Fox to Redo Show After Virginia Tech Shootings

By Lisa de Moraes
Monday, July 23, 2007

HOLLYWOOD, Calif., July 22

Acampus shooting scene that was filmed before the Virginia Tech killings is being redone on a new Fox drama series based on the "Terminator" flicks, Fox Entertainment Chairman Peter Liguori told TV critics Sunday.

Meanwhile, scripts for the upcoming season of "24," which will feature a female president of the United States, will be vetted from a "dramaturgical" perspective, not from a political point of view, Liguori said at Summer TV Press Tour 2007.

"The Sarah Connor Chronicles" won't debut on the network until next calendar year -- the real start of Fox's TV season, when "American Idol" comes back -- because the singing competition brings a lot more female viewers to the network, Liguori said.

In the series, Sarah Connor must protect her teenage son because he is destined to save mankind from evil technology.

One critic wondered why the shooting scene was shot in the first place, given that the Virginia Tech shooting was just the latest incidence of campus violence in the past several years.

Liguori insisted it was justified, explaining, "This woman is charged with protecting and preparing her son to be the future leader of the resistance; the one single place a parent has to give up control of their child is school."

But after a student killed 32 people and himself at Virginia Tech last April, the executive producer was the first to say the scene needed to be redone, Liguori said.

Cherry Jones, meanwhile, has been hired to play President Allison Taylor when Fox's counterterrorism drama "24" returns in January for its seventh season, the network announced Sunday morning.

Jones's term will coincide with Sen. Hillary Clinton's campaign to win the presidency in real life.

Critics wondered how Cherry's character would be portrayed and whether Fox would look closely at the scripts to see whether the show is using her character to try to influence the election. This past season, the show got blamed for influencing real soldiers with graphic torture scenes.

The show would be vetted only "from a dramaturgical perspective," Liguori told the Associated Press.

"One of the reasons why this show has withstood the test of time is, Joel [Surnow], Bob [Cochran] and Howard [Gordon] consistently go after courageous ideas and bold thoughts to keep the show fresh. . . . I don't overly want to comment on what our story lines are going to be this year, but again, applause to Joel, Bob and Howard on consistently reaching."

One critic wondered whether Fox would actually ask the "24" producers to outline the whole season instead of winging it after this past year's disappointing performance.

"I would not categorize my view of the show last year as being disappointing," Liguori said. "By no means have I said that, nor will I," he added. A critic pointed out afterward that back in May, when Fox presented its new lineup to advertisers, Liguori had told reporters, "None of us is satisfied this year" with "24."

It's always fun to sit in on a network's executive session, if only to play along with the hide-the-answer game.

For instance, one critic asked Liguori what happened with the last episodes of "Drive," the midseason drama about an underground car race that the network yanked before the race was finished.

The network promised to air the final couple episodes on the Fourth of July, then on July 13, then online only.

"It will always be a complicated issue with serialized shows," Liguori said before beginning to blah-blah-blah about the importance of bringing closure to canceled serialized dramas.

But the real answer came before the Q&A session started, when Fox spokesman Joe Early said that Fox has won 24 consecutive weeks among the 18-to-49 demographic the broadcast networks target, and is projected to win this week as well.

"That is an 11-year record we are very proud to break," he boasted. Had the sure-to-be-low-rated "Drive" episodes aired, Fox might not have been able to make that claim.

Liguori appeared onstage with his new president of entertainment, Kevin Reilly, who a month ago was president of entertainment at NBC, until the network hired producer Ben Silverman as co-chairman and showed Reilly the door.

It's a reunion for the two; Liguori was Reilly's boss when they were the top two executives at Fox's cable cousin FX; they're the guys credited with putting that network on the map with shows like "The Shield."

Reilly's move is also possibly the first time a guy who got sacked from the No. 4-rated network got to trade up to the No. 1 network among the younger viewers the nets are all chasing. Critics were understandably intrigued and pressed Reilly for details.

"Is there a part of you that wants the new programs for NBC to really succeed so you can go, 'I told you so'?" one asked Reilly.

"Our sights are not set on the number four network -- our sights are set on the number one network and creating a greater distance between us and the number two network," Liguori finally jumped in, after Reilly foozled a couple NBC questions.

Someone finally asked Reilly whether NBC had fired him. (NBC execs have said Reilly wasn't sacked, that he decided there was nothing left for him to do once Silverman came on board.) "No one's really ever fired in Hollywood, are they? And no show is ever really canceled," Reilly joked.

"Let's just say you can pick whatever trade euphemism you want: I 'segued'; I 'thought about it over the holidays'; I 'want to explore other opportunities'; I 'want to spend more time with my family' -- which I did for three days."