i think one interesting direction to go would be in the past. from what i can remember, Jack used to be a Delta Force operator. maybe a season could be shown for a day in one of his "missions". the first season's plot was driven by Jack's delta mission which was commissioned by then-Senator Palmer, so it could be nice to explore that area of jack's life and give the show a different feel from the standard urbanized, technology driven settings we've come to expect out of 24. I found that during the 24 Redemption special, the rural scenes in african jungle were the most engaging (but to be honest, the scenes in Washington were never intended to be the main plot of that special).

anyway, some problems i could see are: 1. Kiefer Sutherland looking as a young Jack Bauer (but suspension of disbelief on that shouldn't be a problem) 2. The show would be good to include David Palmer and his role as a Senator and 3. Linking with point 2, Dennis Haysbert is still on the Unit at CBS and that show itself is modelled after Delta Force.

Nonetheless, a 24 episode covert ops mission would be kinda cool. What do you guys think?