24 a strike casualty
2008-02-15 09:36
New York - One fall-out of the Hollywood writers strike is that fans of Fox's drama 24 have to wait until next January to see Jack Bauer again.
The network has committed to air a full season on consecutive weeks and had been planning to start last month.
If it had started airing new episodes soon, the season finale would not have taken place until the summer, when TV networks rarely show their high profile programmes.
Even though eight episodes for this season had already been filmed before the beginning of the writers strike, producers would have had to ramp up production soon to complete the season.
So 24 represents this television season's most prominent casualty due to the writers strike.
A January 2009 start seemed the best way to comply with viewers' wishes that a season's episodes run without interruption to conclusion, Fox said on Thursday.
- AP