24 Gives In to the Whiners

[PhoenixWright]

Gail Shister | '24' tamps down the torture
It wasn't protests that carried the day, but the programmers' belief that torture had gotten "trite."
By Gail Shister
Inquirer Columnist

Fox's 24 will become less torturous, but not because the U.S. military, human rights groups and children's advocates want it to.

So says Howard Gordon, an executive producer of the hit thriller starring Emmy winner Kiefer Sutherland as secret antiterrorist operative Jack Bauer, whose interrogation tactics make oatmeal of the Geneva Conventions.

Our hero routinely shoots, suffocates, drugs and/or electrocutes suspects. One of them, his treacherous brother, Graem, died in last week's episode. (Their evil father, played by James Cromwell, actually did the deed, although Jack is convinced that he was responsible.)

The decision to cut back on torture is driven by creativity, not criticism, according to Gordon. In its sixth season, 24 has become so torture-heavy that it borders on cliche, he says.

"What was once an extraordinary or exceptional moment is starting to feel a little trite. The idea of physical coercion or torture is no longer a novelty or surprise.

"It's not something that we, as writers, want to use as a crutch. We'd like to find other ways for Jack to get information out of suspects," says Gordon. "Our appetite has decreased. Personally, I think the audience may be tiring of it as well. My wife says it's too much."

The final eight to 10 episodes this season will include fewer torture scenes, Gordon says, adding that 16 of the 24 ordered segments have been shot.

The decision to tone down 24 "is all to the good, but in my view they could have cut back significantly the past few seasons," saysMelissa Caldwell, senior director of programs at Parents Television Council. "It's almost too little, too late."

Gordon says he's not oblivious to issues raised by various groups, among them, PTC, the U.S. military and human rights groups.

In November, he met in L.A. with Brig. Gen. Patrick Finnegan, dean of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, retired military interrogators and Human Rights First representatives. (They also met with producers of ABC's Lost.)

In the aftermath of Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay, some worry that Bauer's unethical techniques may influence young, real-life American interrogators in Iraq.

"We're not nearly as naive as some people think we are," says Gordon. "Once upon a time, we looked at torture in a kind of antiseptic way, not in a broad political context. It's become politicized because of very real stories and events."

That said, Gordon is skeptical of the show's power over U.S. troops.

"The thesis that we are affecting our soldiers in Iraq in their treatment of prisoners is being exaggerated, I think. Hopefully, there are a lot of filters between their watching 24 and their work in the field."

But it is undeniable that depictions of torture in prime time have increased dramatically in the post-9/11 world.

From 1996 to '01, there were 102 scenes, according to PTC, which maintains a database of programs.

From '02 to '05, the figure jumped to 624, the group says. The primary offender is 24, with 67 scenes in its first five seasons.

For the study, the group defined torture as "the act of inflicting excruciating pain as punishment or revenge, or as means of getting a confession or information, or for sheer cruelty," says PTC's Caldwell.

Also, the identity of the torturer during this period is more likely to be an American hero than a bad guy, PTC contends. In Caldwell's view, that's even more alarming because "it makes the behavior seem more acceptable."

Gordon says he's open to working with outside groups, "but my bottom line is that this is a TV show and that's reality. I'm optimistic that most people are able to distinguish between the two."

That means producers trump protesters.

"We're not going to be handcuffed or hamstrung," Gordon says. "While being sensitive, we have a story to tell. We intend to tell it, however we need to."

News views. In an upset, Charlie Gibson's ABC World News Tonight beat Brian Williams' NBC Nightly News in last week's Nielsen race.

World News averaged 9.7 million total viewers - its largest audience since the week of Feb. 28, 2005. It was up 6 percent compared to the same week a year ago. Nightly had 9.5 million viewers, a 3 percent drop.

Katie Couric's CBS Evening News notched 8.0 million, its best showing since Couric premiered the week of Sept. 4. All those promos during CBS's telecast of the Super Bowl didn't hurt.

BBC-Bound. Former NBC, Fox and WB entertainment czar Garth Ancier has joined BBC Worldwide Americas as president of U.S. operations - a new title.

Relocating from L.A. to New York, Ancier will oversee all BBC's ventures in the Colonies. The portfolio includes BBC America, which reaches 53 million homes; and BBC Worldwide Productions, the studio behind such shows as Dancing With the Stars.

Ancier, a Princeton grad, helped found the WB before being named president of NBC Entertainment in '99. After a stint at CNN, he was WB's chairman until it merged with UPN last September.

They SAY it's not because of the whiners, I'm not sure. I guess we'll know if they make a preachy as hell episode where torture fails, then start whining. If I wanted to watch boring liberal propaganda, I'd watch The West Wing.

[The Miles Trahan Burger Experiment]

SPOILER TAG DIS BITCH!!!11 :'(

spoiler (click to show/hide)

I don't watch the show, but...

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[TVC15]

Like I said on GAF, pulling that NEVER BEFORE MENTIONED BROTHER AND FATHER shit is the most gay, soap operaiest shit I have ever heard.  24 fans are weepy women confirmed.  Totally soap opera.  I can't believe you people don't laugh that shit off the air.  You may as well be watching Passions.

[The Fake Shemp]

Because we've only seen five days, literally, of Jack's life - why would he mention his father or brother, especially when he's estranged?  From the looks of this, this has been in the planning stages for a couple of seasons.

The only thing that irked me was that Donald didn't play his father, and also:

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Hes teh evil mastermind!

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[TVC15]

It doesn't matter if we've only seen 5 days.  Pulling the OMFG SECRET FAMILY card will always be cheesy once you do it after more than 100 episodes.  Are you telling me your eyes didn't roll at this development?

[The Fake Shemp]

No, not really.  24 has never been a serious program.  This is far less cheesy than Kim being attacked by a cougar or her working for CTU or any number of realitistic reaches.  If you're looking at 24 like you'd look at The Wire, you miss the whole point to begin with.

It didn't bother me that he had a father and brother, because a lot of people speculated that he did.  What really unnerved people, and understandably so, is that his brother was from the Bluetooth Gang a season ago.  What unnerves me is his father's ulterior motives.

[Phoenix Dark]

Season 6 is already done anyway right? So any torture that was shot for this season will be aired.

S7 I guess will feature the changes

[TVC15]

No, not really.  24 has never been a serious program.  This is far less cheesy than Kim being attacked by a cougar or her working for CTU or any number of realitistic reaches.  If you're looking at 24 like you'd look at The Wire, you miss the whole point to begin with.

It didn't bother me that he had a father and brother, because a lot of people speculated that he did.  What really unnerved people, and understandably so, is that his brother was from the Bluetooth Gang a season ago.  What unnerves me is his father's ulterior motives.

I dunno, after over 100 episodes, pulling the family card just seems like really lazy writing.

[Saint Cornelius]

I agree. I've been rolling my eyes at 24 since season 3 (although now that I look back on it, that season was fucking a weird and pretty damn enjoyable) and this whole BAUER AND HIS DADDY shit is fuckin' telenovela-levels of distinguished mentally-challenged. Someone will throw an exploding teddy bear before the end of the season, that's my word