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

New Trailer

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24:Redemption Preview-First Reviews

24: Redemption (previously named 24: Exile) is an upcoming television movie, bridging the gap between the sixth and seventh seasons of 24. Set in the fictional nation Sangala, Jack finds himself caught up in a military coup while trying to find somewhere he can 'be at peace'. Meanwhile, in the United States, it is Inauguration Day, where Allison Taylor is being sworn in to office. The movie is scheduled to air on November 23, 2008 with an extended director's cut being released on DVD two days later.The storyline of the prequel was originally intended to be a part of the seventh season.

With the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike delaying the season for an entire year, producers were exploring ways to get back on the air earlier. Ideas included airing webisodes or mobisodes.“We were going to be off the air for a while and how do you bridge that gap. We thought about doing something online and after talking with [executive producer] Howard Gordon we decided to do it on air.” said Kevin Reilly, President of Entertainment at FOX.

On April 30, producers began scouting locations in Africa in order to film the prequel in the upcoming weeks.The original plan was to shoot three days worth of scenes in Africa and then have Simi Valley, California fill in for the location.After realizing it would be difficult to fake, it was decided to shoot the majority of the movie on location in Cape Town, South Africa.Filming took place from June 4 to June 20 with the final scenes being shot in Los Angeles, California.Principal shooting was completed on July 13.



Redemption begins with a brief prologue showing a young boy being kidnapped at night and drafted as a soldier into the militia.

The storyline takes place on Inauguration Day for the next U.S. President, Allison Taylor,and is shot partially in South Africa."Jack is a soul in turmoil and has been moving from place to place trying to find somewhere he can be at peace," says co-executive producer, Manny Coto. "But he winds up in Africa in the middle of a military coup." Meanwhile, Bauer is subpoenaed to appear before the Senate hearing while in Africa, but doesn't want to go.



Extended Creator's Cut DVD Extras:Commentary, "Making of" and "Children of War" featurettes, a brief summary of the sixth season, an alternate Season 7 trailer featuring scenes from the first fourteen episodes, and the first sixteen minutes of the Season 7 premiere episode.



First Reviews

IGN 7.5/10 "The true purpose of Redemption seems to be an introduction to the new characters and the situation in Sangala -- and that's not a bad thing at all. By setting up the new characters, giving us a new President, a villain, and a handful of supporting good guys and bad guys, 24: Season 7 can get right into a story involving it all. 24: Redemption whets our appetite once again for Jack Bauer's personal brand of justice -- bring on Day 7."

TV Verdict "Overall, a great slice of slam-bang Bauer action, and a luxurious salve for ill-tempered 24 fans and anyone cruising for a kick-ass way to spend two broadcast hours."

Entertaiment Weekly B-

Cinema Spy 3/5 "Whether Redemption can reboot the franchise remains to be seen. Like a guilty pleasure, it's fun to see Jack Bauer back in action again, but audiences may grow apathetic quickly if the producers can't find an effective way to balance the tried-and-true formula of 24 with some new, innovative elements. Failure to do so will almost certainly guarantee that Season 7 will be the show's last."

TVBLOG.UGO.COM "All in all, the plot of 24: Redemption is clearly an afterthought, trying to explain the gap between the 6th and 7th season as quickly as possible, but it just doesn’t do 24 justice. The fact that this was written and filmed after the season it precedes limits what they could have done, and I’m hoping that having watched this causes some “Oh, yeah!” moments during the new season. Don’t get me wrong, there are still some good old fashioned Jack Bauer moments in this, but unfortunately the bad outweighs the good. Maybe being so into this damn series is what caused my disappointment, but after the long wait, shouldn’t they have cooked something amazing up instead of something half-assed?"

iFMagazine.com "Granted, you’re talking to one of the biggest 24 fans out there, so I am biased, but when shows like HEROES have struggled to find their way in their third season, 24 consistently (warts and all, including a hit and miss Season 6) is still one of the best pieces of television out there.

Period.

After the network run is over, it’s clear Jack Bauer as played by Kiefer Sutherland is a character that will be able to segue into a big budget film franchise with ease.

Jack Bauer is back … now see if you too can wait for the ticking clock when REDEMPTION hits TV and DVD. It’s well worth the wait. And that’s the fact Jack!"

Check also:http://www.tvsquad.com/2008/11/21/24-redemption-an-early-look-videos/
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