24 – Katee Sackhoff & Brannon Braga Interview
Former Battlestar Galactica star Katee Sackhoff will play a CTU analyst and the love interest of Freddie Prinze Jr.’s new CTU agent in the upcoming eighth (and possibly final) season of Fox’s 24, and executive producer Brannon Braga says she brings a lot of her Starbuck credibility to the role.
“Credibility is a very, very good word to use,” Braga (FlashForward) said in an exclusive interview at the Television Critics Association’s summer press tour in Pasadena, Calif., last week.
Braga added: “Obviously, we’re all fans of Katee from Battlestar, and we were looking for this role of Dana Walsh—that’s the character’s name—a character who is really smart and part of a new CTU that is what we’re calling CTU 2.0. It’s the next generation of CTU. And we wanted to find someone who just had an inherent strength and intelligence, but was also very beautiful. That’s a very hard role to cast, and Katee fit the bill. It’s that Jeri Ryan type of actress, you know?” Braga added, referring to his former Star Trek: Voyager star. “They’re hard to find. I mean, no insult to the talent pool out there, but they’re not easy to find.”
For her part, Sackhoff said that she’ll be playing “the head programmer at CTU.” Will she butt heads with Mary Lynn Rajskub’s irascible Chloe? “Of course,” Sackhoff said. “Of course. That’s part of the fun, yeah.”
The new season, which kicks off at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Jan. 19, 2010, moves the action to New York, Braga said. “CTU has been reconstituted and is in the form of CTU New York,” he said. “And it involves the U.N. And a very, very important peace process that is being threatened. … Jack Bauer [Kiefer Sutherland] will get involved. … There’s some familiar faces coming back, but there are some new faces in the form of Katee Sackhoff and Freddie Prinze Jr. and Anil Kapoor [Slumdog Millionaire], and it’s a very cool season. But there are some big surprises as well that I think I’d be fired if I gave away.”
For Sackhoff, shooting 24 was eerily reminiscent of her time on Battlestar. “It’s a little weird,” she said. “Because Brad Turner directed one of the episodes of Battlestar Galactica, … and he was [one of] the first directors that I had for 24. So I literally, like, came in, and it was a seamless transition. … [Former Battlestar co-star] Callum Keith Rennie was there, and I was there, and Brad was there, and it was like, ‘Wow, this is great!’”
In addition to Sackhoff and Prinze, the eighth season will introduce new cast members Mykelti Williamson, John Boyd, Jennifer Westfeldt and Chris Diamantopoulos.
4:54 pm | 24 – Is this the Last Season?
Kevin Reilly, Fox Entertainment President, said that the upcoming season of “24” might be its last. Kudos to iFmagazine.com for breaking this story.
The upcoming season of “24” is the last covered by the show’s current contract, and although Kiefer Sutherland remains enthusiastic, Reilly is unsure of the show’s fate. However, he says there is still a chance of the show continuing past this season or the making of a ‘24′ movie.
“It’s our last contractual season of ‘24′,” Reilly said, discussing the issue with iF’s contributing writer Abbie Bernstein at the TV Critic’s Association’s summer press tour in Pasadena. “There are a lot of moving parts, so we’re not sure what will happen after that.”
“We haven’t made any decision whether it’s back or not [after this upcoming season],” says Reilly. “The producers are passionate, Kiefer is passionate and we don’t have any of them looking to jump ship. It’s a show we’re really proud of. It’s going to come down to a business decision. It’s not an inexpensive show on the network books and we also want to finish strong. This is not a show we want to prop up. It will be a whole creative and business discussion and something we’ll have to deal with over the next few months.”
While there has been some slippage in ’24’s’ ratings, the show is coming off one of its strongest seasons yet, creatively. Furthermore, according to Forbes, of all the shows on TV in primetime, only “American Idol”–also on Fox–gets higher ad rates for its commercials than does “24.”.
Howerer, there is no doubt ‘24‘ is expensive, and the networks are facing a poor ad market.
3:25 pm | 24 Kiefer Sutherland Comic Con Interviews
11:33 am | 24: Is a Happy Ending Ahead for Jack Bauer?
Will Jack Bauer ever find happiness?
While fans may have stopped debating that question years ago, considering the unlikelihood of a positive answer, star Kiefer Sutherland says the eighth season of 24 will focus on Jack’s potential future.
“People would like to see him at least have the option to have a good life,” Sutherland told E! News. “We stripped a lot of those components over the years, by virtue of killing everybody, that whether he wants to live or die seemed to become innocuous—like who cares, there’s nothing really to live for. What we did for this season is to really try and create something that would make Jack want to live.”
Such as a relationship with Renee Walker, who producer David Fury confirms will return to 24 next year as a damaged individual.
As for other possible returns, Fury said there’s a possibility that Charles Logan (Gregory Itzin) and Mandy (Mia Kirshner) could appear on season eight. Viewers may even see Tony again.
“There may be an opportunity for Tony to be pivotal in the show,” said Fury.
8:04 pm | 24 Season 8 Casting News
[MISTAKEN IDENTITY MAN] 30’s Caucasian, he is a drug dealer who is mistaken for another character by a sniper. This character should be very fair in coloring – ie blonde,or red hair, blue eyes or even albino if possible – anywhere from 5′10 to 6′.
[MEHRAN] Middle Eastern, in his mid 20s to mid 40s, he is the leader of operatives in an Islamic country working against the President (Anil Kapoor). Mehran is very charismatic but dangerous. Introduced in one scene in Episode 8, this character will be in multiple episodes…GUEST STAR.
Source: SpoilerTV
12:40 pm | Kiefer Sutherland Reveals 24 Set Secrets
After six years in Los Angeles, 24 moved its storyline to D.C. last season. Now, as Kiefer Sutherland and company shoot season eight of the show, CTU is headed to New York City. The actor raved about the new sets in a recent interview with TV Guide Magazine.
“The new U.N. is very cool,” Sutherland said. “I was quite awestruck when I saw the set for the first time. The designs are so tasteful and represent such a diverse political spectrum, literally matching samples of graffiti taken from the ruins of the Berlin Wall. A lot of thought went into it.”
The new season of 24, which premieres in January 2010, will feature a new, sleek base of operations for CTU. This is where new agents Freddie Prinze Jr. and Katee Sackhoff will work out of.
11:45 am | 24 – No Jon Cassar for Season 8
According to Jon Cassar’s Twitter feed, he won’t be directing any episodes for Season 8 as he’s going to be involved with making a film.
“I won’t direct any episodes in Season 8. I’ve left the show to chase a feature film career. They’ve already shot eps 1&2″
5:47 pm | 24 – Casting News
T.J. Ramini, who played Yaniv, the Israeli boot camp instructor who got Gabby into shape on ABC’s “Desperate Housewives” this past season, has joined Fox’s “24” as a recurring.
He will play Tarin Karoush, an associate of the Middle Eastern leader played by new series regular Anil Kapoor.
Brit Ramini, who also co-starred on the long-running U.K. cop drama “The Bill,” is repped by Pakula/King and manager Brian Ferrantino.
3:09 pm | 24: The Future of Ethan Kanin
Following the news that Chris Diamantopoulos will appear on season eight of 24 as President Taylor’s Chief of Staff, many fans are wondering about the status of Ethan Kanin.
Is he off the show? Could he actually take over as First Husband, now that the marriage between Taylor and her husband appears to be over (and considering the hints dropped last season that he and Taylor had an affair)?
According to various sources, the answer to both questions above is: no. Kanin will, indeed, play a role on 24 next year. He’s expected to be named Secretary of State.
3:02 pm | 24 – Casting News
Clayne Crawford has been added to Fox’s “24” as a recurring.
On the 20th TV/Imagine-produced “24,” in production on its upcoming eighth season, Crawford will play a bad boy from Dana Walsh’s (Katee Sackhoff) past. Sackhoff recently signed on as a new regular on the real-time drama starring Kiefer Sutherland, playing an expert data analyst at CTU with a secret past who is involved with CTU agent Davis Cole (Freddie Prinze Jr.).
Crawford, who recently wrapped Joe Carnahan’s prequel “Smokin’ Aces: Blowback,” is repped by Innovative and Elevate Entertainment.
His credits also include the features “Swimfan” and “A Love Song for Bobby Long” and an arc on CBS’ “Jericho.”
3:04 pm |