TVSquad

Quick: how old is Jack Bauer?

If you guessed "in his 40s," you're wrong. He's actually in his 50s! At least he will be when the new season of 24 starts on FOX in early 2009. The network has revealed that Bauer will have aged four years when the show returns in January. Chloe will no longer be pregnant -- she'll have a four year old. At least this is more realistic than what you see on soap operas, when a character will have a kid and then that kid will come back two years later and suddenly be a teenager.

In the first season of the show, Bauer was 35 years old, so 17 years have passed on the show. In real life, actor Kiefer Sutherland is 41 years old (he's younger than me? Jeez).

24 joins the ever-growing list of TV shows that are using time jumps as pivotal plot developments, including Lost and Desperate Housewives.

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.

What's going on at the other TV blogs via the internets.

• Kiefer Sutherland won't wear headphones.
• Which Happy Days episode was worse, jumping the shark or riding the bull?
• CNN: "the most trusted name in best political teams."
• Tom Bergeron is going to has a new show called Supper Club, where he will host a dinner party at the home of Universal Studios head Ron Meyer and talk about the environment. Huh?
• Microsoft might buy Yahoo, but Yahoo is definitely buying Maven, which does video for several sites, including CBS Sports and FOX News.
• Are you ready for Food Network: The Magazine?
• Letterman's writers might be back to work, but the strike blog goes on.

Kiefer Sutherland has reported early for his jail sentence, according to this Yahoo! article. He was sentenced Wednesday for his drunk driving arrest in October, his second in three years. While he could have waited until February 12th to begin his sentence, the Emmy-winning actor instead opted to begin immediately. This may be because he'd rather get it out of the way now while production is halted on 24 due to the strike. I wonder if he and the inmates will sit around and watch old episodes of 24 on prison TV. (Are they allowed to watch Prison Break in prison?)

Ahh, 24. I'm not sure if watching Jack Bauer kick terrorist ass counts as an American pastime yet, but after six seasons, it sure counts for something. Ever since FOX came up with the brilliant plan of airing 24 with consecutive episodes from start to finish in January (starting with season four), the 24 DVD releases have become a staple of the Christmas season.

Despite the general consensus that season six was a disappointment, I still say cut it some slack -- season five was a huge act to follow. While the DVD set is nothing revolutionary, it's still worth buying. Factor in the WGA strike's impact on season seven, and this might be the only 24 fix we get in a while. So let's get to it.

It looks like Jack Bauer has finally met an enemy he can't kill -- the striking Writer's Guild of America. The seventh season of 24 hasn't exactly gone smoothly when you add in the California wildfires and Keifer Sutherland's drinking woes. So it comes as no surprise that 24 won't be premiering in January.