Jack Bauer, America’s favorite counterterrorism agent with the violent code of honor and the weird sadomasochistic bent, is squaring off against a stealthy and unforgiving new enemy.
His fans.
After peaking in the ratings last year, Fox’s thriller “24” has been getting dumped on by seemingly everyone in this, its sixth season.
Critics and fans alike are aiming tomatoes at the stage, carping about the soapy and repetitive plotlines that unspool Jack’s unlikely familial past, tiresome romantic triangles in the security bureaucracy and endless bickering among Oval Office advisers.
Last week, with a fresh episode designed to lay the groundwork for what the creators promise will be a typically suspenseful finale next month, “24’s” ratings in the key young-adult category swooned to their lowest level in more than three years, with a total audience of just 10.4 million, according to figures from Nielsen Media Research.
More than one-third of viewers have bailed since the special four-hour season premiere that aired over two consecutive nights in January. And if that wasn’t enough bad news for the series, last week, “24” was one of the prime-time shows that the Federal Communications Commission singled out in urging Congress to curb TV violence.
The show’s producers promise some big changes are on the way for Jack (Kiefer Sutherland) and other regulars next season.
“It hurts to hear the criticism,” executive producer and writer Howard Gordon said last week by phone as the cast and crew worked to finish shooting the season’s final episode, set to air May 21.
“I don’t dispute it’s been a challenging season to write for us. But it’s reinvigorated our determination to reinvent the show.”
