24

[Cheese]

It will be interesting to see if they might just deal with Jack's escape before the next series starts, either in a 10 minute prequel piece or just kick off the season with Jack escaped. They've ditched other plot points quite easily before (the conspirators in series two and Almeda going to prison at the end of series three).

At the moment I reckon he is going to turn up near or in the USA for whatever reason (a mission for the Chinese perhaps or he will already have been used as a bargaining chip), I seriously doubt they will commit to having an entire series set in China. For a start it would take far too long to return to the USA (and are they going to actually film it in China eh?). Though, going by the ridiculous liberties they have been taking with the clock this season who knows? He could break out of a Chinese prison in episode one, run across the Chinese border in episode two and be having an angst ridden moment with Kim in CTU by episode four.

[Busyman™]

It will be interesting to see if they might just deal with Jack's escape before the next series starts, either in a 10 minute prequel piece or just kick off the season with Jack escaped. They've ditched other plot points quite easily before (the conspirators in series two and Almeda going to prison at the end of series three).

At the moment I reckon he is going to turn up near or in the USA for whatever reason (a mission for the Chinese perhaps or he will already have been used as a bargaining chip), I seriously doubt they will commit to having an entire series set in China. For a start it would take far too long to return to the USA (and are they going to actually film it in China eh?). Though, going by the ridiculous liberties they have been taking with the clock this season who knows? He could break out of a Chinese prison in episode one, run across the Chinese border in episode two and be having an angst ridden moment with Kim in CTU by episode four.

Prison Break in China. It doesn't have to be filmed there. Half of 24 is already filmed in CTU. CTU could have been "in Canada" for all intensive purposes.
Also 24 is watched so much and DVDs sell so well that they can take liberties with it's 2.3 million dollar budget per episode. It cost that much and it still turns Fox a profit.

Also a good TV show like that makes it easier for them to advertise for other TV shows in it's lineup. That was a problem for ABC until it got Lost and Desperate Housewives. Ya can't TV advertise Prison Break on CBS.

[add2]

so day 6 will be out next year 2007

[Cheese]

Also 24 is watched so much and DVDs sell so well that they can take liberties with it's 2.3 million dollar budget per episode. It cost that much and it still turns Fox a profit.

My point about liberties being taken was that the real-time clock was being treated pretty much as a joke in the last series. I'm confused as to why the budget would be a factor into this, are you suggesting that because it costs lots of money and makes some profit that they have earned the right to treat their audience like idiots? I'm glad it makes money due to the fact that it would be cancelled if it did not, but otherwise money means fuck all when we are discussing the show on its artistic merits (ie is the ignoring of the time-clock needlessly breaking the fourth-wall).

Prison Break in China. It doesn't have to be filmed there. Half of 24 is already filmed in CTU. CTU could have been "in Canada" for all intensive purposes.

Do you mean "for all intents and purposes"? Anyhow, I'm sure they could just film it on some back-lot with some stock footage of China. Though just remaking an inferior show like Prison Break seems a waste of time. Personally I reckon we will see some resolution of Jack's situation in a prelude piece (like the ten minute piece between seasons 3 and 4*) and Jack will be back on homesoil by series 6(but pretty fucked up from being tortured and the like).

Fans of the show have been talking of Jack going to China since the incident in the Chinese embassy so maybe he will end up going there. At the time it sounded like fanwank which is maybe why I reckon it won't happen/work. Still, there's talk of the film version being filmed in London so perhaps Jack is going to take his own personal brand of pwnage abroad? Whatever, I'm sure it'll make for some passable entertainment.


*I picture a negotiation between the new USA president and the Chinese president, possibly to swap Bauer for some important Chinese prisoner.

[Peerzy]

Yeah i noticed they fooked up with the clock last season. An episode would end with something happen, say when that gas plant exploded and when the next episode starts shouldn't it be the exact next seconds but it clearly wasn't as CTU where there and Jack was carrying someone out on his shoulders.

Also when on the plane they say the nearest airport is 20 minutes off and fighter jets will shoot them down in 15 minutes. 25 minutes later they land on the freeway

[Busyman™]

Yeah i noticed they fooked up with the clock last season. An episode would end with something happen, say when that gas plant exploded and when the next episode starts shouldn't it be the exact next seconds but it clearly wasn't as CTU where there and Jack was carrying someone out on his shoulders.

Also when on the plane they say the nearest airport is 20 minutes off and fighter jets will shoot them down in 15 minutes. 25 minutes later they land on the freeway

Wow I didn't notice that....and still don't really care. Clock mismanagement on the show is like seeing Jack have black shoes in one cut then brown in the next.
It doesn't make me say, "Wtf, do they think the audience is stupid? What gives them the right to treat us this way?"
I honestly didn't think the audience paid that much attention to how the ran down, even with them popping it up on screen. Hell I bet there was mismanagement throughout it's 5 seasons.
It doesn't spoil the action.

On a side note, I'm glad the seasons are ending now. I've got my tivo down to 50% and new shows won't start 'till after I get back...and it's a smaller number of them for the summer season. I can still catch up on Thief, and so forth without recording new shit and then the new shit (mid-June) will be scarce.

[Peerzy]

It's not a massive problem but a TV show where the whole idea is that it is based on real time, only for it to not be in real time at all.

Another one i saw was when they were running out the building with that nerve gas into the van with the see through sealed box. The timer had 1 minute when they started running and 1 minute 7 seconds later they got it into the van.

If the show wasn't trying to be in real time but not a big problem but the fact that the whole idea of the show is the real time element kinda spoils it sometimes.

People would start to get pissed off if in Lost you could see cars in the background or the odd plane or boat, or in Prision Break the gate open or holes in the fence.

[Busyman™]

It's not a massive problem but a TV show where the whole idea is that it is based on real time, only for it to not be in real time at all.

Another one i saw was when they were running out the building with that nerve gas into the van with the see through sealed box. The timer had 1 minute when they started running and 1 minute 7 seconds later they got it into the van.

If the show wasn't trying to be in real time but not a big problem but the fact that the whole idea of the show is the real time element kinda spoils it sometimes.

People would start to get pissed off if in Lost you could see cars in the background or the odd plane or boat, or in Prision Break the gate open or holes in the fence.

Mmk. You focus on the extra 7 seconds and let it bother you. I'll enjoy the rest of the show.

I get what your saying but it means fuck all to me. Call me a less discerning viewer and all o dat. Cool beans.

Something like that it such geeky small potatoes that it really is along the lines of

seeing Jack have black shoes in one cut then brown in the next.

as you bratlanders say, I can't be arsed.

[Cheese]

I've not noticed those missing seconds that Peerzy points out, rather I was highlighting the ludicrous journey times that were ocurring in this season. Now, we've always had this with previous series but this series they took it to new extremes (hence my taking liberties comment). I don't want to see Jack stuck in traffic for a whole show but neither do I want to be laughing at the silliness of the journey times, it's just bad writing really.

Sadly (well, not really, I love crap TV) I spent a lot of last season laughing.

[Peerzy]

Mmk. You focus on the extra 7 seconds and let it bother you. I'll enjoy the rest of the show.

I get what your saying but it means fuck all to me. Call me a less discerning viewer and all o dat. Cool beans.

Something like that it such geeky small potatoes that it really is along the lines of

seeing Jack have black shoes in one cut then brown in the next.

as you bratlanders say, I can't be arsed.

I personally didn't notice the 7 seconds but i read about it on another forum.

Like Cheese says, they seem to write the story and then journey times are added in afterwards and change dramatically. He can do one journey in 10 minutes but 3 hours later it takes him 25 minutes. Sometimes they just need to stick slightly more to the real time element and focus the writing around it, not just adding it in as a gimic in the edition process.