Tag Archives: 24

Upfronts: Preview FOX’s fall and midseason schedules, including new ’24’ & ‘Prison Break’

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FOX followed NBC out of the gate in presenting its next programming slate for the 2016-17 TV season. In total, the now American Idol-less network is showcasing 8 new dramas, 3 new comedies, 2 new reality series, and a live musical. Of the 13 new shows, four will premiere this fall and the remainders will air in midseason or later. Sound familiar? NBC is playing up stability in the fall, too, debuting only three new series early on and saving the rest for next year. Unlike the other networks, however, FOX shares its fall and midseason schedules at the Upfronts, so we have a clearer picture here as to when benched series will see the light of day.

This fall, FOX’s schedule is unmistakable. Gotham and Lucifer open Monday. Brooklyn Nine-Nine and New Girl provide a comedic launchpad for Ryan Murphy’s fun horror fest Scream Queens on Tuesday. On Wednesday, new drama Lethal Weapon is paired with broadcast juggernaut Empire. Thursday sees crime procedural Rosewood leading into the final season of Bones. Another new drama based on a popular film franchise, The Exorcist, gets the Friday-at-9 slot following Hell’s Kitchen, where it will go head-to-head with NBC’s Friday night genre fare, Grimm. Animation Domination Sunday includes the return of Bob’s Burgers, The Simpsons, Family Guy, and at 8:30 a new half-hour sitcom, Son of Zorn, which is an eccentric live action/animated hybrid from Phil Lord and Chris Miller (The Last Man on Earth). A live presentation of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, starring Laverne Cox (Orange is the New Black) and Victoria Justice (Victorious), will air sometime in October, just in time for Halloween.

Perhaps the most anticipated new series next season, the exciting return of 24 and Prison Break, are being saved for midseason premieres. In 24: Legacy, Kiefer Sutherland’s Jack Bauer is out and The Walking Dead‘s Corey Hawkins is in as the new lead. Typically FOX announces midseason premieres as we get closer to winter, but the new 24 is a special case because it has snagged the coveted post-Super Bowl slot; it will premiere Sunday, Feb. 5 immediately following the big game, and then it will fall into its regular Monday-at-8 timeslot the day after. The next chapter in Prison Break is being billed as a six-episode event series and it will air Thursdays-at-9 leading out of Rosewood come early 2017; the entire gang is back and it looks incredible. Other new series being held for midseason include dramas APB with Justin Kirk (Tyrant), MLB-backed Pitch from EP Dan Fogelman (Crazy, Stupid, Love), racially charged Shots Fired, and Lee Daniels’ Star, plus comedies The Mick with Kaitlin Olson (It’s Always Sunny) and fun time-traveller Making History with Adam Pally (Happy Endings). Reality series Kicking and Screaming and My Kitchen Rules come later, too. And for all your Sleepyheads out there, Sleepy Hollow will return to Friday next year.

Update (5/20): FOX has made some tweaks to its upcoming schedules, just days after announcing them at the Upfronts. Baseball drama Pitch will now premiere in the fall (alongside the new MLB season, so that makes sense), and this pushes Bones to winter. And that, in turn, pushes Prison Break to spring, when it will air on Tuesday instead of Thursday. Got it? Good. The fall and midseason schedules below have been updated to reflect these changes.

Jump after the break to view the full fall schedule and preview FOX’s new fall and midseason series with video clips and descriptions. Continue reading Upfronts: Preview FOX’s fall and midseason schedules, including new ’24’ & ‘Prison Break’ →

Fox: Jack Bauer is out in new ’24: Legacy’ & the brothers are back in ‘Prison Break’ revival

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When people ask me what shows turned me on to television in the first place, my go-to is and always will be: 24, Prison Break, and Lost. These are the pivotal franchises that made me fall in love with the box in my living room, and, well, the rest is history. Fast-forward so many years later, and two of the three are making major comebacks and I couldn’t be more excited.

Let’s start with 24. It debuted on Fox way back in 2001 and lasted for eight seasons and a TV movie. And then just last year, it resurfaced with star Kiefer Sutherland for limited event series 24: Live Another Day. Now, the network wants it to return again, but this time with an even bigger twist. In addition to forgoing the 24-episode format and skipping around some hours of one chaotic day, the newest incarnation of 24 bids farewell to Sutherland’s iconic hero Jack Bauer and introduces a new lead to save the day. That actor hasn’t been cast yet, but Fox says they are looking to fill the role with an African American actor.

Dubbed 24: Legacy, the tenth season in the ever-expanding counter-terrorism franchise serves as a reboot in that it doesn’t plan on incorporating familiar characters or settings. Jack and his right hand Chloe are off-limits this go-around. Here’s the official logline provided by Fox:

The pilot will feature an all-new cast of characters and retain the real-time, pulse-pounding, fast-paced format with split screens and complex interweaving storylines, with each episode representing one hour of an eventful day. The project will revolve around a military hero’s return to the U.S. and the trouble that follows him back – compelling him to ask CTU for help in saving his life, and stopping what potentially could be one of the largest-scale terror attacks on American soil.

“We wanted [the star] to be as different from Jack Bauer as possible, whether that’s an African American or a Latino actor,” elaborated Fox head Dana Walden at the Television Critics Association winter press tour. Co-head Gary Newman added, “As envisioned, the lead character would be diverse, so that will be our first effort in casting. As always, we’re going to cast the best actor we can find for the role. As you can imagine, bringing 24 back, we want to really try to create some distinction and make this feel different than Jack Bauer’s 24, so having a diverse actor in that lead role I think would be helpful in doing that.”

Another change coming to 24 is that the new hero will be sharing the day’s burden equally with a female co-lead. This female lead is a former head of CTU, and thus will serve as connective tissue to 24‘s past. Walden went on to briefly discuss Legacy‘s timely plot and how it plans on distancing itself from the 24 we know.

“It’s a new CTU, a new cast of characters,” she said. “It’s a completely different story in terms of the special ops groups that we’re focusing on. It’s a very contemporary feeling story about the potential to activate new sleeper cells in the United States and radicalizing Americans. It’s a whole new story. There are nods in the pilot to prior CTU agents, there are a couple photos that will feel reminiscent of the original, but no ongoing [returning] characters.”

Howard Gordon, Brian Grazer, Manny Coto, and Evan Katz, executive producers who worked on all previous seasons, return to EP Legacy. The pilot is on track to film this winter.

Update (1/18): Kiefer Sutherland responded to 24: Legacy at a Q&A panel hosted by TIFF Live and he had nothing but kind words to say about the series reboot. “I have said from the beginning that the real star of 24 is the idea, and I mean that wholeheartedly,” he gushed. “I have every faith they’ll do something cool and clever.” Later, when a fan asked about getting closure on Jack Bauer (at the end of Live Another Day he surrendered himself to the Russians), Sutherland admitted he doesn’t know if that will ever happen. “I have no idea if the [24] movie will ever happen, or Jack Bauer might end up finding his way into an episode one day and clarifying all of that, or ending all of that.” He promised he’d pass the sentiment along to 24 EP Howard Gordon the next time they meet. Watch Sutherland talk 24 here; the clip is cued up and ready to go.

Jump after the break to learn more about Prison Break‘s return. Continue reading Fox: Jack Bauer is out in new ’24: Legacy’ & the brothers are back in ‘Prison Break’ revival →

Kiefer Sutherland discusses the future of ’24’ without Jack Bauer

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As the “more 24” rumor mill continues to spin following the successful run of the franchise’s event series 24: Live Another Day, it’s about time we heard direct from the source regarding the series’ future. Star Kiefer Sutherland, who has played the iconic terrorist hunter Jack Bauer ten times now–across eight seasons, a TV movie, and LAD, is hanging up his gun. Or rather, he’s handing it off to young blood. In an interview with Deadline, Sutherland openly discussed where 24 may be headed in the not-so-distant future.

“I’m not coming back to do 24 because there are other things I want to do. And when they said limited-series run [re: Live Another Day], I meant it. But I’ve always felt, from Season 1 on, that 24 is such a great idea that this can go on forever. I think if you create a new cast or other characters in the telling of this story, it will bring a freshness. And let’s face it there’s only so many bad days one can have before the show becomes a mad comic. And what I don’t want it to be is a mad comic…it doesn’t rule out to one having a cameo.”

So! 24 will likely live to see another day, but this time around it will feature a new bad-ass leader at the helm. And, if we’re lucky, Sutherland will show up again as Bauer to literally hand the baton to his successor. But first, someone has to break him out of Russia firm grip! Also, can 24 exist without Jack Bauer fully involved in the day’s predicaments? Sound off! #BringTonyBack

[Via Deadline]

FOX renews ‘Gotham,’ ‘Empire’ & ‘Brooklyn Nine-Nine,’ discusses futures of ‘X-Files,’ ’24’ & ‘Prison Break’ (!)

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Days after renewing animated sitcom Bob’s Burgers for a sixth season, FOX is expanding its security blanket over three more of its series. Freshman Gotham and Empire, as well as sophomore sitcom Brooklyn Nine-Nine, will be back next fall to unspool new episodes. And this renewal news shouldn’t really come as any sort of surprise: the Batman origin story and the hip hop soap opera both performed well out of the gate with popular pilots; in fact, Empire‘s ratings went up in its second week which these days is a rare feat indeed. As for the Andy Samberg laugher, that series is comfortably enjoying its new digs on Sunday nights stuffed between The Simpsons and Family Guy.

What about the fates of other FOX shows such as Bones and Sleepy Hollow? “We are in conversations on both,” FOX studio and network head Dana Walden told reporters at the Television Critics Association’s Winter Press Tour this week. “We’re at the end of our deal on Emily Deschanel and David Boreanaz. We’re very hopeful Bones will return. We can’t announce it today because deals aren’t closed, [but] nothing will make us happier.”

As for Sleepy Hollow, Walden said the network is “going to wait a little bit longer” to renew it as creative calibrations are made behind-the-scenes. “We’re excited about some creative changes on the show and bringing it back to something that feels a little more episodic in nature, that has closure and doesn’t feel quite so serialized,” said Walden. In sum, the network would like the series to take the serialization down a couple pegs and “return the fun to it” that was rampant in season 1. That being said, worry not, Sleepy heads–Fox brass holds the show in a special place in their hearts and wants to see it grow. “We really love the show,” she added. “We love Tom Mison and Nicole Beharie. They have fantastic chemistry. We feel like it’s a really unique series.”

And now for the juicy stuff. Walden and network/studio co-head Gary Newman shed a glimmer of light on the futures of classic FOX series like The X-Files, 24, and yes, even Prison Break. For more, jump after the break. Continue reading FOX renews ‘Gotham,’ ‘Empire’ & ‘Brooklyn Nine-Nine,’ discusses futures of ‘X-Files,’ ’24’ & ‘Prison Break’ (!) →

Tony Almeida returns in ’24’ DVD/Blu-ray exclusive clip

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24 fans can’t forget the commercials that aired during episodes of this spring’s Live Another Day. You know, the ones that hinted at the return of good guy/bad buy Tony Almeida, Jack Bauer’s right-hand man at CTU across the first few seasons of the show. Well, it turns out the rumors of his return were true. Though Carlos Bernard never turned up in season 9, his character is making a comeback in the home release exclusive clip “Solitary.” In it we find a disheveled yet enlightened Almeida who’s ready to make a new life for himself outside of his shackling bar cells. He seeks redemption and wants to help the government take down terrorists, and he thinks he can do it by going undercover because the baddies are well aware of his bloody, vengeful past.

Now here’s my logic: is this, perhaps, a setup for a potential season 10? Will Live Another Day Part Duex (title pending) feature Jack reuniting with his former parter to save another day from total destruction? Or, even more compelling, will a new season follow Tony jetting to Russia to help Jack escape his captors? Preview “Solitary” after the break; for the full clip you’ll have to shell out for the LAD DVD or Blu-ray out Sept. 30.

[Via EW] Continue reading Tony Almeida returns in ’24’ DVD/Blu-ray exclusive clip →

TV reminder: 4 premieres to look out for in May

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As summer approaches many of your favorite shows will be airing their season finales this month. But don’t freak–May is home to a handful of exciting premieres headlined by the return of 24 and Louie. Jump after the break for details. Continue reading TV reminder: 4 premieres to look out for in May →

’24: Live Another Day’ gets movie trailer treatment and it wows

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For those of you still holding out hope that a 24 movie will be made, here is your fix. FOX has released a “movie trailer” hyping the upcoming return of Jack Bauer. After years of speculation, 24 is being resurrected as a 12 episode event series for TV and not as a feature film; however, fans will likely treat this as one long 12-hour movie because in essence that’s what it really is. Need proof? Mash play on the two-minute and twenty-one second trailer embedded above for an unabashedly thrilling look at the new season of 24: Live Another Day. Featuring an all-star cast in a brand new location, the new 24 is shaping up to be as fun and addicting (if not more so) than ever before.

24: Live Another Day premieres May 5 on FOX. Jump after the break to read the latest logline. Continue reading ’24: Live Another Day’ gets movie trailer treatment and it wows →

New extended ’24: Live Another Day’ trailer is here

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Your wish is my command. A third clip hyping the upcoming ninth season of 24 has surfaced, following the incredible Super Bowl spot and this 34-second teaser. “Risk” is the lengthiest look at the new season thus far and it promotes the same kind of high-stakes action and intensity you are used to seeing from the Kiefer Sutherland led series.

Speaking of the 24 Super Bowl commercial, you’re going to want to jump after the break to watch a behind-the-scenes look at how that secretive spot was made.

24: Live Another Day premieres May 5 on FOX. Continue reading New extended ’24: Live Another Day’ trailer is here →

’24: Live Another Day’: New trailer, new stills

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We are less than two months out from the premiere of 24: Live Another Day, FOX’s upcoming 12-episode event series that brings Kiefer Sutherland’s Jack Bauer out of hiding to save the world again. A brand, spankin’ new trailer (one that’s brief yet effective like the preceding Super Bowl teasers) introduces us the new playing field that takes place in London where an attack on US President James Heller may be imminent.

“If an American president is assassinated on foreign soil, you’re looking at a world war,” warns Jack.

Bauer and the newly minted Girl with the Dragon Tattoo-esque Chloe O’Brien (Mary Lynn Rajskub) appear in the trailer along with first looks at President Heller, his daughter and Jack’s long lost love Audrey, Tate Donovan’s White House Chief of Staff Mark Boudreau, and Benjamin Bratt as CIA head Steve Navarro. Check out stills of the aforementioned characters and more players entering the Live Another Day fray in the gallery below.

Looks like the stakes will be as high as ever when 24 returns May 5.

[Images via EW]

JACK IS BACK! ’24: Live Another Day’ teased across 5 promos

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24 fans were treated to quite the surprise today during the Super Bowl when FOX aired not one not two but five terrific teasers for the upcoming event series 24: Live Another Day. The network smartly sprinkled four 13-second clips briefly highlighting destruction and mayhem on the streets of London (watch them after the break); to the uninformed these spots were likely confusing because they didn’t specifically point out what they were promoting. Each of them, however, ended with a flash of the famous ticking clock–an unmistakable visual cue and sound for loyal 24 viewers. The four clips eventually culminated in a grand 48-second teaser finally revealing Kiefer Sutherland’s Jack Bauer fending off the off-screen baddies and protecting his partner in crime Chloe O’Brien. The former CTU analyst played by Mary Lynn Rajskub rocks a dark new look and it makes sense; at the TCAs produces shared that Chloe has since become an Edward Snowden-type who has “turned herself against the government.” She looks bad-ass; in fact, the entire teaser is bad-ass in all its destructive glory. FOX’s marketing team did a stellar job with the mysterious gradual reveal and as a longtime 24 fan I couldn’t be happier to see Jack and Chloe reunited for a new intense season set across the pond.

24: Live Another Day premieres May 5. Continue reading JACK IS BACK! ’24: Live Another Day’ teased across 5 promos →

Mark your calendars: FOX sets a return date for ’24’

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24 fans, perk up! A new day is upon us. FOX resurrects 24 with series players Kiefer Sutherland (protagonist Jack Bauer), Mary Lynn Rajskub (Jack’s right-hand analyst Chloe O’Brien), Kim Raver (Jack’s former lover Audrey Raines), and William Devane (once US Secretary of Defense James Heller) on Monday, May 5 at 8PM. Like all proper 24 premieres, this special “event series” dubbed Live Another Day will have a two-hour launch and then the following Monday it will play out in 24‘s old 9PM timeslot.

The latest logline goes like this: “Set and shot in London, the suspenseful event series once again will follow the exploits of heroic agent Jack Bauer as he attempts to thwart an unthinkable terrorist attack that could change the world forever. Retaining the real-time, nail-biting, fast-paced format with split screens and interweaving storylines.

At the winter TCAs more details leaked out about the highly anticipated return of 24. The season takes place four years after the events that unfolded in season 8, and Jack is still on the run but this time in London. “He is still a fugitive who he has been hunted–and he is still hunted,” spilled EP Manny Coto. Yvonne Strahovski (Chuck) plays Kate Morgan, the CIA agent hunting down Jack. “Jack is not quite Osama Bin Laden, but he is someone to be captured,” continued the EPs. “And when Jack reenters the story on his own terms, we will learn he has a mission. Whether it’s good or dark we don’t know, but this CIA agent [Kate] is determined to catch him, and as she gets closer and closer to him, Chloe O’Brien reenters the picture.”

“Chloe and Jack are pitted against each other due to a set of circumstances,” revealed Sutherland at the press event. Turns out Chloe has “turned herself against the government” and it will take some convincing on Jack’s back to bring her back into the fold. “There is no Chloe without Jack,” remarked Rajskub, so I’m guessing it won’t take long to get to the happy reunion we’ve all been waiting for.

What else? When we reenter the world of 24 Devane’s James Heller is now President of the United States. And what of his daughter Audrey? “When we last left Audrey, she was in a very bad place with Jack, so [in the years that have passed] she has come out of the ‘wilderness.’ But the interesting thing will be, when Jack reenters the picture, how will she react to that?” pondered EP Evan Katz.

If you don’t have time to watch up on 24 between now and May it’s no problem according to EP Howard Gordon. “You can actually pick this series up without having seen Season 8, or any of the show at all,” he said. “The benefit of coming back four years later is that those four years need to be explained, so the exposition will not come off as exposition but a justified moment of characters catching up,” added Sutherland.

And of course there was discussion of the oft-rumored 24 feature film. “The script for the film is very, very different,” Sutherland shared. “[Live Another Day] was the opportunity that presented itself to us first, and it’s a fantastic idea. And if this ends up rebooting the show or causing the film to be made, so be it.”

Those’ll be words to make any 24 fan very, very enthused. Now here’s that date again: 24: Live Another Day premieres May 5 on FOX.

[Via TVLine; EW]

’24: Live Another Day’ to shoot in London, trio of veterans rejoin the cast

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The new season of 24 is being billed as a “thrilling international adventure” as it will take place and shoot on-location in London. Star and executive producer Kiefer Sutherland and EPs Evan Katz and Manny Coto commented on the exciting news and at the same time dropped some intel on the upcoming 12-episode event series.

“24 has always had such a global sensibility,” said Sutherland. “But to be able to tell this intense 24-style story with the beauty of Europe’s history and architecture as the backdrop is going to be fascinating. Hopefully, by the time you’re finished watching an episode, you’ll feel like you’ve been there…on the edge of your seat.”

“We wanted the show’s return to be an event, and part of that was putting Jack in a very different context,” added Katz. “Four years ago, we left Jack a fugitive from justice and we’re going to pick him up four years later in London.”

“Jack is soon back on the run and it takes us into the streets of London and in places that break new ground for the show,” continued Coto. “We’ve shot in New York, Washington, Los Angeles and Cape Town — but now we’re in London and Jack’s loose on the streets of Europe, hunted by and hunting bad guys.”

And who will be joining Jack in London when 24 returns next year? Of course Mary Lynn Rajskub will reprise her role as Jack’s CTU confidante Chloe O’Brien and in some surprise casting news Kim Raver and William Devane are also coming back. Raver played Audrey Raines, a former love interest for Jack, and Devane was Audrey’s father and once United States Secretary of Defense. These two were last seen at the end of season six; Raines was in a catatonic state after her captivity with the Chinese and Heller threatens Jack that he cannot see his daughter ever again. Well, things are about to get interesting.

24: Live Another Day premieres in Spring 2014 on FOX. As previously reported, the new season will still take place over a 24-hour period but it will skip hours to make for a shorter but even more exciting ride.