Posted on 02/20/2006 12:18:28 PM PST by Watershed
There seems to be a critical mass of fictional presidents in primetime at the moment, from Jed Bartlet on "The West Wing" to Mackenzie Allen on "Commander In Chief" to the boss of Vice President Caroline Reynolds on "Prison Break."
And then there's "24," airing Monday on FOX. The breathless thriller gave America its first black fictional president, the beloved David Palmer (Dennis Haysbert), then nearly killed him a few times, before actually killing him as an ex-president in a surprise assassination that kicked off this season's 24 hours of terror.
Last season, Palmer's unfortunate successor, Keeler (Geoff Pierson), had his Air Force One shot down (he survived, but is unable to take office again), which made way for the emergency installation of his vacillating vice president, Logan (Gregory Itzin), who's still in office this year. Logan has waffled his way along, ducking the hard decisions, leaning on his advisors and not always standing behind CTU (Counter Terrorist Unit) Agent Jack Bauer (Keifer Sutherland), which, in the "24" universe, is akin to high treason.
"It's hard not to take these slams personally," Itzin says. "The first public comment I got was when we were eating at an Italian restaurant in Glendale. This family walked up and said, 'We have two words for you ... Habib Marwan'." -- referring to last season's chief terrorist -- "Then they said, 'We just hate you. We want to reach into the TV and strangle you. You're doing a fantastic job.'"
It gets worse when Itzin is out golfing with buddy Haysbert. "People are constantly coming up to Dennis and saying, 'I love you on that show. Are you coming back?' And they look over at me. They do a double take and say, 'It's him,' like I can't hear them. 'That's the bad president.' Dennis smiles, and we have to deal with this. Dennis has to say, 'You don't understand, he's a very nice man, actually.'
"Palmer said 'yes' whenever Jack Bauer needed to do something, and he's America's avenging angel."
So, we've gone from the strong fist of Palmer to the strong fist of Keeler to ... "The weak, limp wrist of Logan," Itzin says. "Why did I supply you with that?"
Now "24" fans know what happens when Bauer doesn't have the Chief Executive in his corner.
"Drama is about conflict," Itzin says. "I just walk into a room, and there's conflict. Also, they turned the whole concept on its head. Until episode 18 of last year, you essentially had people in the office of president that you assumed you could trust, count on, and they would always back Jack Bauer.
"Well, things have changed."
Itzin knew early on that he wasn't going to get to be a noble character.
"I came in, and I gave them choices," he says. "As I did different takes, it was between semi-staunch leader of men and abject coward. And they inevitably picked the abject-coward takes, so I knew where we were going."
This season's non-stop plot has a group of Russian separatists hijacking a shipment of nerve-gas canisters. In the Monday, Feb. 13, episode, the terrorists -- along with an undercover Bauer -- headed to a shopping mall to test the triggering mechanism on one of the canisters.
The question became, should Bauer and his team thwart the attack, thereby tipping their hand, or let it happen in hopes the terrorists would lead them to the remaining canisters?
Pressured by advisors both in his own circle and at CTU, Logan opted to release the gas. But Bauer rejected the order and found another way out.
"And how do you feel about that?" Itzin says of Logan's decision. "But do you understand it? I did my best to play, first of all, the fact that I didn't want it to go down this way, and the fact that, do I have to make this f***ing decision? And OK, this is what my advisors, every stinking one of them, told me to do. OK.
"Is he happy about this? I think, wonderfully, the toll from this day is going to eat a big acid hole in this man's soul."
Almost without fail, real presidents exit the Oval Office a lot grayer than when they came in.
"That's correct," Itzin says. "I understand why people get the way they are. Even the small amount of time I've been doing this, I'm being told to be honest with the American people, and I can see how, why, these people are never honest with the American people. If you told the American people, really, what the world was like, there would be a collective nervous breakdown.
"So I understand why they become paranoid and secretive and private and closed-mouthed and shifty-eyed and all those things."
Off-camera, Haysbert often expressed the wish that Palmer could grab a gun and join Bauer in the field. Turns out Itzin harbors a similar -- and likely equally unrequited -- fantasy.
"We have these great skylights," he says, "in the Western White House or Logan's retreat or whatever we're calling it, and I had visions of terrorists coming down through there, and me grabbing a nine-iron and putting a hole in somebody's head. Really, I did.
"I'd love to be a hero. I'd love to pull out a Glock and blow away ... I don't know. Let me think about who I'd like to blow away."
That's one of my very favorite things to hear about an actor. Thanks for telling me!
You've made my day! I'd LOVE to see David Palmer come back!
That would be fine with me. I can't stand her. She's such a whiner--what in the world would a strong man like Jack Bauer see in her? I'd like to see Kate (from Season 2) return.
Logan seems like a composite character... Jimmy Carter + Richard Nixon
Ok, I don't get it, but then I don't have to!
And I didn't like Kiefer Sutherland at all until he started playing Jack Bauer. Fierce masculinity and strength and courage and warrior skills will get me every time. Add a tender heart and I'm a goner.
The show is very simplistic in its "morality"..i.e., what Bauer wants = Good. What he does not want = Bad.
Thus, in season 4, it is perfectly okay for Bauer to kill a hospital patient for national security, but it horrendous to kill Bauer in order to avert a war with China.
I could not stand the utter hypocrisy of the Palmer character ... he'd give high and mighty speeches about morality.. but then he'd have his political opponents tortured, order raids on foreign embassies, pardon traitors and murderers, etc.
I guess the show is enjoyed best when you don't think very hard. Once you begin to think, you'll quickly realize how utterly stupid it is.
You sure know alot about a program that you think is stupid, but, thats why they call it TV. Nothing wrong with escaping reality for an hour or so a week.
Also 24 off-set articles have been written describing Haysbert's disappointment at his character's demise. 24's writers may be machiavellian, indeed a bit fascist, but I doubt they have Haysbert out there reeling in the press and leading them down false paths just to set them up for a plot twist later in the season.
I wonder if Allstate Insurance's sales are up because of "Palmer?"
That very well may be but that does not explain that promo I saw. And tell me, Why would Palmer mention the guy at the airport that knew about the nerve gas in his memoirs that wouldn't be made public for at least a year? I swear I think they showed that promo by mistake for I have not seen it since.
As for the promo you're talking about, it could mean that Palmer will perform in some flashback scenes. But it won't mean he faked his death.
Yea but it would be interesting if he was alive and exposed a corrupt administration. Of course logan is just inept, not corrupt himself. We shall see. I have heard there is going to be some very surprising turn of events from FNC personell but they said they ain't talking. Remember the bad guy was only mentioned on Palmers puter, not on the written draft.
Me too - such a rarity in Hollywood.
Whew, when I saw you had posted to me I thought you were going to tell me about Walken's politics, haha.
Well said sir or madame! Actually, I thought that season 4 plot point could have set up a meaty ethical issue. Yes, turn Jack over to the Chinese -- since everyone seems to think it's OK for everyone ELSE to get screwed over because "we're in a crisis here," why not Jack too -- actually having to pay the price for his actions? (Also, he could have escaped in time for the next season, setting up a whole "is Jack now a Manchurian candidate?" plot arc)
Yea, well my girlfriend's ex-husband looks a LOT like Christopher Walken -- now that's scary.
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