---

The True Hollywood Story about 24 premiered on E! this week and it was as humdingingly excellent as you would imagine a show all about 24 would be.

It gave the history of the show from before it started up until Season 6 (but with no spoilers for it) and did it all in real time, using 24's signature elements - like the ticking clock and beep beep music.

It also used the split screens to show behind the scenes footage and most of the lead characters (including gimme-gimme! Kiefer) strung it all together by talking about stuff.

The creators, Joel Surnow and Robert Cochran, and director/producer, Jon Cassar, spoke about how they conceptualised the show and all the intriguing, hectic things they've had to consider across the seasons. I don't have one clue how any of them manage to get a wink of sleep considering the humungous task the show is.

The Juice

Lots of very juicy facts were revealed through it all. These are them:

(Please note - what follows has spoilers for Season 1 so if you haven't seen it you'll be spoiled if you read ahead).

1. Kiefer Sutherland has managed to be as successful as he is - not because of his father being Donald Sutherland but rather, despite him.

The first part of the show concentrated on him and how he grew up etc and after Donald Sutherland divorced Kiefer's mother, the only time Kiefer saw him was when he watched him in movies.

Kiefer left school at 15 to be an actor, lived in a room with a hotplate and no bathroom, went to auditions and got cast in a role in an episode of Steven Spielberg's TV show Amazing Stories - which is what gave him cred.

In his acceptance speech for one of his awards for 24, he acknowledged his father in the audience and said something along the lines of: "Maybe we'll get to go to supper together now."

Donald laughed in response, trying to pretend he isn't guilty - which of course he is.

Verry intense isn't it?

2. The real time aspect of 24 was the key idea that sparked the show. The original concept was that it would be a real time romantic comedy set on the day before a wedding but then the creators wisened up and decided that it would be way better if the lead character had to fiercely battle time while trying to save the world.

3. When deciding on who to cast as Jack the creators didn't think Kiefer was right for the role - they thought he was too young and couldn't get rid of the image of him being a brat packer.

The biggest problem they had was that they didn't think it would be believable that he has a teenage daughter until the person who suggested him told them that he really does have one in real life - which changed the way they saw completely and resulted in him getting the part.

4. Carlos Bernard auditioned to be Jack and when he wasn't right for it they adapted the role of Tony Almeida to suit him. Tony was originally named Andrew Geller and was Jewish.

5. Sarah Clarke (who reminds me soo much of Ashley Callie) auditioned for the role of Nina, got it immediately after a quick reading and went straight from the audition to the film her first scene.

6. While filming Season 1 nobody - including the show's writers and creators - knew who the mole was! They only decided on it just before it was revealed that it was Nina.

I always wondered how she managed to be so brilliantly, convincingly innocent and this really explains it.

7. Sarah Clarke and Xander Berkely (grumpy, world-saving George Mason) fell in lurve immediately they started working together, went to Portugal on holiday when the show took it's first break, got married in 2002 and are living happily ever after.

8. President David Palmer (Dennis Haysbert) is the first African American President character on American TV ever.

9. The signature split screens of the show became a convention as a way of dealing with the millions of phonecalls the characters make to each other.

In the pilot episode everyone spent a total of 20 minutes on the phone so they introduced the split scenes to keep things interesting and then extended them into what they are.

As for the actual phonecalls - they're so realistic 'cos they really do speak to each other on the phone for every single phonecall. This wasn't in the THS - I saw it in an online interview with Carlos Barnard and was super-pleased to hear it - I suspected that they do, but needed confirmation.

10. When the decision was made to whack Terry Bauer at the end of Season 1, Kiefer Sutherland didn't agree with the decision and thought it was going to sink the show. Most everyone felt the same way, except the creators who insisted on it happening. Now both Kiefer and everyone in the universe thinks it was a genius idea obviously.

As terrible as it was, it really couldn't have been more perfect. It left you so traumatised for him but also so delighted for yourself.

Quotes

Amongst this news there were also groovy comments by everyone who spoke. These were my faves:

Penny Johnson Jerald (on her character Sherry): "I never played her evil - it manifested itself in that. It was so strange when guest stars came on the show - they'd approach me as if I could take out a knife and stab them at any time."


Mary Lynn Rajskub (on her character Chloe): "She was a hard pill to swallow at first. People didn't want to like her. But then they have to."


Jon Cassar - Director/Executive Producer (on keeping the plots secret): "It's been very difficult for us - the internet's our worst enemy and our best friend at the same time."


Carlos Bernard: "Really, I would have made a much better Jack. People like Jack now but they don't know what they're missing. They've got to live with, *pretends to scream* "NOW, GET DOWN NOW!"

"I wouldn't have done that. I would have been a much kinder, gentler Jack. I'm just saying."

---

---

---

Comments