As the series finale of 24 creeps closer, fans can’t help but wonder if Jack Bauer will finally get unlimited days of rest or will day eight finally do him in?

Neither, says Howard Gordon, the show’s executive producer. “One thing we tried and it didn’t work was ‘happily ever after,’” he says. “It just wasn’t within Jack’s wheelhouse.”

“On the other end of the spectrum, Jack would die,” he says. “And in its own way, that’s equally unsatisfying. Jack has a far more ambiguous, complex and emotional ending this year.”

Gordon explained that the writers wanted something in the middle for Jack.  “It’s not as tragic as it could have been. It’s not entirely unhappy, but he doesn’t walk off into the sunset.”

The final episodes will present something more indicative of who Jack has become. “Jack is about as emotionally damaged as he’s been now,” Gordon says, referring to the character’s grief-tinged state of mind after the murder of his girlfriend, Renee Walker (Annie Wersching). “Renee had to die because Jack existentially and dramatically can’t get away with happiness,” he says. “He’s had to make too many hard calls.”

Jack’s actions after the death of Renee have put him at odds with two former allies, Chloe O’Brian (Mary Lynn Rajskub), who is currently the interim head of CTU, and President Allison Taylor (Cherry Jones), whose singular drive to pass a peace plan has clouded her normally unimpeachable judgment. “We’re taking all these characters to places we haven’t seen them in before,” Gordon says. “It’s certainly not playing it safe.”

Gordon says the abrupt promotion of Chloe to CTU head was done intentionally pit Jack’s closest friend against him. “To put her between Taylor and Jack was just interesting because she has history with him; it’s definitely more interesting than the villain of the week,” he says.

Gordon hopes that the series finale will provoke the intended emotion which is loss. “When you watch the finale, you’ll miss Jack the moment the last second ticks down,” Gordon says. “That’s the objective.”

The series finale of 24 airs on Monday, May 24 at 9/8c on Fox.

24
Fox 8 p.m.
In tonight’s special two-hour episode, the terrorists have a radiological weapon in NYC and are ready to wipe out 40 square blocks. But, don’t worry, Jack’s still on the clock for a few more hours.

NCAA Basketball Championship
CBS 9 p.m.
Duke goes up against the underdogs, Butler,  in this championship game. If you’re the betting type, take at the Vegas odds. No matter who wins, its a safe bet it will be an exciting game!

Christian Siriano: Having a Moment
Bravo 10 p.m.
The fierce, former Project Runway contestant gets his own special where he preps for a runway show, oversees his latest clothing line, and hangs with celebrities like Mena Suvari, Katrina Bowden and Tori Spelling.

Nurse Jackie
Showtime 10 p.m.
In what might be the season’s most cringe-inducing episode, Jackie comes home to find Kevin hanging out with a new BFF, her ex-lover, Eddie. Kevin also turns down O’Hara’s offer to fund the girls’ educations and Grace’s friend catches Jackie snorting drugs.Just another day in the life of Jackie.

Oh Jack Bauer, how will I live without thee?  It was a great run, maybe one of the best in recent history (along with CSI).  But in the end it wasn’t a terrorist or dirty nuke that killed of Jack, it was a matter of 0′s.  Expenditures and licensing fees were just too much for Fox to tolerate and I heard that a rumor had become a reality today.  We thought that Chuck Norris was the hardest guy out there but he wasn’t really my era.  Yeah I’ve seen a few of his movies but I believe that Jack could take him down.  It’s amazing how magnetic his character was, especially in the early seasons.

The show had one thing going for it and as bad as it sounds, we needed someone to represent how we were feeling after 9/11.  America needed a bad-ass who would go renegade killing anyone who stood in his way.  His shoot first, ask later credo was not only accepted but also promoted by producers and reinforced by us.  Jokes about what the over/under on his kill  count per night would be, how many times he would interrogate someone, all that is out the window, a distant memory now.  I loved the way he would take matters into his own had for the betterment of the country.  While it might’ve been selfish at the time, he always put his country first.  Maybe I’m making too much out of this message, but I thought and still think it is an important asset to the show.  We are still the world’s superpower and need keep programs with this propaganda alive.

But that same renegade archetype that I loved also grew wearisome.  We as viewers knew what was coming even before Jack was on the prowl.  There were only so many enemies and storylines that could be written to keep us intrigued and I simply think they ran out of antagonists.  They already hit on the Eastern block, the Arabs, Chinese, North Koreans, African armies, and now Russians.  That’s pretty much covering the globe when it comes to baddies.  Although if Jack could somehow battle the smoke monster/Bad Locke, now that would be interesting.

Writers are showing a completely different side of JB this season and it really gave the feel that even he was growing tired of the old interrogate and kill line.  With half the day complete, things will be relatively calm for the next few, then they will drop a storyline bomb on us for one last twist.  I think in the end he and Agent Walker will go off into the sunset and he’ll be more of a family guy.

It was a phenomenal show over the last eight seasons.  I can’t wait for the movie to come out.  I believe that even more storylines will be tied up in that and we might even see some previous season characters come back to help out.  Who knows, maybe Tony might even come back from the dead (again)!

After eight seasons, Fox has canceled 24.

The drama will air its final real-time episode in May thanks to an increasing budget and decreasing ratings.

But, for diehard fans, there is still hope. Studio 20th TV is developing a theatrical film that takes Bauer to Europe.

“There are other possible iterations of Jack Bauer and his world,” Executive Producer Howard Gordon said.

Because of the increase in the cast and creative team salaries since the show’s first season, and the $5 million per episode license fee to 20th TV that Fox pays, the show became extremely expense to run.

Meanwhile, the show’s ratings dropped 16% this season to a 3.8 adults 18-49 rating including DVR — still healthy numbers for a scripted drama, ut not enough to justify the show’s hefty budget.

Producers did pitch the show to other networks, namely NBC, but NBC ran the numbers and passed.

Gordon promises a strong finish for the final hours of 24 and promises the story line will take a dark and risky turn for the final episodes.

“I’d like it to be remembered as a revolutionary concept,” Gordon said. “I hope the second thing is that we loved this show so much and never did anything less than our best and I hope we delivered to our fans like we feel we did to ourselves.”

According to TVGuide.com, there’s more evidence that the end is near for 24. Howard Gordon, the show’s executive producer, has already lined up his next project.

Gordon will produce the Israeli series Prisoners of War for U.S. audiences. In the Israeli drama, three soldiers return home after being held captive in Syria for 17 years. The U.S. import, tentatively titled Patriots, will center on three American soldiers presumed dead after the 2003 invasion in Iraq, but are found to be alive in a cave 10 years later.

Alex Gansa, another 24 producer, and show’s creator, Gideon Raff, will write the pilot with Gordon. The American version will also feature a new character, a counterterrorism agent, who won’t be jack Bauer.

As for 24, Gordon said “discussions are still being held” and he claims both he and star Kiefer Sutherland, whose contract expires at the end of the season, would be open to a ninth season.

“If there is 24 past Season 8, I will be part of that,” Gordon said, adding that he may be demoted from showrunner. “[Sutherland] is inclined to do another season if there is a good story.”

Though Fox has made it clear it probably won’t pick up 24, there has been speculation another network, maybe NBC, will take the show off their hands.

According to Variety, 24′s time is almost up.

The trade magazine claims that 20th Century Fox TV and Fox are ready to end the long-running hit after this season.

Though the network has declined to comment on the speculation, it would not come as a huge surprise.The cost of producing 24 has increased each season while the rating have dropped.

Even if 24 is canceled, there is a possibility that the the franchise will move to the big screen. The team behind the show, including Kiefer Sutherland, have made major strides in recent months toward a 24 movie a la Sex And The City. There’s also talk that the film version would take Jack Bauer to Europe.

Throughout its eight year run, the show has won the Emmy and the Golden Globe awards for best drama and Sutherland has scored both an Emmy and a Globe for best actor. 24 has also received Emmy Awards for writing and directing and last year, Cherry Jones won an Emmy for supporting actress in a drama.

But even with the prospect of a movie, fans aren’t satisfied. They want to see 24 come back for a ninth season. A Facebook page called “Renew 24 for a 9th Season” already has 1575 members and several fans have also joined a Twitter campaign to try to save the show.

But, their efforts may be too late as some are expecting an official announcement from Fox in the next few days.

Shows in general are getting old.  Some are even leaving, like Lost.  With NBC in shambles and basically out of the ratings picture besides Thursday nights, the other big networks are left to battle for the wandering viewers.  The cable networks are actually capitalizing on these “lost” viewers, coming up with new shows like Burn Notice and Caprica.  But while we might give the new shows a couple of episodes or a season trial, we still want the “lock-of-the-week”, a show or shows that we know will leave us satisfied.  But it seems like the industry is transitioning.  There are new shows, new players and its just coming down to attrition.  It’s only a matter of time before series like 24 and others fade out into the distance.

24 is getting old, there’s no doubt about it.  There are only so many times that Jack Bauer can save the world.  He’s fought the Russians, the eastern Europeans, the Arabs, the Chinese.  The only thing that is left for him to conquer is global warming.  I like how they’ve retained Elisha Cuthbert and Mary Lynn Rajskub.  But unlike Chloe O’Brien, Cuthbert’s character really brings nothing to the table, except for the fact that she’s Jack’s daughter.  The show’s producers are trying to show a different side of Bauer, a softer, more family-oriented person.  But they will never be able to get away from the fact that he is a stone-cold killer.  And viewers will want to see that action of him killing five guys with three bullets over some sappy romance that seems to be budding with him and Agent Walker.

CSI’s experiment with Morpheus has helped it tread water for a little bit.  But still, ratings have slipped and it is no longer the top show on television.  I think what might help it come back is the reappearance of Grissom, something that I think they are setting up for the season finale.  In the show there has been more reference to him and more questions being asked towards Sara as well.  But to the show’s credit, they still come up with ingenious storylines that still have me coming back week after week after week.

Because of these shows dying off, more people are turning to cable networks.  The distribution of power is trickling down and is being more evenly distributed.  Plus, more people are turning to HBO and Cinemax for original series since those channels allow more blood, swearing, and sex.  I’m convinced that every single idea that has ever been imagined in human history has been made into a television show.  We are out of good ideas.  But this is why the television executives are paid the big bucks–they come up with ideas that the people want to see.  Let’s get more shows like the ones on FX, ones that push the lines of both morality and the television content rating system.  Gone are the days where conservative television reigned supreme.  Execs need to get with the times if they want to keep making money off successful shows.

Is Jack Bauer, dare I say, happy in season 8 of 24? The latest promo for season 8 shows a smiley Jack laughing with his daughter Kim (Elisha Cuthbert) and playing with his granddaughter.

But don’t worry, this softer, kinder Bauer doesn’t seem to last for long. The promo also shows “The Shield’s” Benito Martinez as the man who lures Jack back into the terrorism-fighting business and more of the New York CTU (including a shot of Freddie Prinze Jr.). Thankfully there are few familiar faces back too, like Chloe (Mary Lynn Rajskub) and President Taylor (cherry Jones).

The promo even has a couple of the classic one liners 24′s become known for like when a young staff member asks, “Who is Jack Bauer?” and at one point Jack says, “I hate this place”.

Season 8 of 24 premieres Sunday, Jan. 17 and continues on its regular Monday home the next night. Are you ready for another 24 hours? Here’s a look at the promo below:

Just when you thought it was safe to believe in your president…he returns to the spotlight.

No, I’m not talking about French politics, I’m talking about the dastardly U.S. president, Charles Logan, from Fox’s real-time action hit 24.

Gregory Itzin played the nefarious head of state in 24 and was nominated for an Emmy award for his initial performance. He recently signed on for a multi-episode arc on the upcoming eighth season. Logan was last seen during Season 6 when the former president was flatlining en route to a hospital after being stabbed by his emotionally unstable wife, Martha Logan (played brilliantly by Jean Smart). During the opening of Season 7, Agent Renee Walker (Annie Wersching) told Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) that Logan was alive and still serving under house arrest in Colorado. He was never seen nor heard from again.

Killing off Logan was never the plan for the show as the character possesses rich background and interest. Former executive producer Jon Cassar stated after Logan’s ambulance ride, “I did everything I could not to kill him. I wanted to give us the [option] to potentially bring him back.”

Logan will be enlisted by still-President Taylor (Emmy winning Cherry Jones) who “reluctantly enlists Logan to assist with an escalating international diplomatic crisis.” “The opportunity for these two remarkable actors to share the stage was simply too compelling to pass up,” said executive producer Howard Gordon.

The eighth season of 24 debuts with the typical two-night, four-hour premiere beginning on January 17th. The upcoming season will feature a now-retired Jack Bauer who is pulled back into action after learning that a Middle East peacekeeper (Anil Kapoor) may be assassinated.

Wersching, along with 24 alum Mary Lynn Rajskub, will be joining Sutherland this season. Joining the cast and who will probably be killed off pretty quickly are Katee Sackhoff, Mykelti Williamson and Freddie Prinze Jr.

Itzin was last seen in the feature film Law Abiding Citizen as the warden of the prison holding Gerard Butler’s deranged Clyde Shelton. Despite poor reviews, the film has amassed over $50 million and remains strong in the U.S. box office.

“24″ doesn’t return until January 2010 but FOX is already teasing us with a first look at Day 8.

Jack Bauer has another very long day in front of him. This time, he is trying to save the president of a middle eastern country who is about to be assassinated at the U.N. This also means most of the day will take place in New York City.

We also learn Jack will be reunited with his daughter Kim and will finally get to meet his granddaughter. It also looks as though President Taylor (Cherry Jones) and Chloe (Mary Lynn Rajskub) will be back.

Day 8, will premiere in a two-hour, four-night event on Sunday, January 17th on FOX.