Jack Bauer saved the world, but in the end, he couldn't save himself from cancellation. Fox has announced that it is ending '24' after the drama completes its eighth and final season. The two-hour series finale will air May 24 at 8PM.
"While the end of the series is bittersweet, we always wanted '24' to finish on a high note, so the decision to make the eighth season our last was one we all agreed upon," said '24' star Kiefer Sutherland in a press statement. "This feels like the culmination of all our efforts."
'24' premiered on Fox in November 2001 and immediately became a critical and cultural hit in the country's post-Sept. 11 landscape. The series -- which revolved around counter-terrorism agent Jack Bauer (Sutherland) -- cleverly formatted the show over the course of one day, with one hour per episode, employing sleek split-screen edits and providing a career resurgence for Sutherland (both he and the series won Emmys in 2006).
More recently, however, speculation about whether or not the show would return for a ninth season came amidst reports of weaker story lines, rising production costs and sagging ratings. Further signs pointing to the end of the Emmy-nominated series came when an earlier EW.com report about a '24' casting call for the role of the UN Secretary General warned that this was for "the final episodes." (Former 'ER' actor Eriq La Salle ended up with the part, and will appear in the series' last two episodes.)
The days may not be over for Jack Bauer just yet, however. While Sutherland told EW.com that producing a ninth season of episodes just wasn't an option (neither for Fox nor NBC, who had reportedly expressed interest in picking up the show), he did promise that the series finale would set up the show for a movie version of '24' already in the works
"While the end of the series is bittersweet, we always wanted '24' to finish on a high note, so the decision to make the eighth season our last was one we all agreed upon," said '24' star Kiefer Sutherland in a press statement. "This feels like the culmination of all our efforts."
'24' premiered on Fox in November 2001 and immediately became a critical and cultural hit in the country's post-Sept. 11 landscape. The series -- which revolved around counter-terrorism agent Jack Bauer (Sutherland) -- cleverly formatted the show over the course of one day, with one hour per episode, employing sleek split-screen edits and providing a career resurgence for Sutherland (both he and the series won Emmys in 2006).
More recently, however, speculation about whether or not the show would return for a ninth season came amidst reports of weaker story lines, rising production costs and sagging ratings. Further signs pointing to the end of the Emmy-nominated series came when an earlier EW.com report about a '24' casting call for the role of the UN Secretary General warned that this was for "the final episodes." (Former 'ER' actor Eriq La Salle ended up with the part, and will appear in the series' last two episodes.)
The days may not be over for Jack Bauer just yet, however. While Sutherland told EW.com that producing a ninth season of episodes just wasn't an option (neither for Fox nor NBC, who had reportedly expressed interest in picking up the show), he did promise that the series finale would set up the show for a movie version of '24' already in the works
