24 Executive Producers Manny Coto and Evan Katz (right)
First the good news. On a recent visit to the set of 24, your very own TV Addict (alongside a small group of fellow journalists) got to spend a good thirty minutes grilling the incredibly affable 24 executive producer writer hyphenates Manny Coto and Evan Katz on everything from which fan favorites might soon be following in Tony “Back from the Dead” Almeida’s really lucky footsteps to the twosomes take on what went wrong with season six. The bad news, I’m holding off on to all of those goodies (plus more!) until just before 24 returns in January. So for now, enjoy these five REDEMPTION related questions and don’t forget to tune into 24: REDEMPTION tonight on FOX at 8PM (Global TV in Canada)
How did the 24 Prequel come about?
Evan Katz: It’s an interesting story because the prequel came about directly because of the WGA Strike. Originally we were going to start season seven with Jack in Africa for three episodes and then do something the show had never done before; a time jump so that Jack could continue the adventure in America. We [the writers] all decided we didn’t want to break the show’s trademark 24 hour format so the idea was ultimately thrown out. But then when the strike hit, the studio was looking for a two hour movie to bridge the seasons and we had all this wonderful material to work with already at our disposal.
Prior to this season’s move to Washington D.C. there was a lot of talk about shaking things up by moving the show to New York. What made Washington D.C. possible?
Evan Katz: We’ve also talked about doing it in London.
Manny Coto: This year we talked about doing it in London actually.
Evan Katz: I think with the way we shoot 24, with many of the scripts being written as we go along, the production complications of doing the show in New York or London were simply too much. And in terms of D.C. we felt that there were enough exteriors where we could make Los Angeles look like D.C. that it would work.
Manny Coto: Next year it’s possible we’re going to do New York.
Evan Katz: Or London.
Manny Coto: Or Chadsworth.