24: Didn't anyone think of this?

As "24" finishes its multi-year run this season, many of us agree it's running on fumes, recycling familiar situations and character types as it squeezes all the life it can out of its gimmick. I thought last season was great fun, but it's pushing it to keep the show around any longer, so I think it's good to get out now.

But reading about the proposed "24" movie in the new "Entertainment Weekly" made me think two things: 1) Don't make a "24" movie. 2) Why is it the ideas for the movie can only be used on the big screen?

In the story, Keifer Sutherland is quoted as being excited about the possibilities a feature film can bring. Because of the series' real-time format, he explains, the action always has to come to the main characters, but in a movie, there will be the freedom to move around and go where the action is.

Sounds good. So why couldn't we do that on the show? I don't think there are a bunch of irate fans, especially at this point, who would cry bloody torture if "24" mixed things up a bit and got away from its real-time format. I wish they had done that several years ago. Sure, many would have complained about the show straying from its roots and whatnot, but it might be a thriving action show now instead of a fading parody of itself (well, check that, "24" has been a parody of itself since...oh, season 2?).

I would rather see some of these new, fresh ideas in the show itself than in some blown-up big-screen adaptation. The only people excited about the prospect of a Jack Bauer Power Hour movie are the people who make "24." I say shake things up on the show, get away from the 24-hour concept, and if the hardcore fans complain, send Jack himself to "persuade them" to give it a shot.

I guess no one wants to be the one to be accused of screwing something up in TV, hence the adherence to the old format on the tube. So instead of taking a risk and maybe extending the series creatively and commercially, some folks are gonna risk 9 figures on a possible bomb even Jack couldn't defuse.