http://chud.com/nextraimages/jackbauerpic1.jpgWe’ve known for a couple of weeks now that a prolonged strike would probably be the death knell for Season Seven of 24. Well, ring it out: once production is completed on the eighth episode, the show will be shut down indefinitely. As for when it will be continued, that’s up to the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, who have bargained in exceptionally bad faith thus far, and will continue to do so until, perhaps, we get close to the upfronts.

A year ago, this would’ve bugged me; after swearing off 24 for a couple of years, I returned for half of Season Four and stuck with it all the way to the midway point of Season Six, which is when the show went from being stupidly entertaining to stupidly derivative (largely of itself). Like lots of folks, I was impressed just enough by the Season Seven trailer to consider giving the first few episodes a shot, but I guess those won’t be airing for a good long while.

The big question for me is what happens to the 24 movie, which has been threatened for a couple of years now. The original plan was to shoot it prior to Season Seven and release it in the summer of ’08, but that got scuttled earlier this year. Depending on the length of the strike, the 24 movie won’t hit until 2009 at the earliest; somehow, I get the feeling it’s dead.

As for Season Seven, its full order of shows will hang in limbo for a while.