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When Fox first started to taken on the three main television networks, ABC, CBS, and NBC they were largely seen as the network that aired the shows the real networks didn’t want anything to do with. This allowed for edgyer shows to survive with what many in the industry considered, substandard ratings. Since the spotlight was rarely on FOX they could simply, get away with more. This ability to get away with more than the average network show is a main factor in the success of the crass sitcom “Married with Children.”

Fox then took the initiative of thinking outside of the box and brought us complex shows speaking at times on complicated and controversial subjects. The network became the go to place for the shows with a niche market. Somewhere along the way FOX merged into the mainstream. The most spectacular part of this merge to the mainstream was the fact that the shows on FOX were not diluted in order to comply with the standards of Prime Time, however it was the standards of Prime Time changed.

If you are looking for an example of the boldness of FOX once it had entered as a true competitor to the previous three champs of Prime Time you only need to see the opening episodes for FOX’s 24. After an industry delayed start to Prime Time after the events of 911 and after movies such as Collateral Damage were postpone as well as video games being edited due to the sensitivity of the terror attacks Fox was set to launch a new promising franchise about terrorism 24.

24 was not just another telivison show about an governemnt agency thwarting attacks on the United States. 24 introduced a new format to the story, real time. The show would be 24 one hour episodes that would cover a complete 24 hour day. The format alone made the show a risk. Another risk of the network was putting the lead charter Jack Bauer into the hands of a gifted yet volatile star Kiefer Sutherland. The network was unsure if this formula would work, however they understood the base of the show, and after two subtle but ground breaking decisions, an audience was hooked. With one more thought from outside of traditional thinking, 24 is not entering its seventh season with several books and a video game added to the franchise.

Decision 1, should we or shouldn’t week?

There must have been decisions at the highest levels as to continue with the production of a show that centers around terrorism in the days following the largest terrorist attack on US soil.

During the opening episode of 24 on of the terrorist operatives blows up a plane in order to escape with a photographers badge. A decision was made to air the episode uncut less than two months from the date of the terror attacks. Blowing up a plane on a flagship television show on a network that had just earned its right into the mainstream could not have been easy. The scene could have been cut, the plot device was not a crucial element of the show. This all could have been done and nobody would have noticed, however the show would be less than what it was originally intended to be.

I am certain that the motivation of leaving this scene in was not to impress the potential die hard fans, but it did just that. Many of us remember the boldness of the shows producers when the plane was destroyed. The scene was not without emotion, I am sure almost everyone watching that thought of the attacks that occurred in the weeks prior. I was speechless, a part of me was angry that money trumped national traumatizing. It was then that I saw a point trying to be made. You cannot talk about terrorism without talking about all the components, even the components that make us sick to our stomachs. It was in that boldness that made me want to hear what this show had to say. FOX was on track to deliver us what we had come to expect from the show. A good story that is tough to swallow, but sparked debate within ourselves and at the water cooler.

thirteen eppisodes

Dispite the name 24 and 24 expected hours, the show only originally ordered 13, this is not uncommon for new shows. The problem with this approuch is the fact that the story was a serial show. This meant that we will have to wait until the end of the show before we know the whole story. 24 was a part of an emerging class of shows that broke from traditional telivison shows and formated itself more like a mini series than a network telivison show.

When starting a miniseries you are guaranteed at least some resolution within the show. An additional installment of the mini series or a full blow series was icing on the cake. Needless to say the new format of serial shows had the potential to upset a lot of fans if the series is pulled before completing.

Unsure if the season would be proved for the final 11 shows the producers wrapped up the show giving a sense of closure to its fans as well as leaving an opening for more. I cannot stress how brilliantly this was executed. The show was extended for the full season and the plot had thicken and twists were made and the efforts amoung the producers to statisfy their fans went largely unnoticed.

This effort among the decision makers behind FOX, including the writers, actors, producers, and executives not to abandon their fans loyalty went overlooked due to the success of the show and the fact that it had been extended. In the telivison world of 2007 and 2008 this concern for fan loyalty at the network level has all but vanished from the landscape. Those this descision did not earn new fans, strengthen current fans, or earned respect for the network, it was the right decision and was made with profit margins aside.

Beyond Telivison

In 2002 before the start of season two FOX found a whole new fan base for 24 within the DVD market. Though 24 was not the first TV show to come out to DVD, it proved to increase the fan base for the show and opened a new revenue stream. Though a show’s success still in 2008 is not based upon anything beyond sampling from Nilson, in 2002 the series was given royal treatment despite not posting the strongest ratings on the Network. The executives saw beyond the ad revenue and discovered the potential of TV series on DVD. This discovery has been largely missed within the industry.

I have no doubt that the concept of a world beyond ratings and a prime time slot was not floating around among the decision makers, and I am no doubt that the true concept of new media was drowned out by people that did not understand it. This is a failure within the industry, but not within the people that have maintained control of cutting edge shows such has 24.

As all great ideas by visionaries, the idea that made 24 24 would be lost as narrow minded individuals used their connections to get their hands into the mix of greatness others created, thus introducing a bacteria that will consume the life and legacy of the show. Unfortunately this is not an unusual occurrence, in fact, it is rarely not like this.

In television executive’s decisions (part 2, Universal) we will see the effect of well connected losers taking over the unconnected great ideas and how this treachery is on the verge of permanently crippling the industry.