24 Legacy: Most Successful Post Jack Bauer 24?

The fans may have doubted the future of 24 without Jack Bauer, but does 24 Legacy proof that 24 can still “kick ass” without Jack Bauer?

By: Ringo Bones

Ever since actor Kiefer Sutherland had more or less retired his role as Jack Bauer in the iconic TV series 24, many fans have doubted if it is even possible to continue 24 without Jack Bauer and still retain the thinking man’s kick-ass action the series is well known for. Well, in 2017, those doubts had recently been put to rest with 24 Legacy. And to serve as a refreshing salute to diversity, the main action hero of the series is now African-American.

After leading a mission to eliminate terrorist leader Sheikh Ibrahim bin-Khalid, Sgt. Eric Carter (played by Corey Hawkins), a former Army Ranger who returns to the US and finds out that he and his squad mates are being hunted down and killed because one of his team unwittingly stole a flash drive containing a list of US-based terror sleeper cells and the codes required to activate them for future attacks. With nowhere else to turn to, Carter asks CTU to help him save his life while also stopping a series of devastating terrorist attacks on American soil. The series takes place three years after the events of 24 Live Another Day and is set in Washington, DC.

Unlike previous 24 seasons which have 24 episodes, 24 Legacy – like 24 Live Another Day only has 12 with a 12-hour skip but still retains the “events occur in real time” narrative. And despite of the franchise’s longevity, the latest one still retain the “thinking person’s kick ass” quality that have since defined the series and had what made fans – both old and new – to have come to expect and love.

Will There Be A 24 – the Donald J. Trump Presidential Season?

Even though the iconic series is now ended, would a “special” Donald J. Trump season of 24 prove to be the most exciting season of 24 ever?

By: Ringo Bones  

Given the real-life Russian hacking said to have been the primary reason why he got elected to the presidency, many a 24 TV series fan are probably wondering if there will ever be a Donald J. Trump based season of 24 to be released. If it does it would probably be the most exciting and gripping season of 24 in comparison to what have came before. 

Picture this, a very unpopular US presidential candidate with strong ties to a despotic Kremlin administration who got elected to the US presidency with the help of top-tier Russian computer hackers working under the behest of a despotic Russian strongman that ignited almost daily violent demonstrations across the United States since being inaugurated. Reactivated CTU agent Jack Bauer now uncovers a “rogue” faction of the U.S. Secret Service with plans to assassinate the elected unpopular US president and agent Bauer then decides that what’s best for America is for the assassination to go ahead. It may be too politically contentious in the current political climate, but given the right director and guest stars, it would prove to be the most exciting and gripping season of 24 compared to what has gone before. 

A 24 Without Jack Bauer?

Maybe it was due to the producers taking advice form overpaid Madison Avenue focus groups but would 24 still be a hit without Jack Bauer? 

By: Ringo Bones 

Given the relatively unseemly success of 24 Live Another Day back in 2014, the iconic TV show’s producers had probably been paying overpaid Madison Avenue focus groups because back in June 2015, there had been “rumors” of yet a new 24 season – but this time without Jack Bauer – because he will be replaced by someone younger. And rumor has it that he will either be a Sig Sauer wielding Justin Bieber or Nick Jonas like character. But given my recent encounter with online trolls, I dared not check out the online postings in fear of unnecessary angst. But will a 24 without Jack Bauer still work with the fans and the shows advertisers? 

Capturing the whims of the current 18 to 24 TV viewing demographic can be a risky business. Just look at the cancelled shows that barely lasted a single season put forth by Fox and others since the start of the 21^st Century. At present, TV shows that have been tailored by overpaid Madison Avenue focus groups to allegedly capture the 18-24 year old demographic are more often than not, unwatchable to anyone who were old enough to experience the Ronald Reagan Administration first hand. 

A 24 without Jack Bauer may be a day without sunshine to the dedicated fan but given the statistical likelyhood of reboots becoming an economically viable success is just too hard to ignore. Sadly, millennials with the requisite disposable income and time to watch these newfangled TV series had been described as having the dedication but not the conviction. This would likely result in half-empty convention halls when fan convention time comes around. Maybe the producers of 24 need a healthy dose of cynicism if they ever with for a reboot that would satisfy both new fans and those who have grown to love the show since the first season aired. 

24: Living For Another Franchise?

Despite the utter dearth of post 24 acting careers for the leading actors of the iconic TV series, is 24: Live Another Day just a desperate bid for actor Keifer Sutherland to start another successful franchise? 

By: Ringo Bones 

Honestly, I can’t even name that post-24 TV series by actor Keifer Sutherland that he did after 24 Day 8 without resorting to Google search but worry not 24 diehards, cause the new 24: Live Another Day – also known as 24 Day 9 – is as good as the 24 seasons that came before it and became a runaway success in the wake of the then U.S. President George W. Bush’s post 9/11 War on Terror. 

24: Live Another Day – also known as 24 Day 9 – is a limited edition TV series consisting of just twelve episodes, unlike the previous season’s 24 episodes as events allegedly happen in real time. It premiered on the American Fox TV network back in May 5, 2014 and ended back in July 14, 2014. Though it now started its “tour” across the world airing on various Fox affiliates – one just aired here in the Philippines back in September – the new season is quite a departure from the previous seasons were a season typically consisted of 24 episodes that happen in real time. Fortunately, the changes are not one of those J.J. Abrams reboots. 

The new 24: Live Another Day covers a 24 hour period that begins and ends at 11:00 A.M. but there’s a 12-hour time jump within the final episode, thus the new season is now only 12-episodes long. It takes place 4 years after 24 Day 8 / Season 8 where James Heller is now the President of the United States. Like previous seasons of 24, this one deals with the consequences of the still ongoing post 9/11 War on Terror and even though it may be sorter than the 24s that came before – 50 percent shorter in fact – it still manage to please most of the diehard 24 fans. Further reinforcing the perception that actor Keifer Sutherland is now forever type-casted as agent Jack Bauer. 

Would The TV Series 24 Be An Anachronism In The Obama Administration?

Despite the drone-strike collateral and the “out of control” US government surveillance on its own citizens is the TV series 24 already an anachronism in the Obama administration?

By: Ringo Bones

The runaway US government surveillance on ordinary citizens on US soil and the rest of the world has been since de rigueur after the September 11, 2001 terror attacks and yet does your average “civil liberties enthusiast” seems to now harbor a feeling of complacency in the new Obama administration? I mean those robotic unmanned aerial drones never ever tortured a Palestinian-American who had since been granted political asylum and had been living in brooking since 1985 – unlike the Dubya Bush era “extraordinary renditions” program that tends to paint a rather broad brush at Americans adhering to the Islamic faith. So is the TV series 24 an anachronism in the current Obama administration?

Criteria used on whether American citizens and us ordinary folks from the rest of the world’s are freer now compared to at the height of the Bush administration’s extraordinary renditions program are rather sketchy at best. As a way of comparison those Roger Moore era James Bond movies – to me at least – seem to be more “anachronistic” in the time when the Berlin Wall fell back in September 1989 in comparison to the season 2 of the TV series 24 during the 2012 US Presidential Elections. But that’s just my opinion.

Should There Be A 24 Fan Convention?

Given that iconic TV series from the 1960s, 1970s and the 1980s already have their own regular fan-base-established annual conventions, should 24 have one too?

By: Ringo Bones

Even though it seems that Keifer Sutherland’s post 24 / Jack Bauer career has been in the doldrums as of late – I mean his latest TV series Touch seems to have never became a next-day water-cooler discussion compared to other competing primetime TV series like Homeland and / or Last Resort. But should the fans of 24 establish an annual convention given that Keifer Sutherland’s post 24 acting career seems to be going nowhere?

Well, during the 1980s, Star Trek fans were “emboldened” by the first Star Trek motion picture made the annual Star Trek convention – which started around 1974 – one of the biggest TV series based conventions in the United States after as many as 35,000 Star Trek conventions – both official and unofficial – were happening every year throughout the 1980s. Will the same scheme work for 24?

Given that 24 never “jumped the shark” (that I know of), it may be justified for fans who are not contented on mere watching the latest complete series 24 Blu-Ray boxed sets to establish their own annual 24 fan convention. Who knows, it might become economically viable enough to compete with annual Star Trek conventions.

Herman Cain’s Failed US Presidential Bid: A Lost 24 Season?

Given that he’s probably the first African-American US Republican Party candidate with a credible shot at the White House, does Herman Cain’s failed US Presidential Campaign eerily looks like a lost season of the TV series 24?

By: Ringo Bones

Do you find it weird that real life – more often than not – tends to imitate art? But the truth may be stranger than fiction when it comes to the first African-American GOP hopeful and Godfather’s Pizza CEO named Herman Cain who – since now disgraced by a string of sexual harassment allegations that just a few months ago came out – seems to mimic the first season of 24. But is it really?

Sadly, Herman Cain’s real-life “Jack Bauer” was probably one of the needless casualties of former US President George W. Bush’s ill-advised mission to search for WMDs in Saddam Hussein’s Iraq back in March 2003. Herman Cain probably lost his “Jack Bauer” in George W. Bush’s malfeasantly-run Operation Iraqi Freedom. Who knows if Herman Cain’s real-life Jack Bauer could have saved him from sexual harassment allegations and an alleged 13-year-long extra-marital affair? We may never know.