TVSquad

As if you haven't heard it enough from all of us here at TV Squad, one of the best perks by far of the TV critic biz is getting to see episodes before they air. DVD screeners are always pouring into the TV Squad HQ for just about everything - usually all the shows nobody wants to, or ever will, watch.

But when one of the big ones comes in the mail, it's always exciting. Especially since the networks typically go all out when it comes to the press kits for those trademark shows. These are always more than just a DVD. Sometimes the extra bonuses are good and sometimes they're bad - I still have no use for my incredibly dull Prison Break pocket knife.

Even still, whether the press kits are loaded with junk or not, it's a thrill to open them up. Last week, I found an interesting package on my doorstep. Take a look after the jump for pictures of what I found inside.

Several different web sites are reporting that Kiefer Sutherland had a wild adventure with his alter ego, Jack Bauer.

A plastic, action figure version of Bauer, that is.

The story goes like this:

Sutherland reportedly took a prototype of a Jack Bauer action figure for a night out on the town. But plastic Jack didn't fare so well after 11 p.m., when Kiefer & Co. started torturing our beloved CTU agent, including setting the action figure on fire.

"We got up the next day and there was this puddle of wax," Sutherland is quoted as saying.

I could have sworn someone had already made a Steve Irwin action figure, but I guess I was wrong. A quick search on Amazon resulted in Crocodile Hunter trading cards and a Crocodile Hunter boardgame, but no figures of action. The new action figure is based on the late Steve Irwin who died last September after being stung in the heart by a stingray. The twenty-two dollar toy is decked out in Irwin's signature khaki garb and says various phrases, including "Crikey!" a phrase I still attribute more to Danger Mouse than Irwin, but what can you do? The toy will make its debut next month at the International Toy Fair in New York. Now, through the magic of imagination he'll be able to do what he could never do while alive: fight Skeletor and make out with Barbie. Or vice versa.