TVSquad

Even though 24 isn't actually coming back on the air for another, what is it? Nine years? Ten? (Okay, January '09, but still), there's news coming out about next season. While a very pregnant Mary Lynn Rajskub, who plays Chloe, has already begun filming on Day 7 of the series, Rajskub's impending due date will force her to take a hiatus from Jack Bauer's really long, bad day. So who's going to lie for Jack and help him out with all of his nerd toys? None other than Chloe's sourpuss ex, Morris O'Brian (Carlo Rota).

Morris, who on Day 6 was kidnapped by terrorists, forced to arm a nuclear weapon, slipped up on his sobriety, broke up with Chloe, found out that he was going to be a daddy and got back together with Chloe, will be having some problems of his own come Day 7.

WARNING: POSSIBLE SPOILER AFTER THE JUMP

There's been some scuttlebutt stirred up to suggest that next season's two-hour 24 prequel TV movie will be considered part of the 24 hours in Day 7, therefore leading some to think that there'll only be 22 episodes. But how could there only be 22 hours in a day, right? Well, TV being what it is, I'm sure they'd find a way to do two hours in one -- other shows do! -- but that won't be the case. There will be 24 hours, 24 episodes in the 2009 season of 24.

Part of the reason for all this confusion is an interview that actor Robert Carlyle (The Full Monty) gave to Premiere.com. Carlyle, who will be playing someone who'd been a mentor to Jack, said that the 24 TV movie, which is meant to cover what's happened since the end of Day 6 with the new Day 7, would apply to the Fox episode commitment. He told Premiere.com, "This is two hours in real time, and there'll then be 22 episodes."

Oscar-winner Jon Voight, father of a certain actress called Angelina Jolie, will return to the small screen this fall. The actor, who recently appeared in movies such as National Treasure and Transformers, was cast in an important role on FOX's hit series 24.

The 69-year-old actor may be best known for his movies but he is no stranger to TV. He appeared in a handful of made-for-TV movies, in mini-series such as the 1993 Return to Lonesome Dove in which he played lead character Capt. Woodrow F. Call, and in series like Gunsmoke for example.

Slight spoilers after the jump!

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.

Even if season 7 of 24 won't air for another 9 months, it doesn't mean we can't get our hopes up when the first official cast picture leaks on the web. Mind you, it may have been out for weeks but today was the first time I saw it thanks to a tip who sent us to SlashFlim.com.

I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one who had never seen this cast picture before which is why I decided to share it with you all and take this opportunity to review what we know, including spoilers, about the seventh season of the FOX drama, including that two-hour prequel that will air this fall.

Spoilers coming up!

Fans of 24 will have to wait until January 2009 for the seventh season to commence, but in a move that's likely to be met with cheers all around, Fox has announced that the producers of the Keifer Sutherland action drama are creating a 24 two-hour TV movie which will be a prequel to the next new season. The story will cover the two years between the end of season six and the beginning of season seven. The actors are being cast now, presumably the essential members of the team who survived the previous 24-hours of a nuclear disaster, terrorism, lies, betrayals, shootings and tragedies.

Last week, I revealed the Top 25 things that only happen on TV (and in the movies) according to the Have Happy Fun Time blog (and supposedly many other blogs and websites). Since the release of this article, many TV Squad readers commented to add their own item to the list. Since some of them are really true and funny, I thought it would be a nice idea to share with everyone.

Actually it's just Kiefer Sutherland being released after serving his 48 day sentence for DUI and violating his probation from a prior DUI. Thank god production on 24 was willing to wait for him to serve his time because other-- oh wait. There is no production. At least now there won't be any issues when they do need to get back to work on saving the world.

I've got to be honest, though, I don't understand what happened. Help me out here. Isn't Kiefer Sutherland a Hollywood star? And yet he served his full 48 day sentence in prison? Why didn't they let him out after nineteen minutes? Lindsay and Paris and Nicole all got out after a few minutes, so what's the deal? Is it because he doesn't have breasts? Because that's discrimination and I won't stand for it. I demand that all my celebrities serve only token gestures towards jail sentences for real crimes. It's not right that Kiefer had to suffer like a real person for his crimes. Where's the justice?

In mid-April, we reported that the '24' producers were studying potential story lines for the seventh season of the FOX hit series, one featuring Quebec's separatists. About two weeks later, it was confirmed that Jack would go through his next action-packed awful day in a different scenery. In early July, we learned that writers had planned to have the action set in Africa and the U.S. but that the network sent them back to the drawing board because that story line would be too expensive. Eventually, official spoilers started to leak and FOX announced the names of actors joining the show (more after the jump).

But yesterday, FOX sent out a press release so juicy that it had some people pinch themselves to make sure they weren't dreaming!

Spoilers after the jump!

24 director Jon Cassar and producer/writers David Fury, Evan Katz and Manny Coto fielded an hour's worth of questions from Comic-Con attendees and fans. I've posted some of their insights after the jump in case any of them might be construed as spoiler-esque in spirit.

I'm not really sure if this should go in the Drama or Comedy category.

FX has six drama pilots in contention for this fall, and one of them is The Patriot, which is being described as "the anti-24," because it shows all of the mundane things an agent has to go through every single day and not the "there's a nuclear bomb going off/I'm being tortured/gun battle" stuff that Jack Bauer goes through. There's potential here for realistic drama (it's written by Steven Conrad, the man who wrote The Pursuit of Happyness) or funny satire. Maybe they can show him getting coffee in the morning, getting a parking ticket, having a problem with human resources, that sort of thing.

Because there are so many dramas that might make the schedule, FX is going to add more episodes of It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia, so there's enough comedy on the network too. It returns September 13.

TV Guide's Michael Ausiello reports that the production of Season 7 of FOX's hit show 24 will be delayed. The reason: Fox asked for a complete rewrite of the storyline writers came with for the upcoming season.

The trashed plot was not revolving around Quebec separatists, as a rumor back in mid-April revealed. Instead, the show was set to partially take place in Africa. However, that turned out to be too expensive which is why FOX asked for a new storyline.

The last minutes of Jack Bauer's day, 6.0, have ticked off the clock. Now you get the chance to weigh in. Below are eight categories for you -- the illustrious readers -- to select the best and worst of 24 in a TV Squad poll.

1. Best villain. (The guy you really loved to hate.)

a) Cheng Zhi

b) Abu Fayed

c) Phillip Bauer

d) Dmitri Gredenko

e) Noah Daniels

*If you haven't yet watched the season finale of 24, go far, far away from this blog post.*

Of all the developments that bugged me during the two-hour 24 season finale, the Chloe O'Brian plot turn was on my list of irksome moments.

In the midst of the end-of-the-day chaos, while Chloe was trying to track down the whereabouts of Jack Bauer's evil papa, she collapsed as her ex-husband Morris rushed to her side. Immediately, the folks who were with me in the TV Squad 24 live chat jokingly suggested that Chloe was pregnant, but I didn't think her ailment would be that obvious.

On the heels of the 24 season finale, there's a new animated 24 "web event" which takes viewers into the time machine and re-sets the clock to Day Zero.

If you can ignore the pushy Degree deodorant ad campaign on the "Day Zero" web site (which is nearly impossible), you get the privilege of watching online shorts featuring Tony Almeida and Nina Meyers helping Jack on a mission. "For the first time ever, viewers will learn how trouble in [Jack's] home life with wife Teri and teenaged daughter Kim gave rise to his romantic entanglement with Nina," a press release promised. (I found the first installment dull.)