Brannon Braga surfaces, 24 DOOMED

The Original Faceman · Dec 19, 2007

24 got Manny Coto for season 5 and 6. So he's got a 50/50 track record. What will this ominous new addition do to that track record....

from another message board I read:

Tony's back, there's a female President, and Jack is on trial! Executive Producer Manny Coto spills the beans on the revelations that are set to rock the world of 24.

By: Tara DiLullo Bennett

24 Magazine: There was a lot of talk in the press last summer about the delayed start of production for Season Seven because the writers jettisoned an early concept for the season in July. What was that storyline?

Manny Coto: It's no secret that we were exploring a storyline that took place in Africa, with Jack actually in Africa. There was talk of three to four episodes where Jack is dealing qwith a coup underway in Africa. It was considered to break the 24-hour rule and do a jump. I was never in favor of that, frankly, I didn't like that idea, but it was seriously considered. We wrote those scripts, and although it's been reported in the media that the studio made us change, actually we decided not to do it. The studio wanted us to figure out how to make it work down that road, but we didn't like where we had gone and re entrenched. We went down another direction and ultimately that became Tony.

Tony Almeida! Last summer, you revealed to the press that you almost brought him back in the Season Six finale, but fans had to wait eight more months.

Yeah, it was always floating around and I was pushing for it. Not so much because it was Tony, but I felt like it was an interesting hook we hadn't done before. The show in Season Five opened with the death of a great character, I thought it would be a great way to open the season with the knowledge that a character Jack loved is alive. The interesting twist is that, yes, Tony is alive but he's a terrorist. Jack is now forced to hunt down someone that he's loved and worked with as he's apparently gone to the dark side.

Where is Jack in Season Seven?

We had Jack over in Africa, building shelters for humanity. He was a wandering soul. He had no place to go. Being there, he ends up in the middle of this coup which ultimately has large national security implications, so that was the idea being Africa, which wasn't a bad one. We brought Jack back and we retooled this idea. This was another thing that I pitched awhile back and it was sitting on the the shelf, which was, " What if we started a sequence with Jack hauled before a Senate Committee, brought to task for all the supposed crimes he had committed?" People have knocked the show for its torture and I was thinking " why not just put it up on its feet and have the trial of Jack Bauer?" Give voice to what some of the critics of the show have said, put it in the characters mouths"... So that's where Jack is-he's brought before a Senate committee and we combined the idea with the Tony idea. It's a great place to find Jack.

Some of the critics and audience had grown tired of the LA location, so Season Seven takes place in Washington DC, correct?

Yes, it's another way to inject some freshness into the series by taking it to another city-to either Washington or New York. We decided on Washington because it ties into the overall threat we are going to be seeing and Jack's relationship with the President.

CTU is gone for good also?

There's no CTU. What's also great is that Jack's brought in and the FBI tells him that they need his help and he's like, " bang You." The government has just told him he's a terrorist, but then they tell him, " I think your going to want to help us when you find out who it is..." It brings him back in, and I think it works well.

user posted image

John Billingsley ( Michael Latham)

Give us a sense of who Latham really is as a 24 character.

I call him Mr. McGuffin, because of Hitchcock's famous McGuffin. I set the plot in motion to a certain extent.

Can you tell us how you do that? Which side is he on?

I'm the government brain who is capable of breaking down the firewall that saves us all from mass destruction, the computer system that prevents people from crashing planes and polluting our water system and shutting down nuclear power plants. So they have captured me and I'm being tortured to within an inch of my life. My fingernails are pulled. I'm beaten to a pulp. And I have given the villains the secret code that allows them to gain control of the infrastructure.

The show has always been shot and set in LA. Now that it's shot in LA but set in DC, are you having to write around any problems involving that new dynamic.

Coto: No, not yet. We've written whatever we want to write. I think most everything can be done digitally now. If we want cars driving around with Washington in the background-we can. We saw a process for a pilot where there were four actors walking around Red Square. They were there and it was handheld, with cameras moving. It looked like they were sitting there and it was all done with green screen. Nowadays you can do whatever you want.

Who's new on the writing staff?

Coto: I brought in a friend of mine, Brannon Braga, who wrote Star Trek for a long time. I worked with Brannon on Enterprise. I always felt he was a dynamite writer and he would be perfect for this show. It's turning out that he is. Howard Gordon brought in Alex Gansa who was his old writing partner. They are two really strong additions to the writing room.

In the 24: Debrief series that ran on the web over the summer, Jack is a much snarkier man. Are we going to see that in Season Seven?

Coto: I gotta be honest with you, I haven't seen more attitude. I think he's just angry. He is pretty much the same driven man that he has been in the past, only now he is going after his friend. Kiefer often brings his own concept of what the character is like in the season. He looks great and different. I saw him the other day on set. He looks like a completely different person from last year.

Let's talk about new casting. Cherry Jones was announced first as the new President. Was she always on your radar to play that important part?

Coto: She was, if not our only choice, our main choice. There were other names bandied about, but she was always high on the list. That was an easy one.

The announcement of actress Janeane Garofalo joining the cast incited a lot of feedback from people assuming her personal politics would inform her role role on the show. Not the case right?

Coto: It's so funny that they assume there's some kind of politics involved. It's ridiculous. We wanted someone with a certain personality and she fitted the bill. It had nothing at all to do with anybody's politics.

What's even funnier is that people have often compared Chloe's caustic personality to Janeane's schtick-now they get to share space on screen!

Coto: Yeah, what's going to be interesting is that in episode three, Janeane's character goes head to head with Chloe!

Are there any other cast-members you are particularly excited about this year?

Coto: The most important thing for me is bringing back Carlos. John Billingsley has been cast and he is wonderful. The actor who plays Sean ( Rhys Coiro), who was on Entourage as the director-he's got a fantastic presence. We can already tell that his character is going to become something big this year because of what he's brought to it.
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http://z14.invisionfree.com/The_24_Community/index.php?showtopic=5446

Lt. Mewa · Dec 19, 2007

Isn't Jack in jail?

Black Dove · Dec 19, 2007

NNNNOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!

Does this mean there will be a reset button at the end of the season?

brudder1967 · Dec 19, 2007

No, but Jack will travel back in the past to keep himself from killing Curtis.

Baba · Dec 19, 2007

Is moore laughing or crying?

Kyle · Dec 19, 2007

WATCH YOUR FUTURE'S END.

Nova · Dec 19, 2007

Digs at Barga aside (as long as he does no decision making I'm not worried about him) I wouldn't have minded seeing them take a big risk and center the entire day around his hearing before the Senate committee.

You do a lot of exposition and for drama, you could have some terroristic threat to the Senators wherein Jack saves there ass with his disapproved tactics and leave the question open whether or not such extreme tactics are ever justified.

By trend a bit too far towards Law and Order but at least it wouldn't be the same ol shtick.

Muad Dib · Dec 19, 2007

24 is fucked like a tied up goat.

Baba · Dec 19, 2007

my god youll see a female in catsuit or naked female on 24 who a nudist.

Quincunx · Dec 19, 2007

I've always felt what 24 really needed was some time-travel plots.

Dayton Kitchens · Dec 19, 2007

When I saw the thread title all I could think was

"Damn! They didn't hold him under long enough!"

KIRK1ADM · Dec 19, 2007

Oh holy shit. I honestly will not watch 24 anymore. I cannot believe they are stupid enough to bring in Brannon Braga.

NAHTMMM · Dec 19, 2007

Some of the critics and audience had grown tired of the LA location, so Season Seven takes place in Washington DC, correct?

Yes, it's another way to inject some freshness into the series by taking it to another city-to either Washington or New York.
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Baba · Dec 19, 2007

24 needs to hire moore. Have olmos as a villian

Nova · Dec 19, 2007

Actually, Olmos playing an uber-villain would be sweet....though perhaps wasted on the empty shell of 24.

Maybe on Heroes or something...

AlphaMan · Dec 19, 2007

Braga as a staff writer may not be bad at all... He was a staff writer in TNG's hey day... This way, Fury and Coto can veto any time travel plots.

KIRK1ADM · Dec 19, 2007

I simply can't understand why would anyone would want to risk a television series on him. He has a proven track record for bringing shows down.

Shirogayne · Dec 20, 2007

Damn.

I'm gonna miss this show.

BearTM · Dec 20, 2007

KIRK1ADM said: ↑

I simply can't understand why would anyone would want to risk a television series on him. He has a proven track record for bringing shows down.
Click to expand...

Actually, if you understand the concept of the Peter Principle, you'll understand why Braga as Staff Writer may be a good thing, while Braga in any role higher than that is to be feared.

brudder1967 · Dec 20, 2007

Braga and Moore are both good writers, if they have adult supervision. Braga does science fiction while Moore does drama, which is why they worked well together on Trek.

And 24 has been going down for a few seasons anyway. The addition of Janeane Garofalo to the coming season was the final nail in the coffin for me.

CaptainChewbacca · Dec 20, 2007

So, to clarify, season 6 of 24 is going to be a clip show?

KIRK1ADM · Dec 20, 2007

Maybe the final episode will be on the holodeck of the Enterprise D, with Riker and Troi living in an old early 21st Century tv series. If Braga is involved with the writing that is.

Ward · Dec 20, 2007

How does Jeri Ryan figure into all this?

JUSTLEE · Dec 20, 2007

She once screwed Braga which is how she got the part of 7 of 9.

Baba · Dec 20, 2007

She screwed him a fter she got the part.

Reno Floyd · Dec 21, 2007

Never watched an episode of this show. Can't say I'm in a rush to now.

Muad Dib · Dec 21, 2007

BearTM said: ↑

...if you understand the concept of the Peter Principle...
Click to expand...

Jeri Ryan's gonna be on the show?

Diacanu · Dec 21, 2007

JUSTLEE said: ↑

She once screwed Braga which is how she got the part of 7 of 9.
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Meh, Majel fucked the boss too, and everyone loves her.

KIRK1ADM · Dec 21, 2007

Well this is its last season isn't it? With the writers strike and all it doesn't look all that good for 24 since they do not have many episodes in the can at this point. It had delays in shooting because of fires in SD and being unable to shoot some of its location shots at Camp Pendleton during the recent fires in CA. Now the writers strike. Sounds like a recipe for an early end to the series to me.

brudder1967 · Dec 21, 2007

Is Keifer out of jail yet, or has he even started serving his sentence?

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Brannon Braga surfaces, 24 DOOMED

The Original Faceman Lasagna Artist

Lt. Mewa Rockefeller Center

Black Dove Mildly Offensive

brudder1967 this is who we are

Baba Rep Giver

Kyle You will regret this!

Nova livin on the edge of the ledge Writer

Muad Dib Probably a Dual Deceased Member

Baba Rep Giver

Quincunx anti-anti Staff Member Administrator

Dayton Kitchens Banned

KIRK1ADM Bored Being

NAHTMMM Perpetually sondering

Baba Rep Giver

Nova livin on the edge of the ledge Writer

AlphaMan The Last Dragon

KIRK1ADM Bored Being

Shirogayne Gay™ Formerly Important

BearTM Bustin' a move! Deceased Member

brudder1967 this is who we are

CaptainChewbacca Lord of Rodly Might

KIRK1ADM Bored Being

Ward A Stepford Husband

JUSTLEE The Ancient Starfighter

Baba Rep Giver

Reno Floyd shameless bounder

Muad Dib Probably a Dual Deceased Member

Diacanu Comicmike. Writer

KIRK1ADM Bored Being

brudder1967 this is who we are

Log in or Sign up

Brannon Braga surfaces, 24 DOOMED

The Original Faceman Lasagna Artist

Lt. Mewa Rockefeller Center

Black Dove Mildly Offensive

brudder1967 this is who we are

Baba Rep Giver

Kyle You will regret this!

Nova livin on the edge of the ledge Writer

Muad Dib Probably a Dual Deceased Member

Baba Rep Giver

Quincunx anti-anti Staff Member Administrator

Dayton Kitchens Banned

KIRK1ADM Bored Being

NAHTMMM Perpetually sondering

Baba Rep Giver

Nova livin on the edge of the ledge Writer

AlphaMan The Last Dragon

KIRK1ADM Bored Being

Shirogayne Gay™ Formerly Important

BearTM Bustin' a move! Deceased Member

brudder1967 this is who we are

CaptainChewbacca Lord of Rodly Might

KIRK1ADM Bored Being

Ward A Stepford Husband

JUSTLEE The Ancient Starfighter

Baba Rep Giver

Reno Floyd shameless bounder

Muad Dib Probably a Dual Deceased Member

Diacanu Comicmike. Writer

KIRK1ADM Bored Being

brudder1967 this is who we are

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