As Jack Bauer reaches the end of another dramatic day Geek Dave offeres up 24 bits of trivia that you might not know about 24.
1. Although it ended up bearing absolutely no resemblance, the original idea for 24 was for it to be a romantic comedy showing 24 hours in the life of a wedding.
2. Amongst the actors considered for the role of Jack Bauer was Richard Burgi. He ended up playing Kevin Carroll in Day 1.
3. Howard Gordon, one of the show’s writers and producers, revealed someone else who they had in mind for the role of Jack Bauer:
"This is a crazy thought, but at one point Jeff Goldblum was actually being considered for Jack Bauer. But once Kiefer came up that was pretty much done."
4. Katee Sackhoff, who played Dana Walsh in Day 8 of 24, originally auditioned for the role of Kim Bauer back when she was just 19.
5. Sarah Clarke, who played Nina Myers in the first three series, was cast at the very last minute, on the morning filming began! With no time for wardrobe she spent most of the first series in the outfit she wore during the audition.
6. Whilst playing Nina Meyers, Sarah Clarke got engaged to co-star Xander Berkeley (George Mason) They were married on September 7, 2002.
7. During season 2 Jack whispers to Nina, he was supposed to say was "I will hunt you down every day for the rest of your life." Kiefer Sutherland used that line in rehearsals and in early takes, but for the take you see on TV he changed it, resulting in a genuine look of shock from Sarah Clarke. Sutherland whispered "Sarah, I love you. I wish you hadn't married Xander - so we could be together."
8. A product placement deal during Day 1, resulted in the good guys always using Macs, whilst the bad guys all used PCs.
9. In Day 4, episode 5, Debbie's cell phone rang with an actual California phone number showing on the caller ID. Production Designer Joseph A Hodges revealed that director Jon Cassar came up with the idea of showing the number and creating a "24 Fan Phone", he also stated that 80,000 fans called the number in the first week alone. Some of the lucky ones got to chat with Carlos Bernard (Tony Almeida) and Kim Raver (Audrey Raines).
10. If you're a Star Trek fan then you may well recognise 24s President Charles Logan. The actor Gregory Itzen has played five different characters on the long running franchise! He's appeared twice in Deep Space Nine (playing Hain and Ilon Tandro), once on Voyager (as Dr. Dysek) and twice on Enterprise (as Admiral Black and Captain Sopek).
11. Jean Smart, who played Martha Logan, was the voice of cartoon character Ann Possible.
12. There's an internet fallacy that states when Kiefer Sutherland discovered there was a 24 drinking game, which involves players drinking a shot every time Jack Bauer says "Damn it!" he modified a script so that he said it 14 times in an hour! Actually the most Jack Bauer ever said "Damn it" was 4 times in an hour, this happened twice, Day 2 episode 11 and Day 12 episode 12. Fact fans amongst you may like to also know that the least amount of Bauer spoken "Damn it"'s came during Day 8, only 12 over the whole season, and the most is 20 during both Day 4 and Day 7. Also, Tony Almeida is the most 'Damned' character. Jack has said "Damn it, Tony" five times!
13. 24: Live Another Day marks the fourth time that William Devane has played the President of the United States. In 1974 he played President John F. Kennedy in the historical drama The Missiles of October. In 2004 he played President Hayes in three episodes of the TV series Stargate SG-1, as well as one spin-off TV movie. And finally, he played the unnamed U.S. president in the 2012 Batman movie The Dark Knight Rises.
14. Kim Raver made her first television appearance at the age of 6, playing football on Sesame Street...
15. Kim Raver's character in 24: Live Another Day, Audrey Boudreau, is married to the President's Chief of Staff. Her character on Revolution, Julia Neville, was also married to that show's Chief of Staff. In both cases it was the character's second marriage.
16. Jack Bauer was only an official CTU employee for 2 of the 8 seasons, in Day 1 and Day 3. During each of the other seasons, he was contracted, worked freelance or given temporary clearance.
17. Stephen Merchant had a brief cameo as an unnamed CTU employee during Season 6 of 24...
18. Not to be outdone, his long time comedy partner Ricky Gervais filmed a scene for the Day 6 DVD release. It was cut in with actual footage and included as a bonus feature...
19. During Day 5, former US presidential candidate John McCain had a walk-on part delivering papers to a CTU meeting...
20. Reiko Aylesworth, who played Michelle Dessler, originally auditioned for the role of Nina Myers in season 1. She tried again the following year for the role of Kate Warner. Producers liked her enough to call her in to test for Dessler.
21. Kiefer's father Donald Sutherland was the producers' first choice to play Phillip Bauer, Jack's on screen Dad, in Day 6 of 24. Unfortunately Sutherland was unable to commit to the role due to scheduling conflicts, he later revealed how much he regretted not taking the part.
22. Anil Kapoor, who played President Omar Hassan on Day 8 of 24, also plays the Indian version of Jack Bauer (Jai Singh Rathod) in his country's very own version of the show.
23. Throughout the series there have been seven US Presidents depicted. Just four of them were elected into office, with David Palmer being the only elected U.S. President to serve out his full term. Of the others, one resigned, a bomb incapacitated one, another was arrested, and another was injured when Air Force One was attacked.
24. Finally, Kiefer Sutherland recorded an advert as "Jack Bauer" to promote a Japanese high energy calorie bar!!! Honest....
...and that's how he goes 24 hours without stopping for a meal!
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