24 Season 7 Preview

Production

Producers were determined to reinvent the series after facing criticism over the sixth season.They initially devised a storyline which would have Jack Bauer traveling to Africa trying to find himself, and becoming caught up in a coup with Black Hawk Down-style results.]
“ "The fact is, it was a mutual issue," explains Gordon. "We struggled to do something new this year. We sent Jack Bauer to Africa and I wrote a script that honestly did not work. Before the network even saw it at the studio level, we were getting kick-back from the idea, especially once we budgeted what Africa would cost. It was a combination of the studio was not enthusiastic to shoot there for budgetary purposes and creatively, it didn’t feel like it warranted pushing our case. One day, at the IHOP, I sat across Joel and Bob and we all agreed this story wasn’t working and retooled it two weeks ago."

The decision to scrap the storyline and start over delayed production from July to late August.Filming was delayed a second time (from August 27 to September 10) in order for writers to complete additional scripts.

Measures will be taken during filming and production of season 7 to save energy and reduce enough carbon emissions throughout the season to make the season finale "carbon neutral". Howard Gordon said that 24 cares about the issue of global warming and takes fighting climate change seriously. A number of ways that the production intends to save energy are listed on the site, some of which are: using a combination of petroleum diesel and biodiesel instead of regular diesel fuel, creating a series of PSAs with Kiefer Sutherland and other main cast members to educate the public on what they can do to help with the issue, and, when appropriate, applying the issue of global warming and reducing carbon emissions to the storylines.

The crew was scheduled to film scenes with Kiefer Sutherland at the Marine Corps Air Station El Toro on Monday October 22, 2007, however filming was canceled for health reasons due to raging wildfires in the area. Cast and crew had blurry vision and difficulty breathing from the smoke.United States Navy SEALs helped battle terrorists at Camarillo Airport during filming of an episode on August 12-13 2008.

After completion of the 18th episode, production was temporarily shut down on September 15, 2008 for two weeks in order to perform script rewrites for the final six episodes. In an Entertainment Weekly interview, Howard Gordon responded "We just couldn't get this direction to work, and we found another one that we liked better, so we wound up retooling it."

Writers Guild of America strike

On October 25, 2007, FOX premiered the first trailer and announced the return date for season 7 as January 13, 2008.Just eleven days later, on November 5, 2007, the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike began. Rather than airing the eight completed episodes, FOX executives immediately postponed the season to ensure that it "can air uninterrupted, in its entirety." FOX scheduling chief, Preston Blackman, admitted "It's not a decision we wanted to make, but it's one based on how we feel the viewers expect us to schedule the show."

Following the conclusion of the writers strike, production resumed on April 22, 2008.

Kiefer Sutherland claims the strike was beneficial to the show: "The time allowed us to do something that has never been done before — create a map of the entire season before we started shooting. So I can tell you without hesitation, I know for a fact, that season 7 is going to be the best season yet."Sutherland reiterated this in an interview with TV Guide on August 18, 2008.

Regular Cast:
* Carlos Bernard as Tony Almeida
* Rhys Coiro as FBI Special Agent Sean Hillinger
* Colm Feore as First Gentleman Henry Taylor
* Janeane Garofalo as FBI Special Agent Janis Gold
* Bob Gunton as White House Chief of Staff Ethan Kanin
* Cherry Jones as President Allison Taylor
* James Morrison as Bill Buchanan
* Jeffrey Nordling as FBI Special Agent Larry Moss
* Mary Lynn Rajskub as Chloe O'Brian
* Kiefer Sutherland as Jack Bauer
* Annie Wersching as FBI Special Agent Renee Walker

Recurring Cast:
* John Billingsley as Michael Latham
* Ever Carradine as an FBI Special Agent
* Nick Chinlund as Masters
* Rory Cochrane as Greg Seaton
* Elisha Cuthbert as Kim Bauer
* Cameron Daddo as Vice President Mitchell Hansen
* Isaach De Bankolé as Former African Prime Minister Ule Motobo
* Sprague Grayden as First Daughter Olivia Taylor
* Tim Guinee as reporter
* Hakeem Kae-Kazim as Ike Dubaku
* Mark Kiely as Rogue Secret Service Agent Vossler
* Glenn Morshower as Aaron Pierce
* Carly Pope as Samantha Roth
* Amy Price-Francis as Cara Bowden
* Carlo Rota as Morris O'Brian
* Kurtwood Smith as a Senator; Chairman of the Senate Hearing in D.C.
* Tony Todd as General Benjamin Juma; dictator of the fictional African nation, Sangala
* Jon Voight as Jonas Hodges
* Peter Wingfield as Emmerson
* Mark Aiken as Nichols
* Jacqueline Piñol as Carol Vossler
* Lovensky Jean-Baptiste as Udo
* Henri Kingi Jr
* Mike Baldridge

24 will return with a two-night, four-hour premiere on Sunday, January 11th, and Monday, January 12th.

Season 7 Plot Info SPOILER WARNING!!
* With CTU dismantled, the show's setting moves to Washington, D.C..
* Jack Bauer faces trial for his actions in the pursuit of justice. He'll have to work with Chloe to uncover conspiracy within the U.S. government.
* Bauer's day gets off to a shocking start when former colleague Tony Almeida, last seen in "Day 5," returns after being left for dead by a terrorist conspirator in CTU's infirmary.
* FBI Agent Janis Gold will be tasked to investigate Jack Bauer and other ex-CTU personnel. On her team will be FBI Agents Larry Moss, Renee Walker and Sean Hillinger.
* One of the storylines will revolve around the death of the First Son, Roger. His death was classified as a suicide but his father, Henry, believes it was murder and wants to prove it. The First Gentleman will also have heart problems.
* Olivia Taylor, the confident and driven 20-year-old daughter of the President and First Gentleman, is trying to make business with a pharmaceutical company and has a strained relationship with her mother.
* The bad guys will be from a fictional African country called Sangala. While visiting Washington, the former Prime Minister of an African nation and his wife will be victims of a kidnapping attempt.
* Chloe has a 1-year-old kid and a wedding ring. Morris is taking care of the baby.
* John Brunner, an Ohio Plant Manager in his 40s, will try to prevent a potentially deadly catastrophe from happening.

Sources:Wikipedia,Tv Squad

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