'24' Returns May 2014

It was recently revealed that Fox was interested in bringing 24 back for season 9. Now, it’s official: 24 - and Jack Bauer – are coming back for a new adventure in May of 2014.

The show will be called 24: Live Another Day and it will feature the return of both Kiefer Sutherland (whose previous show, Touch, recently got canceled) and showrunner/writer Howard Gordon. While those familiar faces will be respectively in front of and behind the camera, other familiar things – like 24‘s real time roll-out – won’t be, with the show switching from episodes that highlighted an hour out of a day in Jack Bauer’s life. Instead, 24: Live Another Day will play out over 12 episodes that will “jump around” during this particular day.

Will this be the last day, though? According to FOX Entertainment Chairman Kevin Reilly, it’s unlikely that the series will return to TV after this upcoming adventure; however, he did say that the concept had “franchise-ability.”

One thing that we won’t be seeing, according to Reilly, is that long rumored 24 movie:

    “[Producers] always had the idea of maybe someday doing feature films, but as got into it they all agreed 24 being compressed in two hours is not 24,”

Reilly also indicated that the show could be a magnet for big name talent, though there was no hint as to which (if any) other past cast members would join Sutherland for the new episodes.

With Live Another Day set to be an entirely new adventure and not a strict continuation of 24‘s original run, though, that doesn’t seem all that necessary, and really, it could be argued that 24‘s only real constant was Jack, as producers shuffled in a long list of talented co-stars to surround Sutherland throughout the show’s 8 seasons – something they will surely do again.

So, that is what we know, here’s what we don’t know: after those 192 episodes, a 2 hour TV movie, and 8 seasons, what more is left to say?

To many, 24 ended in as satisfying a way as it could have with its legacy as one of the most important serialized shows in recent memory still firmly intact. Were some critics convinced that the show could or should have come to an end a couple of seasons prior to when it did? Perhaps, but the appetite for more Bauer badassery has clearly been high since the last tick of the clock (the undying buzz about a feature film and the realization of this limited series prove that), and while FOX is looking to cash in on that, they’re surely aware that while action and intrigue have no expiration date and absence makes the heart grow fonder, people do tend to have short memories.

So, will 24: Live Another Day succeed? Only if it has as much firepower and depth as the original and it finds a way to stand on its own and not the shoulders of its past legendary self.

Culled from EW

Don't forget to follow me on Twitter @simplysamad for more exciting gist, photos, interviews, reviews, jokes, quotes and other entertaining content | BB pin: 267F2633