ComicCon has been a veritable treasure trove of information about our favorite shows, not least of all 24.

How I wish I were there….

But perhaps the most important issue that’s been resolved is the fact that Jack Bauer does, indeed, go to the bathroom.

On Digital Spy, I read this article in which Kiefer Sutherland explained why we never get to see Jack take a pee break:

In all fairness, we shot a scene where he was going to raid an office, and he ran into a washroom and came out nine seconds later much relieved.

Now, uber-fans would have loved that scene. But, at the same time, they would have been really ticked off. The scene was cut.

So whenever they cut to the White House, Jack is taking a pee. And he’s also getting something to drink and eat.

Makes perfect sense. I mean, he’s not on screen ALL the time. Just most of it. There’s enough for bathroom breaks and a quick snack from the vending machine. Haven’t you had one of those days? When you consider that these seven seasons have taken place over a period of 16 years in 24-time, it’s not that unreasonable.

OK, so that brings us to this report on IGN.

This is what Jack’s facing when we first see him in 24: Exile, the prequel telemovie airing this fall.

At the end of Season 6, he was so disillusioned that there was something wonderful about shifting to Africa – that he had actually found a kind of peace and a calm there with his friend and the dynamic between Bobby Carlyle, who’s an old friend of his, that he’d been working with in Special Forces some 15 years ago. Bobby Carlyle’s character has started a school that is trying to give a safe haven and rehabilitate the children of African wars.

It’s the first time that you saw this character kind of in a place where he felt like he was giving back for a lot of the things where I guess he felt like he’d been a part of the problem. This was an opportunity for him to kind of [atone]. So it’s on an emotional level, not only physical, it was a really nice way to start for that character.

The prequel came about, of course, because no one wanted to wait until January for more 24. And considering the abandoned Africa plotline, what the heck.

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The voice of the trailer’s narrator seems wrong, though I don’t know why, but it looks pretty good. Might 24 in Africa actually be pretty damn good?

You watch. You decide. Then tell me what you think.

Check it out here. Or here. Or here. OK, that last one was a joke. But it was as exciting as some moments of Season 6 anyhow.

Lemme know what you think. (Hat tip to iFMagazine.com for alerting me to the existence of this trailer.)

Also, here are the first official 24: Exile photos (click for larger versions):

For those keeping track, Gil Bellows’ (he of the receding hairline, above) casting on 24 brings the number of cast members who used to be on Ally McBeal who are now on 24 to two, as Peter MacNichol seems to be reprising his role from Season 6.

Photos courtesy of Fox.

Kiefer “Jack Bauer” Sutherland and 24 showrunners Howard Gordon and Jon Cassar were trotted out before the press this week to talk about the upcoming season and the November prequel movie, and, it appears, had quite a bit to say.

Don’t know where to turn? I’ve got your back. I read a zillion articles and I have your handy-dandy guide to the news about 24, right here. All sources are listed at the end of this post to make things easier (on me). I don’t consider anything too spoilery (and I’m a 24 spoiler stickler after being burned — badly — last season), but be forewarned that there are a few basic plot details:

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The latest rumor regarding 24:

Julia Roberts may guest-star sometime in Season 7, says starmagazine.com.

Those of you who are either my age or pop-culture aficionados will remember the scandal — SHOCKING! — when Julia left poor Kiefer at the altar back in 1991 and took up with his friend, Jason Patric (he of the missing “k”).

What really got me about this, however, was that the “article” (it’s about three or four paragraphs long, so it’s hardly an article, more of a squib) says this is “amid rumors that this season may be superagent Jack Bauer’s last” — didn’t Fox pick up the show for two more seasons? Are they implying that Jack might possibly actually be killed off?

Jack could have been killed off in Season 1 or even 2. Maybe even 3. But by now, he IS 24. It’s The Jack Bauer Show, with a supporting cast that changes from year to year. Sometimes the supporting cast is great (Tony, Michelle, Edgar, Chloe, even Bill B.), sometimes not so much (Morris, Milo, Ricky Schroeder); but always Jack is there and he’s The Man.

If they kill off Jack, I can’t see any reason to watch a Season 8. Actually, after the Season 6 crapapalooza, if they don’t fix things this year, I’m going to have a hard time justifying seeing Season 8.

In other 24-related news, we find out exactly why Morris is going to return this season. MILD SPOILER FOLLOWS:

So that Mary Lynn Rajskub (aka Chloe O’Brian) can take her maternity leave, she’s going to have to go home for a “family emergency” involving their daughter and Morris will come in and spell Jack, sometime mid-season, for a handful of episodes. Fortunately, Rajskub realizes that most of the fans hate Morris and love Chloe and want her to come back as soon as possible, so she’s not taking a very long maternity leave, it appears.

Julia Roberts photo: Evan Agostini/Associated Press
Mary Lynn Rajskub photo: Kathy Willens/Associated Press

More details are starting to come out about 24’s Day 7, in which the big bad is none other than the previously thought dead (except by some) Tony “Soul Patch” Almeida.

Executive Producer Manny Coto gave an interview I read on newsobserver.com in which he says Jack starts out defending himself against accusations of crimes against humanity in a Senate investigation.

But while Jack is in Washington, FBI agent Renee Walker brings him in to deal with a series of possible terrorist attacks instigated by former CTU agent Tony Almeida (Carlos Bernard), previously presumed dead. “Jack’s thrust into this mystery of how Tony is still alive, and why is he trying to bring down this country?”

I gotta tell you, we’d better find out the answer to that question.

The way last year’s crapapalooza left us, scratching our heads over why, exactly, Jack’s father and brother were so frakkin’ evil and believed they deserved to bring down the U.S. government — repeatedly — and never mind the question of who Josh’s father actually was: Graeme, Jack or Papa Bauer (Howard Gordon and Co. said they’d planned to reveal Papa was Josh’s papa but stopped because that was just too icky — they were right), well, we’d better get some actual answers this season.

I love 24. I love Jack Bauer. But I have to wonder if they’ve gone too far, strayed too far from the bounds of semi-believability that it’s just gotten ridiculous.

Each year, when I sat down to watch 24, I figured it would be my last. Jack’s addicted to heroin? Nah, the heroin’s actually addicted to Jack, so he’s OK. Tony’s shot in the neck? He’s fine a couple hours later! CTU is infiltrated again and again, blown up by bombs, filled with nerve gas, overrun by Chinese kidnappers working for Philip Bauer.

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There’s been lots of weirdness lately relating to 24’s Season 7 and I’ve been lax in blogging about it, so let’s catch up, shall we?

First off: 24 is not going to be “22″ this season. I first hear about this rumor via this Newsday blog, and it’s been debunked, first reported here on TVGuide.com. Did the reporter for Premiere.com not understand Robert Carlyle through his Scottish brogue? Was Carlyle taking something that scrambled his brain? He reportedly told Premiere about November’s Season 7 prequel movie: “This is two hours in real time, and there’ll then be 22 episodes.”

Wrong! Phew. That would have been massively stupid.

Plus, it would have caused the same “real-time” problems initially encountered when they wanted to do part of the actual Season 7 in Africa: It’d take something like 12-16 hours for Jack to fly back to the U.S., detracting somewhat from the intensity of the series’ storytelling.

Carlyle also apparently was wrong, TVGuide says, in saying the prequel’s final moments lead right into the first moments of Season 7. A few months will pass (the prequel starts four years after Season 6’s end, which brings us to …

The year is 2017 and Jack Bauer is now 52 years old. It was first reported in the New York Post, which is owned by the same company as Fox, which produces and airs the show.

To emphasize the passage of time, Jack’s sidekick, Chloe (Mary-Lynn Rajskub), who was revealed to be pregnant in last year’s season finale, will suddenly have a 4-year-old kid to deal with.For those keeping score at home, that means that 17 TV years have passed since Season 1, when Bauer first took on the Eastern European bad guys bent on revenge and destruction – and he was said to be 35 years old.

Kiefer Sutherland himself just turned 41 in jail in December.

Other quick items:

• Zap2it reported that even though Rajskub actually is preggers and they’re shooting, they’ll take care of that by her body behind boxes and she’ll spend a lot of time sitting at the computer (the latter of which isn’t out of character, anyhow). And she’s not in the prequel.

• Jonesing for 24? Check out “Season Two: The Musical” from the creators of “The Silence of the Lambs: The Musical.” Why Season Two? Because, the creators, said, it’s their favorite season. I concur.

• Blogs.4Bauer spells out the top 5 changes he would have brought to Sacramento had he been elected mayor (he was a write-in, but lost to all, including Mickey Mouse). The changes include: “Change the nickname to anything but ‘the river city.’ How does ‘the blood flows like a river city” sound?

• Ladies, stand down. Kiefer Sutherland is not engaged to girlfriend Siobhan Bonnouvrier. Repeat: they are not engaged. (Star magazine apparently reported he had proposed; his rep says it’s not true.)

• He did take her to Cape Town, however, for the filming of the November prequel movie.

Production work on the movie, which is mainly set in Sangala, a fictitious African country, has moved to Los Angeles, where the few last scenes will be shot with veteran actor Jon Voight, Angelina Jolie’s father, who plays the terrorist mastermind.

***

“We’re excited about the prequel; it explores Jack’s complex emotional state and still has the suspense that fans have come to expect from 24,” said executive producer Howard Gordon.

***

(Actor Hakeem) Kae-Kazim — who moved with his family from the Bo- Kaap in Cape Town to Los Angeles a year ago — portrays … cruel (rebel) leader, Ike Dubaku.

***

Cassar said: “The sixth season of 24 ends with Jack’s life in tatters. Both his personal life and his career are basically over. So, in the movie, Jack travels from country to country searching for answers … and unfortunately gets caught up in a civil war.”

Yep, that sounds like 24. Can’t wait.

 

For the first time in 40 years, Jon Voight has signed up to star on a TV show, and it’s none other than 24, says The Hollywood Reporter.

He’ll be the villain in Day 7, and will be introduced in the prequel this fall.

On the Emmy-winning Fox drama, Voight will play Jack Bauer’s (Kiefer Sutherland) uber-nemesis who is pulling the strings behind next season’s terrorist threat.

The character will be introduced during “24’s” two-hour Season 7 prequel and will be featured heavily in the latter half of the season.

Hmmm. Could Angelina be far behind?

Voight’s best known for starring in Midnight Cowboy, Coming Home (best actor Oscar), as Nic Cage’s dad in the National Treasure movies and, of course, for being the (occasionally estranged) father of Angelina Jolie.

Associated Press Photo/Chris Weeks

Canada’s most dashing daddy? Kiefer Sutherland.

Not because he saved his daughter from the bad guys (and Nina Meyers) in Season 1.

And not because he, as Jack Bauer, can make it across Los Angeles in 20 minutes flat. Hellomagazine.ca held a website poll for Father’s Day, and he won “Most Dashing Daddy of 2008.”

Did you know he became a dad when he was merely 20? Now his daughter, Sarah, is 20. I have a feeling he’d have a coronary if she became a mom now. Of course, being Jack Bauer’s alter ego, he’d survive.

Photo courtesy of Fox.

My favorite spunky Jericho resident, Sprague Grayden, is cross-pollinating on one of my other favorite shows: 24.

She’s signed on, says The Hollywood Reporter, to play President Allison Taylor’s daughter.

She’s also signed on to play a biker’s wife in the FX series Sons of Anarchy.

“Anarchy” revolves around a notorious outlaw motorcycle club’s efforts to protect their town of Charming, Calif., from drug dealers and local corporate developers. Grayden is playing Donna Lerner, a biker’s wife who puts pressure on her husband to stay away from the motorcycle club since his release from prison.

On 24, Grayden’s named Olivia Taylor and will be a recurring character.

Photo courtesy of CBS. 

Season 6.5 of 24 is set to begin filming in South Africa and iAfrica.com is all over it.

A writer on the site had stopped by some unfinished bridge in the city to take a photo to illusrtate where he (she?) thought would be a good site for a 24 scene, and a film crew was already out there, doing its thing.

There were no markings on any of the trucks and it was all very hush-hush, which totally sounds like 24 to me.

Apparently this bridge with the film crew is a common filming spot, but it does seem a coincidence, as the writer says, that this unmarked crew is out there right at the same time that Kiefer’s coming into town. Oh, did I mention this note a reader of the site wrote?

when my brother was picking up a friend at the airport at 8.40 this morning he saw the wonderfull kiefer coming off a BA flight arriving in Cape Town. i was very dissapointed to have missed all the excitement.

To avoid spoilers, the scripts being given to South Africans auditioning are rather oblique:

A Cape Town actor-mole I know went to an audition for it about two weeks ago and according to him the script was so cryptic you couldn’t work out what was going on context-wise — to protect the storyline.

I’m sure we’ll be hearing more about the filming as things progress. I’m totally avoiding spoilers this year, though, if at all possible. The spoilers I got sucked into last year were incorrect with the lone exception of the drain-bamaged Audrey.

But notes on the filming in Africa? Sign me up for the rss feed.

Photo courtesy of Fox, “advertisement” courtesy of Blogs.4Bauer.com

The good news: The premiere date for Kyle XY’s Season 3 appears to have been set. Found this on the TV.com website: An airdate for “It Happened ….” and this description:

Kyle has been abducted and taken to the same location as Amanda, a Latnok building. Kyle must escape and rescue Amanda; fortunately, Kyle receives some unexpected help from Jessi.

The official ABCFamily website doesn’t have anything to say about a new date except, “ALL NEW SEASON coming soon!” so that doesn’t mean what TV.com is official, but given the description, it sounds pretty accurate.

And, even better, it sounds as if the show might be ready to redeem itself from its craptacular prom-o-rific season finale.

The bad news: Did I mention that airdate is Jan. 12, 2009. Yeah, we’ve got to wait until January for more Kyle. I hope it’s on at 8 p.m., because if Kyle goes head-to-head with Jack Bauer on Monday nights, Kyle’s gonna lose. Kyle may have super-powers, but Jack is, well, Jack. I think Jack could take on the X-Men and win.

Photo courtesy of ABC Family. 

Three more cast members have been selected for the 24 telemovie Season 7 prequel, according to The Hollywood Reporter:

Showtime’s Premiere of "The L-Word" Arrivals served by picapp.com • Eric Lively, late of Showtime’s L Word (and brother to Gossip Girl queen B Blake Lively) will play the president’s son. Not clear if this means the current president’s son, or son of the incoming president, played by Cherry Jones.

"The Cherry Orchard" Opening Arrivals served by picapp.com • Gil Bellows, perhaps best known for his role as Ally McBeal’s former boyfriend, “will play a State Department officer ordered to serve Bauer with a subpoena to appear before the Senate.”

AFI FEST 2007 Presented By Audi: World Premiere Of "Public Enemy" Arrivals served by picapp.com • Tony Todd, who’s familiar to Chuck fans as CIA Director Graham, “will play cruel African dictator Gen. Juma.” He’ll also appear in Season 7.

They join previously cast Robert Carlyle (who plays Jack’s mentor).

My current favorite vid on YouTube is this. I’ll wait until you watch it.

Done? Great. At last, we finally have an answer to the question: Chuck Norris vs Jack Bauer, who wins?

24philes knew all along, of course, that Jack wins. C’mon, the guy’s come back from the dead. Twice.

So anyway, I thought I’d share it in commemoration of Kiefer Sutherland’s divorce becoming official, four years after filing the paperwork. He was married to Elizabeth Kelly Winn for eight years, but it appears half of that was in the process of divorcing.

Guess that means the coast is truly clear for his relationship with model-turned-journalist Siobhan Bonnouvrier, described at least once as a “raven-haired beauty” by Hello magazine. He’s apparently in the past said only that “There is someone who I really like a lot.”

Other 24-related tidbits I’ve been saving up:

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Scotsman Robert Carlyle will co-star with Kiefer Sutherland in the two-hour 24 film set to air in November.

Image details: 28 Weeks Later Premiere served by picapp.com

Carlyle will play Benton, Jack Bauer’s friend and mentor (a better one than Robocop, it would appear) and a former agent who “quit and became a charity worker in Africa,” according to the Sunday Mail.

According to the British paper,

An insider said: “Benton is not expected to appear in the seventh season but nothing is set in stone.”

***

A friend of Carlyle said: “Robert has done this kind of role before, so he will be fantastic as Benton. American audiences love Robert’s gritty approach to that sort of character, as do producers.

“It would be great if 24 could find a continuing place for Benton in the seventh series.”

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Article 5 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states it simply:

No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

Yet, every week during the run of 24 each season (until this season, when we got pre-empted by the writer’s strike, sniff), many people who otherwise abhor torture cheer on our man Jack Bauer as he shoots a suspect’s wife in the knee, uses a lamp cord to administer electric shocks to his girlfriend’s estranged husband, chops a bad guy’s finger off with a cigar cutter and otherwise tortures assorted bad people.

Problem is, sometimes the bad guys aren’t actually bad. Take Audrey Raines’ estranged husband: he hadn’t actually done anything wrong, it just appeared that he had a connection to the bad guys. Or how about when Jack held Audrey off the floor by her neck, thinking she was a mole? Only Jack’s love for her and disbelief that she could be involved with the bad guys stopped him from really hurting her.

I’ve read many articles by rabid fans of 24 who wonder how they can enjoy it so much when they feel so strongly that torture is wrong.

But the thing is, how often does Jack actually get decent intel out of the torture? Even when his brother, Graeme, confessed to being behind the assassination of David Palmer and other nefarious crimes, he still didn’t confess the whole truth, or give up his dad as the mastermind behind it all.

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Sunday, Nov. 24.

8 to 10 p.m.

Set your DVR now.

At today’s upfront (full coverage by Chris to come later today, but I had to jump in w/the news now, I mean, c’mon!), it was announced that the two-hour Season 7 prequel (known to Blogs4Bauer as Season 6.5) would air on that weekend before Thanksgiving. Just so we have something to be thankful for.

Here’s what Fox had to say about it:

Shot on location in South Africa, Jack Bauer battles an international crisis, while here at home the nation prepares for a new president on inauguration day. Taking place just a few months before the new day dawns, the prequel will set the stage and raise the stakes for Season Seven. “We’re excited about the prequel because it explores Jack’s complex emotional state of mind and still has all the signature excitement and suspense that fans have come to expect from 24,” commented executive producer Howard Gordon. “Shooting in South Africa affirms everyone’s commitment to making this season especially memorable for our fans.”

We learn that 24 will air its 150th episode this season and will air in its regular time period of 9 p.m. starting in January (exact date TBA).

Here’s the official description of Season 7:

Set in Washington, DC, “Day 7″ finds CTU dismantled and Jack Bauer on trial. Bauer’s day takes an unexpected turn when former colleague TONY ALMEIDA (Carlos Bernard) returns. Meanwhile, President ALLISON TAYLOR (Cherry Jones) leads the country alongside White House Chief of Staff ETHAN KANIN (Bob Gunton) and First Gentleman HENRY TAYLOR (Colm Feore). A national security crisis prompts an investigation by a team of FBI agents including Agent JANIS GOLD (Janeane Garofalo), Agent RENEE WALKER (Annie Wersching), Agent LARRY MOSS (Jeffrey Nordling), Agent SEAN HILLINGER (Rhys Coiro) and security specialist MICHAEL LATHAM (John Billingsley). Although CTU is no longer, CHLOE O’BRIAN (Mary Lynn Rajskub) and BILL BUCHANAN (James Morrison) are back for another momentous day of shocking events.

Thoroughly unofficial promo courtesy of Blogs4Bauer.

For the past few weeks, some of you may have noticed the badge in our blog’s sidebar that declares today as the day that Bloggers Unite for Human Rights.

We at Remote Access decided to join in, writing about topics that relate to some of the shows we watch and write about.

First off, at 12:30 p.m., Brian Howard uses The Office as a springboard to talk about the inherent right people have to work and earn a living to support their families.

At 3 p.m., Georgette Gouveia discusses Life and what society owes the wrongly imprisoned.

Finally, at 5 p.m., Amy Vernon addresses 24 and the issue of torture. Just because it works for Jack Bauer, does that make it right?

We’ll update this post as the day goes on to hyperlink to each of the aforementioned posts.

Please feel free to join in the discussion throughout the day.

JBAD, of course, is Jack Bauer Appreciation Day, observed on the ninth day of May every year, even when our beloved, and beleaguered, Jack Bauer is not on the air.

Who declared it?

Why, Blogs4Bauer, of course, which is the (unofficially officially unofficial) arbiter of all things 24. And Jack Bauer. And Kim Bauer.

Anyway, the rules are simple:
• Say “Dammit!” at the end of every sentence.
• Keep insisting there’s no time to finish even the simplest of tasks.
• Commandeer a vehicle (and if the cops stop you, explain that you’re commandeering, not stealing it, natch).
• Shoot someone in the knee.
• Give someone your word and keep it. Unless your president needs you to abrogate it.
• Whisper everything. Or shout. Alternating, if at all possible. Keeps people on their toes.
• Take out the mole in your office. And by take out, we mean “kill.”

Add your suggestions for other rules below.

Even though way back when, 24 was forced to drop plans to film some of Season 7 in Africa, it turns out that storyline might not be completely gone.

Michael Ausiello over at TVGuide.com today revealed that “producers are currently scouting locations in Africa to film scenes for this fall’s two-hour prequel movie.”

The earlier rumors were that Jack would be working on some sort of Habitat for Humanity-type project in Africa as a sort of way for him to forgive himself for all he’d done in his country’s service. Fox had ruled the storyline too expensive, and it might have also forced the show to break its trademark “real-time” format. I mean, as Jack was coming back to the U.S., how many times could you pan to him yelling “Dammit!” on an airplane?

Then the writer’s strike came, shutting down production after eight episodes. When the strike ended, the decision was made to push 24’s Season 7 premiere back to next January so all 24 episodes could be shown in the now-de rigeur nonstop season.

Freaking out Jack Bauer fans everywhere.

So they decided to do a two-hour movie that would bridge the gap between Seasons 6 and 7.

And, thus, 24 goes to Africa, after all.

Whaddya think? Good? Bad? Somewhere in between? Just happy we’re getting two more hours of 24.

Season 6 photo of Jack courtesy of Fox. 

Well, not quite, but FHM has its annual