo, actor Kiefer Sutherland arrives at the 63rd Annual Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills, Calif. Sutherland took time off from making movies in 1998, and wound up winning the national team roping competition twice. (AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian, File)
'24' Star Shines As Actor, Rodeo Champ
Associated Press
December 22, 2006
NEW YORK - Kiefer Sutherland is an Emmy award winner for his role as agent Jack Bauer on "24," but he also holds another prestigious title: rodeo champion.
"What I lacked as a roper and a cowboy I could make up for in horses," the 40-year-old actor says in the January/February issue of Men's Vogue magazine, on newsstands Tuesday. "Roping is one of those sports like polo where you get infinitely better the better your horses are. I had some great horses."
Sutherland, who has starred in such films as "The Sentinel" and "A Few Good Men," learned the basics of horseback riding in 1994's "The Cowboy Way." He took time off from making movies in 1998, and wound up winning the national team roping competition twice.
"Those two years on the ranch were my college years," Sutherland recalls. "Three or four guys riding around in a truck from rodeo to rodeo. It was fantastic."
The eagerly anticipated sixth season premiere of his hit Fox series, "24," airs in two-hour blocks on Jan. 14 and 15. Sutherland, who has been married twice, says it's hard to date while shooting the series.
"There are some people that are great loners, but it is certainly not how I wanted to live my life," he says.
"When you have five 16-hour days back to back, though, it is tough to tell someone, `The only way you can spend time with me is to live with me.' It's certainly a weird question to ask on a first date."
On the Net:
LMR note: The article below relates to Kiefer's grandfather - Tommy Douglas.
Inside the Tommy Douglas dossier
By Jim Bronskill
The Canadian Press
December 18, 2006
Communists, anti-nuke activists unmasked ... but hundreds of pages remain hush-hush
Tommy Douglas, voted the greatest Canadian of all time in a popular CBC contest two years ago, first attracted the RCMP's attention in February 1939.
As a Co-operative Commonwealth Federation MP, Douglas urged a group of labourers in downtown Ottawa to push for legislation beneficial to the unemployed.
An RCMP constable quietly attended the session, filing a secret two-page account to superiors.
A few years later, Douglas became leader of Saskatchewan's Co-operative Commonwealth Federation, soon heading up the first socialist government in North America.
As premier, he ushered in public auto insurance, guaranteed hospital care and a provincial bill of rights.
Daughter Shirley married fellow actor Donald Sutherland. Their son, Kiefer Sutherland, stars in the hit television series 24.
A Baptist minister, Douglas entered politics upon seeing the toll the Great Depression took on families.
The RCMP file reflects his interest in antiwar causes, including opposition to nuclear weapons and criticism of United Nations policy on Korea.
There are also occasional references to allegations that the CCF harboured members with Communist ties.
Douglas was chosen leader of the federal New Democratic Party in 1961 and served for 10 years. The rise to national prominence only fuelled interest in his political associations.
In late 1964, the RCMP received a letter alleging that Douglas had once been an active member of the Communist party at the University of Chicago, where he had done postgraduate studies.
A top secret memo from a senior RCMP security officer to the force's deputy commissioner of operations indicates there was no reliable information to substantiate the tip.
"We have never asked the FBI for information on the matter because of Douglas's position as leader of a national political party."
During a March 1965 rally on Parliament Hill, an RCMP constable "observed a meeting" between Douglas and missionary peace activist James Endicott.
A report notes that Endicott, after congratulating Douglas on his speech, mentioned he had recently been to Saigon, where war would soon boil over.
Douglas asked, "How are things down there?"
Endicott replied, "Terrible, just terrible."
The secret report records their plans to have lunch the next week, duly noting later that no "information could be obtained" as to whether the meal took place.
In May 1965, a confidential source provided information for an account of Douglas's appearance at a Communist party meeting in Burnaby, B.C.
The NDP leader took aim at Liberal prime minister Lester Pearson for not opposing U.S. actions in Southeast Asia.
"Douglas states that Australia has already 'been taken in' and is sending troops to Vietnam," the memo reads. "He stated that he (Douglas) will fight with every drop of blood in his body against the Vietnam affair."
Perhaps fittingly, the file contains articles noting Douglas's concern about rumours of RCMP surveillance of Canadians, though there is no indication the politician suspected he was being watched.
"Setting people to spy on one another is not the way to protect freedom," he wrote while NDP leader.
RCMP security and intelligence officers amassed files on 800,000 Canadians and actively monitored thousands of organizations, from church and women's groups to media outlets and universities.
Markings indicate Douglas's file is one of more than 650 secret dossiers the RCMP kept on Canadian politicians and bureaucrats as part of a project known as the "VIP program."
While many of these files were destroyed, some with historical significance have been retained by the Library and Archives.
Portions of several documents in Douglas's file were withheld from release because they concern international security matters still deemed sensitive -- or personal information, such as confidential sources or the names of others who came under RCMP scrutiny.
Hundreds of pages, though decades old, remain completely sealed.
Douglas stepped down as NDP leader in 1971, remaining in Parliament as a backbench MP for eight years.
One of the later file entries notes Douglas's participation in a demonstration outside the Soviet Embassy in Ottawa in support of Jewish prisoners of conscience.
In 1984, the newly formed Canadian Security Intelligence Service assumed most of the scandal-plagued RCMP's security duties.
In fact, a notation indicates that Justice David McDonald reviewed Douglas's file in September 1978 as part of a commission of inquiry into the RCMP's activities.
A Mountie assessment from the late 1970s says it was difficult to determine the influence Douglas's various leftist associates had over him.
"It is felt, however, there is much we do not know about Douglas and the file should be maintained in order to correlate any additional information that surfaces which might assist in piecing this jigsaw puzzle together."
Tommy Douglas:
Born: Oct. 20, 1904, in Falkirk, Scotland
Died: Feb. 24, 1986, of cancer at Ottawa home
Youth: Family moved to Canada in 1910, settling in Winnipeg. Douglas left school at 14 to become printer's apprentice.
Early career: Baptist minister who preached the social gospel. Became interested in politics upon seeing the hardship of the Great Depression in Saskatchewan.
Provincial politics: Known for idealism, debating skills and homespun wit. Became leader of Saskatchewan Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) in 1942, presiding over first socialist government in North America from 1944 to 1961. As premier, ushered in public auto insurance, free hospital care, provincial bill of rights.
National politics: Chosen first leader of federal New Democratic Party in 1961, serving for 10 years. Retired from politics in 1979. Voted greatest Canadian of all time in 2004 CBC contest.
Family: Wife, Irma, and two daughters, including actress Shirley Douglas. Grandfather of actor Kiefer Sutherland.
Quote: "I was convinced that a democratic socialist movement in Canada was essential if Canada was going to become a civilized society." -- 1971 interview with Canadian Dimension magazine.
Aniston's 24 snub
December 15, 2006
Jennifer Aniston's bid to star in hit series '24' has been unsuccessful.
Executive producer Joel Surnow told America's TV Guide magazine: "You can't put those people on the show because they're too recognisable. They ruin the reality for the viewers."
Aniston is not the only big name star to be refused a part in the show.
Comic actor Ben Stiller was also overlooked because he is too famous.
Work on a film version of '24' is currently underway, with a scheduled release date for the summer of 2008.
It is believed Kiefer Sutherland will reprise his role as special agent Jack Bauer in the big screen version.
(C) BANG Media International
Season 6 Intel Uncovered at the 24 DVD Release Party!
By Michael Maloney
TVGuide.com
December 11, 2006
Ever since Jack Bauer was put on a slow boat to China, fans of Fox's 24 have been wondering if their hero's next challenging day (which kicks off with a two-hour premiere on Jan. 14, 2007) will be more personal fight for freedom than a battle against terrorism. "I think every season is a personal struggle for Jack," executive producer Howard Gordon told TVGuide.com at a party celebrating the Season 5 DVD release. Bauer's latest crucible, Gordon adds, will address "security versus civil rights... this season will be our most uncomfortable."
Television vet Rick Schroder joins the ensemble cast this coming season as Mike Doyle, described as a "forceful CTU operative," and a partner for Jack. When asked for further details on Schroder's role, series lead Kiefer Sutherland, who also serves as a producer, remained mum — but not for the reasons you might think! "In all fairness, I have not been given those scripts yet," the Emmy winner told us. "I've just been given the news of [Schroder being cast] as well. But Rick's a wonderful actor. The work he did on NYPD Blue was fantastic."
Does the fact that ABC put The Nine on hiatus affect the availability of Kim Raver, who already had hopes of moonlighting as Jack's love interest, Audrey? The answer is both yes and no. "Kim had a contract with The Nine that if a story line [on 24] developed for her, then she could do both," pointed out Sutherland, who is hoping that the actress, who was on hand for the DVD gala, reports for duty soon. "I would work with her till the day I die," Sutherland raved. While there are no specifics as to when we'll see Audrey — though likely not until mid-season, as reported last week by TVGuide.com — Gordon says that the character is definitely "in the mix."
Jack will have plenty of familiar faces to keep him company in the meantime. Emmy nominees Gregory Itzin and Jean Smart are set to return as the disgraced and dysfunctional President and Martha Logan. Carlo Rota is reprising his role as Chloe's exasperating ex, Morris. (Regarding his ability to infuse some humor into 24's trademark edge-of-your-seat drama, Rota said, "I was concerned about that, but the response has been very good.") Also, after a "four-day" hiatus from CTU, Eric Balfour returns as Milo Pressman.
Additionally, Day 6 brings many new but familiar faces, including James Cromwell (as Jack's estranged father), Chad Lowe (as a savvy politico), Deadwood's Powers Boothe (as the vice president), Numbers' Peter MacNicol (as a presidential advisor), In Justice's Marisol Nichols and Heroes' Rena Sofer (as bad-guy Graem's wife). As is the case with Raver, Sofer doesn't anticipate having a problem juggling both shows — or adhering to 24's policy of protecting story lines. "I can't talk about anything," she politely but firmly replied when asked about her role, only divulging that her name is Marilyn. Nichols was a bit more forthcoming about her character, Nadia Yassir, describing her as "Pakistani/American and second-in-command at CTU."
Joining the show as its newest villain is Adoni Maropis (Hidalgo), who describes his character, Abu Fayed, as "the ultimate terrorist." Under the cliché "everything happens for a reason," Maropis was supposed to have been on 24 a few seasons ago in a one-episode role, which could have impeded his being cast for Day 6. "It broke my heart when they cut the scene," he recalled, "but it was the greatest thing that ever happened to me." Is Maropis ready to become TV's most hated man? "I worry about that. But I've been told not to [worry], and that people love bad guys on 24."
Amid all the life-and-death intrigue, might the CTU personnel have time for some "personal" relationships during this new harrowing day? After all, at Season 5's end, Karen Hayes took a rain check when CTU's Bill Buchanan asked her out to breakfast.... As James Morrison (Bill) quipped, the two "went out to IHOP. Not many people know about that."
Hey, we'll take any secrets we can get.
24 co-creator takes it one day at a time
By Ciar Byrne - The New Zealand Herald
December 7, 2006
Bob Cochran, co-creator of the cult thriller 24, could be a character in his own slick drama: one of the senators routinely threatened with assassination until federal agent Jack Bauer, played by Kiefer Sutherland, saves the day.
Cochran is a larger-than-life figure with a mane of silver hair. His 24 has finished its fifth season on Fox in the US, while work is under way on series six.
"I think we just hit upon a happy combination of elements. There was nothing on air like it," Cochran says. "The fact it was different helped and the fact we were about to create a consistent atmosphere of tension and keep that edge-of-your-seat feeling up over time.
"Kiefer Sutherland was huge, because he inhabited the character of Jack Bauer, made him real and fascinating to watch and embodied all the tensions and the contradictions, the edginess of the show."
Downloads of 24 are available on MySpace.com - which like Fox is owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp - and in the UK, Sky showed each episode of the drama with five different start times when the World Cup was on.
Despite being an executive producer on the show, Cochran is blissfully unaware of these technological advances. He is a scriptwriter of the old school whose sole concern is whether a story works on screen.
Cochran's early years were spent on the move. His father was in the navy, and the family did not settle until Cochran was 12 - in Monterey, California. After attending Stanford Law School, he briefly practised law in San Diego, before studying for an MBA at Harvard and working for the consulting firm McKinsey. But while he was pursuing careers in business and the law, he harboured a secret desire to write for television. After finishing several scripts, he finally submitted one that caught the attention of the team at LA Law.
It is an unconventional route into writing for television, but Cochran believes any experience can feed the imagination of a scriptwriter.
"The material all writers work with is human nature. If you're observant and watch the way people think and act and react and you're honest about your own feelings, I think you have enough material to be a writer, no matter what your background," he says.
From freelancing on LA Law, he got a job on the final season of prime-time soap opera Falcon Crest, a companion show to Dallas, where he met Joel Surnow. Stints on Sons and Daughters and cop show The Commish followed before Cochran and Surnow teamed up again on La Femme Nikita.
The television series based on the film of the same name gave the pair an appetite for the thriller, which resurfaced when Surnow contacted Cochran with an idea for a new show.
Cochran was writing historical mini-series, a personal passion, when he took Surnow's call. "He had this notion for 24, just the framework. He said, '24 hours, 24 episodes; each episode is one hour of the day.' I said, 'What's the genre? Who are the characters? What are the stories? He said, 'I don't know'."
When they sat down together to put flesh on these bones, they addressed the question of what situation would keep the hero awake for 24 hours.
"It felt like it had to be some sort of thriller, like the original The Day of the Jackal with Edward Fox, as well as Clint Eastwood's In the Line of Fire, movies that had a real tension and an end point that everything converged on - the assassination attempt," says Cochran.
The next issue was how to create a storyline for Bauer. "The problem was that in a 24-hour period there's no personal crisis that you can't put aside, even if you're getting divorced, or you're diagnosed with an illness. We came up with the notion of what if your teenage daughter ran away from home. That would certainly get your attention."
So the first season of 24 was born, in which Bauer, an operative with a Los Angeles-based counter-terrorism unit, copes with an assassination attempt on a presidential candidate with a missing teenage daughter, placing extra strain on a marriage already damaged by an affair with a colleague.
The ground-breaking format threw up immediate technical difficulties, notably the impossibility of time cuts. "We have to account for every single second of every hour of this day. Most television shows and movies, if you put a guy on a plane to Los Angeles to fly up to New York, you can cut to New York and he's there. On our show, he's on the plane for five episodes," explains Cochran.
The scriptwriting team came up with several different intertwined story threads - following the hero, the bad guy, the target of the assassination and the hero's wife and daughter. They used the split screen and characters use cellphones a lot.
Fox commissioned just 12 episodes of the show. Cochran and Surnow and their team did not learn until halfway through this initial period that the run was to be doubled.
At the end of the first season, they considered changing the format so that 24 hours passed in each hour-long episode. Cochran says, "We actually sat down and wrote a script reflecting that change in premise. It was just disappointing to us. We felt that's not the show. There's nothing special about it, nothing different. It doesn't have the pace, the drive that the first season came up with, so we decided to bite the bullet and keep the format and of course it has worked out."
24 was devised before the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, but aired shortly after. At first, Fox and the writers questioned whether it was appropriate to proceed with the show, but their decision to go ahead has been vindicated.
"If things are as terrifying or disturbing as terrorism certainly is, people want to try to make sense out of it and one of the ways you do that is by telling or watching stories about it," says Cochran.
The writers incorporate terrorists from across the globe to avoid repetition, but Cochran insists 24 does not have a political stance. "We've been accused of being left-wing because the bad guys have corporate oil interests, and we've been accused of being conservatives because we seem to be pro-military and there's so much torture on our show."
If 24 is formulaic, it is a formula that is working. The fifth season enjoyed higher ratings in the US than the previous series. Cochran insists, "I would like to leave before our welcome is worn out."
AT THE '24' PARTY: Where there's smoke
By Joel Stratte-McClure
LA Daily News
December 7, 2006
Don't blame the smoke and stench of cigars at Monday's "24" party at Les Deux on terrorists or Kiefer Sutherland. "I'm the only guy on the show who doesn't smoke cigars," Sutherland claimed as he pulled a pack of Camel cigarettes out of his jacket pocket.
The smoke-filled launch party celebrating the launch of last season's DVD collection — which includes an intriguing prequel to season six of the Fox drama — was primarily due to 150 hand-rolled Dominican cigars lit by guests during the party's first hour. Sutherland was all business.
"The prequel on the DVD explains why Jack Bauer is indifferent to life when we first see him next month (Sunday, Jan. 14)," Sutherland said. "It enables the audience to be in sync with what's happening."
Then he shook hands with newcomer Powers Booth and eased into a private alcove to get up close and personal with a blow-up photo featuring him from the new coffee-table book "24: Behind the Scenes." But he and other cast members — including Mary Lynn Rajskub, Kim Raver, Jean Smart, Gregory Itzin, Eric Balfour and Roger Cross — were typically tight-lipped about the next 24 hours.
"Anyone holding hands with Jack Bauer doesn't have a long life expectancy," admitted Raver, Jack's love interest. "One day out of two, I think I've become so key to the show that they won't kill me," added Rajskub, who plays Chloe O'Brian. "On the other day, I know I'm doomed."
Newcomers — including Booth, Rick Schroder, Chad Lowe, Regina King, Rena Sofer and James Cromwell — were a bit more talkative. "I play a vice president who cleans up the crisis and saves the world," confided Booth.
That may merit a cigar.
This is not how Jack Bauer would walk a red carpet. But it works for Kiefer Sutherland. (AP Photo/HO/Chris Polk)
24 things about "24"
By Chelsea Carter - Associated Press (ASAP)
December 6, 2006
LOS ANGELES (AP) _ Kiefer Sutherland's ''24'' character, Jack Bauer, is going to have a tough year, er, day. And despite the tantalizing previews of the upcoming season that give his character a ''Christ-like'' appearance (and perhaps attitude) Sutherland says that the character is far from being the son of God.
With the season six premiere of ''24'' only weeks away, the cast and crew of the hit Fox television show are keeping a tight lip about the plot and Bauer's fate (we left off last season with him being kidnapped.)
But the cast recently took to the red carpet to promote the new DVD release of ''24: Season Five,'' and asap went along in search of 24 things to know about the new season, the DVD and the party they had to celebrate it all.
1. The new DVD offers a prequel to Season 6, giving viewers a chance to find out what has happened to Bauer since he was kidnapped seven months earlier. ''I would never say Jack Bauer is indifferent. But the DVD prequel that sets up the new season shows you why he is in the state that he is in,'' Sutherland told asap. ''He's indifferent to life -- a shallow hollow of a man.''
2. Does Bauer kill anybody in the first hour of the new season? Sutherland stared for a moment. ''You almost got me there. I'm being worn down after talking to every person on this carpet,'' Sutherland said. Spoiler alert: Bauer is responsible for a death in the prequel.
3. No, the character Tony Almeida is not coming back. He is dead, said the show's director and executive producer John Cassar. Actor Carlos Bernard, who played Tony, also confirmed it. He's working on other projects, he told reporters.
4. Rick Schroeder, formerly of ''NYPD Blue,'' is joining the cast. Schroeder plays the new head of field operations at CTU, taking the job that once belonged to Bauer. ''He's going to have a lot of Jack Bauer's qualities,'' Cassar said.
5. ''We are bringing back cast from other years,'' Cassar said. ''People will definitely be killed and a few characters who you haven't seen in awhile will be resurrected.''
6. Among those returning this season is actor Eric Balfour as Milo, a CTU employee who appeared in the first season.
7. For the first time, viewers will see the president in a presidential setting -- the oval office, said production designer Joseph Hodges. ''We've had a presidential story line for six years and we've never had the president in a presidential setting. That changes this year.''
7 1/2. Cassar said don't get too attached. The set isn't around for that long.
8. The set designers also have created a bunker, which houses the president and his advisers. Although Cassar would not say why the president has to hide in a bunker, he did say that this season Bauer and the team were not trying to stop terrorist acts. ''The terrorist acts have already happened. This season is about how America is coping with that,'' he said.
9. Actor Powers Boothe joins the cast as Noah Daniels, the vice president. Described as controversial by the show's creators, Boothe said the character is not a bad guy. Like all characters on the show, he says the vice president does the things he does because he believes in them.
10. Kim Raver, who plays Audrey Raines and is romantically linked to Bauer, said she didn't know if her character would survive the season. ''I really, really don't know. But you know, anybody who makes Jack happy doesn't seem to have a long life span.''
11. The show's writers are cognizant of the country's ongoing war against terrorism, Cassar said. Right after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the show pulled a scene that had already been filmed from its first season that showed an airplane blowing up. ''My biggest fear is that someone does something and says 'Guess where I got the idea to do this.'''
12. Fear of being killed off on ''24'' haunts many of the cast. ''You're signed for the season. But you kind of peek at the script and then say 'Whew, I'm still alive,''' Balfour said.
13. Actor James Morrison, who plays CTU's Bill Buchanan, says he wears a black suit this season.
14. The photos in the recently released coffee table book ''24: Behind the Scenes'' was compiled from 30,000 digital images on 20 different hard drives, said cinematographer Rodney Charters.
15. Milo falls in love this season with somebody in the cast, Balfour said.
16. Raver wore a black dress by Dolce & Gabbana to the party. ''I'll tell you something nobody else knows: I got ready tonight without a mirror. We just moved into a new house and we don't have any mirrors. I put on everything and my husband said 'You look great. Let's go.' That's probably why it didn't take so long tonight,'' she said.
17. ''24: Agent Down,'' a new game for cell phones, was released this week.
18. A cigar bar was set up at the party at the Les Deux nightclub in Hollywood. ''I'm the only guy who doesn't smoke cigars on the show,'' Sutherland said, pulling a pack of Camels from his jacket pocket as proof.
19. Jean Smart, who plays First Lady Martha Logan, said a crew member on the show bought 200 ''Impeach Logan'' buttons off the Internet and gave them out to the cast and crew. ''The Logans are still crazy,'' she said.
20. The new season will feature more members of Bauer's family, including his father. The role will be played by actor James Cromwell, Cassar said.
21. Smart and Glenn Morshower, who plays agent Aaron Pierce, will share some screen time.
22. The DVD is linked to a Web site, which is only accessible by inserting disc 7 into a computer. For 24 weeks, the site will be updated with new footage, including three to five minute segments about the show. It begins with a tour by Cassar of the CTU set.
23. Party-goers dipped strawberries, bananas and marshmallows in a giant chocolate fountain.
24. The number one answer on the red carpet from Sutherland, Raver and just about everybody else associated with the show: ''I don't know. I really don't know."
Rick Schroder kills time on 24
Released by FOX
December 4, 2006
Season Six Premieres with 2-Night, 4-Hour Event Sunday, Jan. 14, and Monday, Jan. 15, on FOX.
As the Season Six premiere rapidly approaches, Rick Schroder (NYPD Blue) joins the award-winning cast of 24. The clock for Day Six starts ticking with a highly anticipated 2-night, 4-hour television event Sunday, Jan. 14 (8:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) and Monday, Jan. 15 (8:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX. The shows regular time period premiere is Monday, Jan. 22 (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT).
Schroder will play forceful CTU Operative MIKE DOYLE, who teams with JACK BAUER (Kiefer Sutherland) to execute crucial field operations. He joins a list of notable newcomers this season, including Chad Lowe (ER), Powers Boothe (Deadwood), Peter MacNicol (Ally McBeal), Regina King (Ray), James Cromwell (Babe), Kal Penn (Harold & Kumar), Marisol Nichols (In Justice), Alexander Siddig (Syriana), David Hunt (Everybody Loves Raymond) and Harry Lennix (Commander in Chief).
As previously announced, Emmy nominees Jean Smart and Gregory Itzin return for another day as FIRST LADY MARTHA LOGAN and PRESIDENT CHARLES LOGAN, while Eric Balfour and Carlo Rota reprise their respective roles as CTU contractors MILO PRESSMAN and MORRIS OBRIAN.
24's Season Six will feature WAYNE PALMER (DB Woodside), the strong-minded brother of the late President David Palmer; SANDRA PALMER (Regina King), a determined and powerful advocacy lawyer; presidential advisor KAREN HAYES (Jayne Atkinson); and CTU colleagues CHLOE OBRIAN (Mary Lynn Rajskub), CURTIS MANNING (Roger Cross) and BILL BUCHANAN (James Morrison).
24, created by Joel Surnow and Robert Cochran, is a production of Real Time Productions and Imagine Television in association with 20th Century Fox Television. Joel Surnow, Robert Cochran, Howard Gordon, Evan Katz, Jon Cassar, Kiefer Sutherland and Brian Grazer are the executive producers.
National Ledger: VH1 Big in '06 awards:
And finally, Eva Longoria, looking super-hot in a skintight blue dress, presented the last award of the evening, “Big TV Star,” to Kiefer Sutherland. The “24” star gave an extremely classy acceptance speech, a little too classy for a show like this, in which he offered a heartfelt thanks to “a group we often forget to thank – the fans.”
LMR note: If you plan watching a re-run of the VH1 Big in '06 awards, the only item worth watching is near the end of the show - Kiefer's acceptance speech. Luckily, he had Eva announcing he was the winner. Kiefer and Eva were too classy for the show.
NEED-TO-KNOW INFO (From 24 Fan Club)
There's no question that you won't miss any of the first four episodes of the upcoming 24 season, but just in case, Fox plans to release all four onto DVD, just one day after the episodes have aired. The disc hits shelves on January 16 and will help out fans who miss any of the first four to stay caught up before episode five.
More big casting news for season six: Powers Boothe of Deadwood fame will appear as the Vice-President on the show, while Emmy nominees Gregory Itzin and Jean Smart will reappear in a recurring status as their 24 alter egos, President Logan and his wife Martha.
Diaper Duty
New York Post Online Edition: Seven
November 26, 2006 -- KIEFER Sutherland showed his nurturing side on Thanksgiving. The "24" star was dining with friends at Gotham Bar & Grill and enjoying a Jack Daniels and Coke when a male pal's baby started to whine. "Kiefer went straight to the men's room with his friend and helped change the diaper," our spy said. "He was really good about it - a really nice guy." Other diners sitting nearby included Nathan Lane with a male buddy, and Tony Bennett.
BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Extras star lands 24 cameo role
November 21, 2006
Extras star Stephen Merchant is to have a cameo role in TV drama 24 - but his comedy sidekick Ricky Gervais will not appear as he is "too recognizable".
Merchant, who played an incompetent agent in the BBC sitcom, will be seen handing a piece of paper to a member of staff at the Counter-Terrorism Unit.
But Gervais was asked to record a spoof scene, which producers want to release on DVD, his spokeswoman has confirmed.
He appears as an official who is upset when someone steals an idea of his.
The Bafta-winning actor and comedian is seen whispering under his breath that a mission should be given to Special Agent Jack Bauer, played by Kiefer Sutherland.
Then he appears incredulous when someone else makes a similar suggestion and takes the credit for the idea.
Executive producer Jon Cassar told the New York Post he hoped that Gervais would agree to let the scene appear as a bonus on the DVD release of the sixth season.
Fox is due to show the first episode of that series in the US on 14 January.
LMR comment: The author of the article below believes Kiefer's Jack Bauer is the real role model for Daniel Craig's 007. I've seen the new Bond film Casino Royale. Daniel Craig is definately a new and improved James Bond.
Daniel Craig: Double oh heaven!
By By Sarah Sands
Belfast Telegraph
November 13, 2006
The real role model for Daniel Craig, however, is Kiefer Sutherland in 24. Not only did he give cultural permission for Daniel Craig to be tough and blond, but he also set the pain bar. Bond, like Sutherland, is capable of physical endurance just short of crucifixion and of inflicting any degree of violence for the sake of "the job". Although Bond is British, Daniel Craig does not refer to patriotic motives. By taking the character out of the class system, the film's producers have removed the assumption that Bond is propelled by school and country. Daniel Craig's Bond is an outsider, apparently an orphan who was bright enough to get to Oxford. Like Kiefer Sutherland, he risks his life outrageously many times a day because that happens to be his job.
24's creators put medics on the clock in new comedy
CBC.ca Arts
November 13, 2006
The creators of the Kiefer Sutherland action-drama 24 are taking their real-time format to decidedly different format: a medical comedy.
U.S. network ABC won a bidding war with Fox for the new show, tentatively dubbed The Call, according to reports Monday from the Hollywood trade papers Variety and the Hollywood Reporter.
Dave Hemingson, the creator of the since-cancelled Kitchen Confidential and a writer on the Fox comedy American Dad, is set to write the pilot for the show and co-produce with 24 executive producers Joel Surnow, Howard Gordon and Bob Cochran.
The show will focus on two paramedics and their friends for 22-minute episodes, with a tone that hopes to duplicate the success of M*A*S*H, alternating between comedy and drama.
"We will be toggling between tones and will hopefully create something that is compelling and humorous," Hemingson told the Hollywood Reporter.
Differences from 24's format:
Though the show will take place in real time over its 22-minute run time, there will not be an ominous countdown clock as in 24, Hemingson said. Episodes will also not be serialized from week to week.
The real-time format has proved popular for 24, which won best Emmy Awards earlier this year for drama and best actor for Canadian star Kiefer Sutherland for his role as agent Jack Bauer.
The Julia Louis-Dreyfus comedy Watching Ellie also used the real-time format in its first season.
The Call is tentatively scheduled to air in the fall of 2007.
LMR’s comments: A big JEER goes out to The Simpsons "Annoyed Grunt" episode. Why? As an American, I respect the men and women who serve our country. They put their lives on the line everyday to keep us safe from terrorism. Many Hollywood types still have that anti-war mind set. That's why you see a show like the "Annoyed Grunt". This isn't the 1960's. Grow up, wake up - whatever you need to do. Give respect, get respect.
To be honest, the only reason why I watched Sunday’s episode, was to see/hear Kiefer as The Colonel. His voice reminded me of Colonel David Hunt (FOX News) and R. Lee Ermey (Mail Call – History Channel). Even though Kiefer did a great job, the episode really ticked me off. I actually wanted to give Kiefer a swift kick for taking the role. OUCH!
Emmy Award nominees Jean Smart and Gregory Itzin return for another day on 24
Released by FOX
November 9, 2006
Season Six Premieres with 2-Night, 4-Hour Event Sunday, Jan. 14, and Monday, Jan. 15, on FOX
The midterm elections are over, but the political drama is heating up on FOXs 24 with Emmy nominees Jean Smart and Gregory Itzin set to recur in 2006s most Emmy Award-winning television series. The clock for Day Six starts ticking with a highly anticipated 2-night, 4-hour television event Sunday, Jan. 14 (8:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) and Monday, Jan. 15 (8:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX. The shows regular time period premiere is Monday, Jan. 22 (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT).
In Season Five, Itzins PRESIDENT CHARLES LOGAN masterminded the unthinkable, including the assassination of former President Palmer, and pitted himself against his wife, the pill-popping, petulant FIRST LADY MARTHA LOGAN, portrayed by Smart. Although the conniving First Couple survived the days horrific events, Day Five concluded with the First Lady covertly recording President Logans confession of his misuse of power. As the situation and their partnership unraveled in the final minutes of the day, President Logan was taken into custody by his own security agents, while Chinese government agents captured JACK BAUER (Kiefer Sutherland) and beat him bloody aboard a tanker headed for points unknown.
24s Season Six will feature WAYNE PALMER (DB Woodside), the strong-minded brother of the late President David Palmer; SANDRA PALMER (Regina King), a determined and powerful advocacy lawyer; presidential advisors KAREN HAYES (Jayne Atkinson) and THOMAS LENNOX (Peter MacNicol); and CTU colleagues CHLOE OBRIAN (Mary Lynn Rajskub), CURTIS MANNING (Roger Cross) and BILL BUCHANAN (James Morrison).
In addition, this season welcomes newcomers Powers Boothe (Deadwood) as Vice President NOAH DANIELS; James Cromwell (Six Feet Under) recurring as PHILLIP BAUER, the estranged father of Jack Bauer; as well as Kal Penn (Harold & Kumar), Marisol Nichols (In Justice), Alexander Siddig (Syriana), Harry Lennix (Commander in Chief) and David Hunt (Everybody Loves Raymond) as villainous accomplice DARREN McCARTHY. Eric Balfour and Carlo Rota will reprise their respective roles as CTU contractors MILO PRESSMAN and MORRIS OBRIAN.
24, created by Joel Surnow and Robert Cochran, is a production of Real Time Productions and Imagine Television in association with 20th Century Fox Television. Joel Surnow, Robert Cochran, Howard Gordon, Evan Katz, Jon Cassar, Kiefer Sutherland and Brian Grazer are the executive producers.
