It appears that24: Legacywill endure as…a limited series. Indeed, after the show was one of Fox’s prime new dramas during the most recent TV season, the network has opted to cancel the series and not move forward with a second season. The show came on the heels of the Jack Bauer-fronted event series24: Live Another Dayas the creative team from that show—Manny CotoandEvan Katz—came together to craft a new reboot of the property lead byStraight Outta ComptonstarCorey Hawkins. This wasn’t a total do-over as some characters from the original24returned, includingCarlos Bernardas Tony Almeida, but the ratings declined over the show’s 12-episode run and never really soared the way Fox had hoped.
But apparently Fox will never learn its “24is dead” lesson, asTV Linereports that the network is already mulling ways to reboot the property once more. ProducersHoward GordonandBrian Grazer, who put together the original24, are in the midst of discussions to craft a new incarnation of the series that is “more anthological” while still built around the real-time ticking clock storytelling device. This new reboot doesn’t yet have a series order let alone a creative team, but it sounds like there’s interest on the side of Fox to keep this franchise alive no matter what.
It’s possible that an anthology format would better suit24. Maybe just keep the “ticking clock” as the keystone of the series and tell different, diverse stories each season. Gordon and another24alumAlex Gansawent and created a very different kind of anti-terrorism show at Showtime,Homeland, and that series has done a nice job of evolving each season to keep things fresh.
One thing audiencesdon’tseem to be in the mood for is torture-tactic terrorist hunting.24was very much a show of the post-9/11 world, and it received criticism for its portrayal of torture tactics on the part of Jack Bauer. It’s 2017. Times have changed, and so should24. That’s something that24: Legacydidn’t seem to understand, and if Fox really wants the franchise to live on, they’ve got to let it evolve.
