Tweet
Kiefer Sutherland is returning to TV. In what will be his first regular role on the small screen since reprising his Jack Bauer character in 24: Live Another Day, Sutherland will play the President of the United States in a new show called Designated Survivor on ABC. Deadline has the details:
In Designated Survivor, a lower level United States Cabinet member (Sutherland) is suddenly appointed President after a catastrophic attack during the State of the Union kills everyone above him in the Presidential line of succession. This is a family drama wrapped around a conspiracy thriller about an ordinary man in an extraordinary situation.
The title of the project refers to the term used for a member of the U.S Cabinet who is sequestered in a safe location when the President and the country’s other top leaders are gathered in one place, such as during State of the Union addresses and presidential inaugurations. The policy is designed to preserve continuity of government in the event of a catastrophic occurrence when the President and those in line of succession are killed, leaving the designated survivor to become the Acting President of the United States under the Presidential Succession Act.
Seems like another ripped-from-the-headlines show involving terrorism, and Sutherland built the second phase of his career around a show like that by starring in 24. Interestingly, Fox also has a show in development with the same title about the same thing, and that one is being produced by Johnny Depp. Since this ABC rival seems to be a bit further along with casting, it seems likely the Fox version will either be reworked into something else or dropped altogether. Considering Sutherland's past history with Fox, I'm a little surprised they didn't try to go after him for their version. Maybe the offer was never on the table, or maybe Sutherland just liked the script for the ABC show better.
David Guggenheim (Safe House) is the creator of this series, and he'll executive produce along with Sutherland and Hollywood mega-producer Simon Kinberg. I like all of the people involved with this so far, but there's always the chance that because it's on ABC, it will end up looking and feeling just like a typical network show. Here's hoping they're able to break away from that pack mentality a little with this one and actually create something great.
