Second Wave’s 24 Blog

Early TV Review: 24 - SEASON 7 - Season Premiere - ‘8:00 am - 10:00 am’

Jack is back and ready to take names, kick ass and save the world once again in a slam-bang, two-night premiere.
Grade: A-
Stars: Kiefer Sutherland, Mary Lynn Rajskub, James Morrison, Carlos Bernard, Cherry Jones, Janeane Garofalo, Annie Wersching, Jeffrey Nordling
Writer(s): Howard Gordon, Joel Surnow, Michael Loceff (8:00 am - 9:00 am), Joel Surnow, Michael Loceff, story by Howard Gordon, Evan Katz (9:00 am - 10:00 am)
Director: Jon Cassar
Release Date: January 11, 2009

By CARL CORTEZ, Contributing Editor
Published 1/9/2009

As much as things change, they also stay the same and in the world of 24, you can’t get away from having Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) going rogue, moles in the highest places of the government and a president trying to manage one insane crises after another.

And as 24 kicks off its much delayed seventh season (Day 7, to those in the know), all these stalwarts of the show are firmly in place and then some.

What’s different is the setting and the mechanisms to get Jack into play. Read the rest of this entry »

From NewsHerald.com

If you’re a fan of “24″ expecting to see a nuclear explosion in the first few hours of the new season, you’ll be disappointed.

The four-hour premiere of Season 7, which begins Sunday night on Fox, has none of that, and I’m glad it doesn’t. Instead, “24″ is returning to a formula of slowly building intrigue, suspense, spies and cat-and-mouse games, something noticeably absent from the subpar Season 6, and it makes for a compelling TV.

Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) begins “Day 7,” as the seasons are called — the show plays out in real time, over a 24-hour period — with a Congressional problem. The Senate is questioning him about his use of torture on past suspects detained (often illegally) by Bauer’s former employer, the Counter Terrorist Unit (CTU), which was dismantled four years prior to Day 7’s events. Read the rest of this entry »

From the TV Addict

Kiefer with the TV Addict

If there is one thing that this TV Addict took away following two days holed up with a bunch of rowdy radio shock jocks is that DJ’s love to talk. Thus, you can imagine my surprise when an eery quiet enveloped Hollywood’s Hotel Palamor at the end of the second day of FOX’s January Press Junket. Turns out, Kiefer Sutherland was in the house. And if six seasons of the hit FOX show 24 taught this TV Addict anything, it’s that when Jack Bauer talks, you best be listening. Or risk ending up like this guy.

So listen I did. As Kiefer Sutherland was kind enough to take a few minutes out of his busy schedule to reveal what went wrong with season six, why the new season of 24 is the best one yet and when fans can expect to see Jack Bauer’s adventure continue on the big screen.

So it’s been like what, five years since you’ve been on the air?
Kiefer Sutherland: It feels like it, it really does [TV Addict Note: At this point, Kiefer laughs. Which was quite a sight to see considering that I’m fairly confident that Jack Bauer has barely cracked a smile over the course of 24’s six seasons!] Believe me, it’s been a really disappointing time for us. Our fans have been so unbelievably loyal to us. But unfortunately there were a series of events that conspired to keep us off the air. And since it is really important to run all 24 hours continuously the decision was made to hold us off for another year so that we could premiere in January. Read the rest of this entry »

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Considering the jump-the-shark pronouncements that accompanied Season 6 of “24″ two years ago, the clamor for the return of Fox’s real-time thriller has been notably muted.

The good news is that the now customary two-night, four-hour kickoff on Sunday and Monday finds the series returning to its heart-in-your-throat best, replete with old villains, intricate conspiracies, moral quandaries and political intrigue. What easily could have devolved into self-parody has again become a riveting thriller that hits the ground sprinting. Of course, that also was the case at the beginning of the sixth season, and it didn’t last, so we’ll have to see if “24″ can avoid the dreaded March and April qualitative blues this time around.

Things kick off with former Counter Terrorism Unit badass Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) in court, his beloved CTU having been disbanded; now he’s forced to answer for his excesses before a Senate subcommittee. He sits there essentially justifying his torture techniques. But it won’t be long before Bauer is pressed back into service.

A scientist has been kidnapped, and the nation’s air travel is suddenly under siege (sound familiar?). Moreover, the threat is emanating from his longtime pal Tony Almeida (Carlos Bernard), thought to be in the ground but, well, this is “24,” where the difference between life and death is measured in minutes. Pretty soon, Jack is having to play more or less by the rules with an FBI agent (Annie Wersching) while the president (Cherry Jones) faces off with a Mugabe-like African dictator.

Through the first four hours, the twists and turns and squirms fly around with the usual swiftness as the clock ominously ticks ever forward. But as the series is called “24″ rather than “4,” it’s next week when the real creative challenge begins.

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter

Source

SPOILERS follow…

Question: 24 season 7 premiere screeners were recently sent out to the press, and I’m pretty sure the mighty Ausiello got one. Mind giving us a tidbit about this weekend’s premiere? — Yong

Ausiello: If it’s okay by you, I’d rather give you four tidbits, one for each hour of the two-night premiere.
1) Listen closely for the words “deep sky,” because one of 24’s coolest twists ever occurs shortly after they’re uttered.
2) A bombshell secret about Tony Almeida gets revealed around Hour 3: He’s got pectoral muscles for days. Janeane Garofalo even gets to touch one of them!
3) Speaking of Garofalo, her chemistry with doppelganger Mary Lynn Rajskub is so off the charts that there’s buzz Fox may spin them off into their own show. In related news, if I make a wish in Ask Ausiello, it officially qualifies as buzz. Totally true.
4) I’ve come to the conclusion after watching the first four eps that James Morrison is Neil Patrick Harris’ biological father.

Question: Any truth to the rumor that Gregory Itzin (President Logan) is returning to 24? He was recently seen in photos with the 24 cast at Kiefer Sutherland’s Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony. — Matt
Ausiello: No truth to the rumor — although the specter of Logan will loom large throughout season 7. But if it’s an Itzin fix you’re itching for, make tracks to CBS’ The Mentalist, where he’s playing the recurring role of Virgil Minelli, the Calif Bureau of Investigation boss.

Kief at the Premiere

Kief and MLR

The cast

See all the images

Kiefer Sutherland takes over the cover of next week’s issue of the UK magazine RadioTimes.

Inside is an article with an interview with Kiefer.

See the pics here.

Check out this cool new trailer for Season 7.

I’m starting to get a better picture as to why that car rockets out the side of a building… it looks like Jack is down on the floor of the car, and he hotwires it and sends it over the edge in an effort to escape some attacks. What do you think??

Some videos relating to the first hour of Day 7 - SPOILER WARNING.

NOTE: This first one isn’t very spoilery - it is just some cast interviews.

NOTE: This one is a long interview with Kiefer. Contains some minor spoilers.

NOTE: This is an in depth behind the scenes look of Season 7. Does contain spoilers.

NOTE: This last one is some clips from the 2 night premiere.

Happy 42nd birthday Kiefer Sutherland a.k.a. Jack Bauer!