Online spinoff targets '24' fans

LOS ANGELES -- An agile, young agent from the Counter-Terrorist Unit slyly infiltrates a Mexican drug cartel to free a captured colleague, aided by images from tiny "marshmallow cams" and graphics sent to his cell phone. There's the familiar ticking clock, windows showing what every character is doing, and lots of people saying "Copy that."

We're watching "24," right?

Close. It's the Fox series' online offspring "The Rookie," starring Jeremy Valdez as young Jason Blaine, a character first seen in "24's" fifth season aboard a Russian sub.

"It's sort of like what 'CSI: Miami' is to 'CSI,' " Valdez says. "It's something similar, yet different. It definitely has its own legs."

The five-minute "Rookie" Webisodes, now in their third phase, couldn't have come at a better time for "24" fans, who, due to the writers strike, had to go without their favorite show last season.

"It's becoming an incredible way ... to help people get through a long dry spell caused by the strike," notes "24" executive producer Manny Coto.

"If Jack Bauer and Jason Bourne had a love child, it would be Jason Blaine," says "Extraction" co-writer Kevin Townsend. "He's a younger more ambitious, less experienced -- but no less talented -- version of those two characters."

Blaine, now experienced and tiring of his "rookie" title, is sent to Mexico City to rescue his mentor, Alton Maxwell (Eric Beck), who's been kidnapped by drug czar Estaban Salazar. The Salazar brothers were introduced to fans in "24's" third season.

"We wanted to give die-hard fans something specific to tie it to the regular series," explains David Niles, a former "24" staffer who wrote "Extraction" with Townsend.

The story also features a "mole" inside the Counter-Terrorist Unit, adding the familiar "double-intrigue" theme for "24" fans. "It's kind of your prototypical '24' plot line," Niles says.

But "Rookie's" main tie-in to "24" is the production itself. All three "Rookie" Webisodes were directed by "24's" Emmy-nominated cinematographer, New Zealand-born Rodney Charters, who, while shooting "Extraction" in Mexico City, brought along his key crew members from Los Angeles.

"Fox wanted to make sure we kept the look and feel of '24.' They want it to be part of the franchise," says Charters, who took full advantage of his crew's experience to give "Rookie" that "24" look, including long scenes shot with handheld cameras. "We block the scene and shoot it as if we're a documentary crew that has stumbled upon the situation."

Fox brand and franchise vice president Mark Pearson notes the crew has worked together "for a long, long time -- they know what feels right and looks right. They live and breathe '24.'" Fox also licensed other familiar "24" elements for "The Rookie" -- the ticking clock, framed character windows and composer Sean Callery's music -- to help complete the picture.

But there's an undercover element in "Rookie" not found in "24" -- embedded advertising. The Webisodes are produced by Townsend's Science + Fiction studio, which he describes as "a hybrid between a film studio and an advertising agency."

The company marries content with a sponsor -- in the case of "Extraction," Degree Men deodorant -- to make "marketing look like entertainment," Townsend says. The brand is subtly introduced to the audience -- here with the inclusion of Degree spokesman Chad Johnson of the Cincinnati Bengals, who appears as an FBI surveillance expert.

No word on whether such a technique would ever be used on Big "24," which went back into production April 22 in Los Angeles in preparation for the January 2009 premiere of its delayed seventh season.