I have heard that the new season for 24 will begin on January 14th, 2008. However, is this going to be affected by the writers strike?

Season seven is postponed until the writers strike is over because there are only 7-8 episodes completed.

Its been postponed. indefinately.

Great!

I'm almost done with Season 3 now... maybe this'll give me time to catch up on the other three before it starts!

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Skip S6 and get there faster!

Yeah, I'd say it is off the schedule until next year at this stage. They'd never finish writing and filming the remaining 24 episodes in time to air the entire season by Memorial Day. Probably for the best considering Kiefer has a considerable amount of his DUI sentence he needs to serve before June anyway...

It won't be back for a loooooooooooong time at this rate. I wonder if it'll affect their plotline for Season 7 in any way.

You mean 16 episodes. 8 episodes are in the can already.

Kiefer is actually sitting in a Glendale, CA jail right now until the end of January, which will complete his DUI sentence.

At this point, expect Season 7 to premiere January 2009.

Yes. As you can see via Bluelitespecial's quote, I acknowledged the 7-8 episodes in the can and said the remaining episodes (which you did the math for everyone? Was that your point?).

In any case, we agree on the outcome:

Well gosh, he just meant that 24 as in "24" is the name of the show. NOT 24 as in the number 24 meaning there are 24 left to film. Someone was trying to correct where no correction was needed.

I have nothing to add, except S6 was pure tripe.

Which may be why the standard etiquette around here to avoid confusion is to say "There are 24 episodes per season of 24."
Talk about something we all knew 7-8 months ago...

So what will happen to season 7? They have to run a full season and Fox likes to run it along with American Idol, so I guess that means a Jan 09 premiere? I wonder what will happen to the 7 or 8 episodes already shot? Would they get dumped or reshot? It would be hard to match every actor to what he looked like a year earlier. This stike officially sucks (even more than season 6 did).

There was some talk in an article in this weeks EW magazine that they may go ahead and show th first 7 or 8 already in the can. Unfortunately I don't remember the reasoning behind it, but when I find my copy, I'll look into it and update the post.

I think it was somewhere along the lines of if the writers strike finished before a certain date then they could start it in the fall and then carry it on in January of next year.

I'm actually down for Jan. 09. As much as I love the show, a good year and a half break should do wonders for this show. It's in a rut and a long break could help rejuvenate the writers into giving us something special for season 7.

Of course, that doesn't mean I wouldn't be there on day one if they decide to air these.

Which has been a subtle gripe from the show's writers for a while. They have been saying they were burning out trying to create a whole new original season in such a short time. All told, if S7 airs starting in '09 and does well, perhaps they will start alternating years to air the show... nah that'll never happen.

Well, I did a search and couldn't find anything in EW, but did find this in TV Guide:
Question: Any news on the return of 24? — MB
Ausiello: Well, although Fox hasn't confirmed it, I'll go out on a limb and say Jack Bauer isn't returning this season. Even if the strike ends tomorrow, the earliest the show could get back on the air is this summer — and there's no way in hell Fox is dumping 24 onto the summer season. That leaves the network with several options, none of them ideal. One solution is to just kick off Season 7 next January, but by then Jack will have been in hiding for nearly two years. Another, and much more controversial, scenario being bandied about involves taking the eight episodes currently in the can and creating a 10- to 14-episode mini-season to air in the fall. That would be followed by another 10- to 14-episode mini-season — featuring a completely different plot — during the second half of the season. Opponents of that idea have argued, and rightly so, that by splitting the season, you're essentially compromising the show's unique, 24-hour conceit. Proponents, however, argue that these are desperate times. And sometimes desperate times require throwing out the rulebook. I can see that point as well. What do you guys think? Would you rather wait until January and get a traditional uninterrupted 24-episode season? Or would you prefer getting the show back in the fall, even if that meant splitting the season up into two shorter, self-contained chunks? Or do you have another solution? Weigh in with your thoughts in the Ask Ausiello Discussion Thread. I have a feeling Fox will be interested in what you have to say.

And this is what Matt Roush posted last week about the situation :
Roush on 24
Question: It would be the end of 24 if anyone at Fox goes ahead with this cockamamie plan to have a season structured in any way other than the groundbreaking 24-hours-in-24-episodes format. Fans would desert the show in droves if Fox did that; I believe that if the network stays faithful to the format, the show's giant and rabid fan base will watch it whenever it returns and even if the story has to be interrupted with breaks. Don't you agree that this idea is ridiculous. Also, please tell us that this is just one of those crazy ideas that gets "briefly considered" at a time of desperation. Surely cooler heads will eventually prevail and execs at Fox will realize that to tell two shorter, self-contained stories would be slaughtering one of its most lucrative and popular properties. It would be like letting Paula, Randy and Simon sing for the contestants! It's just not natural.— Travis K., Euless, Tex.
Matt Roush: I hope it doesn't come to that, although many have argued over the seasons that 24 is a victim of its own brilliant premise, and it's getting increasingly difficult to pull off an entire season contained within a single day. I could see a future for 24 in which the format of an hour of ticking-clock action in real time is sustained each week, but the next episode may jump a few hours ahead, allowing the action to take place over a more reasonable and credible period of time. (Again, I'm not suggesting anything here, just facing a possible reality.) But if 24 is delayed until fall 2008, I don't see the problem in building in a cliffhanger right after November sweeps, then starting back up after a holiday break where we left off. We're all grown-up enough to deal with it, I'd think. The problem here is that the show would run out of episodes well before May of the 2008-'09 season. But splitting the season into two unconnected halves? Honestly, until we know when the strike is ending, all of these hypotheticals should be considered as such, and I still wouldn't criticize even an altered version of 24 until I see it. I can't say it often enough: It's a shame the TV season has been put into such chaos by this miserable standoff

Bottom line : This show will suffer because of the strike more than any other non-cancelled series.