TVSquad

If by some miracle Jericho does indeed come back, it will be without one cast member.

Sprague Grayden, who played Heather on the CBS show, has joined the cast of FOX's 24 prequel. She'll play the First Daughter, the daughter of the President of the United States.

This news comes on the heels of more casting news announced last week. It's an interesting cast: Grayden joins Cherry Jones, Janeane Garofalo, Robert Carlyle, Tony Todd, Gil Bellows, and Eric Lively (oh, and Kiefer Sutherland). The new season of 24 starts in January, but this prequel will air this fall.

Of course, maybe she could come back to Jericho too When she was on that CBS show, she had a role on Weeds as well. And while she's on 24 she's also going to be on FX's Sons of Anarchy. Now that's job security. She also had regular gigs on John Doe, Joan of Arcadia, Over There, and Six Feet Under.

TV Squad previously reported that production on the two-hour prequel to 24 season 7 was underway. Now, it's been learned that a few cast members have been added to that TV movie.

The movie has Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) battling terrorists in Africa while the new President of the United States Allison Taylor is sworn in. Already cast are Cherry Jones (as Allison Taylor), Robert Carlyle (as a mentor of Jack Bauer) and Carlos Bernard, who will be returning despite his apparent death in season five.

The new cast members are:

• Tony "Candyman" Todd (who also has a recurring role in NBC's Chuck) as cruel African dictator General Juma.
• Eric Lively (an alumni of the series The L Word and the brother of Gossip Girl star Blake Lively) as the president's son.
• Gil Bellows (best known for his role on Ally McBeal) as a State Department officer ordered to serve Bauer with a subpoena to appear before the Senate.

The project is scheduled to air on November 23rd on Fox.

Along with other development news this week, Sci Fi Channel is also reportedly planning a television series of the Ashton Kutcher-with-facial-hair movie, The Butterfly Effect. The movie was about a man who had the ability to travel back and forth through time to change the future for himself and others, sometimes with disastrous results. The series will follow Evan (Kutcher's character) in his trips through time to try and right the wrongs, hoping the next jump will be his jump home. No, wait. That's Quantum Leap and, yes, I totally ripped that off from Family Guy. There's also a sequel to The Butterfly Effect that is planned for the big screen, starring Erica Durance (Smallville) and Eric Lively (The L Word). No word yet on who will star in the series. NBC Universal is going to produce.