Clock Ticking on '24'

Over the years, Jack Bauer and company have faced off against terrorists, turncoats, spies and occasionally a wild cougar or two. But there's one foe too deadly for even Bauer to overcome: ratings.

Now it appears that '24' is about to lose that final fight, as Variety is reporting that the venerable Fox action franchise will likely end at the conclusion of their current season. Though Fox declined to comment on the rumors, its believed that rising production costs and shrinking viewership will lead to an official announcement form the network within the next two days.

'24,' of course, became a pop phenomenon and a critical darling when it first debuted in November of 2001, less than two months after the events of September 11; tapping into the national zeitgeist, '24' revitalized star Keifer Sutherland's career and helped Fox surge from a fourth place afterthought to the leading broadcast network in the country.Over the years, Jack Bauer and company have faced off against terrorists, turncoats, spies and occasionally a wild cougar or two. But there's one foe too deadly for even Bauer to overcome: ratings.

Now it appears that '24' is about to lose that final fight, as Variety is reporting that the venerable Fox action franchise will likely end at the conclusion of its current season. Though Fox declined to comment on the rumors, its believed that rising production costs and shrinking viewership will lead to an official announcement form the network within the next two days.

'24,' of course, became a pop phenomenon and a critical darling when it first debuted in November of 2001, less than two months after the events of September 11. Tapping into the national zeitgeist, '24' revitalized star Keifer Sutherland's career and helped Fox surge from a fourth place afterthought to the leading broadcast network in the country.

But while the television countdown is set to tick off its final moments, fans of the series may not have seen the last of Jack Bauer and the other agents at the Counter Terrorist Unit, as Sutherland and Twentieth Century Fox are said to be working on a big screen adaptation. While the show's complex and lengthy production schedule has in the past prevented the studio from developing a film spinoff, with the end of the series now in sight that dream, which Sutherland has apparently been pushing for years, now seems like a real possibility.

So real, in fact, that Fox has apparently already hired 'State of Play' writer Billy Ray to begin work on a screenplay for a '24' feature, which should give fans plenty of hope for another round of beatings, bombs and hard-nosed American grit.

After all, when the clock strikes midnight it's not just the end of one day, it's also the beginning of the next.