Events Occur in Real Time
As ‘24 dawns, Roger Crow looks back at Kiefer Sutherland’s groundbreaking real-time drama, and its assorted spin-off…
It’s debatable whether 24 was the dawn of the binge-watch, a series which tapped into that desire to view one episode after another. However, when terrorist-basher Jack Bauer made his debut on TV, if you had access to the next episode, then resistance was futile.
Created by Joel Surnow and Robert Cochran, the duo hoped the idea of a Counter Terrorism Unit (CTU) would strike a chord with the masses, though some thought the horrors of September 11, 2001 would jeopardise the series before it got started.
There had been real-time film dramas before 24, but Johnny Depp offering Nick of Time failed to set the box office alight in 1995, so some producers weren’t desperate to jump on the idea. The concept of a TV thriller that takes place over one day in real time was intoxicating, but would it work? After all, an original drama series that lasted 24 hours (or 17 hours minus adverts) was a massive gamble.
Thankfully media giants Fox, and Brian Grazer, co-founder of Ron Howard’s Imagine Entertainment company, were among the brave souls willing to take that bet, and the eventual saga tapped into the Zeitgeist of a post-9/11 world.
Casting the right man to carry the show was obviously essential. Thankfully Kiefer Sutherland was a natural fit for the maverick hero. The Brat Pack veteran had a string of hits under his belt, including The Lost Boys; the Young Guns movies, and the original Flatliners. The Blightyborn Canadian turned rancher when the good projects dried up, and he waited for the right role to come along. Eventually that 24 script arrived, and Sutherland was in.
Casting one of the most iconic TV heroes of all time was one thing. Getting 24 made was another.One of the key creative forces in those early days was director Stephen Hopkins. He’d made his name as a reliable gun for hire, helming offerings such as A Nightmare on Elm Street sequel; A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child, Predator 2, and 1998’s Lost in Space. Stephen also directed the little-seen thriller Judgement Night, which felt like a dry run for that first 24 season.