Enough of the clock wordplay, however, it’s time to get serious.  Fox and 24 star Keifer Sutherland have been saying publicly for quite some time that the ultimate goal is for the show to transition from a television show to the big screen.  In order for that to happen the show would have to end, it takes a long time to produce this show and logistically it would be difficult to shoot a feature movie around it.  So long as ratings are high, the television show must go on!  However, ratings aren’t so high anymore.   Last night’s episode pulled in a respectable 8.8 million viewers and a 2.8 in the 18-49 demo.   One year earlier (3/9/09) the show clocked in with 11.3 million and a 3.6 in the demo.  Clearly, this season’s ratings are less respectable when you see the dip they have taken.

20th Century will reportedly try to shop the show around to other potential outlets, but given the high price tag and dwindling ratings, that seems unlikely.  If they are serious about turning 24 into a movie, potentially a series of them, it would seem they would want to keep the brand as strong as possible – in other words, why tarnish it by transition to NBC for a 9th season of even weaker ratings?