24: Executive Producer on Decision to End FOX Series, Teases Finale

As fans of the 24 TV series are all too well aware, it was recently announced that the current season will be the show’s last. While there won’t be a year nine on television, Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) will likely return in at least one feature film.

Executive producer Howard Gorgon recently sat down with THR and shared some of the reasons for the show’s demise and what the future could hold.

Gordon says that, part of the reason the series is ending is because they couldn’t come up with a good enough idea for another year. He didn’t even pitch one to the network and said, “We couldn’t come up with something that really satisfied us. We’ve done everything we feel we can do with that character in this format.”

Ending the 24 series also came down to finances and practical matters, like the fact that several people’s multi-year contracts expire at the end of this season. Gordon said, “There was a deal finiteness in place. Also, every year is a high-wire act. We all look at each other and ask, ‘Can we really do this again?’ and it’s not with complete conviction that we say, ‘Yes.’ As an act of faith and effort, we get through it. This year Kiefer said it felt like the senior year of high school.”

In terms of a feature film, Gordon said that it’s still being written by screenwriter Billy Ray and there are several possibilities about how things could go. He speculates that it could be released as soon as early 2011.

For now, Gordon is still focusing on the final episodes of the 24 TV series. He teased that, “We’ve taken a risk in the last eight episodes. It was challenging to the writers to the actors. We’re taking a risk; the show has to do that. Without spoiling what’s to come, it’s pretty dark and complex and a place that was uncomfortable for us to write and for some of the actors to act.”

This season’s final episode won’t be the same as was previously planned because it’s now the end of the series. Gordon noted that seasons four, five and seven had great endings and he feels they could have finished the show. He wants to end 24 the right way but knows he won’t make everybody happy.

Gordon said, “I was more aware this time of ending something that really felt surprising but not cheap; emotionally consistent. Some will throw their shoes at the screen, inevitably some will be angry, some will say they hated it the last three years. You can’t please everybody, you can only do the best you can do. I’m hoping people lean forward. I’m hoping the first feeling people have is, “Damn I miss it, I want more.”

The two-hour series finale of 24 is scheduled to air on Monday, May 24th, on FOX.

What do you think? Could the writers have come up with new story ideas for season nine or is ending the series the right way to go?