No commercials. That's pretty much the only way it could improve.

Hire Marshall now that he is out of a job.

Thanks a lot there, captain spoiler!

Anyway, back on topic. I think the best way to improve the show is to write the whole season out before starting. The last 2 seasons have felt really fractured and random. Also they should stop killing any and all characters that the viewers give a damn about.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again. Since Episode #13, 24's writing has not changed, only people's tolerance for it. Change would be the best thing to happen to this show, but I wouldn't count on it. This season was supposed to be the one where Jack was on the run, but it's just the same old shit.

das

The Los Angeles thing is the one bit that bugs me. This show could really use a change of scenery. I realize Hollywood is in L.A., whatever. It worked for seasons 1-3, but afterward it was just laziness/cheapness to set it there. Especially this season... Jack goes into hiding, let he lives a chopper ride away from his old digs? Same with Tony & Michelle. Surely other cities have CTU offices, and would be ripe targets.

Hell, I would love to see 24 in Vegas, or New York, or Anchorage, or Honolulu, or wherever.

Please don't give the braindead tv guys any ideas. Instead of coming up with new ideas for the current show some hack might come up with the great idea of just starting a spinoff 24 based in another city. CSI Miami and New York anybody? I was just watching Entourage the other day and Drama was up for a part on a new show called CSI Minneapolis starring Don Johnson as Grissom's character. I can see it now. 24 Detroit starring Steven Seagal.

A recent post here said the reason it's always in LA is because of the near-constant weather pattern. They can't do a NY one. A 24 hour period of storytime would take, what, 8-9 months of filming? That's fall, winter, spring. Big change of weather for only a day.

Granted, there are other places to go, but I can see why it's not in the northeast or midwest.

Change the name of the show to 12.

This would reduce how thin premises are stretched, the level of suspension of belief required to watch, and the price of the season DVD sets.

1. 24 is not 24 without Jack Bauer, period.
2. 24 is the name people are familiar with, don't change it.
3. A new location like New York or London would be good for the show.
4. Keep Chloe, Audrey, Buchanan, Curtis, Pierce and, Novak as your core cast. Kill the rest at will, including Kim and her boyfriend.
5. Bring back Mandy as an assassin set to kill the Chinese or North Korean ambassador with WWIII as the threat.

I wasn't talking about a spinoff, just saying Jack Bauer could reasonably be in a city other than Los Angeles (whether for business or personal reasons) at some point in his life and that city could be victim to a terrorist threat. Considering they've killed off most of the other remaining characters at this point it wouldn't be a problem if he ended up at a different CTU office with all-new staff members.

I understand that reasoning, but still there are many shows that take place in New York, Baltimore, etc. and don't worry about this. And it's not like 24 is known for completely authentic depictions of things like this. 75% of the show takes place indoors anyway. Besides, it would help the Vancouver economy.

Just because it's filmed there doesn't mean it has to take place there. I'm pretty sure in the world of make-believe you can film in one place and say it's another. Hell, all three CSIs are filmed in California.

kill off jack bauer and hire jason bourne...

I second this. Maybe put Jack in a situation where CTU isn't readily on hand to be at his beck and call when he feels the need.

Of course, I'd like to see a spoof of sorts and have the next 24 be a normal everyday kind of day. Where for a couple hours, he's just sitting in his underwear, watching a football game and eating Doritos or something. And every time the phone rings, people jump in anticipation that some end-of-world-crisis needs Jack to save the day, only to be some telemarketer.

How about Jack Bristow? (yeah, I know the actor is already in a new pilot)

Why improve it?

It is having its best ratings of any season?

seems to be working pretty darn good.

Exactly. Jack Bauer is a patriot. mess with the USA, and you are messing with Jack Bauer.

Yeah I know, but I'm just hoping some moron doesn't see all the "move it out of LA" ideas and get a hairbrained idea to make a spinoff. That would suck.

A different setting could be just what the show needs. I would definitely like to see that. And I don't see the L.A. weather patterns as having anything to do with always setting something there. As others have said, this is make believe. You don't have to say that something is set in L.A. just because you filmed there. God knows Canada has substitued for just about any locale for other movies and TV shows.

I could get behind this proposal.

Now that I think about it, didn't the very first episode run commercial free?

Here's what I would love to see for season 6. The newly-elected president names Jack Bauer as his Secretary of Defense. Unfortunately, terrorists set off a bomb during the inauguration that decapitates the new government. Jack Bauer survives the blast, and by order of presidential succession, he becomes president.

Not only would he have to protect himself from assassination, he'd also be a mole working against himself.

das

In other words... the perfect season!

I still think the show is very fun and very very entertaining.

1. Nine words: Jack Bauer's long lost, goateed, evil twin, James Bauer. Also played by Kiefer... with even more gravitas. 350% more, as a matter of fact. That's more than twice the FCC recommended dose.

2. Even more sockets opened... can't have enough sockets.

3. You know douche/psychiatrist guy who was dating/counseling Kim? He's at the center of a kidnapping plot. At the end, Jack unmasks him, revealing... a certain cougar! How did this happen? How did the cougar survive? How did he pass CTU security without them noticing he was a cougar? For that matter, how did Kim not know he was a cougar? Hilarity ensues. The season ends there, with the plot never to be mentioned again... or will it? No. No? No.

4. Chloe + weaponry = ratings. Oh yes.