Kiefer and 24 Facts

Tuesday, July 04, 2006

Great article in Guardian Unlimited about Kiefer Sutherland and 24. In the article, Keifer alludes to what we might see in season 6.

...season six will take a slightly different turn. ‘We’ve had five years of him saving a large thing; this one’s much more about him saving his own ass. He’ll go from being the one who hunts people down to the one who’s being hunted, so that in itself turns the show around.’

Some facts:

• Jack Bauer has killed 112 people over the five years of the show. Season 4, during which he dispatched 44 ‘hostiles’, was his best ever; in the first season he managed a lacklustre 10.
• Kiefer Sutherland heard that American college students use 24 as a drinking game, downing a shot every time Jack Bauer says ‘damn it’. So he changed the script in one episode to have Jack say ‘damn it’ 14 times in one hour.
• Another frat-house game is to monitor Jack’s flouting of the Geneva Conventions. In season 2 he shot a key suspect under interrogation in the heart before beheading him. In season 3, he executed a colleague on the president’s orders.
• What might have been: ‘The original iteration of 24 was that we were going to do 24 hours in the life of a wedding ... kind of a romantic comedy series.’ (Creator Joel Surnow)
• Former presidential candidate and Republican Senator John McCain is such a fan of 24 he landed himself a walk-on part.
• To speak fluent Jack, use the following phrases often: ‘Where’s Kim?’, ‘Who are you working for?’, ‘Get down on the ground!’ and, of course, ‘Damn it!’

Read it.