24 Plot for Season 7 being tossed

Slight spoilers in here, so beware (courtesy of SpoilerTV):

Season 7 of 24 promises to be its tensest yet. At least on the set.

Execs at the Fox hit have scrapped virtually their entire storyline for the season, delaying the start of production by roughly three weeks. According to sources, the 11th-hour time-out was called after the network put the kibosh on a costly plan to shoot a number of episodes in Africa. Producers briefly toyed with the idea of finding a location in Los Angeles that could sub for the continent, but ultimately, decided to ditch the whole concept and start over from scratch.

Although a 20th Century Fox spokesperson declined to comment, 24's expert scowler, Mary Lynn Rajskub, confirms that the clock for Day 7 has been reset. "I don't know what's going on over there, but they're going crazy," says the scene-stealer, who only learned last week that Chloe would even be returning. "We usually start [back up] at the end of July, and I don't think we're starting until a couple weeks into August now. It's kind of exciting, because I think [the postponement] means that they're really having to dig in there and come up with new stuff."

No doubt, the show's creative team already was feeling the pressure: Day 6 was considered to be about as explosive as a wet firecracker, so for season 7, they really needed a plot that was incendiary. In fact, news of the setback comes on the same day the semi-annual Television Week critic's poll (in which yours truly participated) named 24 the second worst show on TV, behind ABC's best-not-traveled October Road.

For more on 24's big rewrite — including what impact it'll have on plans to introduce the show's first female president — check out Ask Ausiello this Wednesday.

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As a fan, I'm concerned. As much as I did like Season Six, I can understand how the show seems stale with some and that some form of change is needed. A set of locations other than Los Angeles could have gone a long way towards realizing that, but Fox executives are cheaping out. I hope the creators are able to right this ship. At least Mary Lynn's coming back.