This is the time of year that television networks figure out their schedule for the next season, which involves doing some Spring cleaning and killing dozens of under-performing series to make room for new ones.
So far, Fox has gotten rid of five one-hour dramas (APB, Bones, Pitch, Rosewood, Sleepy Hollow) and picked up three new ones to replace them (The Gifted, The Orville, The Resident). According to Deadline, Fox is expected to announce a 13 episode straight-to-series order for a new midseason drama from Ryan Murphy on Monday, so that would be four.
At this point, Fox has decided on almost their entire lineup, with just a few existing shows (Legacy, The Exorcist, Scream Queens) and two pilots still awaiting their fate. One of those pilots comes from Legacy writer and producer Nikki Toscano. Update: Fox just renewed The Exorcist which means yet another hour on their schedule is accounted for, and this decreases the chance of a 24 renewal even further.
As for what the reputable sites are saying, TVLine believes Legacy is “a long-shot” while Deadline refers to it as a “tossup.” And Entertainment Weekly’s James Hibberd is hearing the decision is so tough that it might not be made in time for Fox’s Upfront Presentation on May 15th.
@MOVIESTVMAD Decision on 24: Legacy getting pushed until after upfronts, I hear…it’s a toughie…
— James Hibberd (@JamesHibberd) May 10, 2017
But why the holdup? Legacy finished airing nearly a month ago, so Fox already has all of the data they need to make an informed decision. They’ve had plenty of time to analyze ratings and crunch the numbers, and the writers have already pitched a second season to them. Fox also owns the “24” franchise, so it’s not like they have to negotiate with an external studio.
The only reason such a delay would make sense is if Fox wanted a massive creative overhaul (likely another reboot) that would require additional time to figure out. Hibberd addressed this in a followup tweet:
@JU2419922 Sometime before actor contracts expire later in summer…trying to figure out if there’s a creative plan that will work since this one did not
— James Hibberd (@JamesHibberd) May 10, 2017
But the longer this takes to figure out, the less likely there will be room on the schedule for it. If the show does get picked up, it might have to air during the Summer months.
This is a very fluid situation – things change quickly and a decision can be made literally any minute. Even if no decision is made by Monday, we’ll probably get some kind of update on the show. But if we don’t hear anything, the next most likely date would be FOX’s TCA Summer 2017 Press Tour on Tuesday August 8th.
And for those wondering, Kiefer Sutherland’s new series Designated Survivor was renewed for a second season by ABC, so there’s absolutely no chance of Jack Bauer returning to 24 any time soon.
49 Comments
Comments ClosedChlojack
May 12, 2017 at 4:53 pmhttps://twitter.com/TVGrimReaper/status/862668809483591680
XAM
May 12, 2017 at 5:24 pm1. The cast
2. Evan, Manny and Hogo
24 Spoilers
May 12, 2017 at 8:27 pmGerry Mander
May 13, 2017 at 6:41 amI’ve been saying this for a couple weeks now… Evan and Manny are good writers but perhaps not natural showrunners… not every musician, however good and talented, can be a great producer and not every actor, again however talented, can be a great director.
If/when Legacy is given the chop, I would suggest to the powers-that-be they let ’24’ rest for a couple years… let the dust settle, the smoke to clear, to let the audience at large miss the show again, and see if Kiefer continues with his current show for a while, but whilst that’s happening, explore if there’s a will or creative spark for a ’24’ movie with Kiefer (and Joel Surnow as co-writer/producer hopefully) coming back one last time… could any of the two or three unused ’24’ movie scripts be re-written and re-purposed for and as a new installment perhaps?
If it doesn’t happen (again), so be it, but it would be nice to have at least a back-up plan in place…
Acer4666
May 12, 2017 at 6:22 pm24 Spoilers
May 12, 2017 at 6:36 pmKurt Cobain
May 12, 2017 at 7:13 pmMy prediction is that 24 Legacy will soon be synonymous with Chris Gaines. Either canceled or drops off the radar.
Big Boss
May 12, 2017 at 7:41 pmandy
May 12, 2017 at 7:19 pmBrian
May 13, 2017 at 12:17 amCoral Snake
May 12, 2017 at 8:29 pmIt’s just delaying the inevitable.
I suspect they will release a statement saying something very vague like “legacy will not return in its current form with the current cast next year but don’t count out another limited event series and/or ‘reboot'” along with something like “24 could come back at some point in the future but there are no plans currently for another installment at this time”.
Chlojack
May 12, 2017 at 10:00 pmKevin
May 13, 2017 at 12:09 amXAM
May 13, 2017 at 11:49 amXAM
May 13, 2017 at 11:58 amX
May 13, 2017 at 2:20 amThe best way to view 24 is binge-watching.
2 hour nights within a short time frame is much better than a 12 week upkeep.
Immersion is key.
I’m guessing Tony Almeida will be the main character with Eric Carter partnering up with him as co-star.
Look at the ratings chart for Legacy: Viewership shot up when Tony Almeida made his debut.
I really enjoyed Legacy and that’s how it should have been (if it was going to be a new cast doing the same shit the old cast did): character-focused and intimate.
I don’t care either way if it’s renewed or not.
The series should have ended with Jack Bauer in Live Another Day, which was a very appropriate ending for Jack.
I like series to end and not be elongated beyond what it should be.
24 should be remade as a science-fiction or comedy; totally separate from the current 24 universe.
I hated that they’re continuing CTU and political BS and making everything a copy of what came before.
But despite that fact, I really enjoyed Legacy and will look forward to another season.
Marlon
May 13, 2017 at 3:31 amLegacy bombed. Why? It was a compressed version of 24. All twists and turned seemed forced and lacked creativity.
I read someone who said they think that Jacks ending in LAD is justified. And I tend to agree.
This could be the end guys. Let’s face it.
Midsomer
May 13, 2017 at 4:24 amLouise Engel
May 13, 2017 at 12:36 pmI don’t think we know who Eric is at all, and mostly didn’t see him be heroic. There is a hero vacuum, that only Jack has filled so far.
Midsomer
May 13, 2017 at 1:22 pmLouise Engel
May 13, 2017 at 3:30 pmTony killed the head of the FBI (Moss) and would have killed Jack, and also brought down an airliner.
Brad
May 13, 2017 at 9:35 pmLouise Engel
May 14, 2017 at 12:41 amBrad
May 14, 2017 at 12:57 amMidsomer
May 14, 2017 at 1:50 amBrad
May 14, 2017 at 1:59 amLouise Engel
May 14, 2017 at 11:26 amAnd Dana certainly wasn’t innocent.
Tony was an interesting character who I think they let go too far down the rabbit hole. He is honest that he joined Emerson because he needed connection, and deliberately did bad things with them. The way he surfaced in Legacy as a mercenary does not help. I see him as much less morally driven than Jack.
NRG
May 13, 2017 at 12:17 pmI just want a 24/X-Files crossover!!
Rollo
May 13, 2017 at 2:19 pm24 Spoilers
May 13, 2017 at 8:48 pmNothing about 24 Legacy worked. The storylines were bad, but worst of all, they failed to create even a single compelling new character. So I’m not really interested in seeing this iteration of the show continue. I’d still watch it out of obligation, not out of genuine interest or excitement.
But a complete start-from-scratch reboot… maybe that would be more intriguing? The writers would need to really take their time and get things right, try their hardest to give the show a fresh new feel. Listen to all the feedback and maybe bring in a new showrunner (or beg Joel Surnow) to lead the charge. Basically do the complete opposite of Legacy. Even this idea I’m lukewarm on though, because the rotating door of cast members is getting really tiresome. It’s hard to become attached to any of these new characters when you know they won’t stick around long.
Unfortunately, I have zero faith in this writing team right now They seem completely out of touch with the audience, especially after reading those post-finale interviews. Whatever their next move is, they need to be extremely careful, because the 24 franchise might never recover if they do two bad seasons in a row.
I think the smartest move would be to just let the series rest for a couple years, and then do one final season with Jack, Chloe, Tony.
Acer4666
May 13, 2017 at 9:45 pm24 Spoilers
May 14, 2017 at 12:53 amI just don’t think Fox would ever sell the rights though.
Rollo
May 14, 2017 at 2:49 pmIf it gets cancel though I won’t be sad, it just wasn’t good enough to care about or to help fight for.
Acer4666
May 13, 2017 at 4:28 pm24 Spoilers
May 13, 2017 at 8:43 pmBrad
May 13, 2017 at 9:37 pmBrian
May 14, 2017 at 3:44 am24 Spoilers
May 14, 2017 at 4:19 amandy
May 14, 2017 at 12:44 pmMilo
May 14, 2017 at 1:41 pmJack Power
May 14, 2017 at 4:09 pmMarlon
May 14, 2017 at 8:08 pmI’d go with a mini-series event to end 24 once and for all. Possibly 12 episodes, maybe less.
I think a pretty good twist would be to see the gang try and rescue Jack from Russia to find he is not in prison but has escaped deep into Siberia somewhere and gone relcluse.
Tony remembers a hideout/meeting place from when they worked together and they eventually find him.
Russians secretly follow the gang so that they can apprehend Jack.
And it becomes a chase to the finish line where the US government are waiting to pick them all up at the border (with Kim waiting) and at the end….Tony sacrifices himself to save Jack who has already been injured/shot but is looked after by the paramedics (similar to the end of season 2) with Kim and family watching over him. THE END
andy
May 14, 2017 at 4:34 pmBrian
May 15, 2017 at 5:11 amTony’s character is a wild card and seriously flawed in many respects. I don’t think that Carlos Bernard has ever had his own TV show, and sure, Tony has his die hard fans, but I think these are fringe enthusiasts and don’t represent the wide audience.
I thought when 24 was coming back, they were going to do the T3 thing and give Yvonne Strahovski the main role. Somebody above said that 24 Legacy was a dumpster fire, they couldn’t have been more correct. I would imagine that the only way to salvage this POS is let this ferment for a while, bring back a safe core of 5-6 characters, including Chloe, Kate Morgan, Charles Logan, and yes, cameos by Jack and Tony. Heck, bring Eric into the mix, but not as the main character. Some of the writing was fresh and had a 24 feel to it. Eric getting arrested in E2 or E3 was a brilliant twist on the gas station/highway pursuit chronology in S4. But despite all the other crappy writing, Eric kept having to get “saved by the bell” by his wife, CTU, ect… Eric just seemed to always be the luckiest son of a bitch in the world and no actual heroics or craftiness.
Coral Snake
May 14, 2017 at 6:10 pmThis would require them to bring back a number of the original core characters that are still alive from the first few seasons to work well.
Kim, Tony, Chloe, Pierce, and Novick would be a good base cast to start with. Would love to see Mandy too and maybe Kieth Palmer as a Congressman following in his fathers footsteps.
andy
May 14, 2017 at 10:33 pmMilo
May 15, 2017 at 5:58 amMarlon
May 15, 2017 at 6:44 amandy
May 15, 2017 at 10:23 am