24: Season 8

The Season 8 Trailer was posted today. Jack's Granddaughter calls him 'Jack', totally appropriate. Warning, this will make you excited for the new season of 24 and it is still 79 days away.

Jack Bauer

I can't believe Jack or Chloe didn't see that coming.  I also can't believe they aren't using Morris "stay at home daddy" O'Brien in their operation.   

I am glad to see that Aaron Peirce is back in his full bad assery going to pick up the first daughter, but I wonder what is happening with Ms. Logan.  Are they still dating?  Does everyone still hate President Logan for killing Palmer?  

Where is Tony in all this? I know he was going to do something because he didn't want to be at the White House for fear of being arrested for the "bad things he has done".  

24

I am behind by 2 episodes now. The only time I can really watch it is early in the morning and while I have been waking up early lately, it hasn't been to get up an watch American television.

I am excited to see what has happened over the last two hours.

Why...

Do they have to do stuff like this 8 months before the season starts?

UPDATE: Though the season will not start until January 2009, the producers of the show have conceded that there has been too much time between seasons and are producing a 2 hour television movie that will air some time in the Winter of 2008 that will take the viewer from the last minutes of the last season to the first minutes of the new season. It takes place in the year and a half between seasons.

2008

This year I should be heading off to work overseas and that excites me. I am hoping to keep the site updated even more frequently than I did this year, especially while I am not in the country. I am pretty excited about things coming up in 2008.

Besides the possibility of going to work outside of the US, I also have a wedding to go to (hopefully), a nephew for whom I will be the godfather of, heading to Chicago in January for this, and a nephew that is going to be born sometime in February. And that is all in the first quarter of the year.

I was excited about 24 coming back for yet another season, but it seems that due to the writers strike, and not Kiefer going to jail, the season will be postponed for a while. Certainly the strike will be resolved at some point and 24, Scrubs, and the Office will come back.

Musically I am looking forward to the new Mike Doughty album, but can't think of much else that is coming out at the moment, certainly there will be some good stuff coming out.

I can't really think of any movies I want to see coming up, though I wish a theater around here would play Juno. Instead they are playing a host of movies I have no interest in, but will go watch anyway because I like movies.

24 - Season 6 DVD

"A mediocre season of 24 is still better than a lot of things on TV."

This is a quote from a review of the DVD set. I liked it, so I shared it.

Since the new season is a long way off due to circumstances beyond my control, I won't have to power through the Season 6 DVDs like I normally due prior to a new season.

Two Thousand and Eight, Season Seven, Twenty Four

It is October, so that means we just got our first look at the new season of 24. I have to say that I am a little put off by it, but only because they have chosen to bring Tony Almeida back. I am not sure how I feel about it, but have a few suspicions about his activity this season.

Other than that, I am intrigued. Jack finally on trial for torturing his captives and I am not at all surprised by the reactions he has in the preview.

I am excited and still a bit peeved that they put the dang previews out so early for the show, because we still have 2 and a half months before the premier.

Here is a Preview by way of I Watch Stuff if you are interested in watching it.

24 in the News

24 has made some pretty big changes for the upcoming 7th season. This is a sample of the scripts based on the fact that some of those decisions seem Liberal leaning.

24 in the News

This was sort of serendipitous, yesterday I post about my wanting for 24 and today an article is released about some casting. The News? Janeane Garofalo will play a government agent who will be questioning Jack about his antics over the past several years.

I looked at the 24 boards really quick to see that many people are upset that the show has hired someone so liberal. In my opinion, it works great. I don't much care for her, and if she attacks Jack and he ends up killing her, then great. If he doesn't and he ends up being friendly with her, no problem, it is a show and I could really care a lot less about who plays each character. I care more about the plot and the story and the fact that the characters are played well.

I am looking forward to this season and interested to see what they are going to do with the season, whether it will be 24 hours of Jack being questioned, or if something fun will happen.

24

I have been jonesing pretty bad for some 24 lately, so I purchased a book written with the characters of 24. I haven't started yet, but I hope it quenches my thirst for something 24.

January still seems pretty far away.

24 Ventures, Again, Into the Truly Realistic

The writers of 24 have found yet another way to make their president seem completely unrealistic. The first thing they did was have Pedro Cerano as the president, then the president was a loser, then Pedro's brother was the president.

Now, the president is a woman.

I am not saying that we will never have an afro-american or a female president, maybe this just places this show in the future and we won't have to worry about any of this stuff until there is a black or female president.

Things That Have Happened on Twenty Four Already

...Including the Playstation 2 video game which played out like a season.

Attempts on the President's life - S1, S2, S3, S4, S6
CTU Being Invaded - VG, S4, S6, S2 (CTU was Bombed)
Romantic Stories that I don't care about - S1, S2, S3, S4, S5, S6
President Being(or an attempt) Ousted by Staff - S3, S6
Nuclear Bomb Exploding on US Soil - S3, S6 (however S3 was in a desert)
Attacks Immanent in Los Angeles - S1, S2, S3, S4, S5, S6, VG
Jack Going Against The Gov't - S1, S2, S3, S4, S5, S6

This is the first season where I have really noticed that the same things keep happening, but I thought it was great that Heller basically said to Jack that he was cursed. Seriously, this is kind of like the first two Die Hard movies, how can the same thing happen to the same guy that much?

I had a good idea of what was going to happen last night prior to them reaching CTU, but I figured they were going after Morris to reprogram the chip. I didn't think Phillip Bauer would be back this season.

Even after all that I still really like the show and don't really think any of the criticism about this season is coming from the fans, but rather people that review the show and have noticed similarities.

Twenty Four

There are only four episodes left and I think it is safe to assume that all this business with the Chinese will be taken care of within the next three.

I am guessing that the last hour of the season will be spent setting up a little bit for the next season and possibly the movie. Something has got to happen to get Jack back to CTU and employed by them or some other government agency, otherwise another season with him doing their job, but not being employed them, might just be weird.

We also have to hope that Buchanan is brought back in to run CTU, but I don't know what will happen there.

I don't think the Sinister VP is actually all that sinister. I think he more than likely is just acting like someone would if a nuclear weapon was detonated in the US.

Just to warn people, there is a guy out there revealing how all these episodes end thus eliminating suspense. I caught a glimpse of this in a post on the 24 message boards and was very disappointed because it wasn't in the spoilers section. Hopefully what I read was also read by the producers of the show and they will change that minor detail.

How to Torture a Terrorist... Gilmore Girls Style

"Yeah, you know how Jack Bauer should torture terrorist? ... Make then go car shopping with their exes."


Lorelei Gilmore - Gilmore Girls

4 minutes remain

DON'T READ THIS PRIOR TO WATCHING 24.

I have edited what I wrote last night because there was a lot of excited typing that contained a lot of F-words and such that I decided didn't need to be there.

What the hell is the rest of the season going to be about. This is totally not fair. There are no sub-plots to explain as of right now. There isn't anything left to happen other than the president recovering and maybe some stuff about the Logans.

WHAT THE HELL.

This is totally not cool. They fucking fooled me. This is totally ridiculous, I had been arguing that what just happened would not happen. The Chinese are back. . .

And they have Audrey who "died" in a car crash trying to find Jack in Chinese prison. My argument all season was that Audrey wouldn't be back because the actress who plays here was on another show, but that show was canceled. I held to my guns, especially when she was cast in another show, but I was wrong.

To all those that said this season is shit and that they aren't as interested. FUCK YOU. This is amazing.

Bauer Nonsense

24 has always had episodes that didn't focus on Jack, though as a whole, the show really revolved around him. Last night he was basically absent for the majority of the episode with the show focusing on Doyle/Milo, Fayed/Gredenko and the presidential struggle. There are a lot of reviews popping up today criticizing that there wasn't enough Jack. I must be in the minority when I say that I like when the show acknowledges that there are other things going on and that Jack, while crucial to the plot, is not the only one that is important.

Anyone disagree with me and think that all the other reviews are right, that there wasn't enough Jack

TivoDecode Manager Update

1st update: I got a couple of shows decoded and on my computer then to my ipod. It takes minimal effort and is really good quality.

The first show I did was 24. It took about an hour and a half to get the show decoded and into iPod format. Not bad.

The second was The Simpsons, I didn't convert for iPod and it took about half an hour.

Sorry to all of those that wanted to try this and I didn't link to it. I had intended to do so.

TivoDecode Manager

Day 6 3:00 - 4:00

I wanted to call this post, "Why Can't Fox Show Two Hours of 24 Every Week Like They Did With the First Four Episodes and Last Week", but I thought it was too long.

You very much can not continue reading this if you have not watched this weeks 24. There is one thing that I am going to mention that if you read this would hurt you badly and could possibly set your body in motion to have a stroke. You may even possibly have a stroke when you watch the episode. After watching 5 full seasons of this show and almost half of this season, I am often impressed by the fact that the show, the writers more specifically, can still impress me with the things that they do.

There was the episode when Jack actually went through with killing his boss, Ryan Chapelle.

There was the episode when Jack found his wife dead after surviving an entire 24 hours of the worst day of his life.

There was the episode where David Palmer, one of the few characters that has survived all, at the time, 5 seasons was killed . . . and not at the end of an episode either.

There was the episode when you find out President Logan complaisant in the attacks on America, the assassination of David Palmer, and the murder of two former CTU agents.

There was even an episode with a mountain lion.

Now that I have built this up, Charles Logan appeared at the end of this episode and apparently wants to meet with Jack and could possibly have information about the whereabouts of Gredenko.

I hope this peice of information wasn't a let down after reading everything else that has happened.

Fear Mongering or Deluded Talk Show Host?

I know it seems like everything written here lately has been about 24, and I concede that the majority of it has been. That happens to be the fact because I am a big fan of the show.

This post however will be more about the media and their stupidity as it relates to 24.

I like the show because it is mildly realistic, I like the format, and I like the subject matter. However, according to Keith Olberman, "Right wing website leaving no doubt as to what they think viewers should take away from this fictional attack. Case in point, um, newsbusters.org, says this scene "should be required viewing for all media members who question whats at risk and whether their really is a war on terror," and accuses the media of undermining the Bush administration and "downplaying the seriousness of terrorism."

First off, I have never heard of that website and if he really wanted to make this a serious point he would have chosen some credible news source, for example a major newspaper or major news network. My guess is that Fox News had not made such outrageous claims and he therefore had to find some obscure Republican website to use.

Second, if newsbusters.org did say that, they are just as deluded as Mr. Olberman because it is a fictional show that happens to take place in a non-fictional world. I am not saying it can't happen, because it has. The show, however, does go to extremes to keep the story interesting.

He then goes on to give us two choices as to what 24 could be...
1. Propaganda, fear mongering, or
2. A program length commercial for one political party.

He only gave me two choices, and I don't like either one of them. Couldn't it just be that the show is entertaining? Could that be the third option, please?

Enter Robert Greenwald (maker of the documentary Out Foxed), who talks about how Fox News has placed fear into its viewers and uses it to promote the Bush administration. I would go ahead and accept this if I didn't think that other news sources were doing this to some extent as well.

By all means, I hope that everything in this editorial and interview are true and that the lines of reality and fiction are blurred. That means that in the 2008 election we could vote in an African-American Republican and by the time he takes office he will be divorced. Wouldn't that be a huge step forward for this country?

Tell me what you think about this in the comments. Here is a link to the segment so that you can watch it as well. (DO NOT WATCH THIS IF YOU ARE NOT THROUGH THE FIRST 4 HOURS OF THE SHOW BECAUSE IT DOES CONTAIN SPOILERS)

24 Day 6 0800 - 1000

The first of the unnecessary sub-plots for this season has begun and will possibly run through the entire season, the president's sister is going to be fighting the government. This really has all the makings of any good USP in that it will take up some screen time, meaning that Jack and others can move around without being on camera, and it will take up the time of a major player during the day and distract him from what is really important. It has all the makings of a good USP, but could it be the Ultimate USP? Could it be that they are going to one-up the Sherry Palmer USP?

Previous USPs that did not really work out too well were the cougar and Kim, and the Kyle Singer is infected sub-plot.

PLEASE DO NOT READ BEYOND THIS POINT IF YOU HAVE NOT WATCHED THE EPISODE AND PLAN TO.

Jack didn't really do anything spectacular in during these 2 hours, but he has shown that he is unwilling to take action as he would have before for the second time this season. After refusing to continue torturing a known terrorist to get information as to the where abouts of Fayed I assumed he would get back in the rhythm of things, but he further proved himself as a hindrance by not shooting Ahmed, Kumar, prior to someone else saving him. Had Jack been his old self, he would have disabled the terrorist without killing him.

What do you get for writing about the episode in the middle of the episode? You get to be completely wrong. The final ten minutes of this episode were amazing. Jack gave up. He has totally submitted to the fact that he is incapable of continuing in his line of work after his time being held captive and his prior experiences. And then, just when you know that CTU will overcome the terrorists and the nuclear weapon will not explode, it does.

I will make only one prediction, and that is that Jack will use the attack to convince himself that it is necessary for him to come back.