This was on TV Guide's website, it's an interview with Manny Coto, one of the executive producers of "24":
Where's Jack Bauer going to start Hour 1 of next season on 24?
Co-Exec producer Manny Coto says:
"Jack starts next season in a very different place than any season so far. Let's put it this way: I wouldn't be surprised if there's no CTU next year. CTU has almost become too comfortable, you know? "We need to carry out this operation - Chloe, grab satellite X and get us a feed!" That's gone.
We're pulling the rug out from under our characters. It's a pretty radical shift - a totally different context with a totally different villain. There will not be a ticking clock on a nuclear device. We're hewing much closer to real life: tighter, more personal, more difficult for Jack.
There may even be a plot thread that doesn't take place on U.S. soil.
In a sense, it's a reboot - in location and personnel. We're going to be introducing a new stable of characters, along with a couple of old ones. Jack's not living under an alias. He's found a place he thinks he belongs and a job he enjoys doing that doesn't involve the government.
What's also refreshing is the choice of villain: it's not a Muslim terrorist. In fact, it's not a terrorist at all. And the character is fascinating, someone with a supremely dark past who's done something horrific. And whose ambition is to regain his stature in the world. I just can't say enough how exciting it is. It's going to be pretty damn cool."
As much as I love "24", I have been feeling for a couple of years that it's needed a shift in a new direction, and no, I don't just mean killing off characters. It's seemed to follow the same formula, of Jack either being retired from CTU, or in hiding, or in captiviaty, and being called back into duty by CTU and/or the president to save the country, if not the world, from a terrorist threat. There's only so much you can do with that.
There's also the same locale over 6 years, Los Angeles. Surely, L.A. isn't the only place under a terrorist microscope, as history tells us. Having a new location would really help put a dose of excitement and freshness into the show. From what I'm reading, I think "24" might take a page from Clancy's book "Without Remorse." "Without Remorse" is about a soldier whose girlfriend is killed by drug dealers. He nearly gets killed as well, and after recovering, he plots revenge. This soldier later becomes "Clark", the shadowy operative in some of the later Jack Ryan novels. The book's more complicated than that of course, but that's the gist of what it's about, and I have a feeling "24" might be inspired by that.
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