Vulture broke the news today that 'Awake,' NBC's promising mid-season drama about a cop who travels between two different realities, is halting production for four weeks while executive producers Howard Gordon and Kyle Killen figure out how to move forward with the show.

"There's a certain trial and error process with any creative endeavor," Gordon said in an interview with AOL TV on Wednesday. "It's really a math and business decision married to a creative decision. We could have kept going, but we felt we could learn from our mistakes."

Those mistakes, Gordon said, are not major; he said that the studio and network are "happy" with what they've seen so far. But 'Awake,' which stars Jason Isaacs as a cop whose son is dead in one reality and who finds himself a widower in the other, debuts at mid-season and thus has what Gordon called "the luxury of time." The temporary production halt means that Killen and Gordon can spend those weeks fine-tuning their approach well before the show debuts (probably in January, Gordon said).

Fictional terrorists beware! Claire Danes will remain on your tail for another season. Showtime has renewed the political thriller for a second season.

'Homeland' stars Danes, Damian Lewis and Mandy Patinkin and is executive produced by '24' guru Howard Gordon and Alex Gansa. Danes plays Carrie Mathison, a CIA officer who becomes convinced rescued POW Nicholas Brody (Lewis) has been turned by Al Qaeda.

If '24' producer Howard Gordon isn't the hardest working man in show business these days, we don't want to see the schedule of the guy who is.

While finishing the final season of the hit Kiefer Sutherland drama last year, Gordon also penned his first novel, 'Gideon's War,' a fantastic political and military thriller that pits Gideon Davis, a pacifist negotiator (yes, the anti-Jack Bauer), against his brother, a special ops agent who's gone rogue and taken a multi-million dollar oil rig hostage.

On his current slate, Gordon is completing a Showtime drama pilot -- 'Homeland' -- starring Claire Danes and Damian Lewis, about a CIA officer (Danes), who suspects a Marine sergeant (Lewis) is planning a terrorist attack when he resurfaces after going missing in Iraq for several years.

Can Jack Bauer save the day? Not without a script.

According Entertainment Weekly, Fox has passed on a script by 'State of Play' writer Billy Ray. However, that doesn't mean the movie won't get made. '24' executive producer Howard Gordon told EW the project is still very much in the works.

"As far as I know, it is in suspended animation," Gordon said. "There is talk about re-approaching it. I understand (director/producer) Tony Scott is meeting with Kiefer to talk about ideas. People are still talking about it."

(S08E06) "If you're talking about what I think you're talking about, we don't do that anymore." - Hastings to Jack, on using unsavory methods with the Russians

Oh, snap. The Russians may have bought Renee's cover, but that doesn't mean she's out of danger. Just the opposite, especially given the fact that she's a loose cannon and doesn't seem to care whether she lives or dies at this point. Or maybe that's not necessarily true.

(S08E05) "I think this operation just blew up." - Jack

I think this season just blew up. After loving the first four hours in last week's two-night 24 premiere, hour five of Jack Bauer's eighth bad day crashed and burned pretty hard. While the main plot involving Jack and Renee is worth watching, it still has one big glaring misstep that I had a hard time getting over last night. As for the rest of the minor subplots? We can only hope they tie in to the rest of the story, because right now, very little of it is interesting.

(S08E03/S08E04) "Renee, I know where you are and it's a dark place." - Jack

24's two-night four-hour season premiere continued tonight with the season's third and fourth hours and, by the end of it, we finally got a pretty clear picture of what the larger threat is and where it's headed... at least until next week.

Renee finally made an appearance, Hassan didn't get taken out, and Hastings figured out that Chloe actually knows what she's talking about. But was any of that enough to make up for the numerous shortcomings this season has already displayed?

(S08E01/S08E02) "You don't look like a Grampa..." - Jack's granddaughter, Teri

As if we needed another reminder that, yes, 24 has begun its eighth season and maybe, just maybe, Jack Bauer is getting too old for this crap. Good thing for us, this guy doesn't know how to say no.

Bauer's eighth very bad day kicked off tonight with a bang (literally) and with NYC as the show's newest (gimmicky?) setting, there's hope that season eight can reclaim some of 24's lost glory because, lest we forget, seasons six and seven started off wonderfully, too, only to falter as the clock kept ticking. Can Grampa Jack do the one thing that all old folks yearn to do and turn back time?

"WHERE CAN I BUY A METROCARD?!?!"

Though it's not something you'd expect to hear an angry Jack Bauer scream at an unsuspecting tourist, people familiar with New York City are going to be amazed that he doesn't need to.

Season eight of the real-time drama drops Bauer into the borough of Manhattan and when 24 returns in just a few days (it premieres this Sunday January 17 at 9 p.m. ET and Monday January 18 at 8 p.m. ET on FOX), it's almost comical how easy Bauer seems to get around the city. That's half the fun of it though -- eight seasons in and haven't the terrorists learned their lesson yet? Jack Bauer will always find you.

However, that doesn't mean Jack's alone in this. As many of the previews for the new season have pointed out, Bauer is a retired man, a grandfather to boot, and there's a whole new crop of CTUers ready to pick up the torch.

Details and spoilers on the new season after the jump.

The final panel of a very eventful FOX day was for the upcoming eighth season of 24, and there were a number of questions that were hanging in the air. How are they going to deal with Jack Bauer running around New York City? Is the show something that people still want to watch when real life is scary enough? But the big question was: Is this Bauer's last roundup?

First, the hats: FOX gave critics Yankees and Mets-ish looking baseball caps to commemorate the season.The caps were fitted, and they were HUGE; they were too big for even my 7.5-sized melon. But I took 'em anyway, because they looked cool.

The reporters pretty much got at the question of another season right away, and as far as Kiefer Sutherland and executive producer Howard Gordon is concerned, they'll keep doing the show as long as FOX wants them to.

(S07E23/S07E24) "You don't know what I've done." - Jack

When 24 first premiered back in 2001, we were all taken off guard. It was so different, innovative, and action packed - like nothing we'd seen on TV ever before. But do you remember why it worked so well? Sure, there was a vast conspiracy that enshrouded the whole day in darkness, but for the most part, it was all about Jack and his family. The Bauers were what made Day 1 so memorable.

You felt horrible when Jack held Teri's lifeless body in those final seconds, and it was because the season focus was weighted towards them and not Drazen or Nina. Because of that formula, the show took off and with each season from then on, 24 became bigger than itself and so did the conspiracies. Then the bubble burst with Day 6 when it all came crashing down - we'd seen enough nukes, bio-pathogens, and Middle Eastern terrorists. The difference? All of that became more important than Jack. After Day 7's stellar finale, I think we can all agree that 24 has found its roots again.

(S07E22) "Why did you betray me?" - Jack

Since next week's finale is actually the last two hours of the season back-to-back, I think it's safe to refer to tonight's hour as Day 7's penultimate episode. As is so often the case with pivotal installments that precede a finale (especially with 24), going into it, I couldn't help shake the feeling that the bio-terror threat would be erased for good only to reveal one more crisis ready to spill over into next week. I'm not trying to say that it was predictable, but ... well ... nevermind. It was predictable.

(S07E21) "I have to see this through." - Jack

After a run of so many good episodes, it had to happen sooner or later - the calm before the storm. Hour 21 wasn't much more than that. A lot of filler and only a little bit of action.

All the events that are going to play out over the season's final three episodes were set in motion, but it was done with such a deliberately slow pacing that you probably would have been fine just watching next week's "Previously on 24" clip.

(S07E20) "Another attack today is all we need to push this thing right over the edge." - Tony

Only four hours left. All the pieces are in motion and sides have been chosen. Following Tony's betrayal last week, things have progressed quickly - his cohorts aren't exactly the waiting type. As tense as the plot has become, I have to say that I'm a little disappointed. Essentially, the plan is exactly the same and Hodges has just been replaced with the dozen or so people in that bad guy summit ... not sure what else to call it.

(S07E19) "I would think you'd know by now that no one can change my father's mind when it's made up" - Kim

Wow - talk about a complete 180°. A lot of this season has played it safe, but after last week's shocking final minutes, Day 7 has kicked into overdrive. During last night's episode, at times it felt like we were watching something out of season five. It was that tense. New conspiracies, new players, and confirmation of the one thing we've all assumed but couldn't bring ourselves to admit - Tony has been lying to Jack all day.