William Wallace

24 is really IMO becoming comparable to Korean Drama in terms of its writing(if you are not familiar with korean drama, it basically has the most retarded cliche writing you will ever witness. im not exaggerating).

24 just isn't fun to watch anymore. I enjoyed season 3, but now its becoming so stale. I'm trying hard to think of a way that the writers can make it fresh again for season 6, but can't really think of anything short of changing the entire show around.

Here are some things that bother me:

1. It's really becoming like a videogame: Find the person who will give you clues to finding a link A, who will help you find the other link B, who will tell you about link C, who will lead you to link D, who will tell you where the boss is, who will tell you where the final boss is.

2. The characters - I don't really see them as real characters anymore. I see them all as pawns waiting for their turn to be killed. I really don't feel much when a major character dies. My reaction is more like "damnit" or "*sigh*" rather than shock.

Plus, now that Jack Bauer is like, the onlly surviving major character from all seasons(Aaron Pierce is not a major character, sorry pierce fans), it just doesn't feel like the same show anymore.

3. Rehashed plot devices.... This deserves its own subcategory:

a) mole...no explanation needed. every season.
b) random character, usually a woman, shoots/stabs the bad guy who is just about to make a deal w/ the govt. and give them the information they need.
c) Jack is always right. His superiors are always incompetent fools.
d) Anyone close to Jack is kidnapped.
e) The enemy always has plan a,b,c,d,e,f etc. This is mainly season 4 and 5.
f) CTU under attack.

4. The real time format. Writers, its so obvious that you want to just drop the real time format, so just drop it already....in fact maybe this is one of the ways the show can become fresh again. You can only come up with so many plots that last 24 hours.

Each season after 2 doesn't even feel like a day anymore. I keep forgetting that its supposed to take place in one day, because really, the way the events play out make it seem more like an entire week.

5. ridiculous co-worker conflicts in CTU, usually involving chloe and edgar(thank god hes gone, but I'm sure someone will take his place to bicker with Chloe).

6. The show is annoyingly patriotic at times. They always have to emphasize "AMERICAN lives are at stake...AMERICAN lives!!!".

RUSF18

I'm pretty sure it's "past the point of no return" with the writing, and that's really fine with me. I just sit back and enjoy it every week, and fight the urge to think about how the plot connections as the season goes along don't make sense.

clckworang

Maybe I'm in the minority about this, but I think this season has been a return form, especially after last season. I've really enjoyed this season, and I've been surprised that there hasn't been a big lag in my enjoyment, which has happened in other seasons.

I realize the show is not completely realistic, that it bends (and sometimes breaks) the expected rules for a show that is supposed to be in real time, but I really don't mind it. There are few shows that get my heart pumping when I watch, but this one does it.

I know I've said it before, but I think 24 is comparable to the James Bond franchise. Pretty much all of those movies are the same. Take an evil genius, add some Bond girls, a scheme to take over or destroy the world, some unexpected obstacles, shake it (don't stir) and there you go. It's all a formula, and some people might be getting tired of that formula, but I'm really not sure where it would go without that formula. I'm not exactly attached to the real-time format, but I definitely wouldn't like to see the show turn into your basic procedural drama where CTU faces a different crisis every week.

Chauzer

still the best show on tv imo

SuperBatMan

It needs to be moved out of L.A.

onebyone

I love 24 and don't think it needs fixing. I think this season has been great. However, if they want to add even more Jack torturing people, I would be ok with that.

Legolas

Considering how many people loved that mess/parody of a fourth season and call it their favorite, why would the 24 writers ever want to change a successful formula?

The biggest thing they need to do is get rid of the petty subplots. The whole thing with Lynn's stolen CTU card and his coked-out sister was one of the most stupid plot points in all of television, especially considering how it magically appeared in terrorist hands who use it to enter CTU because Lynn just so happened to be too chicken to report it stolen for several hours. It's even worse that the season four CTU director's pyscho daughter, which is saying a lot.

If there's a problem within CTU, I don't want it to be caused by Trademark Mole #4 or because Chloe forget Edgar's birthday so Edgar is now refusing to track down a nuclear bomb because he's too busy throwing a tantrum.

Also tone down the stakes. Marwan pulling off 18,000 terrorist attacks in one day is absurd. The show was best when the stakes were more personal and more plausible.

It would also help if they planned out an entire season ahead of time. If you're going to have big shocking twists, set it up from the get go instead of having it just for the sake of having it (i.e. Nina and Logan).

The show's still entertaining, but it's all Michael Bay now and not Michael Mann.

clckworang

I will definitely agree that the show is better when there are more personal stakes involved, but I feel like they did that this season.

And as far as the big Nina twist, that actually helped explain a lot of things that happened the first season, like how the terrorists always seemed to know where Kim was.

esc24

They need to get rid of Jack. That's the only way the show can go back to the way it used to be. The thing that made 24 so great was that it was always so suspensful. Nobody was safe, even Jack. You felt like at any point he could die. You never knew what was gonna happen. I remember watching seasons one and two and thinking "holy crap, there gonna do it, jack's gonna die". I was worried about the character, and that kept me into the show. Then, during season 3 the show started to become more popular and it got to the point where you knew they wouldn't kill him. You would see him put in these dangerous situations, but would know that he was gonna get out. All of the suspense was taken out. It got to the point where Jack was like a superhero and was undefeatable. Now, Kiefer Sutherland has been signed on for like another 3 seasons, so that means 3 more seasons of him miraculusly escaping from these situations.

Another thing they could do is rather than do a season a year, do a season every other year and actually put some time into the shows.

They also really screwed up when they decided to do multiple themes instead of one. The first 3 seasons can all be described in a few words. S1 - Presidential Assassination, S2 - Nuclear bomb, S3 - Biological virus.
Seasons 4 and 5 have no single theme.

The sad thing is that it will never go back to the good old days because now that the show has dumbed itself down, it has become more accessable to average tv viewer and ratings have gone up. They aren't going chance losing viewers by making it the show it used to be.

William Wallace

I strongly disagree. Killing off major characters like flies is one of the major reasons the show isn't as fun anymore. It doesn't feel the same without those relationships from earlier seasons.

Killing Jack is killing the show. Remember when David Duchovony left the X-Files? It wasn't the same without him, even though Robert Patrick was a good replacement.

If Tony and Michelle were alive, maybe it would still feel like 24.

esc24

I understand what you're saying, but Jack has to go. It's getting rediculous that pretty much everyone on the show has died but Jack. He isn't super-human. He should be dead by now. Plus he really isn't an interesting character anymore. He's too predictable. He's gone from being one of the best characters on tv to being a joke.

Gambit

I think the 24 hour real time format is what helps the show keep the suspense up. An alternative to what was suggested for killing Jack off could be to have him severely wounded. He can play a more supporting role and someone else can take the lead.

RUSF18

...until Token CTU Agent gets double-crossed by his niece's 4th grade teacher, and paraplegic Jack springs into action!

onebyone

And then the ratings, which were on the skid, go through the roof!

Getting rid of Jack is pretty much just calling it quits and ending the show. Sutherland is 24.

Autotelik

Here, I'll add another one:

7. Never transfer villains who are captured from CTU to another holding facility.... that's when they're likely to get rescued.


Still love this show though.

Doughboy

Although it's lost a little bit of steam the last few weeks, I was under the impression most viewers and critics thought this one of 24's finest seasons to date. No, it's not gonna get any points for originality. It's essentially Season 2 redux, only this time we're rooting against Logan instead of for Palmer.

I do think they've gone too far with killing off almost all of the popular supporting characters, and in the case of Tony, it wasn't even a good death. But on the flip side, they've managed to salvage previously worthless or annoying characters like Audrey Raines and Wayne Palmer. And Aaron Pierce was finally given a more prominent role.

Plus with the aforementioned Audrey and Martha Logan, the writers seem to have finally learned how to write for women on the show. If there's been one major weakness on 24 in years past, it's that the women are always annoying as piss unless they're evil. Teri, Kim, Claudia, Erin, Audrey(Season 4), Julia Miliken, Kate Warner(at least until the final 1/3 of Season 2). The lone exception was Michelle Dessler and she didn't really come into her own until she was in the hotel in Season 3.

Honestly, the only recommendations I would have for the 24 staff provided the season finale tomorrow night isn't a letdown is to move the show out of L.A. I know they've mentioned using London in the inevitable movie, but how about a different American city in the interim?

whoopdido

I don't know why but something tells me this might be your main problem with 24. Since when did it become a crime to be patriotic?

Brian Gentz

That's been one of my pet peeves about this show, how is it that whenever shit is going down the President is in LA???

and How to improve 24?

not have killed off Tony.

whoopdido

Or Michelle. She was smokin.

William Wallace

This is not my main problem with 24. Actually, its just a minor pet peeve that I felt like mentioning.

PacMan2006

A lot of what I think has been stated, but...

1) Ideally, it'd be nice if they took the Sopranos approach and took a good amount of time off inbetween seasons to come up with a good storyline that will work for 24 episodes. I know that won't happen, but it should.

2) Maintain storylines...if Jack is addicted to herion, have that be an issue all season long (s3). If he has cracked ribs, have that be an issue for him (s4). If he was in a plane crash and has metal stuck through his leg which is a serious medical issue...have that be an issue all season long for him (s2). Likewise, Tony shouldn't be up and running CTU four hours after he got shot in the neck (s3). This is a realtime formatted show. Everything can't be 100% real, but things like this need to be taken into account. And it would improve the program.

3) The writers/producers need to take their show more seriously. Enough with the Chloe vs Edgar (or whomever) tiffs and tantrums. And I don't want to see a girl complaining about possibly being sexually harrassed while at the same moment, terrorists are trying to kill Americans. Who cares...that issue is completely irrelevant to the main storyline anyhow. It's out of place.

4) For some reason, Jack always has to go behind CTU's back to get things solved. He always has to break protocol. It can make for some interesting scenes and moments, but it's getting redundant.

5) There has been a ton of terrorism in L.A on this show. Who would live there now? Even if you want to base some of it in L.A, go back to what you did in season 2 and 3, and have the show travel to different cities--maybe a different country.

6) How about possibly a domestic terrorist (like a Timothy McVeigh) instead of always international terrorism?

7) Lastly, as much as I like TV/movie violence...does EVERYONE on this show have to die (when they get written off)? I cannot think of a single major character who has been able to walk away on their own terms on this show (except maybe Mandy and Kim.) Not Palmer, Tony, Mason, Michelle, Sherry, Chapelle, etc. Some deaths make for great television, but for me at least, it kind of gets to the point where I become desensitized to it on "24." On a show like "The Shield," they manage to keep their show both gripping and entertaining. And yet they don't kill off major characters every season. So when someone DOES die on that show, you are blown away. It took you by surprise and you feel for the character.

whoopdido

Alright. Guess my radar was off. In any event I guess I never found it to be overly patriotic. Of course Americans are going to be in danger and usually foreigners are responsible, but it's a show about counter terrorism, so I don't see how that aspect can be avoided.

whoopdido

Well I WAS shocked and very surprised when Palmer, Michelle and Tony died. I liked all 3 of them so it was sad to see them go. Most people hated Terry so she was no big loss. Sherry was plain evil and pretty much needed to die. Mason died heroically. Chapelle and McGill were kinda minor characters and their deaths didn't really affect things very much. Edgar--who cares really? Who am I missing? Anyway, the point I'm trying to make is that I really haven't minded any of the deaths save for Palmer, Tony and Michelle. I felt like the others were either needed or simply didn't affect things very much. I do think the show would be better off with Michelle, Tony and Palmer, but then again what role could Palmer actually play as an ex president and having Tony and Michelle around as 2 extra agents probably wouldn't add much either. I don't know.

William Wallace

What ever happened to Hammond? Is he gone from the show? He woudl probably be the only supporting character who left the show without dying.

BTW, Keifer Sutherland was just on the Fox news and said

Now I'm looking forward to the finale!!!!

Linn1

Now THAT is what I've been waiting for!! I knew they would do that at somepoint. Excellent.