Jack Bauer will be back on the air in May!
Fox announced that 24: Live Another Day, the revival of the Emmy-winning series that went off the air in 2010, will make its two-hour debut on Monday, May 5 at 8 p.m. 24: Live Another Day, which is set in London with Bauer attempting to thwart a potentially earth-shattering terrorist attack, moves to its regular timeslot on Monday, May 12 at 9 p.m.
The television events reunites star and executive producer Kiefer Sutherland with executive producer Howard Gordon and many of the other minds behind the original hit series. Along with Sutherland, Mary Lynn Rajskub, Kim Raver, and William Devane reprise their original 24 roles as analyst Chloe O'Brian, Jack's love interest Audrey Raines, and Audrey's father and Secretary of Defense James Heller, respectively. But 24: Live Another Day will see the addition of some new faces as well, including Yvonne Strahovski, Giles Matthey, Gbenga Akinnagbe, Michael Wincott, and Judy Davis.
Update! Kiefer Sutherland, Mary Lynn Rajskub, and executive producers Howard Gordon, Evan Katz, Brian Grazer and Manny Coto opened up (a bit) at the Television Critics Association winter press tour about what fans could expect from this 12-episodes.
While everyone involved wanted to keep as much of the plot under wraps as possible, Coto described 24: Live Another Day like this:
"At the end of Season 8, Jack was basically left a fugitive on the run. We pick up four years later and Jack is still a fugitive. He is still hunted when the show begins. What will come into play is a character (played by Yvonne Strahovski), a CIA agent who has been on the hunt for Jack Bauer. The show will open with that dynamic: a CIA agent hunting Jack. In their minds, Jack is not quite Osama Bin Laden, but a fugitive of high order. When Jack reenters the story on his own terms, he has a mission. Whether it's a good mission or a dark mission, we don't know. But as she comes closer and closer to Jack, Chloe enters the picture and we will learn she has been damaged over these four years. She has turned against the government and almost a more radical [Edward] Snowden-type character. And Jack and Chloe will be forced to stop [someone], in order to protect a secret. That launches the series."
After revealing that Chloe and Jack will, initially anyway, be adversaries in this miniseries, Rajskub noted, "There is no Chloe without Jack." Sutherland added, "One of the nice dynamics, there's a great impetus for all of us to create something new, and we've done that with a lot of new characters and the storylines Jack Bauer is dealing with. Chloe and Jack have had a relationship throughout the entire span of the show. At the beginning of this show they're pitted against one another. That's a dynamic Mary Lynn and I get to play."
With Audrey Raines (Kim Raver) and President Heller (William Devane) also returning, Sutherland teased, "A lot of the dynamics with the characters who are coming back have been shifted by the nature of the show."
But perhaps the most shocking admission was that the 12-hour run will still cover 24 hours, meaning the series will be forced to, uncharacteristically, skip around in time. But Katz was quick to say, "The show will be progressing in the same way it always did, we may just skip two hours [here and there]."
In addition to tackling the free-media information age, Gordon says the hot-button issue of government drones will also be at the forefront. Sutherland added, "We will be following The President of United States and the Prime Minster of England, which will be an interesting look at how we perceive those deals. We're examining that in the course of the show."
Everyone involved stressed that 24: Live Another Day does not cover the same ground as the long-rumored movie was set to do — but that's not to say a feature film is completely off the cards. "The film is an on-going situation," Sutherland said. "Howard came up with an idea for a 12-episode run [and] it's something we're really excited about doing. If this ends up rebooting the show, or causing a film to be made, so be it."
But will either of those theoretical projects revolve around Jack Bauer? "I always felt the star of 24 was this concept, this idea," said Sutherland. "I still believe that very strongly."
