24: Day 8 - New York Gets Jacked

This Sunday a new day in the life of Jack Bauer begins as 24: Day 8 premieres this Sunday on FOX. The Blot’s been following Jack’s exploits since Day 1, episode 1 first aired way back in 2001, and it’s definitely one of the most up and downs shows on television. To be honest, without a DVR I probably would have stopped watching 24 a few seasons ago. I typically fast forward through the slow parts and/or the filler scenes featuring characters I don’t really care about. Day 7 got so bad I stopped watching it for about 6 months and only just finished the season last week, but I’m glad I did because the 2nd half of the season was actually pretty riveting.


So at this point you may be asking why am I hyping up 24: Day 8 if the series looks to be on its last legs? Well, I’ve got three main reasons why I think 24 is due for a resurgence:

1. Battlestar Galactica’s Katee Sackhoff joins the cast of 24. Katee, even as just a guest star, is pretty much amazing in every show she’s ever been on. Take for instance NBC’s putrid Bionic Woman. Even on a show that bad, Katee’s evil Sarah Corvus was fun to watch!


2. 24 Season 8 relocates to New York City. After 7 seasons stuck in Los Angeles (I’m choosing to ignore the horrible television movie 24: Redemption which took place in the African country Sangala), Jack finally gets save the world in a new local. NYC has it all, making it a tad bit more believable that Jack can get from one location to the next within the show’s convoluted time constraints.


3. This might be 24’s last season. If this is truly star Kiefer Sutherland’s final season portraying everyone’s favorite CTU agent then maybe, just maybe, this season will carry a little more gravitas than usual. Who knows, Jack might actually perish when all is said and done!

Along with Sutherland, 24 Season Eight also sees the return of fan favorites Mary Lynn Rajskub as Chloe O’Brian, Cherry Jones as President Allison Taylor and Annie Wersching as Agent Renee Walker. The Blot hopes that Glenn Morshower’s Special Agent Aaron Pierce will also make an appearance this season. He is currently the only character, other than Jack Bauer, to appear in all 7 seasons of 24. And what came as a shock to many, Freddie Prinze Jr. joins the cast of 24 this season as CTU agent Cole Ortiz, an ex-Marine who wants to follow in Bauer's footsteps.


24: Day 8’s 2-night 4-hour season premiere begins this Sunday, January 17th at 9/8c. 24 will then air regularly after that on Mondays at 9/8c on FOX.

24: Day 7 Begins This Sunday, Jan 11th

It’s been almost two full years since the last new episode of 24 hit the airwaves, and we can lay the blame for no new Jack Bauer adventures squarely at the feet of the 2008 Writers Strike. Thankfully, Jack’s back and he couldn’t have returned at a better time. 24 Season 7’s 2-night, 4-hour season premiere begins this Sunday, January 11th and then continues on Monday, January 12th. Here’s hoping 24’s new season is light years better than 24: Redemption, the clunker of a made for TV movie they gave us a month ago.


It’s really amazing how a show can go from giving us their best work ever (Season 5) and then turn around and give us utter garbage ever since (Season 6 and Redemption). I really want Season 7 to be good, but I’m just not sure that’s possible anymore. There are a few things about 24: Day 7 that might lead to a return to form for the FOX serial action/drama/thriller. The first of which is the return of Carlos Bernard and his previously deceased character Tony Almeida.


Tony had been fighting by Jack Bauer’s side since Day 1, and it’s no mere coincidence that the worst season in the show’s history is the one season Bernard was not a part of the show’s large cast. It couldn’t have taken Kiefer Sutherland and co. very long to figure out that Tony’s return from the dead was an outright necessity. The second important change to 24 this season is that Bauer is no longer operating as a CTU agent. Evidently after Season 6 the federal government disbanded the Counter Terrorist Unit altogether, but have no fear Mary Lynn Rajskub’s Chloe O’Brian and James Morrison’s Bill Buchanan are both back for another crazy day in the life of Jack Bauer.

While it’s sad to see CTU’s Los Angeles headquarters go, it frees Jack up to have adventures outside of LA and surrounds him with a whole new cast of characters. I am hoping it also brings a new dynamic to the character of Jack Bauer since he is no longer tied down by CTU’s rules and regulations. I guess only time will tell if Season 7 will be any good or not, but you can be sure The Blot will be tuning in week after week to see what kind of crazy situation Jack gets himself into this time. I just hope he finds time this season to go to the bathroom!

24 airs every Monday on FOX at 9/8c.

24: Redemption Airs This Sunday on FOX

Yes, you read that correctly. After almost two years, Jack Bauer is finally returning to television! Last year’s Writers Strike may have ended 24’s season before it ever began, but as we’ve come to learn over the years nothing can stop Kiefer Sutherland’s super CTU agent Jack Bauer. Bauer makes his triumphant return to television in the two hour TV movie 24: Redemption this Sunday, November 23rd.


Bridging the gap between Season 6 and Season 7, this made for television movie explains where Jack has been since he sacrificed everything for his country and became a wanted man by the U.S. Government. Without giving too much away, 24: Redemption finds Bauer working as a missionary in Africa when he is called upon to stop a ruthless warlord from drafting innocent children into his murderous militia. Bauer must first confront his own torturous past and face an impossible decision that will change his life forever. A decision that will set the stage and raise the stakes for Season Seven, which debuts in January 2009.

24: Redemption Trailer


24: Redemption stars Kiefer Sutherland along with Cherry Jones, Robert Carlyle, Gil Bellows and Jon Voight. You can watch the world premiere of 24: Redemption this Sunday, November 23, 2008 at 8/7c. This will hopefully properly prepare us for the 2 day, 4 hour season premiere of 24 Season 7, which begins on Sunday, January 11, 2009 at 8/7c and concludes on Monday, January 12, 2009 at 8/7c.

24 Season 7 Cast Photo

Even though we’re still eight months away from the Season 7 premiere of 24, FOX doesn’t want us to forget about Jack Bauer and his co-workers at CTU. To start building hype for next season FOX unveiled a puzzling cast photo which gives away a major spoiler for the season to come. This is the second time they’ve given away this particular spoiler, the first being in a press release before they started filming the seventh season. So, in a roundabout way I guess the 24 Season 7 cast photo really isn’t a spoiler.

But nonetheless I don’t really understand why they chose to blatantly give away this plot point again in the photo. If you hate spoilers then ignore the photo below, but if you love 24 and either already know the spoiler or just don’t care check out the photo below:


By now you should have noticed the return from the dead of CTU agent and Jack Bauer’s best friend, Tony Almeida (actor Carlos Bernard). They’ve been talking about this for a while now, and supposedly the original plan was for Tony to return last season as the show’s main villain. But instead the creators of 24 have decided to announce to the world Tony’s return for next season as one of the main adversaries for Kiefer Sutherland’s Jack Bauer.

Tony has always been my second favorite character on 24 (after Jack), and I was pretty annoyed with the show when they decided to kill him off. So in some small way I’m glad he is returning from the dead, even if he is going to be portrayed as a bad guy. What puzzles me is why bring him back at all? The show has always had a strict rule of "when a character dies on the show they are dead for good" and this flies directly in the face of that. I just think bringing Tony back sets a bad precedent and lessens the impact future deaths on the show will have on the television audience. Plus, if you’re going to bring Tony back why put him in direct conflict with Jack? Doesn’t that just mean he’ll probably end up dying all over again?

24 has had a good mixture of meaningful character deaths, but they went a little haywire with this last season by killing off a bunch of characters that the audience never had a connection with. Because 24 has always chosen to kill off main cast members the show seemed to be running on fumes last year and it made it hard for the audience to connect with the new cast. Hopefully Tony’s rise from the grave will mean a return to form for 24 and good things in the season to come.

FOX Green Lights 24 Prequel Movie For The Fall

FOX may have just made the smartest post-strike decision of any network. After deciding to shelve Season 7 of 24 until January of 2009 because of the Writers strike, FOX has announced that a two-hour Season 7 prequel movie is in the works to air on the network sometime in Fall 2008. The made for television movie is “designed to bridge the two-year gap between Seasons 6 and 7.” (link) FOX has stuck with the belief that all 24 hours of 24 must be aired as close together as possible, which is why even though “there were rumblings about a possible split of the seventh season into two parts to air in the fall and in midseason…FOX was quick to put those rumors to rest, reiterating that he show’s scheduling pattern will remain intact with January launch.” (link)


After a lackluster Season 6 the news that almost two years would pass before the next season began seems like almost a death blow to the revolutionary real-time show. It’s amazing the ups and downs this show has had over its 6 year run. From its first season which defied critics who said a real-time show could never make it to Season 5 which set an all new high for the Kiefer Sutherland action/drama, the show has continued to do well while going through cast members like water (with a fatality rate much higher than even Lost for those of you counting at home).


While the show has once again made Sutherland a star, there were reports of growing concern as to the direction Season 7 was taking and the increasing budget to make 24 work. Hopefully with the extended break and the additional two hours the 24 movie brings the writers and producers will be able to get the show back on track and Jack Bauer can do what he does best, save the world from total destruction.