Fox seems pretty reboot happy at the moment - the US network is already working on an X-Files revival, and yesterday (June 2) it was confirmed that a Prison Break continuation is in development, five months after the idea was first mooted.
One thing these two resusciated shows have in common is that the original series leads are attached - or at least reported to be in talks. So Mulder (David Duchovny) and Scully (Gillian Anderson) will be back to pry open The X-Files once more, while Prison Break is again expected to revolve around chalk-and-cheese siblings Michael Scofield (Wentworth Miller) and Lincoln Burrows (Dominic Purcell).
This only makes the news that a planned new season of 24 is in the works, without Kiefer Sutherland front-and-centre, all the more galling.
The announcement that a new male star is being sought to lead a planned 24 spinoff won't have come as a huge surprise to fans - after shooting last year's event series Live Another Day, Sutherland had declared that he was unlikely to reprise his role of anti-terrorism agent Jack Bauer again.
The notion of a Bauer-less 24 was mentioned by Fox chairman Dana Walden soon afterwards - with fans and critics alike speculating as to what this potential new version of the show could look like, and who might lead it.
We here at DS weren't averse to a little fun conjecture - nominating season 3's Chase (James Badge Dale) and LAD's Belcheck (Branko Tomović) as contenders, while many latched onto the idea of a spinoff fronted by Yvonne Strahovski's ex-CIA ass-kicker Kate Morgan.
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But that's all this was intended as - a bit of fun. Because to seriously consider a version of 24 without Jack Bauer as the lead is to imagine a version of the show robbed of its best and biggest selling point.
This is a point that Fox seems to have missed: "I think if the storytelling is exciting enough, that real-time element that the show really owns - so many of the production aspects are so unique to that show - I do [think we could do it without him]," Walden was quoted as saying.
But while the real-time format - that ticking clock and 'race against time' set-up - is unquestionably a crucial part of 24 and part of what has made the show such an enduring success, so too is the character of Jack.
For better or worse, 24 has always been about Jack Bauer. He's always at the show's heart, whether its firing on all cylinders - season one's hunt for the missing Teri and Kim - or shooting blanks - season six's focus on the wider Bauer family, including Jack's evil dad, his pipsqueak nephew, and his evil pipsqueak brother.
So many of the series' most memorable moments involve Jack - and are all about Sutherland's magnetic, hugely underrated lead performance. Kiefer's great at interrogating bad guys in that trademark growl, but he's always a deceptively nuanced actor - watch Chappelle's death scene in season three, or Jack's tearful breakdown at the climax to the same run, or his powerful reaction to Audrey's demise in LAD, for evidence of that.
If a show has run for several years, and/or seemingly run its course, then swapping out the lead actors is often unavoidable and sometimes even recommended. The aforementioned X-Files drew a mixed response when it traded Mulder and Scully for Doggett and Reyes, but for some shows, it can provide a much-needed shot in the arm - ER, CSI, Criminal Minds, Charmed and more spring to mind as examples of the latter.
But the impetus behind the growing trend for event series revivals is surely to recreate a TV show at its finest - to recreate the era when the show was at its peak. Live Another Day was an admirable attempt to resurrect 24 with all of the elements we loved - Jack, Chloe, action, absurdity and the odd Dammit, while still delivering the odd twist - chiefly, the relocation to London.
Not only that, but it set up so many possible plots to explore in future episodes: Jack surrendering to Russia, Kate out on her own and - in the special Blu-ray exclusive 'minisode' 24: Solitary - the fan-pleasing resurgence of friend-turned-foe Tony Almeida (Carlos Bernard).
It's probable that none of these, bar Jack's fate, will be followed up in the new spinoff - though the show is expected to feature guest appearances from Kiefer Sutherland, that sounds an even worse prospect than an entire season sans Bauer. Having our man lurk in the background, deferring to another character, would only serve as a sorry reminder of the bona-fide 10th season we'd been denied.
We love 24. We love it even when it's having 'a bad day' - every last ludicrous moment. But it's important to remember that, as engaging an invention as the real-time format and the countdown clock are, Jack Bauer is arguably more valuable to the series - LAD was proof that the show could work outside of the 24-hour format.
24 without its gimmicks? A risk. But 24 without Jack? Unthinkable.
