I had to do it. I had to live-blog the show we’ve waited for far too long for.

Come here at 8 p.m. for all the fun:

Since the news broke that Reiko Aylesworth has been cast in a significant recurring role on “Lost,”  fans have been all atwitter about who the “24” veteran will play on the island mystery.

Officially, Reiko’s character is Amy, a smart, outdoorsy type who’s looking for the right man. However, it’s pretty well known that those sneaky “Lost” casting folks often lie about characters’ names and/or descriptions because of leaks.

Entertainment Weekly’s Michael Ausiello recently caught up with Reiko, who would only say that she was having a little trouble keeping all the confusing storylines straight (uh, us too!) and that her character will have some trouble with a few interested suitors.

Ausiello is going with the theory that Amy – let’s just go with that name for now – is part of the Dharma Initiative. And that Ben transported the island back to the ‘70s when he turned the frozen donkey wheel, which would be about when those Dharma folks brought Ben and his dad into the fold.

Not sure if that’s true, of course: Amy could be part of some flashback sequences, not an actual time-travel scenario. Still, we know that time travel factors greatly into the show’s mythology, and the producers are saying that the upcoming season will be really “science-fictiony.”

Regardless of whether Amy is part of the past – or past-present – the show’s fanatics seem pretty confident about one thing.

That she’s somehow connected to Ben’s childhood friend, Annie.

Read more of this entry »

Yes, my fellow “Lost” obsessed friends, we can officially start the countdown.

Set your clocks: It’s now 72 days until our favorite show premieres!

Yup, I hear ABC has set Jan. 21 as the date for Season 5’s debut. And since it’s been so long since the Oceanic 6 was rescued and the island vanished, the network’s giving fans some extra love: Three whole hours of “Lost” goodness!

Hour one starts at 8 p.m.: It’s a clip show, for those who need a refresher course on the first four seasons. Hours two and three will be back-to-back showings of the first two new episodes: “Because You Left” and “The Lie.”

After that, the show will air in its regular time slot of Wednesdays at 9 p.m. (And for those whose brains have turned to frozen donkey wheel mush, that’s a switch from last season’s Thursday at 10 p.m. slot.)

So “Lost” will be taking over the spot now occupied by “Private Practice,” and we probably won’t hear where the Kate Walsh series will land until ABC decides whether it’s keeping the rest of its Wednesday night lineup—namely, “Pushing Daisies” and “Dirty Sexy Money.” (Please, please, pretty please!)

And speaking of other series and die-hard fans, “24” devotees now have another reason to jump on the “Lost” bandwagon.

Word is that Reiko Aylesworth—otherwise known as Tony Almeida’s late wife and fellow CTU agent, Michelle Dessler—is in talks to join the island folk.

Rumor has it that she’ll play an outdoorsy, professional thirtysomething—who’s a possible love interest for one of our main castaways.

Any thoughts on which “Lost” hottie she’ll be cozying up to?

Jack? Sayid?

Or maybe—gasp!—Sawyer?

Ponder that one—and those pretty pictures!—while the days and minutes tick away…

(Photos courtesy of ABC)

So, if you’re like me and life got in the way and you forgot to set up the DVR to record the Fringe/The Day The Earth Stood Still/24: Redemption fest last night and missed the 24 trailer because you were putting your children to bed, Remote Access has got your back.

Fox has made the trailer available in a shareable widget, poted below. Enjoy.

Two huge news stories from the land of Jack Bauer this week:

• Kim Bauer will appear in Season 7 and be toting a rugrat along with her.

• Production’s shutting down for rewrites.

Let’s tackle the latter first, shall we?

EW.com today reported that once Episode 18 finishes filming Sept. 15, production’s shutting down until Oct. 9 “while the writers reshape the upcoming season’s creative direction—specifically the transition leading to the end game.”

Now, this can be good news or bad news.

As bad: What? They still have no idea how they’re ending this season? Haven’t we been there before and no good can come of that? (Ahem, Season 6.)

As good: Perhaps Season 6 was a crap-fest because they didn’t takea break for a while and try to figure out exactly where things were going. Season 6 seemed to lurch from mini-plot to mini-plot with little thought to the overarching thread that generally ties the season together.

Read more of this entry »

OK, it’s not exactly that way, but I’m pretty far behind on my 24 blogging, so I thought I’d catch you all up on everything that’s new, old and in between.

First off, over the Labor Day weekend, Kiefer took his Alsatian (related to German shepherds) to a beach in Malibu, and all the tabs informed us he’s looking pretty buff.

Here’s a take from Hello! magazine, which also talked about his tattoos:

Some of the body art originally belonged to his character Jack, but the actor committed to it in real life, too, after getting fed up of waiting to have them painted on by the show’s makeup team every day. Other pieces commemorate key moments in his life the star wanted a permanent record of.

Read more of this entry »

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.

Read more of this entry »

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:

Read more of this entry »

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.

Read more of this entry »

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:

Read more of this entry »

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.”

Read more of this entry »