24 lost its co-creator and exec producer Joel Surnow !
By fred | February 13, 2008
The strike is over, and all shows will return to the air, some sooner than later of course but eventually they’ll all be back. But it won’t be without change, it seems, at least behind the scenes.
Recently it was reported that ABC’s Ugly Betty will be heading back to production with a smaller producing team, as executive producers Marco Pennette and James Hayman were both let go on Monday, the same day the series was renewed for a third season.
And now it’s turn for Fox hit-drama 24 to follow the lead, as Joel Surnow, co-creator and executive producer of the show, is leaving the series effective immediately. Obviously Surnow has been there from the start, and he was involved on the first 8 episodes completed before the strike. Yet, he will not be creatively involved in the remaining 16 episodes, which should begin filming soon.
Surnow’s overall deal with 20th Century Fox TV, producer of the show, was up April 30. But this week Surnow asked the studio to be let go, and they obliged. It seems that Surnow has began contemplating an exit from 24 in the summer, when the show was starting production on Season 7, but made the final decision during the strike, declaring : “I did some soul-searching. I took it as an opportunity to write on my own and do other things.”
I have to say, I’m really getting less and less confident that this new season of 24 will be good. Let’s face it, last season was the worst one ever, there’s no question there. And this season didn’t start in the best way possible, as the two first plot ideas writers came up with were rejected by Fox. Twice, writers had to come up with new ideas for the season, including some that may have actually been pretty good.
Maybe this played a role in Surnow’s willing to distance himself from the show, maybe he wasn’t happy with the direction this season was heading into, or how things were happening creatively. While he didn’t comment on such issues, he assured that it was hard to leave the show, a show that was “a life- and career-changing experience“.
He then added that what made things easier in his decision-making was to know that the show was in “the capable hands of Howard Gordon“. Now I’m sure Gordon is very capable, and he’s been there from day one, but he’s also been the one running the show since Season 6…
Posted in News
Shows: 24, Ugly Betty
