'24: Legacy' May Not Live To See Another Day

The post-9/11 drama 24 synthesized Kiefer Sutherland's steely acting abilities and Americans' heightened anxiety about terrorism into a popular drama about Jack Bauer, a hero who fought off dozens of villains in real time over the course of one day. And now, a decade after the original show's finale, FOX has brought the concept back with a new character and a new hero: 24: Legacy. The first season finale airs April 17. But will 24: Legacy return for Season 2?

The show is named for its debt to 24, but 24: Legacy wasn't able to reach the heights of the original's popularity. President of FOX Dana Walden told Deadline, "I’m a little sad because I feel like it’s a really good show. We’re doing about seven to eight million viewers over seven days per episode. It’s not terrible. We had really high hopes for the show."

So the very president of FOX says she's rooting for the show, but it's possible that 24: Legacy could be coming to an early end if the show's popularity continues to pale in comparison to the original. A lot has changed in the ratings landscape since the original 24 premiered, and most network TV shows don't typically net the same ratings as they did more than ten years ago. The post-Super Bowl slot used to be the perfect place to launch a new series. But this year, the game itself was so shocking and ran so late, that the premiere may have lost potential viewers. Walden speculated in the same Deadline article that audiences also possibly didn't realize that the second episode of 24: Legacy would be airing the very next night.

Walden made those comments about the show's future in March, and since then, 24: Legacy's ratings have continued to hover around three million total viewers per episode, according to TVSeriesFinale... less, I suspect, then FOX was hoping for. Walden said that FOX would make a choice about the show's future in May. Here are a few shows that have also returned from the dead to watch while you wait for a verdict on 24: Legacy.

Prison Break

Also a FOX original, this series had a tough act to follow, since the TV-movie finale killed off some key characters. The fifth season of Prison Break resets the premise, placing the formerly dead-and-buried Michael Scofield in a Yemeni prison and forcing the others to concoct a plan that will break him out.

The X-Files

Not even a fourteen-year hiatus could dim Fox Mulder's zeal for the supernatural, nor the FBI's endless supply of unexplained phenomena. Consensus wavers, however, on whether or not the show was able to capture any of the original's magic... besides, of course, the chemistry between stars David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson.

Heroes Reborn

Heroes premiered before the wave of superhero movies and TV shows had fully crested, but this revival, in 2015, may have been a little bit too late.

Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Return

Back on Netflix after several decades as a cult favorite, MST3K is back with a new season of episodes, with manic riffs about the worlds created inside some of the worst movies ever made.

Gilmore Girls: A Year In The Life

Picking up with these fast-talking characters felt like a relief for fans who had never been totally satisfied with the Amy Sherman-Palladino-free final few seasons. Though Rory's last-minute reveal was a little divisive, overall, fans seemed happy to revisit the characters in this way.

Fuller House

This reboot is particularly loyal, bringing back almost all of the original cast, putting them in the same roles, and executing episodes that are practically identical to the original ones. It's a different approach than 24: Legacy, but both show how much people love reliving their experiences with vintage TV series.

Will Eric Carter fight another day on 24: Legacy? The show's fate is still up in the air, but these other revivals prove that many series have life after death.