With the writer’s strike causing a shortened season, the already produced pre-strike episodes of “24″ were put back in the can. The network did not want to air a partial season due to the serialized nature of the show. The Hollywood Reporter is now reporting the development of a a two-hour “prequel” to the upcoming seventh season of “24″.

The movie, designed to bridge the two-year gap between Seasons 6 and 7, is targeted to air in the fall, leading to the January return of the real-time drama. On Wednesday, “24″ producers began securing the show’s core cast members for the film.

The producers of “24″ had to do something to keep the ball rolling with the series. By the time this movie would debut, the show will have been off the air for ~17 months. I assume that the 2-hour movie would break from the “real-time” format. Is this acceptable for fans, even for a one-shot TV movie?