LOS ANGELES — An agile young agent from the Counter-Terrorist Unit slyly infiltrates a Mexican drug cartel to free a captured colleague, aided by images from tiny “marshmallow cams” and graphics sent to his cell phone. There’s the familiar ticking clock, windows showing what every character is doing, and lots of people saying, “Copy that.”
We’re watching “24,” right?
Close. It’s the Fox series’ online offspring, “The Rookie,” starring Jeremy Valdez as young Jason Blaine, a character first seen in the fifth season of “24” aboard a Russian sub. “It’s sort of like what ‘CSI: Miami’ is to ‘CSI,’” said Valdez. “It’s something similar, yet different. It definitely has its own legs.”
The five-minute “Rookie” Webisodes, now in their third phase, couldn’t have come at a better time for “24” fans, who, due to the writers strike, had to go without their favorite show this season.
Titled “Day 3 — Extraction,” the current “Rookie” installment is presented as a 30-minute block of six parts and is available at www.DegreeRookie.com or on-demand through Comcast and DirecTV.
“It’s becoming an incredible way … to help people get through a long dry spell caused by the strike,” noted “24” executive producer Manny Coto.
“If Jack Bauer and Jason Bourne had a love child, it would be Jason Blaine,” “Extraction” co-writer Kevin Townsend said. “He’s a younger, more ambitious, less experienced — but no less talented — version of those two characters.”
In the current installment, Blaine, now experienced and tiring of his “rookie” title, is sent to Mexico City to rescue his mentor, Alton Maxwell (Eric Beck), who’s been kidnapped by drug czar Estaban Salazar. The Salazar Brothers were introduced to fans in “24’s” third season.
“We wanted to give die-hard fans something specific to tie it to the regular series,” said David Niles, a former “24” staffer who wrote “Extraction” with Townsend.
The story also features a “mole” inside the Counter-Terrorist Unit (CTU), adding the familiar “double-intrigue” theme for “24” fans. “It’s kind of your prototypical ‘24’ plot line,” Niles said.
But “Rookie’s” main tie-in to “24” is the production itself. All three “Rookie” Webisodes were directed by Emmy-nominated “24” cinematographer Rodney Charters, who, while shooting “Extraction” in Mexico City, brought along his key crew members from Los Angeles.
“Fox wanted to make sure we kept the look and feel of ‘24.’ They want it to be part of the franchise,” said the New Zealand-born Charters, who took full advantage of his crew’s experience to give “Rookie” that “24” look, including long scenes shot with handheld cameras. “We block the scene and shoot it as if we’re a documentary crew that has stumbled upon the situation.”
Fox brand and franchise vice president Mark Pearson noted the crew had worked together “for a long, long time — they know what feels right and looks right. They live and breathe ‘24.’” Fox also licensed other familiar “24” elements for “The Rookie” — the ticking clock, framed character windows and composer Sean Callery’s music — to help complete the picture.
But there’s an undercover element in “Rookie” not found in “24” — imbedded advertising. The Webisodes are produced by Townsend’s Science + Fiction studio, which he describes as “a hybrid between a film studio and an advertising agency.”
The company marries content with a sponsor — in the case of “Extraction,” Degree Men deodorant — to make “marketing look like entertainment,” Townsend said. The brand is subtly introduced to the audience — here with the inclusion of Degree spokesman Chad Johnson of the Cincinnati Bengals, who appears as an FBI surveillance expert.
No word on whether such a technique would ever be used on Big “24,” which went back into production April 22 in Los Angeles in preparation for the January 2009 premiere of its delayed seventh season. The show had completed eight episodes of the season prior to the writers strike late last year.
“Jack Bauer is under Senate investigation for crimes against humanity,” Coto explained. But while in Washington, FBI agent Renee Walker brings him in to deal with a series of possible terrorist attacks instigated by former CTU agent Tony Almeida, previously presumed dead. “Jack’s thrust into this mystery of how Tony is still alive, and why is he trying to bring down this country?”
To further fill the show’s gap this year, Coto said a two-hour “prequel” TV movie is expected to air this fall, which will bring Kiefer Sutherland’s Jack Bauer to Africa and “lead directly into the events of Season Seven.”
“He’s a soul in turmoil and has been moving from place to place trying to find somewhere he can be at peace,” Coto said. “But he winds up in Africa in the middle of a military coup.”
Meanwhile, Bauer is subpoenaed to appear before the Senate hearing while in Africa, but doesn’t want to go.
“He’s not running away from anything,” Coto said. “It’s because they’ve taken everything from him, but he won’t let them take his freedom.”
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
