"24" pausing production for 18 days

By Nellie Andreeva

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Fox's "24" is stopping the production clock for 18 days to allow writers to work on upcoming scripts.

Filming on the real-time drama will be shut down September 15, after the completion of episode 18. It will resume October 9.

The idea for the unscheduled hiatus came from "24" executive producer/showrunner Howard Gordon who had been concerned about the quality of several scripts.

The work stoppage won't affect the launch of "24'"s seventh season slated for January.

The start of production on the seventh season was delayed a couple of times last summer while the plot line was being redrawn. Filming was then shut down after the eighth episode in early December for almost five months because of the writers strike, which led to Fox's decision to hold back the entire season until 2009.

Since April, "24" has been in continuous production on the new season and the two-hour prequel, scheduled to air November 24, which has been completed.

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter