Producer: '24' Nearly Ended With Jack Bauer's Death

The venerable terrorism action-drama television series '24' finally saw its clock run out earlier this year, and it certainly wasn't without its strange, emotional final twists and turns. But according to producer Howard Gordon, star Jack Bauer nearly paid the ultimate price.

Speaking to the website AssignmentX.com to promote the DVD box set of the eighth and final season, Gordon talked about the scene he wrote -- but couldn't go through with.

"Yes, in many ways, I did [think about killing Jack Bauer]. I think I maybe even wrote that scene and in the end it felt too depressing," he told the site. "I think it would have been a really depressing moment. I don't think it would have been surprising, I think it would have been more depressing than surprising."

But it wasn't just sentimental feeling for his show's anti-hero that kept that fate out of the ending.

"In a strange way, that's probably the ultimate, tragedy and probably the most politically correct ending, but it wasn't something anybody wanted to commit to," Gordon continued. "Not just for the reason of the show, but honestly, if we had really felt that was the best ending, we would have all gone for it."

It might have also made a damper on the still-developing plans for a '24' big screen motion picture.

For much more from Gordon and '24,' click over to AssignmentX.