S1 Special Edition Release For All Regions!?!

More interesting news about the Season One Special Edition DVD. According to this entry on Amazon.co.uk the boxset will be released on 20th of May, for all regions! Now obviously this could be a miss print, and Amazon is currently the only non-US online shop listing it that I know of, but it seems doubtful they would put up a Amazon UK listing for it up without some sort of release date. This is currently no price given on the Amazon UK page.

If any of this changes or if I can get better confirmation i’ll be sure to let you know

There’s a wealth of Fox PR on the boxset at the link below.

more : tvshowsondvd.com

Whose Your Vote For President?

Barack Obama eventually won out in a heated battle between himself and no, not Hilary Clinton, but David Palmer. No word yet if this strong second place for Palmer will see him enter the presidential race for real at this late stage. Full results below

Barack Obama : 32%

David Palmer : 30%

Hilary Clinton : 13%

John McCain : 11%

Mike Huckabee : 8%

Mitt Romney : 4%

Ron Paul : 2%

The new poll asks how excited about the S1 Special Edition DVD you are.

Season 1 Special Edition DVD

As if to make up for no new 24 until next year, Fox have this morning officially announced the “24 Season 1 (Special Edition)” DVD. Many will remember the original Season 1 DVD release was pretty much devoid of extras. Full details below the image of the rather cool metal cover.

At the moment the only release date known is for the region one edition on May 20th. But i’m fairly certain a region two release can’t be that far behind.

Extras include (items in bold are extras not found on original release) :-

  • Season One Introduction by Kiefer Sutherland
  • All-new documentary The Genesis of 24
  • Five extended episodes (7:00PM – 8:00PM; 10:00PM – 11:00PM; 8:00PM – 9:00PM; 11:00PM – 12:00AM; 9:00PM – 10:00PM)
  • 25 extended / deleted scenes
  • Never-before-seen alternate season finale ending #2
  • Commentary on the series premiere episode (12:00AM-1:00AM) by director Stephen Hopkins and Director of Photography Peter Levy
  • Commentary on the series finale episode (11:00PM-12:00AM) by director Stephen Hopkins and actress Leslie Hope
  • The Rookie online short films (sponsored by Degree)
    • “Coffee Run”
    • “Get This To…”
  • Alternate season finale ending (with optional commentary by executive producer Joel Surnow)

For me the most interesting extras will be the commentaries on both the pilot and the series finale, it will be incredibly interesting to hear Stephen Hopkins, one of the key architects of the show’s unique style talk about these two key episodes. As well as to hear Leslie Hope talk about the series finale.

The boxset will retail for around $60 in the U.S.

source : dvdtimes.co.uk

more : tvshowsondvd.com

Fox Confirm January ’09 For Day 7

A new wave of stories have been appeared regarding the January ’09 start for Day 7, this time citing Fox directly as the source. You can now mark the month in your calendar.

Update: Some good suggestions as to reasons why in the comments by “Serial Rocker”. I thought I would put them in the main post for everyone to see.

Regarding why 24 can’t simply be run later than normal, there are several factors. The first is the fear that a show running into the summer will lose viewers as the networks seem to hold to the opinion, rightly or wrongly, that people watch less television during the summer months. That is one of the main reasons why a television “season” covers the months that it does.

This is the basic reason why Fox wouldn’t want to simply start airing Day 7 as soon as it could air all 24 episodes in one run. Because atleast the tail end would run into the summer season.

Also, there is the fact that many of the cast and crew are only contracted to a show for certain times of the year. I’ve no idea if this is the case for 24 but it is quite possible that Kiefer and the other actors may be contracted to other projects after a certain point, making them unavailable for involvement in the show should it run later than planned.

Another good point, although I believe given the nature of the strike, every production schedule is being moved around right now, and so for the key actors ’24’ would have been there priority. But I can certaintly see it as a serious problem for recurring guest stars, who may have been unsure exactly how many episodes they would be wanted for anyway. I think either way we may notice a few characters and actors written out after episode 8.

Finally, and this is a purely speculative point that occured to me and may or may not be the case, given the nature of 24’s format, should the “night” hours of the show run through the middle or late into the season (which appears to be the case from the litle I have seen of the early episodes) then filming the outside locations during the months of the year when it is dark for only a short time of the night would probably require a hell of a lot of late nights and difficult shoots. Not something they would want to have to worry about given all the other issues of getting back into production.

This I think is the best point, it’s somewhat of an open fact about 24’s production schedule that it’s easier to shoot the nightime episodes during the winter and the daytime episodes during the summer. An increased production time eases these concerns.

January ’09 For Day 7!?

Various sources (TV Guide, Variety, IGN) are reporting that 24 returning with Day 7 in January 2009 is an almost certainty. Needless to say you probably shouldn’t be marking it in our calendar just yet, wait for official confirmation from Fox before you do that. Personally I don’t honestly see Fox allowing a gap of some 19 months between seasons, it would surely be ratings poison. I still hold out hope of it premiering this fall.

I’ll post more when I have it. Once again, sound off in the comments with your opinions.

Surnow Leaves Show

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) – “24” co-creator Joel Surnow, the highest-profile mastermind behind the Emmy-winning drama, abruptly left the show Wednesday.

His contract with the show’s production company, 20th Century Fox TV, was set to expire April 30, but the studio agreed to his request for an early release so that he could make “a clean break” and focus on new projects, sources said.

“Joel created one of the landmark series of this decade in “24” and his contribution to its creative excellence over the years has been immeasurable,” Fox said in a statement Wednesday. It added that his input would always be welcome.

Surnow created the real-time thriller with Robert Cochran, who continues to work on the series. In the past few years, the show has been run by executive producer Howard Gordon. Each season revolves around 24 hours in the life of a government agent (Kiefer Sutherland) who battles villains on all fronts.

I was hoping to bring you news today of exactly how and when the show would return, but instead comes the news that Co-creator Joel Surnow has left his role as Executive Producer.

Good luck to Joel in future endeavours.

source : ca.reuters.com

more : hollywoodreporter.com

Writers Strike All But Over, But When Will 24 Return?

Okay, every media outlet is now reporting the strike is all but over. In all likelihood Showrunners and WGA members with producer duties will return to work on Monday as producers, for 24 that would probably just be Howard Gordon, with full writing staff probably returning on Wednesday.

So what does this all mean for 24?

Howard Gordon, the show runner for “24” on Fox, said he has been busy contacting his writing staff.

He said production could feasibly resume six weeks after the writers boot up their laptops. But the drama’s unique storytelling device, with each of the 24 one-hour episodes equaling a day in the life of terrorist-fighter Jack Bauer, has complicated matters.

“24” typically runs from January to May, but Fox delayed the premiere indefinitely rather than airing an incomplete season consisting of eight episodes that were on hand.

Fox has not decided when the show will return, Gordon said, but is considering three scenarios: airing 12 episodes as soon as possible and returning in the fall for the last 12, running all 24 episodes in the fall or waiting to premiere in January 2009.

I’ll let you know when Fox has decided on which of those three options for the return of the show. If they go with the first and decide to air the first 12 episodes as soon as possible, that would mean a likely return somewhere between mid to late March. That would personally be my first choice, sound off in the comments about your preferred choice.

source : latimes.com