24 Season 5: Episodes 3 & 4 Recap(Hours 9:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.)

WARNING: The following post may, and probably will, contain spoilers.

Sheesh, double episodes kill me...

Let’s see, when we last left the world of 24, President Logan was insisting on the continuation of hosting the Russian government against all of the advice that he shouldn’t. Even an assassination of a former President couldn’t sway him. Nor could the fact that Jack Bauer was on the loose and potentially trying to kill as many important people as he could. Then, out of nowhere, the airport that Jack was at (looking for a piece of the mystery surrounding his assassination setup) was overtaken by terrorists! The good news, Jack is trapped inside... the bad news, so is Derek:

Jack and His Super Bag of Goodies!

• I figured out how Jack has a nice new cell phone (a cell phone that has every personal CTU agent’s phone number), he has some sponsorship with Sprint!
• In addition to the city-wide teleportation abilities that Jack has shown us over the past few seasons, he can also type in an email address in two seconds. An email address, mind you, to send CTU an email of terrorist photos. And now they’re going to send him data back to his phone. HIS PHONE! Buy Palm stock now!
• Jack’s vision and/or math skills are a bit wacky... “approximately 10-12 hostages” looks more like 24ish.
• David Blane: Jack Bauer: Street Magic – Watch as Jack blows up a remote with his cell phone! Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight. Wouldn’t that blow up all of the terrorists’ vests? Well, no, probably not, he just pointed his wand at the one he wanted to blow up. Or maybe the terrorists spent money on getting different remotes for everyone – yeah, that makes more sense.
• Jack is now a seen as a postitive statistic inside CTU... without him, success for the entire human race is 20%.
• How many other cool things does Jack have in his bag? Aside from two cell phones (one for calling and one for emailing), he’s got guns, a car-jacking tool, a telescope and probably some Bert’s Bees Wax.
• Remember, Jack hasn’t been cleared of assassination charges yet, but we don’t see the importance of handcuffing him. I mean, he only allegedly killed a former President and two CTU agents.

CTU (and Their Technology) Rocks, Sometimes...

• I’m not sure what I’d do with it, but I need some of those face-scanning programs... you know, the ones where they can take a photo of an angled face and match it to a gigantic database of terrorist mug shots. If they’ve got mug-shots of that many terrorists, why not just jail them all up instead of just photographing them? Problem solved.
• My God... the CTU computers and their databases are absolutely amazing, did you see all of the photos of remote detonators they had on file? If these things really existed, we really would have zero terrorists in this world. I mean, we’re talking some real “Minority Report” type shit here, people!
• Why is it every season of 24 there’s a change in the chain of command at CTU? If that government unit is in such constant turmoil, you’d think that they’d have some type of stable leader or dissolve it all together.
• Speaking of a new leader at CTU, it’s one that micro-manages? Jeez, talk about recycled story-lines (crazy first lady, a mole, new micro-managing leader at CTU, multiple love triangles, etc.)
• Let me get this straight, CTU can pinpoint and track people in “real-time” movements from the garage of a hotel, yet you can’t use computers, or satellites, to track where terrorists and hostages are inside a one-story airport terminal? What about those nifty infrared satellites you had last season 18 months ago? Plus, why will it take 20 minutes to re-deploy men around a 10,000 square foot (at most) building? Oh, that’s right, it doesn’t... because when you had to quickly re-deploy your men again, it took two.

Rookie Terrorists

• The blood on the shirt of the idiot hostage (the one that tried to use his cell phone) spread awfully far, awfully quick. Blood doesn’t flow that quickly out of a singular bullet wound, nor when the dude is laying on his back. But, we can’t discount their flare for the dramatic.
• How did the terrorist have the phone number to a specific policeman on the scene? Speaking of police, no one from a police unit would be running the operation at an airport. It would be the FBI, or some other government agency, doing that (haven’t they ever seen “Die Hard 2?”)
• The terrorists spray-painted the security cameras and not only did the terrorists have the number to the policeman outside the airport, they also had the number to the television networks, and the means to broadcast a live feed.
• “The terrorists have taken control of an entire airport!” Translation: One terminal and a concession stand – a concession stand, mind you, that has blue and red plastic Dixie Cups.
• No chance the terrorists would be standing in the main terminal in front of giant windows. They would’ve been shot long ago.
• “The President has 15 minutes to meet our demands. Well, minus 5 for a commercial break and 2 for the meaningless dribble that Jack just spout out... so really, the President has 8 minutes! Wait, I forgot that we don’t count commercial breaks... so back to 13 minutes! You got that!?! 13!!! ”
• How do we stop people coordinating by cell phones? Ah the old cell phone jamming software, duh.
• Why just secure Jack? Why not just kill him? No one wants him alive!!!
• Keep your head down, you filthy hostages... except for you, yeah, you... the one who’s not really a hostage! In fact, leave it up for a while, so the audience knows what you look like!
• How does a hostage just get out of the building and through a locked-down airport? Through the back door, that’s how.

The Californian White House and Schtuff

• How exactly do you “alter” a voice recording? If we ever hear the original, and President Palmer never said anything like what we heard in episode two, then we know that “alter” really means “bs.”
• The networks are under no legal obligation to comply with the President’s demands? I’m sure there’s some clause somewhere that says he can do whatever he wants (the clause that says he can ignore his own rule that America doesn’t torture suspects anymore comes to mind).
• Now the First Lady’s hair stylist personal assistant has forgotten that the First Lady is supposed to be crazy and just might believe her now.
• Where exactly would the First Lady be going? Everyone would be in a gigantic lockdown right now. That means no press, at least more than two cabinet members, and they would all be flying somewhere in the air – and if not in the air, there would be guards everywhere, so that nobody would be walking around alone, or anywhere for that matter.
• They store all transcribed conversations at a house in California? That’s convenient. And, just how many boxes does the First Lady have to go through? Wasn’t the call made last night?
• What is this, blame the First Lady’s hair stylist personal assistant day? First she’ll take blame for letting the First Lady out. Then she’ll take the blame for the First Lady stealing information that could be an International Matter of Security. Poor girl.

So everyone knows, the catch-phrase of 24 this season is “real-time updates.” But I guess nothing, absolutely nothing, has happened to Tony in the past three+ hours, since we’ve heard no updates.

Coming up next week: Nerve Gas!!! I hope I have the nerve.

24 Season 5: Episodes 1 & 2 Recap(Hours 7:00 a.m. - 9:00 a.m.)

WARNING: The following post may, and probably will, contain spoilers.

Well, well, well... color me impressed. So far this season has started off in an exciting way. The action was good, the direction was good... heck, even the acting was good (except President Logan, what a goofball). I like the story thus far and it gives me hope that the series could turn into a great, or at least better, direction. The one problem I’m super afraid of is that generally the premieres of series are produced and directed with more vigor than the rest of the series (save the sweeps and finales). If that’s the case here, we could easily slip back into the bad land... but we’ll soon see. Here are my thoughts from tonight’s two-hour premiere.

Awww, Fox, You Spoiled Us
If you were a loyal 24 fan and read up on season five before it even started, you were sure to find out that there were some potential major spoilers in store. Sure enough, as the opening credits rolled in during the first episode, Fox pretty much confirmed the deaths of Michelle and Palmer. Don’t call them "special guest stars" next time something like this is going to happen, I knew right off the bat who was going to die. Tsk tsk.

Throw That Lock Down!
Okay, we’ve been through this before with other seasons and we’ve even been through this in real life (see September 11). If a major event occurs, such as the assassination of a former President (which was 15 minutes away), the entire West Wing (so to say) goes into immediate lock down. The President’s whereabouts are not disclosed and he, and the rest of his staff, are whisked away to some super safe spot. In cases like this, the President doesn’t have the final say in whether a special summit is still going to occur. Besides, I’m thinking the Russians would turn right around, I know I would.

And where exactly is the rest of the staff? Not that "The West Wing" or "Commander in Chief" are better representations, but they have staff, secret service, FBI, etc... running around EVERYWHERE all the time. I think here it’s just a matter of keeping the cast down to a minimum, but not a very logical interpretaton.

Hip Hip, Hooray!!!
Glad to see Palmer’s brother, Wayne, is back. I really liked him from two seasons ago, he’s definitely a good addition to the cast. Speaking of good casting, Derek, the teenage boy with spidey-sense (I gotta warn Jack, yeah, right), is another good addition to the cast. I liked the dynamic between him and Jack.

I also loved the edginess of Jack when talking to the assassin. That ruled.

Celly Phone Silliness
It’s about time someone has trouble hearing Jack while he’s flying in a helicopter! Maybe his good cell service ran out when his CTU employment ended. And while I’m thinking about it, how did Jack get cell phone service? Surely he didn’t put his account under Jack Bauer, did he?

Also, why does everyone use cellphones? Even the bad guys? Marwahn used them extensively last season and now with the recent realization that the government can listen in on any call in the United States, surely they’d be picking up on these bad guys and the crap they’re planning... right?

The First Lady, The Latest Craz-y
What is it with dysfunctional First Ladies on this show? The latest, Martha Logan, seems to be a super loon. All the President wants to do is keep her all doped up, which is something they should’ve done with Erin Driscoll’s daughter last season. You just knew her "craziness" was a setup for yet another mole from within... and I’m tired of the whole mole deal, too.

Edgar-Chloe Schtuff
Looks like the rumored love triangle is effectively established. Wonderful. And since when does a place like CTU have one super administrator that can do things no one else can? That’s not very likely at all. Nor is it likely to get such a strong signal in an underground parking garage – I barely get cell phone reception in my garage. It was funny that Edgar pointed out that Chloe was probably in a parking garage or something, since her signal was weak... but when the building was being "secure" to capture Jack, why didn’t they a) shut off the elevators, b) block the exit of the garage, or c) head directly to the garage to get Chloe?

In addition, Chloe had already been missing for about an hour and CTU was concerned that she was assisting Jack. If that were the case, her name and file would be placed on immediate alert status... meaning that when she arrived at the building where Palmer was assassinated, she wouldn’t have gotten past the first guard (you know, the guard that did the lean-in-glance-over vehicle check). And one more thing, why was there one FBI agent in the garage, but 25 of them upstairs? When you secure a building, I’m pretty sure everything is secure, not just the penthouse.

Misplaced Family Values?
Is this not the perfect season to bring back Kim? Jack’s been gone for 18 months and barely a mention of Kim. I’m assuming that she’s still a CTU agent somewhere, if that’s true, then she’s been informed that Jack is now suspect number one. I think she’d be popping up somewhere demanding some answers. If anything, they could bring her back and kill her off... I’d be down.

Miscellaneous

• With as bad as that car was after the explosion, I’m betting that Michelle wouldn’t look so good herself, nor would there be much of her for Tony to hug. And why did the car explode twice?
• Was that the outdoor shopping mall from The 40 Year-Old Virgin?
• Geez, why is Audrey back? Please don’t say her dad is back, too.
• "Real-time updates." Yeah, I don’t think that’s a real-time term.
• Cool smoke screen. Buuuuuuut, wouldn’t the helicopter blow all the smoke away?
• Woohoo! Macs! Too bad it’s not the new Intel iMac. And it also sucks that the CTU peeps are stuck with HPs.
• Looks like Chloe will be the first person interrogated, and so it begins.
• If I’m not mistaken, the glass that Jack broke out of the drivers side window (the one he and Derek drove to the airport) was back.

Great start for season five. My hopes are up thus far, but we’ve still got 22 hours to go. Sigh.

24 Season 5: A fore-warning

When I started this web site, I was squarely under the influence and stench that was season four. My goal with the site is to point out where 24 lacks in creativeness, integrity and consistency. 24 is, and has always been, an exciting show. To create and execute an entire 24 episode series takes an incredible amount of writing and planning... it’s something that I would probably have a very hard time with, nor something that I would like to do. The problem with a show like 24 is that it was a high-concept show and I think over the past two season’s the writers and producers have struggled to keep the intensity at a high level. It’s not enough to have Jack Bauer running around screaming his head off for the entire season, sad but true.

That’s where I stepped in. Just as most major films and television shows have people working in the continuity department, I use this as a forum to discuss where 24 falls flat and decides to embellish their story to make it work within the boundaries that they created. 24 is a popular show, no doubt about it, but with more and more viewers tuning in each season, there needs to be a voice somewhere inside Fox that asks, “is this realistic and, more importantly, is this believeable?”

I know my posts may seem a bit negative at times, but my intention is to help the viewing public keep 24 at a more realistic level... not that anyone at Fox is listening. Saying that, I know that no show is perfect and it’s very hard to be just that. I loved the first two seasons of 24 and believe that it can be the best show on television, but it definitely has kinks to work out.

That said, I’m actually excited about season five and think that the teasers and commercials for it thus far have made it look more film-like and realistic. It should be fun to watch the season, or day, progress and I’ll be right here after every episode with my thoughts and comments. I’ll be sure to call 24 out on its silliness, but I’ll also be positive when it does things the right way. With a little better direction and acting, 24 may finally break through the bubble and win some of the more important Emmys.

We’ll see. Enjoy season five of 24, I know I will.

24 Season 5: Julian Sands, Peter Weller and JoBeth Williams Join Cast

The latest news from The 24 Insider reports (WARNING: Potential Spoiler Alert):

Julian Sands (“A Room with a View”), Peter Weller (“RoboCop”) and Oscar, Golden Globe and Emmy-nominated actress JoBeth Williams (“Poltergeist” and “The Big Chill”) join 24. British born actor Julian Sands will play billionaire bad guy “Vladamir Bierko” while Peter Weller portrays “Christopher Henderson,” the federal agent who recruited Jack to counter terrorist work more than a decade ago. JoBeth Williams is Henderson’s wife, Miriam. All three characters will come face-to-face with Jack.

Family reunion time... of sorts! Man, oh man, will that be exciting... and by exciting, I mean to see RoboCop again!

So what could potential plot lines be regarding Mr. Henderson, aka, TMTRJ (the man that recruited Jack)... hmmmmm.

• Hide and Seek theory
  Henderson and wife get kidnapped, forcing Jack out of hiding.
• Reverse Psychology theory
  Henderson gets called in to try and talk Jack out of doing something that will severely breach protocol.
• Trading Places theory
  Henderson is called in to run CTU and allows Jack to do whatever the hell he wants to stop the day’s threat.
• Flashback theory
  Henderson dies early in the season and is shown in flashbacks to Jack’s training.
• Scooby-Doo theory
  Henderson is revealed to be the true conspirator behind every season’s plot, but Jack, (hired because Henderson thought him stupid) really is too good and spoils Henderson’s plans.
• Darth Vader theory
  Henderson confronts Jack and tells him that he is Kim’s father, not Jack.

Or... who cares? We’ll quickly find out if throwing all these new (sometimes established) names into the fire will work out. My gut says no. My gallbladder doesn’t say anything, since I have none.

24 Season 5: The Teaser

No spoilers in this post, unless you consider the teaser footage to be spoilers.

The peeps over at Kiefer-Rocks.com have posted the Season Five teaser that aired during last night’s World Series game. You can check it out by going to their news page.

My initial reactions to the teaser?

So far, so good... it was a true teaser in the sense that we don’t see any plot points, just glimpses of what’s to come. The fire-shielding effects look particularly great. And the whole season, from the looks of the trailer, seems to be much more cinematic in nature. Which is a good thing.

So far, the bad... we’re still getting served the fancy looking, high-techish, non-existant satellite computer crap. Okay, it’s a tv show, whatever. Also, Jack’s cell phone is working in the middle of the desert. Amazing. Also, did you notice that Jack didn’t really look like Jack anymore? He’s change his appearance because he’s in hiding. And by appearance, I mean haircut.

Get ready for another season of Jack running around, pointing guns at people and screaming. I’ll be here with a recap for every episode.

24 Season 5: The Tony and Michelle Show

The latest news from The 24 Insider reports (WARNING: Potential Spoiler Alert):

Tony and Michelle are at home in a cozy West Valley neighborhood. They have plans for a business meeting but those plans are quickly scrapped once they learn of a drastic situation. Michelle thinks that they should head over to CTU to help out but Tony doesn’t want to go and he thinks they would just be getting in the way of the investigation. Michelle evaluates the severity of the incident and she decides the business meeting is irrelevant and that she needs to offer her services to CTU. Tony eventually agrees and they prepare to head off to CTU Los Angeles.

Awww, how cute. Just what the rabid 24 fans are wanting – a love story that takes up approximately 6 hours of our day. The on-again, off-again, saga of Michelle and Tony is boring. The on-again, off-again, saga of Michelle and Tony is boring. Yes, I just said that twice, in an attempt to spice things up a bit. It didn’t work, though, they’re just THAT boring.

It’s not just Tony and Michelle’s love story that I’m tired of, it’s any notion of there being a love story in this show at all. There is no place on this show for a love story. None. Need I remind the writers that this story takes place in one day? I would tend to think that any relationship issues would take a major back seat to whatever TERRORIST activity is occuring in the United States.

Much less, a character like Jack probably wouldn’t ever date anyone. Hell, the man has been dead twice now, what’s the point?

Another issue is dating in the work place in general. Everywhere I’ve ever worked, it’s very frowned upon to date co-workers. And even if you feel like you must, you’re supposed to let HR know. But it’s very apparent, with the quality of employees that CTU hires (several traitors and idiots, alike), that the HR department isn’t that great. What’s more, if HR IS notified and two co-workers are dating, then one would probably be moved within the division elsewhere. The workplace doesn’t need any added drama from home, unless you’re 24.

Tony, Michelle, stay at home or go to your “business meeting” (whatever the hell that means). And whatever you do, don’t go into CTU and don’t drive a Cadillac.

24 Season 5: Edgar Encrypted

The latest news from The 24 Insider reports (WARNING: Potential Spoiler Alert):

An encrypted book which is still being written on the computer of a former high ranking government official will play a huge role in the early stages of season five.

This is good news for Edgar fans, it essentially says that he has been written into the plot for season five. Not that we didn’t think he’d be around, because we knew he would, but now there’s a whole level of nerdiness that can occur thanks to this secret “encrypted” book.

And if that news wasn’t enough...

Arizona Senator John McCain will appear in an upcoming episode.
Source - www.sfgate.com

Great. How exciting. The writers REALLY know how to keep us (anti-)fans happy.

24 Season 5: The Beggining of a Long Season?

From my faithful source over at The 24 Insider (WARNING: Potential Spoiler Alert):

The new season has Jack settling in Bakersfield, California, and working on an oil rig, it’s a far cry from his secret past. He falls in love with a mysterious woman (Connie Britton) and everything seems just fine. But true to “24”, his life doesn’t stay peaceful for very long. The woman’s son, played by Brady Corbett, becomes suspicious of Jack’s past and begins asking too many questions. Suddenly Jack’s cover explodes. The Chinese government quickly finds out about him and everyone is in danger. One of the major characters will be killed off on the first three episodes! Fox is closely guarding the identity of the victim – but the writers are promising the death will be totally unexpected and will shock even 24’s most seasoned fans. The buzz is that former President David Palmer... is the victim. But on 24 anything can happen and anyone can be a target.
Source - The Globe (September 5th issue page 66)

Seriously, with all the hype that they’re giving to season five, is it really going to be all that surprising when some major character bites the dust? No. You’re ruining it for viewers already! Why do you even have to tease that? You’re 24, you don’t have to tease anything!

But really, if it IS Palmer, then you’re potentially shooting yourself in the foot because he’s one of the best things that show still has to offer.

I’m telling you, if you want shock value, kill Jack Bauer. THEN you’d have a nice little chaotic series on your hands.

24 Season 5: Chloe and Edgar News

From my faithful source over at The 24 Insider (WARNING: Potential Spoiler Alert):

Mary Lynn Rajskub hinted that “something’s brewing this year” between Chloe and Edgar. But sadly, that something is probably not a red-hot affair. “You want that to happen so bad,” she teased me. “You want [a Chloe-Edgar] love scene so bad.” You will see Tony and Michelle in the season premiere.
Source - TvGuide.com

Oh... she’s got us pegged. It’s what everyone, EVERYONE, wants to see – a hot, torrid, love affair invloving a momma’s boy nerd and the world’s biggest know-it-all that scowls for 24 hours a day. We SO know who would wear the pants in that relationship... yes, the one who shot a semi-automatic weapon last season when she was sent with ONE AGENT as protection to retrieve a very essential hard drive.

And how exactly do you work in a love scene into the show? They’ve tried the past few seasons and they all seem very forced. This day, and the other four crazy days you’ve had, is the most important day in US history, keep it in your pants.

Oooo, don’t forget that other JUICY tidbit of information – we’ll see Tony and Michelle in the season premiere... getting blown to pieces in their brand new, super strong-tired, Cadillac.

24 Season 4 Wins Three Emmys

The 2005 Emmys were awarded last night. Let’s take a look back at what I predicted:

My predictions for this year’s Emmys... I think Kiefer will get snubbed once again and so will 24 as Outstanding Drama, both losing to Deadwood. They may pick up a few Emmys for Sound/Picture Editing. But there’s no way in hell they win for Casting this year.

So how did they do?

Season 4: 2005 Emmys

• Nominated: Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series
• Nominated: Outstanding Cinematography for a Single-Camera Series
• Winner: Outstanding Single Camera Sound Mixing for a Series
• Nominated (three times): Outstanding Single Camera Picture Editing for a Series
• Winner: Outstanding Sound Editing for a Series
• Nominated: Outstanding Music Composition for a Series (Dramatic Underscore)
• Winner: Outstanding Stunt Coordination
• Nominated: Outstanding Drama Series
• Nominated: Outstanding Casting for a Drama Series

Booyah.

24: The Game

It was only a matter of time before this happened. I’m actually surprised that this wasn’t made a long time ago, but it makes perfect sense and should generate some sales from the real die-hard fans. That’s right, feast your eyes on 24: The Game.

Here’s the official game synopsis from IGN:

Based on the action-packed television series, 24: The Game is set between seasons two and three of the TV show and provides the answers to several unanswered questions: Who was really behind the assassination attempt on President Palmer? How did Kim Bauer get a job in the L.A. CTU? How did Jack Bauer and Chase Edmunds first start working together? Penned by 24 episode writer Duppy Demetrius and voiced by stars Kiefer Sutherland, Carlos Bernard, and Kiefer Sutherland, 24 boasts more than 100 missions told through several branching subplots. Gameplay includes on-foot sections (with shooting, stealth, puzzles, and sniping), driving sequences, interrogations, and technical challenges. The game even uses the unique visual style of the television show with multi-panel windows showing concurrent plot developments.

Booyah. Imagine playing a game of 24! You could actually waste more than 24 hours!!!

But let’s take a look at the REAL synopsis that they didn’t want you to read...

Based on the action-packed television series, 24: The Game is set between seasons two and three of the TV show and provides the answers to several unanswered questions: Who was really behind the assassination attempt on President Palmer? (Uh... it was sexy Mandy! We know you really don’t care otherwise. Just give the fanboys more Mandy, right!?!) How did Kim Bauer get a job in the L.A. CTU? (By sleeping with Jack? To give us shitty storylines to explore? So Elisha Cuthbert could cut her hair? We needed an excuse to bring the Mountain Lion back? You tell us!) How did Jack Bauer and Chase Edmunds first start working together? (Do you need a video game to answer this? Chase got hired at CTU and was assigned to Jack. Sorry if this spoiled a big part of the game, sucker.) Penned by 24 episode writer Duppy Demetrius (So expect crappy dialogue, did you see the game trailer?) and voiced by stars Kiefer Sutherland, Carlos Bernard, and Kiefer Sutherland (Yes, Kiefer did voice it twice!), 24 boasts more than 100 missions told through several branching subplots. Gameplay includes on-foot sections (with shooting, stealth, puzzles, two-handed gun toting, running while toting a gun two-handed and sniping), driving sequences, interrogations (Yeah baby! Kill ’em!), how to teleport in the city, not eat an entire day when becoming addicted to heroin, using fancy technological terms incorrectly and technical challenges. The game even uses the unique visual style of the television show with multi-panel windows showing concurrent plot developments. Only idiots will buy this game. Well, idiot PS2 owners, since we couldn’t get Nintendo and/or Microsoft to pick this game up. But you’ll like it and you’ll think you’re smarter than the people who haven’t seen the cool in-between story!

24 Season 5: Bring on the Russians?

Some interesting news out of The 24 Insider today:

Actress Kathleen Gati has joined the cast as the Russian First Lady.

That’s right, Russian first lady.

Are we being set up for a good ol’ America vs Russia conflict? We took on the old communist regime, China, last season... so why not another former communist regime?

It couldn’t be the other way around... everyone in the whole world knows that Americans and Russians just don’t get along... unless we’re talking about Yakov, Spies Like Us or trapped submariners.

I wonder how good these Russian accents will be.

24 Season 5: Sean Astin Joins Cast

Well this could be a good thing for the show, for once. Variety is reporting that "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy star Sean Astin is joining the cast of Fox's 24. Word on the street is that he'll be working for CTU, but anything else about his character is unknown at the present time.

Also, here's the latest blurb from The 24 Insider (Spoiler alert):

Episode: 5.1 & 5.2
Airdate: January 8th, 2006
Airtime: 8:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.

In 24 time, Season 5 will pick up 18 months later, with hero Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland), having faked his death, now living with Diane (Britton) and her son, Derek (Corbet), as the latest national security threat materializes. Jean Smart will play First Lady Martha Logan. A shaky President Logan (Gregory Itzin) is back, as are CTU chief Bill Buchanan (James Morrison) and key operatives Chloe (Mary Lynn Rajskub), Edgar (Louis Lombardi) and Curtis (Roger Cross). Tony (Carlos Bernard) and Audrey (Kim Raver), Jack's last love interest, also will be featured. As with the fourth season, 24 will begin with a two-night, four-hour premiere on Jan. 8 and 9 (8 p.m. ET/PT) before moving to its regular Monday time slot on Jan. 16 (9 p.m. ET/PT), with no reruns or pre-emptions scheduled until the May finale. Also, Sean Astin will be a series regular and Variety reports he'll be working for CTU.

Sean Astin, good actor, but in the overall feel of things, big freakin' whoop. Dude can play an underdog football player and a damn good hobbit, but I seriously hope his acting skills are completely overlooked because of 24's lameness. Guess we'll find out in January.

24 Season 5: This Doesn't Look Right

WARNING: Of course this post contains spoilers.

There's been a serious lack of new news about 24 lately, but I did notice that some behind-the-scenes pictures have shown up on the internet. Not too many interesting pictures, except for the three of the car.

Let me explain the situation... the writers of the show want to bring the shock value (not shocking as in how they interrogate ALL of their captives – with electricity – that remains at an all-time high) of the first few seasons back into season five (remember the plane exploding, good... remember the stealth bomber, bad). So early in the season, some well-known characters are gonna bite the dust from a car bomb. I can only assume that the picture is showing us the car, post-explosion.

Looks cool, doesn't it? I think so... whoever is going to be in that car, the police are going to have to pick up pieces of their body from all over. Not to mention all the pieces of the car they'll have to clean up. Lucky for them, the tires nor the hubcaps were messed up. Those bombers, so very precise they are.

24 Season 5: Enlisting Comedic Actors To Help Show

So the latest and greatest from the 24 camp is a slew of casting news. Here's what we know (Warning, potential spoilers):

Taken from http://www.24spoilers.tvheaven.com/

– Jean Smart, who won two Emmys for guesting on "Frasier," will play the wife of President Logan.
– Connie Britton, best known for her work on "Spin City," is set to play Sutherland's love interest.
– Brady Corbet will play the son of Britton's character and is expected to have a strong connection to Sutherland's character early on in the season.

That's two ladies who are best known for their comedic roles on popular sitcoms, and a teen that's been in "Thirteen" and made appearances on three sitcoms... does it get any more ironic than that? Granted, Mary Lynn Rajskub (Chloe) has been on Mr. Show and other comedies, but that's Chloe.

In other news about how season five will begin...

Taken from http://www.24spoilers.tvheaven.com/

The writers want to bring back 24's shock value and they plan on killing off several series regulars right off the bat. I've been hearing that the original plan was to kill off at least two series regulars within the first few opening minutes of the premiere (The assassinations have a direct connection to Jack). Somehow elements within the United States Government and possibly the Chinese Government discover that Jack is still alive and they know his suspicious death was an elaborate hoax. (The season five DVD exclusive prequel will will likely deal with how they know Jack's alive.) In order to suppress the diplomatic damage, Jack Bauer and all of the people who know he's alive are being hunted down and killed, one by one. The season takes place well after Jack fled the U.S. and it's impossible to know exactly who knows that Jack's still alive. We all know Tony, Michelle and Chloe know but the people erasing Jack may think others close to Jack know. Audrey, Kim and even Secretary Heller may be targeted for assassination.

Know what? That's fine. Kill them all. Except Palmer. I'd even go for Jack being offed, now THAT would really bring the shock value back to the show.

24 Season 5: the latest...

Potential spoiler alert!!!

Taken from http://www.24spoilers.tvheaven.com/

First off, I have no idea how Bakersfield, California will fit into anything, I am being brutally honest about that. It makes absolutely no sense with the information I have. The casting notice for Craig Huxley is adamant about him living in Bakersfield but I truthfully have nothing to corroborate that. My information begins somewhere overseas, the information doesn't specify a country. We begin with Jack at an airport where he is waiting for somebody to land. Hmm... Who could it be ? The airplane he's been waiting for lands and his contact exits the plane. This contact is Jack's only connection to his past and it's one of the only people he can trust. The contact is Chloe O'Brian. I guess Chloe sneaks out of Los Angeles every once in awhile and covertly meets with Jack to give him updates on Kim and other people from his past. She takes every precaution possible because she knows what the consequences will be. So Chloe meets up with Jack and they talk for awhile about Chase and Kim and Chase's daughter. (I also heard something about surveillance photos) Anyways, they finish up and Chloe has to hurry and get back on a plane to L.A. Jack thanks her for doing what she's doing and they part ways.

Jack walks through the airport and he starts to head back to his apartment. Jack's plans of laying low and avoiding the spotlight come to a screeching halt when he spots an international terrorist. Jack knows that the terrorist is a bomb-maker and he knows that something big must be going down. So Jack follows the guy and right about here is where the information I have dies off. The terrorist is in the process of carrying out an attack and I've heard that the target is either the airport or a nearby Embassy. Jack makes his move and captures the man and begins to question him. I don't know what the two say to each other and I don't if Jack will be able to stop the terrorist attack in time. Surveillance footage of the bomber would be analyzed and it's likely that the tapes are reviewed by the intelligence community and this is how the U.S. Government learns that Jack is still alive.

Chloe, incognito???
Please. Easily the most annoying character on the show and no one notices her taking these sneaky trips to see Jack? You know she's gonna say something derrogatory or demeaning to someone during the trip.

Jack is still in the country... living in an apartment...
How about you leave the damn country, fool? Being out of the country is much safer for you and the government than staying there. How about some remote island? And why the freak is he walking around in an Airport? With the way security is today, that's the last place I'd go if I were in hiding.

Please don't bring Kim back!
We've had a nice season of rest from her, there's no reason to bring her back into the loop. But, if you do, kill her.

Jack spots an international terrorist...
Then quickly follows and captures him... and then what? Yup! You guessed it! He captures him and probably tortures him. Riiiiight where we left off from last season, more tortures. Classy TV.

24 Season 4: Nominated 11 Times

Today the Emmy Nominations were announced. Looking down the list, you'll notice that 24 has been nominated twice, once for Outstanding Drama and again for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama (Kiefer). That makes it four years in a row that the show has been nominated for those two awards. That's impressive. Let's take a look at the nominations for 24 over the past four years:

Season 1: 2002 Emmys

• Nominated: Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series
• Nominated: Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series
• Winner: Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series
• Nominated: Outstanding Art Direction for a Single Camera Series
• Nominated: Outstanding Single Camera Sound Mixing for a Series
• Winner: Outstanding Single Camera Picture Editing for a Series
• Nominated: Outstanding Music Composition for a Series (Dramatic Underscore)
• Nominated: Outstanding Drama Series
• Nominated: Outstanding Casting for a Drama Series

Season 2: 2003 Emmys

• Nominated: Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series
• Nominated: Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series
• Nominated: Outstanding Single Camera Sound Mixing for a Series
• Winner: Outstanding Single Camera Picture Editing for a Series
• Nominated: Outstanding Sound Editing for a Series
• Winner: Outstanding Music Composition for a Series (Dramatic Underscore)
• Nominated: Outstanding Stunt Coordination
• Nominated: Outstanding Drama Series
• Nominated: Outstanding Casting for a Drama Series

Season 3: 2004 Emmys

• Nominated: Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series
• Winner: Outstanding Single Camera Sound Mixing for a Series
• Winner: Outstanding Single Camera Picture Editing for a Series
• Nominated: Outstanding Sound Editing for a Series
• Nominated: Outstanding Music Composition for a Series (Dramatic Underscore)
• Winner: Outstanding Stunt Coordination
• Nominated: Outstanding Drama Series
• Winner: Outstanding Casting for a Drama Series

Season 4: 2005 Emmys (winners not yet determined)

• Nominated: Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series
• Nominated: Outstanding Cinematography for a Single-Camera Series
• Nominated: Outstanding Single Camera Sound Mixing for a Series
• Nominated (three times): Outstanding Single Camera Picture Editing for a Series
• Nominated: Outstanding Sound Editing for a Series
• Nominated: Outstanding Music Composition for a Series (Dramatic Underscore)
• Nominated: Outstanding Stunt Coordination
• Nominated: Outstanding Drama Series
• Nominated: Outstanding Casting for a Drama Series

Notice anything odd about the nominations above? Consistently nominated for Lead Actor and Drama Series... never won. Consistently nominated, and sometimes winning, for Picture and Sound Editing, Casting and Stunt Coordination. One time, once, nominated and winner of Outstanding Writing... and that was for the Pilot episode of Season One. Not a single nomination for the writing since.

The show is exciting, you can't doubt that. But it's apparent that the quality of writing is not what they're going after. Typical viewers don't care about that, though. Does it put butts in seats? Yep, the ratings have gone up each year. Does the writing suck? Yep, it gets goofier each season.

My predictions for this year's Emmys... I think Kiefer will get snubbed once again and so will 24 as Outstanding Drama, both losing to Deadwood. They may pick up a few Emmys for Sound/Picture Editing. But there's no way in hell they win for Casting this year.

Jack Bauer’s Love Life

More potential spoilers for season five:

One of the new season five characters is named Craig Huxley. Craig is 15 and he lives in a small desert town, the type of place where people don’t ask questions and the type of place Jack Bauer could easily blend into. In the story the town is supposed to be around the city of Bakersfield, California; which is about 110 miles north of Los Angeles. Craig is a sophomore in high school and his mother is dating Jack. Craig and Jack don’t get along and Craig doesn’t want Jack around and he hates that Jack is dating his mother. Craig has an attitude and he isn’t afraid to speak his mind.

Jack Bauer must be a freaking pimp. He’s had a different chick in three of the show’s four seasons... too bad he’s poison. One died. One he just decided to not call back. And the latest one’s husband was killed because of Jack. When will he learn to become celibate?

But this time... this time it will be different. Instead of having to deal with an ignorant eye-candy daughter (who has apparently fallen off the face of the Earth, in Jack’s world), a crazy sister, or an estranged husband, Jack will have to come to terms with a high school boy. I can’t even begin to imagine what’ll happen.

D’ah, screw it... I’ll give it a shot.

At some point Jack’s cover will be blown by the kid and the baddies will come after Jack. Not being able to get Jack, they’ll take the kid and Jack will pursue. At a very dramatic moment, Jack will have to do something unbelievable and the kid will have to decide whether he trusts Jack or not.

Fox, give me a job.

A 24 Movie? AKA, Two Crappy Hours You Pay For

Some potentially disturbing news came across the news wire today:

The Calgary Sun reports that a movie based on popular Fox series 24, starring Kiefer Sutherland as Jack Bauer, is in the works.

Canadian director/producer Jon Cassar said, "The last I heard, the first hour will not be in real-time, but then something big will happen and real time will kick in. It still has to be worked out -- it's at a stage where they need to write it."

Cassar will not predict a storyline for the big screen version of the show. He says the script will likely depend on what's happening on the series prior to the movie coming out.

"It could still be two years from now, so it's far too early to say," he says, adding even if he did know, he wouldn't give it away.

"The last I heard, the first hour will not be in real-time, but then something big will happen and real time will kick in???"

What a joke... the last I heard was that this show is seriously sucking.

Season 5 of 24

With Season 4 having just ended, there's already a steady flow of information coming in about Season 5... and what an amazing season it promises to be. Heh. Let's review what has been posted over at The 24 Insider (WARNING: THIS MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS):

• The scheduled production start date for season five is July 26th.
• RUMOR: I’m hearing that the season will start off with the terrorist bombing of a “high-value target”. It’s unclear if the high-value target is a person or a building but it's looking more and more like a combination of both a prominent building and a high-ranking government official who will be among the many killed in the terrorist attack. There are several other scenarios I’ve heard rumblings about and every single one of them has the same concept of a terrorist bombing of a building with extremely strong international ties. They are also thinking about bringing back a former character to be among the many dead in the massive explosion.
• The new season has already been in pre-production since April. New writers Manny Coto and David Fury are quickly getting accustomed to writing a real-time script. 24 has sought out the advice of novelist Richard Marcinko and he is playing an advisory role in the shaping of season five’s story. 24 sent out casting calls for a major female role in April and the role has already been cast but the actress hasn’t been revealed.
• What happens next on "24" is one of the most guarded secrets in Hollywood -- but Vince Flynn has some answers. The best-selling Twin Cities-based author of political thrillers like "Transfer of Power" and "Term Limits" spent a week in Los Angeles recently, helping creators of the unpredictable Fox drama come up with future story lines. He'll go back in late summer or early fall to help wrap up some of the stories and possibly even pen a script. Flynn wouldn't dare give away any major revelations but he did let slip that some major characters get blown up in next season's opener.
• "We'll pick Jack up in a very different place, roughly a year later. Of course, the show is the show, so it won't be long before he's back in the saddle. But we'll explore a little bit of what he's been doing with his life and the situation he's gotten himself into. That will certainly have an impact on his behavior when he gets involved in the streets".
  Source - Quote from 24 writer/producer Robert Cochran from TvGuide interview
• Jack, Chloe and Curtis will be back.

Looks like we're in for another great season. First off we get a bombing of a "high-value target." Haven't seen that one yet. We might also get to see a former major (?) character die in the explosion... we can only hope it's Defense Secretary Heller. And as for Flynn helping the unpredictable show with new storylines... are they talking about the same show in season four? Because that was pretty damn predicatble.

Of course Jack is coming back, why wouldn't he. I don't mind Curtis coming back, but Chloe??? At this point I'm thinking she's just a fan-favorite, or something. There's no way someone with her character flaws would be in such an important position at CTU.

As for Jack getting back in the saddle... c'mon! Switch it up already! Make Jack work from the outside the whole season. Make it seem like he really is dead. Or do something I heard someone else mention, make season five about Jack escaping from the US Government into another country. I'd like to see an entire change of pace from the show.

More as information becomes available.