‘24’ stops the clock

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Even Jack Bauer can’t get us out of this fine mess.

Fox announced Wednesday that it is delaying indefinitely the premiere of the seventh season of ‘24’ because of the ongoing writer’s strike. ‘Day 7’ was supposed to premiere in January and run through mid-June, with a summer blockbuster-type finale, executive producer and show runner Howard Gordon said. (Read how your other favorite shows are faring here.)

Now, who knows when we will get to see Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) in action again. A summer premiere is unlikely because of low viewership, so that means we might have to wait until next fall -- or January 2009 -- to find out how Tony Almeida (Carlos Bernard) came back from the dead.

Holy cow! What is this, ‘The Sopranos?’

‘Hopefully it will have the same effect it had on ‘The Sopranos’ and it will whet fans’ appetites even more,’ Gordon said. ‘I really appreciate the integrity [Fox and 20th Century Fox Television] have toward the show. The only other alternative was a shortened order. Airing 23 episodes of a show called ‘24’ would have felt like less than the optimal way to present the show.’

Another option would have been to air it in two parts. But as fans of ‘Lost’ well know, splitting a season of a serialized drama is never a good idea.

‘It really depends on when the strike is resolved and what the optimum window is,’ Gordon said. ‘I hope it’s not an entire year. You get impatient doing the show. You want people to see it. It’s disappointing obviously as well. You’ve worked on a show. You really look forward to having people see it and respond to it.’

-- Maria Elena Fernandez