'24' is cancelled

The last episode of 24 will air in May.

It's my favorite show. I'm going to miss it like you wouldn't believe. But I can't say I'm surprised.

In the wake of 9/11, the idea of a heroic, larger-than-life figure protecting us all from the Bad Guys and giving them exactly what they deserved (with due homage to the ethical questions rendered by a tortured conscience) was irresistible. And despite lapses in realism that even knowledgeable and diverse fans like Bill Clinton and Janeanne Garafalo (who actually played a recurring role in the series) on the Left and Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld on the Right were willing to wink at in the interests of a more compelling narrative, the series ran with the premise for a remarkable length of time and with remarkable dramatic success.

But you can only take the audience to the edge of Armageddon so many times before it becomes passe'. A plot to assassinate a presidential candidate- and (in Jack Bauer's universe) the first African-American with a realistic shot at the Oval Office at that? Duly thwarted. Air Force One crashes, either killing another president or injuring him so severely that the 25th Amendment has to be invoked? Done that. The ascension of a weak president who allows himself to be blackmailed by terrorists? Done that, too. Terrorist obfuscation takes us to brink of nuclear war with a post-Soviet Russia headed by a sympathetically portrayed (!) president? Thwarted. The hero is kidnapped, taken to China, and tortured for a number of years before being repatriated in a prisoner exchange? An attempted palace coup by a power-hungry Vice-President in the midst of a crisis he is ill-equipped to handle? A suitcase nuke being detonated by terrorists in Los Angeles? An armed take-over of the White House and the kidnapping of virtually the entire Executive branch by terrorists? All these crises have come and gone in the past eight seasons, and Jack Bauer has been equal to them all.

And this year, the prospect of a dirty bomb being detonated in Manhattan has not been enough to stop the ratings from declining to a level which, while still impressive, is inadequate to generate the revenues necessary to save the show. A regrettable, tawdry and just plain dumb sub-plot starring Starbuck from Battlestar Galactica hasn't helped. It's been a great run, but Fox realizes that it's time to pull the plug. And sadly, even the show's biggest fans- of which I am one- will reluctantly have to agree.

24 has simply played itself out.

But the universe of Jack Bauer doesn't die with the show. A feature-length movie is reportedly in the works, and vague hints of "other venues" for the story have been forthcoming from the show's producers. Freed from the constraints of the 24-hour deadline which the show's premise imposes upon each season (each individual episode supposedly represents one hour in real time of that 24), the story may find new directions to go in, and the legend may gain new life.

But come May, it will be time to bid good-bye to Jack Bauer, at least for now. He's become an American icon, and deservedly so; a cultural figure who will go down in legend. And while it may only in fiction that the American people owe him for saving their bacon over and over again during the past eight years, in sober reality we all have cause to be grateful to him for eight years of marvelous, exciting dramatic entertainment.

HT: Drudge