For ‘24,’ a DVD bonus powered by the marketers

The last time “24’s” hero Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) was seen -- in the fourth season finale -- he was presumed dead by most of the people in his life and literally walking off into the sunset to begin his life as a fugitive.

With the fifth season premiere still a month away, fans can learn what Jack’s life on the road has been like on a DVD of the show’s fourth season, which has a prequel containing material that will never air on television. It’s also a way of linking content and commerce -- in this case Toyota, which sponsors the show and the special DVD segment. (So guess what kind of car Bauer is driving in the prequel.)

The DVD set, which was released last week, includes a prequel to the fifth season that gives a taste of what life on the run was like for a disheveled, longhaired Bauer. More important, it offers a glimpse into a medium that is changing faster than any day in Bauer’s life and one that increasingly gives control of its viewing to the audience, whether it’s on DVRs, iPods, the Web or DVD.

“The moment that the season finale aired, the fans were on the website beginning to think about what Season Five could be,” said Gary Newman, co-president of 20th Century Fox Television, which co-produces the show. “So we looked at this as kind of an opportunity to reward the people who are spending a lot of money on the DVD to give them something extra and to generate excitement for the next season.”

Newman noted that new ways of providing TV programming to consumers are being announced on an almost daily basis.

“I think ‘24’ should give comfort to the content providers that if you’re making a great show, people are going to want to watch it, and the distribution systems will adapt themselves to fill in consumer demand.... I think as long as you have compelling shows you’re going to be in the game.”

But where the idea for the prequel originated is as telling as the 10-minute episode itself: Toyota and Fox marketers, who wanted to make the most out of the automobile company’s sponsorship and create a special segment that would showcase its cars. Like most writers who tend to cringe at ideas inspired by the promotional machine, executive producer and show-runner Howard Gordon said he wasn’t in favor of it at first.

“Right now I don’t feel taken advantage of or used in any way,” Gordon said. “I do think the first litmus test in these things always has to be the integrity of the show. If you can do it within parameters that don’t violate the integrity of the show, it’s great.”

There’s a typical car chase in the episode, but instead of driving a macho SUV, Bauer is behind the wheel of a silver Toyota Avalon, which beats a BMW. His colleague Chloe, who meets him clandestinely, shows up in a blue Toyota Prius.

“The only thing we really had to do was highlight the car,” said Jon Cassar, who directed the prequel and many other “24” episodes. “Once we know what the people need from the product placement, then we tell them what we can do that is still within a ‘24’ story. This has never bothered me that much because I’ve never been put in the situation where someone said the actor has to hold this can of Coke right beside his face while he does the line. That would be a problem.”

Cassar says he sees the writing on the wall: As more viewers tune into their favorite shows commercial-free, more producers are going to have to give into the product placers.

“If you look at the future, anyone who is watching what’s happening today in television realizes that this is the way people are going to advertise,” Cassar said. “Everyone’s kind of ignored it. But now with Mac and iPod and shows without commercials, everyone’s starting to realize, well, if it’s going down that road, then the only way to sell things is to put them right in the show. We’re just on the brink of very new television and features.”

Shot in two days and set in Chicago, the prequel repeats the last moments of the fourth season and begins with a Jack and Chloe rendezvous during which she warns him that her computer has been hacked into and others might know he is alive. After Chloe leaves, the bad guys arrive and the Toyota-BMW showdown ensues.

“We really ended up doing a small movie,” Gordon said. “Jack looks a little scary, he looks a little desperate. It was a nice little story, and it was fun for Kiefer to try that on for size -- that hunted kind of haunted look.”

But it’s a look only those who pay almost $70 for the DVD will see. When Season Five begins, nearly 18 months have passed since Jack has been on the run, and his long locks are gone. But fans who miss the prequel will not be at a disadvantage.

The fifth season kicks in with two nights of two-hour episodes on Jan. 15 and 16. The series was nominated for 11 Emmys last year, including best drama and best actor for Sutherland, and ranked 30th among all shows on television with an average 12 million viewers, the largest audience in the show’s history.

Fans who appreciated the show’s heart-stopping clock counter will appreciate that the new season “starts off hard and fast,” noted Gordon.

“It’s old-school ‘24,’ Gordon said. “We’ve gone about as big as we can go as far as what threat we can loom over Los Angeles. So the tone this year is much more thriller. It’s a very different season opener. Rather than building, it starts off with a sprint.”