Production
Producers were determined to reinvent the series after receiving criticism over the sixth season. They initially devised a storyline which would have Jack Bauer traveling to Sangala trying to find himself, and becoming caught up in a coup with Black Hawk Down-style results.
| “ | "The fact is, it was a mutual issue," explains Gordon. "We struggled to do something new this year. We sent Jack Bauer, to Africa and I wrote a script that honestly did not work. Before the network even saw it at the studio level, we were getting kick-back from the idea, especially once we budgeted what Africa would cost. It was a combination of the studio was not enthusiastic to shoot there for budgetary purposes and creatively, it didn’t feel like it warranted pushing our case. One day, at the IHOP, I sat across Joel and Bob and we all agreed this story wasn’t working and retooled it two weeks ago." | ” |
The decision to scrap the storyline and start over delayed production from July to late August. Filming was delayed a second time (from August 27 to September 10) in order for writers to complete additional scripts.
The crew was scheduled to film scenes with Kiefer Sutherland at the Marine Corps Air Station El Toro on Monday October 22, 2007; however, filming was canceled for health reasons due to raging wildfires in the area. Cast and crew had blurry vision and difficulty breathing from the smoke. United States Navy SEALs helped battle fictional terrorists at Camarillo Airport during filming of an episode on August 12–13, 2008.
After completion of the 18th episode, production was temporarily shut down on September 15, 2008 for two weeks in order to perform script rewrites for the final six episodes. In an Entertainment Weekly interview, Howard Gordon responded "We just couldn't get this direction to work, and we found another one that we liked better, so we wound up retooling it."
Executive producer and 24 co-creator Joel Surnow left the series on February 12, 2008. His contract with 20th Century Fox was due to expire on April 30 but he requested an early release. "I did some soul-searching. I took as an opportunity to write on my own and do other things. After doing 24, I don't know if I want to do a mainstream show again. I like what's going on in cable; there is an opportunity to stretch dramatically there, which is something I'm trying to do." The position held by Surnow was filled by showrunner Howard Gordon.
Season 7 was dedicated to the memory of Larry Davenport, who was the assistant editor and editor since the first season. He died January 19, 2009.
Read more about this topic: 24 (season 7)
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