Get your carnival tickets here!
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- April
- 5
Yes, it’s that time of the week again: The Carnival of Bauer has been posted.

The carnival is at Morning Maniac Music in Bridgeport, Conn., this week.
Speaking of the Carnival, I figure I should explain it a little bit, as I’ll be next week’s host.
First off, what is a Blog Carnival? You can click on the link provided in the previous sentence, but in a nutshell: It’s a collection of links to blog articles on a particular topic. The Carnival of Bauer, natch, is about “24.” With, of course, a particular eye toward Jack Bauer, our favorite sociopath.
Shown here, in a loving embrace with his brother, Graeme. Photo by Kelsey McNeal/FOX
Bloggers submit their articles to the carnival, and whoever’s hosting that week comments on each entry in a sentence or two, linking both to the blog and to the specific post.
For everything you’ve ever wanted to know about a Blog Carnival (and more), visit blogcarnival.com. But for more on the Carnival of Bauer, read on.
Stephen in New York (“I like the anonymity of the blogopshere,” he says.) started the carnival in Season 5. Stephen had been watching 24 from the beginning, though it lost him during Season 2 (my personal favorite) and parts of Season 3.
I did not realize the size and level of dedication for other 24 fans until my roommate bought season 1 on DVD and decided to try and watch it all the way through. I went to bed and woke up to find him on the floor on episode 18 trying to keep his eyes open. He cheated, while Jack doesn’t go to the bathroom during the show, my roommate could barely keep awake let alone hold his bladder for 24 hours.
Season 4 (Stephen’s favorite) brought him back fully into the fold and he started blogging occasionally about Jack always getting his backup agents killed.
Someone commented that Stephen should create a “blog for Bauer,” and lo, Blogs4Bauer was born between Seasons 4 and 5.
The carnival started not long after, once Stephen started getting request after request from folks who wanted him to link to their 24 blog postings or who wanted to contribute to Blogs4Bauer. He found BlogCarnival.com, created the Carnival of Bauer!!! and the rest, as they say, is history.
We knew we had a hit when the founder of BlogCarnival.com, Brad Rubenstein, went on Glenn Reynolds’ (Instapundit) podcast and when asked about his favorite carnivals, the first one he mentioned was The Carnival of Bauer.
‘Tis true. I checked it out, and sure ‘nuff, Rubenstein cites the Carnival of Bauer, though he says it’s “the reality series.” Alrighty then.
Anyway, the carnival is weekly, ready for submissions on Tuesday (the day after each new episode airs) and posting on Thursdays. It slacked off somewhat during the off-season between 5 and the current 6, but is in full swing. Debates rage on whether the show’s jumped the shark; recaps give all the characters new names (complete with keys to figure out who the heck they’re talking about, though if you’ve watched the show, you can usually figure it all out). Some folks keep track of all the times Jack said “Dammit” in a season, plus his kill count. Others write fan fiction. Most of the bloggers, it seems, are men, but not all (the Feb. 22 Carnival was hosted by Little Miss Chatterbox of The Chatterbox Chronicles.
That’s not too surprising, given Stephen’s succinct (and, IMHO, accurate) description of the show:
I like 24 because it is like a soap opera for dudes. There is some sappy crap, but that is hidden amongst some shooting, a torture scene, and explosions. The show is fun to watch (and blog about) because it is so unrealistic, you just have to watch to see what will happen next.
Yes, we do.
So, stay tuned to Remote Access for next week’s Carnival of Bauer, and you’ll be able to get more than your fill of Jack Bauer for the week.
Coming Monday: An interview with Adam Cohen of The Jack Sack.
















