Touch premieres its first episode tonight, created by Heroes showrunner Tim Kring and starring Kiefer Sutherland in his first TV role since the end of FOX's mega-hit 24.  The hotly-anticipated series features Sutherland as a widowed father who finds himself realizing his son's unusual nature actually represents a gift that might allow them to see the future, and unlock deeper mysteries of the universe itself.

Earlier today Jon Lachonis posted a review with his own unique take on the new FOX series Touch, which shows a special preview of the pilot tonight and officially begins its run on March 19^th, but I thought I’d chime in with a few thoughts of my own.  Unlike Jon, I never paid much attention to 24 and therefore had a different experience looking past the omnipresent Jack Bauer comparisons to see what this new mystery series was all about.  Jon’s also a huge quantum physics buff, something Touch “touches” on extensively, so you’d do well to check out his more overall look at the pilot before you watch tonight.

That said, the other big name attached to the series should be one most people remember from Heroes, that of series creator Tim Kring.  We’re all familiar with how Heroes debuted a strongly conceptual and intriguing first season, before writing strikes and changes utterly destroyed anything remotely compelling about the superhero drama.  Those bitter memories might make a few viewers uneasy given how Touch shares something of a similar concept to Heroes, in that it follows multiple characters across the globe who find themselves connected to one another.  Fortunately, Touch has a stronger grounding in reality than Heroes, which despite some stumbling helps sell its core conceptual ideas of destiny, and the inter-connectedness of life.

By now you’ve likely read the premise of Touch, in that Kiefer Sutherland plays Martin Bohm, widowed father to a seemingly uncommunicative* child who sees complex patterns in numbers and the world around him that manifest as a type of future-vision.

(*) Both here and moving forward, I’m going to shy away from identifying Martin’s son Jake as Autistic, or exploring the implications it might have on the series.  Movies and TV have notoriously misrepresented Autism in the past, and even Touch’s pilot itself shies away from classifying Jake strictly as such.  Jon Lachonis’s Touch review has a much more personal take on the role of Autism in the series, which you should check out.

Also along for the ride is Gugu Mbatha-Raw (Undercovers) as a social worker assigned to Jake who comes to believe in his abilities, Danny Glover as a private researcher who understands the nature of Jake’s gifts, and even Titus Welliver (LOST) as a mysterious figure with a connection to Martin’s past.  There are also a host of supporting characters from around the world that the pilot follows, though I’m not certain if the series will continue to focus on said characters, or pick up new ones as Jake’s gift sends his father hurtling into a variety of new puzzles.

The good news is that conceptually, Touch offers up a movingly compelling narrative that culminates very well into its central thesis of inter-connectivity, and sets up a strong premise for moving forward with the series.  It takes a long time in building up to the climax, but once the plot threads from across the globe start intersecting all at once in a very moving intercut sequence, I found myself thoroughly on board with exploring Touch’s more philosophical nature.  That isn’t to say that the pilot doesn’t stumble quite a bit in getting to that point, but as long as you stick the landing, right?

The problem lies in that Touch seems to have worked backward from getting to that point, rushing its setup so that very few character actions resonate plausibly.  Not much effort is spent in establishing how, why or to what end Jake developed such an incredible gift, yet both Martin and Clea, two rational adults seem to buy so readily into the idea that Jake has explicitly mapped out the future in his complex writings.  Martin desperately wishes to connect with Jake, and understandably so, but I couldn’t quite bridge the gap between that desire and Martin hurtling toward a Grand Central payphone at 3:18, with no plausible idea of what, if anything might occur at that time.  By the same token, it seems entirely contrived that Simon Plimpton’s lost cell phone would travel around the world from character to character, touching lives for no other conceivable reason other than the writer wills it so.  Forgive my cynicism, but if a stranger on the other end of a cell phone across the world purports to be a suicide bomber having second thoughts, I’m not sure that “I love Chris Rock too!” or “I’ll buy you an oven!” would be among my conceivable reactions.  Heroes suffered from unreliable character motivations as well, so if Touch can reign in a few of its more extenuating reaches it’ll have far less trouble developing strong character dynamics over time.

Admittedly, I’m not entirely sold on Kiefer Sutherland in the role of Martin Bohm either.  I made mention earlier of unfamiliarity with 24 working to my advantage, even if some of Martin’s more tense moments do feel distinctly Jack Bauer-esque.  Rather, I found it difficult to see Kiefer’s Martin accessibly, almost too angry or intense of a portrayal to convey the sheer wonder at what his son Jake represents.  With time however, the character could soften a bit.  There’s a strong effort to paint Martin as an everyman having drifted from job to job, and humbled by his wife’s death in 9/11, but I can’t help wondering if someone a little gentler might have made Touch’s more fantastic elements more empathetic.

Overall, there’s a strong premise to Touch that will definitely evolve in time, given that the pilot doesn’t set up much to why Martin needs to follow his son’s machinations on a weekly basis.  I’m not sure what most people will make of Touch’s more complex philosophical questions, but the series definitely ranks among one of 2012’s more intriguing offerings.

And Another Thing…

• Heroes fans will of course point out the similarity of Touch’s opening and closing narrations (spoken by the otherwise-mute Jake, no less) with Mohinder Suresh’s increasingly vague monologues.

• LOST fans will surely find a new target in Touch’s easter-egg like use of numbers.

• According to Social Services, on what grounds is Martin not a good guardian?  He provides for the boy, and would have had no control over his son sneaking out to climb a cell phone tower.

• “They say that God never gives you more than you can handle.”  Who says that?  That’s horrible advice!

• I’m going to assume for the moment (based on comic-book rules) that Martin’s wife didn’t conclusively die in 9/11, given the firefighter only says he thought she was dead when he left her.

What did YOU think?

Touch 1.01 "Pilot" Series Premiere Review - A Second Opinion

The first trailer for Kiefer Sutherland's Touch has hit the web and if there's one thing to take from it, it's that you should follow the numbers. (In Touch's case, it's all about 318.)

From the mind of Tim Kring (Heroes, Crossing Jordan), Touch tells the story of Martin Bohm (Sutherland), a man who lost his wife in the attacks on the World Trade Center. He has an autistic son named Jake (David Mazouz, Amish Grace) that can predict future events, but he can't speak. (Ironically, Jake's the show's narrator.) Touch also features Danny Glover (Lethal Weapon) as a local professor who is also a number expert and Gugu Mbatha-Raw (Undercovers) as a social worker looking into the Bohm family.

Currently without a concrete start date, Touch premieres sometime midseason with a 13 episode first season.

How do you think Touch looks so far? Are you excited to have Sutherland back on TV? What Fox show do you think Touch would be most compatible with?

Watch the First Trailer for Kiefer Sutherland's Touch (Video)

On Tuesday afternoon, the east coast suffered an earthquake. While earthquakes are usually caused by the shifting of the tectonic plates that make up the surface of the earth, some (me) have already begun to suspect that there might have been other causes for this earthquake. Television-related causes.

After all, on many small-screen shows, the ground seems to shake almost daily. With the frequency of tremors on television, it seems likely that at least one of these explanations actually caused the August 23 earthquake. Here are a few of our hypotheses.

#5: Peter Petrelli Goes Nuclear... Again

As seen on: Heroes

Why It's Plausible: The season one finale of Heroes saw Peter lose control of his nuclear abilities and almost destroy New York City, until he was flown up into the sky by his brother Nathan to safely detonate. That surprisingly killed neither Peter or Nathan (nor did it leave any nuclear fallout raining all over NYC), meaning that Peter could plausibly detonate again. Now that his brother Nathan has been killed by Sylar, it doesn't seem too likely that Peter would be able to get off the ground. His only hope would be to use the superheroic ability to walk into walls to walk into the ground, where he would be able to explode amongst the tectonic plates, causing, you guessed it, an earthquake.

Why It Isn't: Heroes was cancelled last year. With its flagging ratings and vapid storyline (toward the end, at least), this show wasn't powerful enough to cause any sort of major movement.

Verdict: Not the cause.

#4: Our Universes Are Breaking Down

As seen on: Fringe

Why It's Plausible: You know what happens when things start to go haywire between this universe and the other ones. Things start to look particularly rapturesque whenever Walternate tries to manipulate his machine into destroying this universe. There are major lightning storms, vortices wipe out entire flocks of sheep, and things just get downright scary. An earthquake might just be one of those symptoms of impending universal breakdown.

Why It Isn't: The earthquake didn't happen at 6:02 A.M. EST, the widely known time that Walternate activated the machine. This is pretty damning for this hypothesis's case.

Verdict: Wrong timing to be the cause.

#3: Jack Bauer Doing Something

As seen on: 24

Why It's Plausible: How many explosions were on 24 during its eight seasons? Scientists estimate that number is somewhere in the millions. Jack Bauer was present for a lot of them, or at least nearby. It seems like it would be a scientific anomaly if any sort of tectonic movement was not the work of Jack Bauer, or at least related vaguely to Jack Bauer's activities.

Why It Isn't: In the 24 universe, nobody really notices these explosions. Take, for instance, the fourth episode of the show's sixth season, when a suitcase nuke went off in Los Angeles. Thousands died, but by the end of the day, everyone at least seemed to forget about it.

Verdict: Possibly the cause, though strangely people are noticing.

#2: The Silurians Are Restless

As seen on: Doctor Who

Why It's Plausible: Last year in the Doctor Who serial "The Hungry Earth," we learned that there are entire civilizations of Silurians under the surface of the earth. And whenever they get angry, they decide to come up to the surface and take their revenge. But what if they found a new way to take revenge? Using their massive underground catacombs to create earthquakes would certainly be one way to catch humanity's attention.

Why It Isn't: Most Silurians are still hibernating, to wake up in a thousand years. While there are some pretty resourceful Silurians who aren't hibernating, it doesn't seem likely that they could muster the force to shake the whole east coast.

Verdict: Maybe the cause, but would require some resourceful Silurians.

#1: The Island Moved

As seen on: LOST

Why It's Plausible: We've seen what happens when the Island moves. It goes globe-hopping so much that Eloise Hawking has to have a special machine just to predict where it's going to be. We know that Ben Linus wasn't the first to turn the frozen donkey wheel, and he probably wasn't the last. While Hurley's enjoying his reign as protector of the Island currently, somebody might have gotten the big idea to give it a turn again, leaving it to land off the east coast and create the shockwaves that we all felt on Tuesday.

And will you look at the date of the earthquake? It's August 23 -- 8/23. Irrefutable evidence. Believe me now?

Why It Isn't: I can't think of any.

Verdict: Without a shadow of a doubt the cause.

Tuesday's Earthquake Explained by TV Shows

Tonight is the season 2 finale of The Vampire Diaries and what better way to celebrate it (and commiserate the super long summer hiatus) than to look at the relationship between the Salvatore brothers and other fraternal relationships that have featured both physical and emotional conflict.

As we go in to tonight's finale of The Vampire Diaries it looks like Stefan (Paul Wesley) and Damon Salvatore (Ian Somerhalder) will have to put aside their differences and recent confrontations to try and find a cure for the deadly wolf bite that Damon received in "The Last Day". Stefan's reaction to the news that his brother was likely to die was one of anguish, despite the fact that Damon had only recently shoved a giant stake in Stefan's gut and is openly in love with his girlfriend Elena (Nina Dobrev). When it comes down to it he will do anything to save his brother even after all the bad stuff they have done to each other. Stefan also still feels an enormous amount of guilt in his role of seeing that Damon completed his transition back in 1864 in becoming a vampire. It is this event that has led to the bitter rivalry for the past 150 years as well as being in love with the same woman on two separate occasions. One minute Stefan and Damon will be fighting, the next helping each other, either to help Elena or to save each other and if one thing is for certain the only person killing Stefan or Damon is the other brother and they will stop any one else who tries to do it to the other.

This slideshow looks at brothers on TV who have had their fair share of conflicts, some have injured each other, some have merely fought through words and non violent actions, and in the most extreme cases one brother has killed the other. What they do have in common is that there is a bond between brothers that produces compelling television particularly when there is conflict in these relationships. The brothers that I have chosen come from drama, comedy and sci-fi and offer a spectrum of different warring behaviour, but are there any warring brothers on TV that we might have missed? Let us know in the comments below.

Also for more on tonight's finale of The Vampire Diaries check out the promo pictures here, the promo video here and a sneak peak here. Be sure to join us tomorrow where we will be reacting to "As I Lay Dying".

Damon (Ian Somerhalder) and Stefan Salvatore (Paul Wesley), The Vampire Diaries

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Hating each other since 1864, stopping every so often to save the others' lives

From The Vampire Diaries to The O.C.: Warring Brothers on TV

This past Saturday night, the Creative Arts Emmy awards were presented (the ceremony will be broadcast on E! August 28th).  These awards, mostly for the creative and technical fields of television, are traditionally given prior to the main Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony as they are deemed "uninteresting" to most awards show viewers.  Of course, the work of cinematographers, costumers and composers is integral to any television show, let alone good ones, so it is important to fete these artists, as well.  Among the winners were John Lithgow (Dexter) and Ann-Margaret (Law & Order: SVU) for Guest Actors in a Dramatic Series, Neil Patrick Harris (Glee) and Betty White (Saturday Night Live) for Guest Actors in a Comedy Series, Jeff Probst for Best Reality Program Host (Survivor), Jaime Oliver's Food Revolution (Best Reality Program), the 2009 Tony Awards (Best Special Class Program) and FlashForward for Best Stunt Coordination (giving FF more Emmy wins than THE WIRE!?!?!?!).  While some of the winners come as no surprise (it has been "The Year of Betty White" after all), some of the winners may illuminate who will NOT be taking home the big awards on August 29th (a complete list of the winners can be found here).

For example, Michael Giacchino, composer for Lost and already an Emmy and Oscar winner for his beautiful musical compositions, lost the Best Music Score to 24.  Really?  Seriously??  Listen, Sean Callery (who wrote the music for 24) is great and all, but no one doubts the superiority of Giacchino's score.  Further, his score was so integral to Lost as a series that the writers actually wrote the music, as a character, into the script.  So, what was the reason for the loss?  Before we answer that, let's turn to Elizabeth Mitchell, who was uniformly praised for her portrayal of Juliet throughout the series.  She lost the Best Guest Actress in a Drama Series to Ann-Margaret.  This was almost as major an upset as the Music Score award.  What do these two losses have in common?  Both nominees submitted "The End" for consideration.  

Controversy over how the series ended aside, the defining quality of that episode is its length.  At two-and-a-half hours, the show had to receive special dispensation from the Academy to have "The End" even be eligible for consideration.  Now, I'm just as big a Lostfan as anyone, but despite my best efforts, I haven't had a chance to watch the full finale again.  How  many of the Academy voters (frankly, a whole lot of older folks who aren't to keen on shows that border on sci-fi in the first place) actually want to watch an episode of that length for a first time, let alone a second?  Yes, it's true that "The End" won an Emmy for Best Picture Editing (Single Camera - Drama), but that award doesn't get voted on by the entire Academy.  Rather, only other picture editors vote for the award, who would likely be much more willing to watch a 2.5 hour episode in its entirety because of the special nature of their art and its requirements for proper qualitative analysis.  What I think this all means is that folks from Lost who submitted "The End" to support their nominations shouldn't worry about preparing their acceptance speeches.  True, the chances Matthew Fox knocks off Hugh Laurie, Jon Hamm, andBryan Cranston or Lost beats Mad Men  and Breaking Bad are minimal, but I think Damon Lindelof/Carlton Cuse and Jack Bender, too, are facing an uphill battle.  Smartly, Terry O'Quinn (The Substitute) and Michael Emerson (Dr. Linus) submitted alternative episodes to support their nominations, and therefore, have a better chance to take home the award (if they don't cancel each other out).

The Curious Case of Glee on Page 2...

What the Creative Arts Emmy Results Mean for the Primetime Emmys

The two hour 24 series finale will be airing on May 24 and FOX has released 8 sneak peeks, which we have for you below.

JACK BAUER FIGHTS ON AS THE ICONIC CLOCK STOPS TICKING ON THE HISTORIC TWO-HOUR SERIES FINALE OF “24” ON MONDAY, MAY 24, ON FOX

Eriq La Salle (“ER”) Guest-Stars

After eight seasons and 194 hours, the inventive and suspenseful 24, which has been nominated for 68 Emmys, reaches its historic conclusion. In a special two-hour television event, emotions run high as the harrowing day climaxes with resolute President Taylor closing in on a world-changing peace treaty and a vengeful Jack Bauer taking matters into his own hands for one last and unforgettable job. The events of the groundbreaking and iconic action-packed series come full circle in the “Day 8: 2:00 PM-4:00 PM” two-hour season finale of 24 airing Monday, May 24 (8:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX. (TWF-823/824) (TV-14 L, V)

Cast: Kiefer Sutherland as Jack Bauer; Mary Lynn Rajskub as Chloe O’Brian; Cherry Jones as Allison Taylor; Freddie Prinze Jr. as Cole Ortiz; John Boyd as Arlo Glass

Guest Cast: Gregory Itzin as Charles Logan; Frank John Hughes as Tim Woods; Nick Jameson as Yuri Suvarov; Necar Zadegan as Dalia Hassan; Nazneen Contractor as Kayla Hassan; Jamie Martz as Nate Burke; Eriq La Salle as UN Secretary General; Sarah Hollis as Susan; Reed Diamond as Jason Pillar; Michael Madsen as Jim Ricker; Julie Claire as Eden Linley; Navid Negahban as Jamot; Alex Carter as Nantz; Kathryn Winslow as Ellen Kramer

Sneak Peeks - 24 Series Finale

A new episode of 24 will be airing on May 10 and there's only four more episodes left until the series ends.  FOX has released four sneak peeks for the upcoming episode.

A ROGUE JACK BAUER REMAINS RESOLUTE IN HIS VENDETTA ON AN ALL-NEW “24” MONDAY, MAY 10, ON FOX

Michael Madsen, Gregory Itzin and Jennifer Westfeldt Guest-Star

With only four hours left, a rogue Jack Bauer stops at nothing to determine who is behind the day’s most devastating events, and he uncovers an unexpected lead in the all-new “Day 8: 12:00 PM-1:00 PM” episode of 24 airing Monday, May 10 (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX. (TWF-821) (TV-14 L, V)

Cast: Kiefer Sutherland as Jack Bauer; Mary Lynn Rajskub as Chloe O’Brian; Cherry Jones as Allison Taylor; Mykelti Williamson as Brian Hastings; Chris Diamantopoulos as Rob Weiss; Katee Sackhoff as Dana Walsh; Freddie Prinze Jr. as Cole Ortiz; John Boyd as Arlo Glass

Guest Cast: Gregory Itzin as Charles Logan; Jennifer Westfeldt as Meredith Reed; Necar Zadegan as Dalia Hassan; Joel Bissonnette as Pavel; Thomas Ryan as Gary Klausner; Sarah Hollis as Susan; Reed Diamond as Jason Pillar; Michael Madsen as Jim Ricker; Julie Claire as Eden Linley; Navid Negahban as Jamot; Graham McTavish as Mikhail Novakovich; Joe Sabatino as Captain Walleki

Sneak Peeks - 24 8.21 "12:00 P.M. - 1:00 P.M."

The rumors have been rampant, but the word has officially come down.  The cast and crew of 24 was informed this afternoon that the series will not be renewed after this current season.  Series star Mary Lynn Rajskub, who plays Chloe O'Brian, tweeted the news at around 7:00pm EDT today:

Just found out we got the word officially. This is 24's last season

Of course, the cancellation does not necessarily mean that this will be the last we see of Jack Bauer, Chloe, and CTU.  There is still a slight possibility NBC could pick up the show, but more likely, the series creators will now have time to write the long-rumored 24 feature film.  Fox's decision is not a surprise, as this season, 24's eighth, has been roundly criticized as not up to par with its prior offerings.  Still, the demise of one of Fox's tentpole series is going to leave a large hole in the network's schedule.

What do you think about 24's demise?  Do you think it is time for the series to end?  Will you miss watching the exploits of Jack Bauer?  Will you have withdrawal from Chloe's dry, sardonic wit?  Any interest in the 24 movie?  PLease leave your comments below, and be sure to check back with TVOverMind for any more news as it develops.

Let the bad clock puns begin.

Time Finally Runs Out on 24

After last week's fabulous episode (it's all relative, man), I was sure that '24' would end up dropping the ball tonight. Because a good thing rarely seems to last these days. Suffice it to say, I was wrong. Way wrong. I definitely feel like we're back to the '24' I know and love -- Bauer ass-kickery, CTU drama, political intrigue... I'm a happy camper. I'm not sure I feel about the twist at the end, but we'll get to that in a second.

So last week's EMP took out all of CTU's resources and, in the aftermath, chaos reigned supreme! I'll admit, the EMP was a nice twist on the typical "CTU got blow'd up!" trope that the show is so fond of, so I'll let it slide. In the midst of the chaos, Dana got bitchy with Chloe, Hastings got bitchy with everyone, and Arlo remained a serious creeper. CTU sent Hassan's daughter back to the UN to identify the IRK terrorists. She was reunited with her parents (awww) and apologized for her disobedience. And because the Hassans were in an apologizing mood, Hassan apologized to Mrs. Hassan for being such a dick. Awww, again! That little family tussle resolved itself nicely, though I'm not sure where it leaves the peace talks.

On the Bauer front, Jack realized that CTU was in trouble and called his buddy at the NSA, who agreed to shut down all the traffic routes into NYC, leaving, for whatever reason, the East Bank as the terrorists' only way to get into the city. Really? It's that simple? I'm not very familiar with NYC geography, but it strikes me as verrrry convenient. Jack pulled into the dock with Cole and two other CTU agents, saw the IRK loading the nuclear rods onto a boat and -- OMG FIREFIGHT! I loves me a good firefight. In the midst of the gunfire, Tarin recognized Jack ("one of their best agents!" - heee) and ordered his snipers to keep Bauer pinned down while Tarin and the rest of the IRK cronies got the rods across the river. Even with Cole helping him out, Jack was having trouble with the snipers and he couldn't call for backup because the terrorists were jamming his signal. Again -- how convenient! If there's anything wrong with this episode, it's that there are a few too many, "Oh, that's nice!" moments, but it wasn't nearly enough to ruin the episode for me. Pinned down, Jack jury-rigged some sketchy metal-plated armor for a phalanx-esque breakthrough and it was all looking good until one of the dumbass agents broke formation and got himself shot. Bauer, Cole, and the young CTU agent from the Markos incident took cover, but the kid reallyreally wanted to save his buddy and got himself shot as well. The first dumbass didn't make it, but when the kid asked Jack if he did (he wanted to be a herrrrro!), Jack LIED and says he did. So noble. Jack wasn't able to save the kid, but I don't feel that bad because he was STUPID. Jack instructed Cole to go for the call box on the other side of the dock while he drew the snipers' fire. "But it's a suicide mission!" said Cole, and Jack was like, "Don't you know I have a death wish?" Okay, not really. Jack told him to screw off and just make sure that Hastings kept his promise about not bringing Renee back in. Cole said he would. Jack did a pretty damn good job holding the snipers off, but eventually got hit. OMG. Good thing he was wearing a vest. Just as one of the snipers went for the headshot to take ol' Bauer out for good, Renee showed up and shot the sniper him in the back, took out another couple guys and allowed Cole to get to the call box. It was so cool! I'm glad we've moved past the Damsel in Distress stage and the two of them are together again. Then Renee saw Jack on the ground, ran over, ripped off his clothes -- I mean, vest -- and he sprung to life, ready to kick some ass... except I think he has a collapsed lung. Cole was able to get in touch with CTU and headed off in the chopper, looking for the IRK boat. DUN DUN DUN.

Meanwhile, the NSA people who showed up to help CTU were asswads, particularly Frank Hayman, the Head Dick, or whatever his title is. He basically told the CTU staff and Chloe to fuck off and actually sounded crazy suspicious for a while, so I'm still not sure where he stands. Hayman ignored Chloe's offer to get a workaround going that could get their systems up sooner, but was more dangerous (I heard "electrocution" and "massive fire" in there somewhere). Chloe got frustrated, called Renee, who suggested she take more... extreme measures. Hehe. It's like a disease or something. (That conversation was also the source of Renee saving Jack's ass.) So Chloe held Hayman up -- with a gun! Chloe! I know. She got the NSA out of the server room and locked herself in to start the workaround. Hastings broke back in and Chloe plead with Hastings to give her ten more minutes to make her workaround happen and Hastings caved, to the chagrin of Hayman and, of course, Dana, and agreed to give her a shot because she "earned it." Damn straight. And the workaround works! Sorta. Comms back up. Hastings thanked Chloe, who said she's not good with praise. Come to think of it, she's not that good with criticism either.

And Dana. Oh, Lucky, lucky Dana. The EMP wiped out the security tape that LeoLite's parol officer wanted, so she was apparently home free. Except the officer went directly to Hastings. Oops? Hastings made him wait in the holding room, and Dana headed up there to ask him to leave. Or so we thought. The parole officer told her he knew she was involved, so she beat him up and garroted him. What a fucking dumbass, right? AND THEN SHE HID HIM IN THE VENTILATION SYSTEM. Dear god. So freakin' stupid. And then... she called the head IRK dude and... what the fuck?? She's a mole.

Hold on, that is my brain exploding. I... I just don't even know. Just... what???? I had to sit through her frackin' stupid dumbassery only to find out that she's EVIL? She's too stupid to be a mole! I am just not entirely sure what the point of the runaround with the robbery and LeoLite was if she was evil all along and could've taken care of the whole damned business with a bullet. Right? It seems even more useless than it was before this episode, and that was pretty damned useless. And she probably wasn't helpful to the IRK while she was putzing around in the New York swamps. We'll see where this goes, but I feel like a TV Tropes link is in order, if only for posterity's sake. Even if I'm a little "Wha?" about the whole thing, it was a solid twist, capping off a highly enjoyable episode.

24 "Day 8: 4:00am - 5:00am" Review

I'm starting to wonder if should start my Monday night '24' viewings at 9:30pm instead of 9:00pm because tonight's episode was a snoozefest until the halfway point. There was a serious lack of movement during the first half hour and I was getting terribly bored. The Jack/Marcos standoff remained at an impasse as Marcos tried to get The World's Most Ineffective Suicide Bomb re-wired. Dana and Cole returned to CTU and got a slap on the wrist and handwave by Hastings, which was WAY too mild considering they suspiciously ditched their posts during a national security crisis, but whatever. I was willing to let it go if it meant the last of the Dana's Dark Past storyline, but noooooo. We'll get to that in a second, because I'd prefer to pretend it never happened. Hassan's daughter and Tarin recovered from their romp between the sheets long enough to reveal that they're trying to get asylum from the State Department. At two in the morning. I guess the Chief of Staff was able to get a DOJ lawyer to CTU a couple hours earlier, so at least the writers are being consistent in their ridiculousness. Tensions continue between Mr. and Mrs. Hassan. Aaaand... I don't know what's happening with Madame President, because she and Renee were woefully lacking from this episode.

But things really picked up as soon as Cole cornered Marcos' mom in her home. First of all, kudos to Cole for calling Mrs. Marcos out on her sketchy activity at two in the morning, UNLIKE SOME OTHER PEOPLE I'M LOOKING AT YOU DANA. So Cole dragged Mrs. Marcos back to the hospital where her son was about to blow himself up in a hyperbaric chamber and what an awesome plan, right? At that point, I was a bit unclear about how large the explosion was supposed to be, but I figured Marcos wouldn't blow himself up if it would endanger his mom. So were I Jack Bauer, I'd just leave her in front of the door and presto! An even more inefficient suicide bomber. Alas, it ended up being a wimpy little bomb because otherwise Marcos' tiny little bits of flesh would've been intermingled with Jack Bauer's following the explosion, and that's simply not the case.

Anyway, Mare Winningham's performanceas Marcos' mother was gut-wrenching, the guy playing Marcos had the perfect blend of anxiety and desperation and Jack... oh, Jack. I know, I should be immune to Jack's negotiating tactics by now. It's always the same:

• Step 1: Reason with the bad guy in hushed, velvety tones.
• Step 2: Let the bad guy know who he's messing with ("I'm more of a specialist.").
• Step 3: Threaten family, especially small children, if available.

My favorite part of the tactics, as applied tonight, was Jack's "Look into my eyes... Hey. You. LOOK INTO MY EYES." Like Marcos, I ended up averting my gaze because I was mildly terrified that Jack Bauer was about to reach through the television and grope around for some small children as bargaining chips. Props to Kiefer Sutherland there. The whole scene after Marcos came out of the chamber and begged for Jack to take the vest off was one of the more tension-inducing scenes of the season and I "Awwww"-ed when he blew up. Yeah, that's right. I felt bad for the suicide bomber. So sue me. And then I laughed because there's no way that there was enough blood spatter in there to support a very large dog, much less a 175 pound grown man. I guess that head wound was gushing a little more than we saw.

With the good stuff out of the way, we shall return to the Dumbest Subplot in the History of This Show That WILL NOT DIE. Really, Show? You could have left Leo Lite and his Partner in Crime in that New York swamp to rot and I wouldn't have given a damn. I probably could have dealt with Dana's guilt as well, if only because I love Katee Sackoff. But then you had to go and bring in a parole officer who has nothing better to do than venture from Arkansas to New York, call Dana at two in the fucking morning. "I was gonna leave you a voicemail because I didn't think you'd be up -- AND NOW I HAVE TO TALK TO YOU RIGHT NOW NO IT CAN'T WAIT." Excuse me if I just don't get the finer points of parole officering, but who the hell does that? Lazy writers who won't let this subplot die, that's who. AAAAAAAGH. So frustrated. I don't know why I'm getting so caught up in it, but this whole Dana business is dragging down the entire season for me. Just kill it! Kill it now!

Nggggh. Okay, in actual relevant news, Tarin's bad. Legitimately. Hassan was right all along. Except there's the teeny little problem of Hassan's daughter. She's still with Tarin and although she was able to convey her location to Hassan, who alerted CTU, Tarin's privy to her "disloyalty." So as the episode ended, she managed to retreat to the hotel bathroom while Tarin plotted eeeeevilly outside. I gotta give the girl props, though -- she's a damn good liar. Too bad for her it looks like she's being elevated to the level of "hostage" next week. Whoo hoo potential tension!

24 "Day 8: 2:00am - 3:00am" Review

This week on 24: the USS Plot Movement sailed into port and all the thirsty sailors (a.k.a. me) rejoiced by tossing our empty bottles at Dana. Sadly, the bottles were empty, hic, so the projectiles didn't kill her or her stupidity. Sadness. Unsurprisingly, the USS Plot Movement had dangerous cargo on board: a young Muslim extremist with the world's worst suicide bomb strapped to his torso. "My goodness," you must be thinking, "The world's worst suicide bomb? That's terrible! How will Jack Bauer save us from complete and utter destruction this time?" Worry not, dear reader, for this is the world's worst suicide bomb not in terms of damage, but in terms of quality. I understand that the black market for explosive devices isn't always flush with high-end triggers. I'm sure this particular bomb was hastily assembled. I'm willing to make some allowances. However, I don't know much about explosives, but somewhere in my blurry recollection of high school physics, I recall that if you want to set something like this off, all you have to do is complete the circuit, yes? And yet, poor Mr. Marcos Zacar had his Big Bad Bomb Trigger hacked remotely by the bumbling idiots at CTU and is now in the sticky situation of having to, um, you know, set it off himself. Heaven forbid! Were I in 24-land, I would be sleeping safely tonight knowing that there is absolutely zero danger of a dirty bomb going off in New York because this terrorist cell probably has trouble figuring out which side of the microwavable popcorn bag goes up.

Stupidity of certain suicide bombers and/or writers aside, this episode managed to bring a few of the subplots back into the main arc. Before we get there, though, I just have to vent that the Dana/Cole business is getting more annoying by the moment and I found it hilarious that NOW Dana wants to fall on her sword and turn herself in. Where was that spirit six hours ago? Those two are so screwed if the gang from CSI: New York shows up because that crime scene at the World's Cleanest Swamp was a mess. Oh -- and apparently no one at CTU is particularly concerned that Cole is missing. Gah. What a waste of Freddie.

However, Hassan's storyline became less of a political backdrop and more of an action-instigator this episode. Farhad's idiotic death (really, dude -- you couldn't have stayed put for five more seconds?) seems to have pulled Hassan's head out of his ass. Or perhaps it was Madame President's awesome threat of military force if Hassan didn't give her his top secret files RIGHT NOW. I really love the interaction between those two. Either way, I've got the sneaking suspicion that Hassan's mole hunt wasn't entirely off-base. I was convinced that Tarin was innocent, but after the breakout and consequent nookie with Kayla, he just might be working with the enemy. Screwing Hassan over in more than one way, you know? I'd be curious to find out what other viewers think -- Tarin: good or bad?

Hastings redeemed himself in my mind by standing up to the Chief of Staff. Took him long enough. I'm still not sure what the big deal is with Vlad dying. Intelligence loses leads all the time and you're choosing here and now to hang someone for it? As far as I know, the operation wasn't in the public eye. So something's fishy there. I also enjoyed the "rookie time" standoff between Owen the Sweaty CTU Agent and Marcos the Unsuccessful Suicide Bomber. It was ridiculous, but I feel like it was probably a more accurate portrayal of what actually happens to intelligence officers in these types of situations. Still not sure I buy the, "Farhad's actually alive and being treated at this hospital!" on Fox News. You'd think that'd be just a leeeetle fishy to Samir and his gang. But then again, they apparently have trouble assembling simple triggers as well, so I don't know why I'm surprised.

How badass is Jack? It's barely a couple hours after he was stuck in the stomach with a salami knife and tortured mercilessly, and now he manages to jump out of a window and not catch a stumbling terrorist on his way to a hyperbaric chamber! Let's just blame the stomach wound on that one. I thought his little booty call to Renee was cute (because, yes, it was a booty call), but I feel let down that Renee has been demoted to the Recovering Damsel in Distress. She was much more interesting in the field.

So Farhad's dead, New York's going to be attacked with a dirty bomb, Dana and Cole are off playing in the swamp, and Jack's stuck wondering how the hell Marcos is getting cell phone reception in that hyperbaric chamber. Looks like next week could be a nail-biter -- here's hoping!

24 Day 8 "1:00am - 2:00am" Review

This week's '24' was wracked with stupidity and I'm blaming Dana for spreading the disease amongst the rest of the characters. Okay, maybe I'm just pissed that the writers knocked off David Anders' character and my wrath is seeking a target. Seriously, Mr. Anders. While I'm glad that your 'Heroes' character, Adam, bit the dust (hee) when he did so I didn't feel obligated to keep watching that show well past its prime, I really wish you could stick with a franchise for more than a handful of episodes. I enjoy your presence so. But enough of Josef's unfortunate demise (sob) -- let's get on to the stupidity!

Clarification: I don't think the episode itself was stupid. My reaction was lukewarm, as has been the case for much of this season. Not fantastically awesome, but not terrible, claw-my-eyes-out either. That being said, I know sharp ten-year-olds with more common sense than these characters. We've got Dana, who's completely forsaken her VERY IMPORTANT DUTIES at CTU to hunt down Leo Lite and his Redneck Partner in Crime. I suppose I should add Leo Lite to the Dumb List, not that he wasn't already there. But he really should've seen Redneck Partner in Crime's betrayal coming. Money, booze, hookers, whacky tabaccy, and firearms are never a good combination.

Then there's Cole, who, upon learning of Dana's shady past and current quest, threatens Leo Lite and Redneck Partner in Crime at gunpoint before walking away from them with his back turned and then acted surprised when Redneck Partner in Crime tried to shoot him. One gun, Cole. You thought they had one gun? There were two of them! They pulled off a heist together! There is sure as hell more than one gun in that van. I thought Cole was smarter than that. Not to mention the fact that instead of doing the logical thing and turning Dana in to Hastings and letting him figure out what to do with her, Cole tried to help her cover it up. Hrm. Because that's worked out SO WELL to this point. She lied to him and it's just kosher? I know, TWUE LUV and blah blah, "We'll figure it out later, honey, let me get you back to CTU so you can do your job and perhaps locate these very important nuclear rods, even though we've been functioning on our own (with little success) for the last six hours"? (I note that the commercial break was strategically used to resolve the little issue of how Cole arrived at the scene. Sigh.) Sadly, I don't think the death of Leo Lite will be the end of my frustration with this subplot.

And Hastings. Oh, Hastings. I know there's precedent for poor leadership at CTU. Hell, it's practically a job requirement. (No, Bill, I'm not looking at you. Go back to sipping your piña colada on the beach of some undisclosed government island reserved for Not!Dead silver foxes.) Is the organization really so fragile that Hastings is willing to let Renee take the fall for the operation gone awry? I have a hard time believing that one call from Jack Bauer to Madame President wouldn't heal a few wounds and keep CTU functioning for a little while longer. I am, however, really surprised at Hastings' ability to get a spiffed-up DOJ lawyer into the building at midnight. And here I'd heard government jobs had cushy hours! Anyway, I lost quite a bit of respect for Hastings in this episode and thus appreciated Jack's conversation with him towards the end, even if it was mostly for that little smirk that Kiefer Sutherland had on his face the entire time that was like, "Yeah. You really don't know what you're doing, do you? If Bill was here -- oh, yeah. Right. Government island. Not supposed to be talking about that. Carry on." And that is why Jack is awesome.

See, Jack's awesome-ness is so well known that when he busted out of the interrogation room with Renee, the security guard got this look on his face like, "Oh, shit. He's back. I'm screwed." And he would have screamed and ran if that other security guard wasn't blocking his escape route. But even terrorist-fighting grandpas with buns of steel have their weaknesses, and Jack's is the taser. Actually, I think it's electricity in general. He's had a bad couple of episodes. Poor woobie. *pats*

I've already registered my displeasure with Josef's death, but the nuclear rod plotline seems to be moving in the right direction, even though I feel like I've already seen it before. I find it curious that even with the two nuclear devices that have gone off in '24'-verse, the threat of nuclear materials in terrorists' hands causes such a crisis. I expect it to be a Big Deal, but I suppose I also expect the leadership and intelligence community to be a little more numb towards the potentiality for weapons of mass destruction. It could just be that for me, as a viewer who's seen it a couple times already, the nuclear problem has lost a bit of its novelty value. They already blew one up in the middle of Los Angeles -- it doesn't get much worse than that. If there's a next season, could we figure out something a little more tension-inducing? Like a flesh-eating virus that's transmitted via Twitter?

Most people probably saw Farhad's double-cross coming a mile away, so no big news there. I suspect his corpse will be rapidly cooling by the end of the next episode. Speaking of rapidly cooling corpses, weren't the crime scene photos from Vlad's death kind of fantastic? That eyeball was a juicy sucker. In all seriousness, though, Survivor!Renee isn't nearly as riveting as Dark!Renee was. What's the harm in telling the DOJ lady the truth? Vlad hit her, she grabbed a knife to defend herself and got a little carried away because of all of her pent up Rape Issues. It was a crime of passion! Justifiably so! Voluntary manslaughter, not murder. So I don't really understand the pressure to "cover it up." The argument that she engineered the entire thing... not really buying it over here, but others may feel differently. Her little scene with Jack was touching and I really want the two of them to live happily ever after together on that government island with Bill. Chloe can come too, and Tony, when he gets out of jail and gets his head back on straight.

I did not, however, catch the name of the guy who was responsible for Renee's firing from the FBI. Anyone want to clue me in? I presume it was someone from Day 7, but my TV was a little wonky tonight.

[For the record, amidst the Olympic Scheduling Shuffle, I thought '24' wasn't on last Monday, so I didn't get to see it in time to get a review up. My apologies, folks. I enjoyed it, though -- Jack Bauer shimming across a pole that he's handcuffed to in order to make an epic escape forgives many a sin.]

24 Day 8 "12:00am - 1:00am" Review

The Hollywood Reporter recently put out an article that predicted chances of renewal for almost all of network television's endangered shows. And while some of this news was absolute music to my ears, some of it was rather sad.

Of course, the positives outweighed the negatives by a huge margin. As you could probably have guessed, I was most anxious to see how they ranked Fringe on its survival chances. As it turns out, it was on the top end of the list, with a 90% chance of a third season. "Boy, this show took a beating on Thursdays this fall," the Reporter stated, "yet along with Bones has given Fox a foothold on TV’s most competitive night and recently shown improvement." They gave Fringe a 90% chance of survival, meaning that they feel it's an almost certainty that we'll see Olivia, Peter, and Walter back for a third year. I'm elated, obviously.

Other great news came for Chuck fans: "This time, fans might not have to gobble Subway sandwiches to get the show a renewal.  has recently been NBC’s highest-rated show on Monday nights." Let's hope THR isn't overestimating NBC Chuck too much when they gave the show a 75% chance of renewal for a fourth season.

Heroes, surprisingly, was given 60%: "The expensive NBC series has always performed well overseas, but the network needs “Heroes” to pull decent numbers in its own backyard too. This season, “Heroes” continued its decline and is now at a level — around a 2.0 adults 18-49 rating — that would warrant cancellation under most circumstances. The deciding factor here is NBC’s internal balance sheet for the production. Don’t be surprised if NBC announces a 12-hour “final chapter” for next fall." Oh, please, please, please, no. Don't put us through more, NBC!

ABC, however, is on the fence about its attempts to replace departing drama LOST. There's a 40% chance that FlashForward gets one more year, while a higher 60% for V. "Expect ABC to keep one of these," THR stated, but which one do you think should survive? Personally, for all its unsteadiness, I've enjoyed FlashForward more than I've enjoyed V. What about you?

FOX's 24, which has long been rumored to be approaching an end, garnered a 40%. Why? "Fox’s action-drama continues to perform well, with its eighth season generating numbers in the low-to-mid 3s. Yet 24 is pricey to produce and has little syndication value. Producer Twentieth is exploring the option of spinning off 24 into a theatrical movie, signaling that this might be the Bauer’s final, real-time day-long adventure. Another long-shot option would be shopping 24 to another network." Could you picture Bauer on anywhere but FOX? I certainly couldn't.

FOX's newer, younger action show (and possibly 24 replacement) Human Target, got a stronger-but-not-much-stronger 55%. "Fox’s male-targeted action drama stumbled out of the gate and its ratings were falling precariously until this week. Remember, this is the network that gave a second chance toDollhouse, so if the Mark Valley series can stabilize there’s a fair chance Fox will give Target another shot."

Some other shows that did well were NBC's Community (90%), CBS's Medium(65%) and Cold Case (50%), The CW's Life Unexpected (55%), and the WB's Smallville and Supernatural (85%).

On the flipside of that coin, some shows aren't looking so good, like ABC's Scrubs and Better Off Ted, which were doing so poorly in the ratings they were quickly packaged together to finish out their seasons as quickly as possible. They both have a 5% chance of returning, so don't bet on another year for them. Another show with 5% is the CW's Melrose Place, quite easily the weakest of its still-alive freshman shows. Compared to The Vampire Diaries, Melrose Place is looking quite pale. NBC's nurse drama Mercy is holding on for dear life with a 25% chance, as is ABC's new lawyer drama The Deep End, which at 5%, doesn't look like it'll be trying any more cases come next year.

See the complete list here. What do you think? Are THR on the right track, or are they barking up the wrong tree? How did your favorite shows fare in this lineup? Sound off below -- let's get a discussion going.

THR Renewal Predictions: 'Fringe' 90%, 'Ted' 5%

Jack Bauer is coming to the big screen.  Maybe.  Seems FOX is mulling cancelling their number 2 scripted program, probably not as much due to declining ratings as to the swelling budget, but that doesn’t mean the franchise is dead at all.  Following in the footsteps of X-Files, Jack Bauer’s death on TV will likely lead to a rebirth on the big screen.

Word is that while they mull cancellation of 24,  FOX execs are eyeing a feature film pitch from big screen writer Billy Ray.  24 is still past the eight-figure mark in ratings, but nowhere near its peak in either raw numbers or advertising demo.  The high-octane action of the franchise, though, is still very much a box office stable and analysts everywhere have long predicted that 24 is one of the most transferrable television properties on the planet.

If a film is done it would likely follow the template that Keifer Sutherland himself laid out years ago:  a full 24 hours compressed into two hours of screen time.  No matter how you look at it, a big screen Bauer adventure is going to have a radically transformed narrative.  The argument could be made that it is this unique narrative device that works so well for 24, but surely the over-top story-telling would fit well outside of the small screen as well.  The question is:  would Bauer be allowed to torture on the big screen?  Let’s hope we know the answer soon.

24 Movie in the Works

WHEEE VIOLENCE! Ahem. Side effects of sluggish pacing may include an increased sensitivity to stabbings and Bauer Badassery. But seriously -- Renee going batshit on Vlad (she impaled him in the EYE!) and then accidentally stabbing Jack, who in turn yanked the knife out of his stomach and flung it into the jugular of an approaching baddie? All kinds of awesome. For a glorious ten minutes, I was pretty damned happy.

As far as the other fifty minutes go, there was a bit more progress this week, but it doesn't look like things will really pick up until next Monday (judging by the previews). Le sigh. LeoLite got into the evidence locker or whatever and barely escaped with his loot and Dana… zzzzzz. I mean, yeah. Still useless. Still unconnected to the main arc. Well, I suppose it could be connected in the sense that this lovely little diversion is distracting Dana from, you know, actually doing her JOB. The tension! It's killing me! What stupid thing will she do next? I just can't wait to see!

Hassan, on the other hand, is sliding down a verrrry slippery slope. He took one of his delegates into custody as a suspect in the assassination plot. When the delegate didn't admit to the conspiracy after exposure to "coercive" techniques, Hassan ordered his goons to round up the man's family a la Jack Bauer last season. When his head bodyguard, Tarin (the one screwing Hassan's daughter), refused to do the deed himself out of some CLEARLY misguided ethical compass, Hassan had him arrested. So much for that whole "reform" thing. Taylor's running out of patience for Hassan and I appreciate the fact that everything isn't exactly happy-g0-lucky in Foreign Relations Land. It's a nice reality check after last season.

The Bazhaev family (minus one) bisected the main arc this week when Vlad called, looking for uranium rods, only to interrupt Bazhaev Sr. in the midst of telling David Anders that he's doing this to make him wealthy, create a reputation for the family, blah blah. I was very interested to hear that Josef has a family (or a son, at least) of his own. I guess that explains his sentimentalism towards his now-dead brother. When Vlad called, Bazhaev denied having the nuclear materials, perhaps thinking that someone looking to outbid his other buyer mere hours after a foiled assassination plot MIGHT be a plant. A Russian villain with a brain! For now, at least.

Onto Russians without brains: Vlad. Too concerned with his vodka shots and salami (yum), he was unable to locate the uranium for Jack. However, his attempts more closely resembled that of an inebriated telemarketer than a feared Russian mobster. Renee, seeing the end of the line, decided that STABBING him was the best solution to that to her current situation. Not that I blame her, but still. Does not bring us any closer to finding the nuke juice. Jack did try to get her out earlier, but he didn't get very far. (Jack: "I'm getting you out of here!" Renee: "No!" Jack: "… okay, if you say so.") Saddled with guilt and a martyr complex, Renee had a lovely little moment with Jack before Bazhaev's men came for him. When Cole found her in the closet/shower… oh, man. That girl is wrecked.

So not quite as "meh" as last week, but mostly saved by Hassan and Jack's Incredible Healing Powers. Next week looks better -- however, from Jack's perspective, he may prefer getting stabbed with a paring knife to a bare wire to the abdomen from Bazhaev's men.

24 "Day 8: 10:00pm - 11:00pm" Review

A new episode of 24 will be airing on February 8 and FOX has released two short sneak peeks for the episode, along with a synopsis.  You can view them below.

JACK BAUER IS FORCED DEEPER UNDERCOVER WHEN UNFORESEEN EVENTS UNFOLD AND THE STAKES ARE RAISED ON AN ALL-NEW “24” MONDAY, FEBRUARY 8, ON FOX

Despite averting the assassination attempt on peacekeeping leader Omar Hassan, Jack Bauer’s day intensifies when he is forced to go deeper undercover to secure the unsecured enriched nuclear materials. As international delegates reconvene at the United Nations, President Taylor’s goodwill comes into question and CTU races against time to assist with the mission in the all-new “Day 8: 10:00 PM-11:00 PM” episode of 24 airing Monday, Feb. 8 (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX. (TWF-807) (TV-14 L, V)

Cast: Kiefer Sutherland as Jack Bauer; Mary Lynn Rajskub as Chloe O’Brian; Cherry Jones as Allison Taylor; Annie Wersching as Renee Walker; Anil Kapoor as Omar Hassan; Mykelti Williamson as Brian Hastings; Chris Diamantopoulos as Rob Weiss; Katee Sackhoff as Dana Walsh; Freddie Prinze Jr. as Cole Ortiz; John Boyd as Arlo Glass

Guest Cast: Nazneen Contractor as Kayla Hassan; Juergen Prochnow as Sergi Bazhaev; David Anders as Josef Bazhaev; Gene Farber as Oleg Bazhaev; Matthew Wolf as Father Gregor; Harry Van Gorkum as Louis Dalton; Jordan Marder as Dimitri; Thomas Fiscella as Luka; T.J. Ramini as Tarin Faroush; Hrach Titizian as Nabeel; Callum Keith Rennie as Vladimir Laitanan; Tony Curran as Lugo; Clayne Crawford as Kevin Wade

Email: clarissa @ tvovermind.com

Follow: twitter.com/clarissa373

Sneak Peeks - 24 8.07 "10:00 P.M. - 11:00 P.M."

It's Battered Women Night on '24'! Well, it's technically Battered Women AND Men, but the Bazhaev beatdown was a more literal interpretation of the phrase. Also? This episode flew by like traffic when you're running five minutes late for an important meeting. Color me bored. So here's what you need to know: Dana brought LeoLite the intel he needs to do his heist or whatever. I actually have no idea what the heist was about because whenever Dana comes on my screen, that's my cue for a snack/bathroom/laundry break. But I do know that Dana continues to be pissy and her officemates are starting to get suspicious. I have trouble feeling sympathetic for her character when she's being so damned useless, which is unfortunate because I love Katee Sackoff. Hassan continued his rapid descent into military dictatorship-ness. Oh! And apparently one of his aides is sleeping with his daughter. That's gonna be an awkward performance review.

Rather than be raped by Vlad, Renee chose to have "consensual" sex with him (yeah, don't wanna touch that one with a ten foot pole) and dropped her bug in the sink so Jack wouldn't have to bear witness to that atrocity. Yeah. It was horrible. I had to watch the whole scene through my fingers. Major squick, but Annie Wersching sold it yet again. I'm starting to think of that the awesomeness of Renee's storyline is mostly due to the fact that there's almost nothing going on to compete for tension in the show at the moment. I mean, there was Jack Bauer revisiting Kiefer Sutherland's role in Phone Booth and Cole saving his ass when Vlad's men tried to kill him, but that's more or less a part of the Renee storyline.I found it hilarious that Jack was barely trying to sustain his German cover. "American accent? Um, yeah. It rubs off. WHAT DO YOU MEAN WE CAN'T TORTURE PEOPLE ANYMORE??" And I will admit, when Cole first popped out from behind the sniper rifle, I went, "... Tony?? Wait, but you-- oh. Damn. It's just Freddie." Because, c'mon. That would've been awesome. I don't see how it conceivably would have worked, but a girl can still hope. Cole is proving to be a suitable second option. Not flashy, but reliable.

The Bazhaev story is still generally unrelated to the main arc, but for whatever reason, I'm willing to be more patient with it than the Dana subplot. Perhaps it has something to do with David Anders' undeniable charm and sparkley blue eyes. Or perhaps it has more to do with the fact that Russians with nuclear material is statistically more likely to converge with the main storyline than the Great Redneck Heist does. Either way, Josef's attempts to save his brother made me feel bad for him -- yes, he may be the son of a blood-thirsty, callous criminal mastermind, but he just wanted to get his bro back to the countryside estate and get him better! And then Daddy's men had to storm in and kill the doctors before Josef could secure the treatment medication. And then Daddy shot Oleg in the chest after he beat Josef up. Josef is having a really bad day.

All in all, I feel like we're in the midst of the Mid-Season Blahs and it's only episode six. Not a good sign, but I'm hoping Dana's storyline will get resolved quickly and then maybe Red Square will blow some shit up and we'll be back in business. Fingers crossed!

24 "Day 8: 9:00pm - 10:00pm" Review

The internet is all about the Apple iPad, the much anticipated tablet computer counterpart to the Mac series - and for good cause! The thing is thinner than the Olsen sisters and indications are you can watch TV on it, which is all that matters to us. Naturally, the first thing Apple fans want to know is where and when they can get one. Well, one person doesn't have to wait: Jack Bauer. Word has it, on episode 20 of 24 Jack will use his powers of coercion to get Apple founder Steve Jobs' to give him one, or else. Who knew that Bauer was a Mac head! Actually, Macs have been on 24 since season one - Power Macs at that.

Actually, the plot details are a complete unknown, but 24 director of photography Rodney Charters tweeted the following:

“Hmmmm looks like we may get an iSlate into Jacks hands for Ep 20 getting giddy with excitement”

“Got a bit too excited probably more likely Episode 22 but Apple provided fingers crossed”

So, really not such a great surprise since 24 has let their preference hang loose for some time; unlike iCarly and their stupid 'Pear' computers. Sheesh. On a straight out nerd level, the iPad definitely does look like the device of choice when it comes to making your fave TV shows portable. So far, though, no word on whether or not it will have the ability to interface with your cable and act like a DVR. Yeah, I'm dreaming - I know. It WILL be able to download video from iTunes. Look for them on subways and school buses everywhere, soon.

On the spec side of things, the iPad comes with a 9.7 inch screen and is powered by a 1ghz Apple branded CPU called the A4. (Geeks are already proudly stating they will hold out for the A5). Instead of a traditional hard-drive, the tablet uses flash-memory for storage with models ranging from 16 to 64gb. Most importantly, battery life is listed at 10 hours. But that's not 10 hours of high-quality video playing, mind you. No word on the price just yet. Think Apple = Expensive.

Image from GdGt.com

Who Will Get The First Apple iPad? Jack Bauer, That's Who

Tonight on 24: Jack Bauer and Renee "Screw Loose" Walker continued to wreck havoc on New York City in pursuit of the Red Square faction. Ziya, the poor Russian mob contact who lost his thumb (not his hand) to Renee's circular saw last episode, was able to lead Renee to the infamous Vladimir. Turns out Vlad developed an obsession with Renee was she was undercover. And by "obsession" I mean "penchant to beat and rape her." Okay, the rape part wasn't explicit, but Vlad asked her if she had Hepatitis C (as a possible explanation for why she looked so shitty) and the dots connected pretty clearly on that one, I think. Vlad still didn't trust her, though, so he threw she and Ziya into his trunk and drove them off to an isolated location (as isolated as one can find in New York, I suppose) to shoot them. Jack, meanwhile, freaked out when he realized that he was tailing a decoy vehicle and flipped the World's Most Badass U-Turn in the middle of the road in order to rescue his slightly deranged soulmate. Seems Ziya was really the one who needed rescuing (poor guy got his thumb sawed off and a bullet blown into his skull within a span of about two hours -- bad times, eh?), as Renee was able to save her own life with an unnervingly somber plea for Vlad to kill her. Convinced that she wasn't trying to screw him over, Vlad agreed to meet with Renee's buyer and Jack breathed a sigh of relief that his favorite redhead didn't have her brains splattered around the Lower East Side. We'll come back to that in a minute.

Onto Subplots I Don't Give A Damn About: The Leonardo DiCaprio knockoff, Kevin, finally revealed what Dana's dark secret was: she was an accessory to murder as a minor and served time! OMG! Like, is there any reason we couldn't have been told that fact from the get-go? Because I don't think stretching it out over four episodes has contributed to the "DUN DUN DUN" effect much. So Kevin is holding the ex-con status over Dana's head as blackmail until she uses her position at CTU to get him intelligence that would lead him to a six-figure "score." And, see, here is why Dana is a blundering idiot: any rational person would go straight to Hastings and be like, "Look, I sorta lied on my job application. I'm not who I said I was. But before you get mad, there are these two idiots on my back, looking for national secrets. Take care of my problem and I'll tell you how I slid a false identity by you guys so you don't make that mistake again." See? Win win. Sure, there's probably some jail time involved, but it's got to be better than watching this crap unfold. Kevin had better be working for Red Square or something because, as of now, I'm seeing no reason to give a damn about Dana and her Problems.

The second subplot I care slightly more about, but only because it involves David Anders. I'm allowed my shallow moments, okay? The Brothers Bazhaev were on an epic, Daddy-unapproved mission to get the older brother, Oleg, access to a doctor who would keep quiet about his radiation poisoning. They succeeded at holding a doctor at gunpoint, but... well, that was pretty much it. This too had better have some relevance to the main arc because my patience is waning. Anders can only get me so far.

The third subplot that got virtually no attention this time around (and actually deserved more screentime, I think) was Hassan's struggles with President Taylor and the peace treaty. No longer sure who he can trust, Hassan's administration acted with force to put down his opposition in the fictional Islamic Republic of Kamistan. The Ever-Vigilant Reformer President Taylor was none to happy with Hassan's military crackdown, but the two had a nice conversation about the nature of power and legitimacy in Eastern and Western political cultures. There is still tension in the Hassan household, though, as Hassan's daughter attempted to side with him despite his wife's continued animosity regarding the affair. The younger Hassan brother, Farhad, entertained himself for most of the episode with Red Square-provided hookers. He actually didn't look too happy about it. Can't imagine why.

Aaaand I think that was about it. Back to Renee for a moment: I was more or less "meh" on this episode until the last five minutes, but Annie Wersching's performance at the end really saved it. The look of cold resolution in her eyes as Vlad pressed the pistol barrel to her forehead made my stomach flip. For all the crap that Jack's gone through, I've always thought he's valued his life and despite the fact that last season he said he was ready to die in peace. I didn't really believe him. But tonight, I almost wanted Vlad to pull the trigger on Renee, if only to put an end to the inner demons that continue to torment her. I don't know if the backstory with Vlad is just well-crafted retcon on the writers' part, but it seems to put both her actions this season AND last season into perspective. Perhaps last season's naivety and attachment to the grander ideals of justice were a coping mechanism so that she could keep on functioning after such a horrific experience. A more constructive version of post-traumatic stress? So maybe Jack wasn't the one who was entirely responsible for her descent into Dark!Renee, but he was the instrument by which she was able to justify her deeper feelings of nihilism and act upon them. Well played, '24.' Well played.

And next week we'll find out the answer to two questions that have been bugging us for eight seasons: (1) does Jack Bauer dig voyeurism; and (2) how does he look in nerd glasses? See y'all then!

24 "Day 8: 8:00pm-9:00pm" Review

I just have to get this out of the way: I have a massive girl-crush on Renee Walker.

First things first. Tonight on 24: I actually missed the first 20 minutes due to an onion grilling emergency, but I think that was okay because there wasn't too much to miss. It seems Jack walked in on the corpses of the cop and his wife who were being held hostage at the end of the last hour and ran into some local cops, who proceeded to beat him mercilessly in the basement for "killing" their buddy. He took one of them out with the chair he was tied to, though, and made friends with the other. Typical Bauer Threat Neutralization, right? Under pressure, Meredith admitted to her affair with Hassan and Hastings got Hassan to come clean about it as well. This freaked out Hassan's brother, Fahid, who was in on the assassination plot. However, when CTU decrypted plans for an incendiary device under the UN negotiation chambers, Hastings ordered evacuation, but Jack figured out that the "device" was just a ploy to get Hassan out in the open. Jack let Cole know what was going on and he gunned his car ahead of Hassan's and took the brunt of a blast from a manhole, I think. He escaped mostly unscathed and managed to get Hassan out of danger. Meanwhile, Fahid freaked out (again) and ran, stabbing a CTU agent with a pen in the course of his retreat, clearly having attended the Jack Bauer School of Weaponizing Writing Utensils.

Davros The Evil Motorcycle Cop started pursuit of Cole and cornered him in an empty building, but Jack saved Cole's ass and they forged a Man Bond. Forensics took a look at the Davros' body and, aside from discovering that he was recently exposed to weaponized uranium, tattoos on his body linked him to the Russian extremist group Red Square. And guess who had contact with Red Square when she was undercover six years ago? Renee Walker. CTU brought her in to give them intel and she agreed to go back undercover in order to stop Red Square's weaponized uranium from getting to Fahid. Jack, however, was not comfortable with Renee going in with Cole as the potential buyer, so instead of joining Spawn in LA, he convinced Hastings to let him pose as the buyer. Renee, assuming her old cover, contacted one of her old Russian mob buddies at his auto shop and when he balked at putting her in touch with "Vladimir" due to his probation-mandated tracking bracelet, Renee proceeded to CUT HIS FUCKING THUMB OFF WITH A CIRCULAR SAW. When Jack rushed in to see what all the screaming way about, she nonchalantly told him to cauterize the wound.

I'll admit, I was getting a little meh with the episodes before Renee showed up. And then she and Jack were going back and forth with the "I can handle it!" / "No you can't!" business and I was like, "Really? We're doing this again?" But then the scars on Renee's wrist alluded she'd tried to kill herself after being fired by the FBI, which -- woah. And then she went into her cover with the Russian mob contact and it was like she was an entirely different person -- there was sexual tension! And confidence! And general badassery! And it was actually sorta creepy! And THEN SHE STARTED WITH THE SAW. And I was all, "Noooo. They're not gonna go there." But they did! And it was awesome! And Jack walked in all "Bzwa-- Oh my god. I've created a Mini Me with tits and a great ass. She -- wait. I have to clean up after her now? Damn it!"

Anyway. My point is that I really enjoyed the interaction between Jack and Renee and the writers have taken her character in a good direction. You know someone's pretty far gone when Jack Bauer starts hinting that they need to back off a bit. There was a little more development with Dana's shady past -- the Leonardo DiCaprio knockoff who was bothering her on the phone showed up and demanded to be let into her apartment and then continued to harass her. My guess is that he was her abusive husband vis a vis shotgun marriage, but I can't help but wondering how someone who manages to sneak into a high ranking intelligence position under an alias ends up in this sort of situation to begin with. Clearly the woman is not dumb. I'm just hoping it has some connection with the main arc and isn't just character background/tension for shits and giggles.

Oh! And how can I forget -- David Anders, who played Sark on 'Alias' and will forever be one of my favorite television villains, showed up as Josef Bazhaev, the eldest son of Sergi Bazhaev (the head of Red Square). It was disconcerting to hear him speak without an accent, but I think he's well suited for the role. I can't wait to see more of him. And while we're on the topic of actors, I have to admit that I'm sort of loving Freddie Prinz Jr. as Cole. It's not like he's done anything terribly Bauer-esque at this point, but when he refused to go along with Davros' instructions with a gun pointed at his head, he won major points with me. Freddie brings an understated strength to the role that's really nice in the wake of the Bauer/Walker Shock and Awe Team. The political drama was rather low-key this time around -- despite all of the problems he and Madame President have faced thus far, Hassan is still on board for peace. While I don't think the episodes themselves were particularly remarkable with the exception of the thumb amputation, they're good setup. I'm really looking forward to watching Renee and Jack interact in the undercover setting and the Bazhaev family is an intriguing villain. Here's hoping they don't screw it up, right? Heh.

24 'Day 8: 6:00pm-8:00pm' Review

Tonight on '24': Jack Bauer was dragged back into the national security fray when an old contact showed up on his New York doorstep with a bullet wound and information regarding an imminent attack on President Hassan, who was in New York to meet with Madam President to discuss a peace treaty that would limit his country's nuclear proliferation. (Phew.) Jack tried to get his contact to the new and improved CTU, but the terror cell attacked his helicopter with an RPG, blowing it up and his source along with it. CTU thought Meredith Reed, a reporter, was the link to the terrorist group, but she was actually just screwing Hassan (literally). Chloe convinced a stubborn Jack to help her pursue a theory that Reed was a red herring. Torn between his desire to be a grandfather by returning to LA with Spawn and his duty to protect his country, Jack eventually went with the latter (duh). He got the reluctant approval of Brian Hastings, the Bill Buchanan replacement at CTU, to help Chloe track down her lead. In the final minutes of the two hour premiere, we found out that one of the main actors in the terror cell is actually a cop and he's going to use his bad to accomplish something nefarious. But we'll have to wait until tomorrow night to figure out exactly what that is.

Maybe I got a little spoiled during last season's premiere -- after all, between 'Redemption,' Tony's return, and the CIP device, there was lots of goodness to go around. Perhaps that's why I was underwhelmed by tonight's proceedings. It's not to say that there weren't some fantastic moments. Jack taking out not one, but TWO guys with a fire axe has got to rank among his Top Ten Most Badass Moments. And Granddaddy!Jack playing with Wee Spawn and talking about bears was all kinds of adorable. (On a side note, I think someone needs to tell Spawn that her husband is a vampire. Y'know, before he gets all dark and brooding on her.) Oh! And helicopter went boom when the RPG hit and the fireball was pretttttty. All of my baser '24' desires were satisfied. Spawn seems to have grown up significantly, though I feel like my loathing of her is so completely instinctual at this point that it borders on the irrational. But I just can't get past it! Jack broke into CTU's puny armory (although he's gotten by with nothing more than a cell phone and his fists before -- the WORLD is Jack Bauer's armory, damn it!) and the Man Bag made a triumphant return.

That being said, the Katee Sackoff character, Dana, was advertised as a techie with a dark past, but her past isn't seeming so dark right now. Other than a "redneck" upbringing and some possible sexual indiscretions, and an OMG SECRET IDENTITY, I'm not really seeing the big deal. But I was admittedly distracted by Katee Sackoff's arms, so I may have missed something. Daaaaaymn. I enjoyed Dana's interactions with Chloe at the beginning, but as we progressed, they became increasingly stiff. I couldn't help but wonder why exactly Chole, she of the Genius Computer Wizzery, was having such serious problems with the system to the point where she would be in danger of losing her job. Is it just to make Dana look more efficient/impressive, or what? Either way, I was much relieved when Chloe manned (or womaned, if you'd prefer) up and called Jack out on shirking his ethical responsibilities. I didn't see enough of Freddie Prinz Jr. to really make a judgement, but I think there's potential there. He's got a quiet strength to him that I like.

I was also disappointed by the criminal syndicate as presented in these first two episodes. Again, perhaps I was spoiled by last season and the wonderful Jon Voight, but I'd love some sort of charismatic evil mastermind to organize the chaos. I might be calling it too early, as Hassan's wife seems to have something fishy going on, and Bauer will certainly work his way up the syndicate's chain of command.

And where's Agent Renee Walker, damn it?! The commercials advertised Red, and I expected Red! Judging by the preview, she'll probably make a showing tomorrow night. Make sure to tune in at 8pm!

So what's the consensus, '24' fans? Did the premiere reek a bit too much of Day 3 for you? Or are you excited to see where the season goes?

24 'Day 8: 4:00pm-6:00pm' Review

Here at TVOvermind, we often receive material from the networks that, out of good conscience, we cannot share with our readers. For instance, last week I got my grubby paws on the first five minutes from the Season 8 premiere of '24,' airing tonight at 9/8c. The whole "good conscience" thing prohibits me from posting it, but as I am an individual of mediocre conscience, I'll give you a play-by-play. But caution! There be spoilers in this article.

The camera tracks the New York City skyline in the early dawn hours as the digital clock, reading "6:00:00" beeps across the screen. Street vendors bustle about, taxi cabs dash by pedestrians whilst horns blare. The camera moves down 7th Avenue until it settles upon a steel and glass building the Garment District. The camera stops, focused on the front door. The dull roar of the city quiets for a moment as the camera focuses on a young man of Middle Eastern descent as he walks by the building. Dressed in a black trench coat and sunglasses, he's holding a newspaper in one hand. He looks around, scanning the sidewalks. He stops at the front door of the building. Checks left, then right, then reaches out --

AND IS BLOWN BACK BY A MASSIVE EXPLOSION INSIDE THE BUILDING. Glass shatters and fireballs boom outward, tossing the man back into the street among millions of tiny shards. He tumbles right into the oncoming path of a black SUV. He curls into a ball, flinching as the SUV's brakes squeal. He presses his eyes shut, preparing for the inevitable, but the SUV amazingly comes to a stop mere inches from his head. Breathing hard, he rests his head on the ground until the slam of a door rings across the street. He's yanked up by his collar and pulled behind the car as a volley of gunfire sounds from the other side.

"Get down!" a silver-haired figure yells and the camera zooms in to reveal the grizzled visage of none other than BILL BUCHANAN! The Silver Fox LIIIIVES. Bill pops out from his cover to unload a clip at the door. "Damn it, Jack," he whispers as he crouches to reload.

Another explosion booms and the SUV rocks from the impact. The camera pulls in tight on the entrance and, from the flaming debris, JACK FUCKING BAUER vaults through the shattered door, a volley of gunfire in his wake. Except… what's this? He's wearing a hideous peacock muumuu and combat boots. The skirt of the muumuu flutters out gracefully behind him as he books it for the car, screaming, "My cover's been blown, Bill! Get in the car!"

The camera moves to the skyline again and when the smoke clears, we can see a giant red sign on the building that reads, "Parsons: The New School for Design." From inside the building, the discharge of a shotgun rings through the debris-filled air. Jack looks behind him, terror in his eyes. A shotgun round riddles a newspaper stand beside him and he ducks for cover.

"Go go go!" Jack screams to Bill.

"Like Hell I will! I'm a big damn hero!" Bill yells back, but has to take cover again when a shotgun blast hits the side of the SUV. He peers out from under the car, trying to get a better look at Jack's pursuers.

The camera zooms in on the hands holding the shotgun -- perfectly manicured -- before moving up the Armani suit, the silk pocket square and Windsor knot to reveal none other than… Tim Gunn. "This worries me, Jack." He lowers the shotgun for a moment, looking in Jack's general direction with a cocked eyebrow. "That fabric choice is all wrong."

"WHO ARE YOU WORKING FOR, YOU SON OF A BITCH??" Jack yells back.

Tim rolls his eyes as he levels the shotgun at Jack again. "I just don't think we can make this work, Mr. Bauer." He fires the gun again and it almost penetrates Jack's cover. Jack looks left, then right, then to the sky. He's really screwed this time… and the screen fades to black.

Like, oh my god! Right?

Okay, fine. So maybe I never received such a clip. And maybe Jack isn't running around New York in a peacock muumuu. But I would totally watch him if he was. Especially if Tim Gunn was the evil criminal mastermind. But alas, according to Fox's official description, Jack will be fighting… well, it actually doesn't say:

"Set in New York City, "Day Eight" unfolds amidst the shadows of the Statue of Liberty and the United Nations as President Allison Taylor (Cherry Jones), alongside new chief of staff ROB WEISS (Chris Diamantopoulos), negotiates international security with OMAR HASSAN (Anil Kapoor), a determined Middle Eastern leader visiting the U.S. on a peacemaking mission. As the new day begins, an upgraded CTU operates under the command of M.B.A.-schooled, razor-sharp head honcho BRIAN HASTINGS (Mykelti Williamson), who supervises quirky CHLOE O'BRIAN (Mary Lynn Rajskub), expert data analyst DANA WALSH (Katee Sackhoff) and systems analyst ARLO GLASS (John Boyd).

COLE ORTIZ (Freddie Prinze Jr.), an ex-Marine who wants to follow in Bauer's footsteps, leads field operations while Agent RENEE WALKER (Annie Wersching) returns with an agenda of her own."

From what I've garnered from the handful of previews Fox has been running ('24' is one of the few shows I try to remain as spoiler-free as possible with), Jack will be fighting a group of terrorists from Mr. Hassan's country who are determined to stop the security treaty from being signed. There may or may not be an assassination involved. He'll also be balancing saving the world with his renewed family life as Grandpa Bauer.

While I enjoyed the "rogue former-CTU agents fight corrupt government officials and Not!Halliburton" storyline last season, it'll be nice to have CTU back. As entertaining as Jack running from the government may be, it requires that much more time devoted to getting around, "How did Jack get this information/resource/gadget, etc.?" I'm more excited to have Renee Walker back. I was certain the writers would find a way to kill her off last season, but she managed to survive! Unlike a certain silver-haired gentleman that I'm not bitter about at all because he totally was wearing a fire retardant suit and faked his death to keep Jack safe. That's my story and I'm stickin' to it. Anyway, I like that her character brought a bit of vulnerability to the '24' world that didn't involve flailing around and looking like a general idiot. Spawn, I'm looking at you.

Even more interesting are the additions of Katee Sackhoff and Freddie Prinze Jr. to the show. I heard rumors of David Anders joining the cast as well, but I'm not sure in what capacity. I've only seen a few episodes of 'Battlestar Galactica,' but I really enjoyed Katee Sackhoff's performance as Starbuck and hope that she can offer some tension between her character Chloe without coming off as a raging bitch the way that Janice (Janeane Garofalo) did. I'll never be able to watch Freddie Prinze Jr. without laughing because -- let's face it, "She's All That" is something that you never really put behind you. And not in a good way. But I really enjoyed the parallels between Chase Edmunds (James Badge Dale) and Jack during Day 3, so hopefully the writers will play around with that relationship a bit. Few things will top Tony's betrayal last season, but I have hope.

Last season was a vast improvement over Day 6 in terms of Bauer-screentime. I wasn't a huge fan of Day 6 because, really, the only reason I watch '24' is for Bauer-oriented ass kicking. If I want to watch politics, I'll pull out my West Wing DVDs. If I want to watch well-written character drama, I'll watch Mad Men. But when I have a beer and a pizza on Monday night, I want Jack Bauer stuffing towels down people's throats or strangling terrorists with his thighs. Not a whole lot to ask for, right? Last season should have suffered from the same problems as Day 6 because it was so politically oriented, with Taylor's new administration as the focal point for the action. However, the writers took full advantage of Jon Voight as the villainous Jonas Hodges, which I think helped keep the pacing up. This season, the peace talks between President Taylor and Omar Hassan (you may recognize Anil Kapoor as the game show host from 'Slumdog Millionaire) should be a passive enough backdrop for the action without drawing the focus away from the action too much. And maybe Jack will win 1,000,000 rupees! Then he can buy himself a nicer dress that matches his Man Purse. There's always hope.

So, '24' fans, what are YOU looking forward to this season?

Can't get enough Bauer? Check out our sneak peek and Day 8 promo gallery!

Jack Bauer Fights Terrorists and Bad Fashion

Season 8 of 24 premieres tonight and continues tomorrow.  FOX has released nearly three minutes of sneak peeks from the premiere episode, including Jack doing what Jack does best - "interrogation".  Check the video out below and then take a look at the promo photos we previously posted.

Series Returns with Two-Hour Premiere Event Sunday, January 17, on FOX

Katee Sackhoff, Freddie Prinze Jr., Mykelti Williamson, John Boyd, Jennifer Westfeldt and Chris Diamantopoulos have joined the cast of 24 for the series’ eighth season. The Emmy Award-winning drama starring Kiefer Sutherland returns for its next astonishing day with a two-night, four-hour premiere beginning Sunday, Jan. 17 (9:00-11:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX.

Season Eight will unfold in New York City amidst the shadows of the Statue of Liberty and the United Nations. In this new day, CTU has been upgraded and is run by MBA-schooled and razor-sharp head honcho BRIAN HASTINGS (Williamson, “Forrest Gump”). COLE ORTIZ (Prinze Jr.), an ex-Marine who wants to follow in JACK BAUER’s (Sutherland) footsteps, runs the division’s Field Operations. Expert data analyst DANA WALSH (Sackhoff, “Battlestar Galactica”) collaborates with systems analyst ARLO GLASS (Boyd, “The Notorious Bettie Page”) inside CTU. ROB WEISS (Diamantopoulos, “The Starter Wife”) serves as PRESIDENT ALLISON TAYLOR’s (Cherry Jones) new chief of staff, and MEREDITH REED (Westfeldt, “Grey’s Anatomy”) is an ambitious journalist with ties to the unfolding situation.

As previously announced, Sutherland, Jones, Mary Lynn Rajskub and Annie Wersching also return. In addition, Bollywood icon Anil Kapoor (“Slumdog Millionaire”) makes his American TV debut as OMAR HASSAN, a Middle Eastern leader who comes to the U.S. on a peacemaking mission.

Email: clarissa @ tvovermind.com

Follow: twitter.com/clarissa373

Sneak Peek - 24 Season 8

Midseason may not be as exciting as Fall, with all of the new pilots premiering and the return of some of our favorite shows after a dreary summer of little original programming (save some surprises from last summer, such as the enjoyable Warehouse 13), but there's still fun to be had.

Most of the major networks will be premiering new shows in January and February, including shows like Caprica on Syfy or The Deep End on ABC.  Several other shows are returning with season premieres, such as The Tudors or Big Love.

Whether you're eagerly awaiting the return of 24 or LOST, or looking forward to the CW's newest family drama, Life Unexpected, we're going to break down the new and returning shows for 2010, share promos and photos and, in some cases, let you know whether the show is worth your time.  All you reality TV lovers, don't worry.  We also preview a few of the returning reality series.

Click NEXT below to start.

Midseason Preview - New & Returning Shows in 2010

Each year, website TorrentFreak ranks the most downloaded shows of the last 365 days. Certain shows rank consistently in the top ten, while others make surprising appearances one year, and may drop off the next. Read on to take a look at the top ten most downloaded shows of the year.

First let’s take a look at the list for 2008:

In 2008, Lost reigned supreme. You’ll notice that just because a show tops the most downloaded list, this doesn’t mean no one’s watching. Four shows in 2008’s list manage to top over 10 million viewers.

2009’s list:

While Lost still came in near the top, 2009 saw a new champion in Heroes. If you’re really paying attention, you’ll notice that more people downloaded episodes of Heroes than those who actually watched on NBC. What does this all mean? Well, chances are more likely than not that it’s all nothing more than a nice little graph to look at. Throughout the Fall of 2009, there were constant rumors that NBC would not be renewing its superhero drama for a fifth season. Could the fact that so many people are downloading the show entice NBC to keep the show running?

The answer is no, probably not. As TorrentFreak points out, in a lot of these cases, a high number of downloads can come from overseas, while the viewers are only tracked for the US. Internationally, many shows are delayed by weeks, sometimes months in most markets. In order to get a jumpstart on seeing their favorite shows in a timely manner, many people will download the episode after it airs in the US. This should also allow us to keep in mind the fact that downloads are not the reason a show like Heroes may suffer in the ratings. A download does not necessarily equal a lost viewer. Many people may download in order to rewatch what they’ve seen on TV (often the case in markets where online streaming, such as Hulu is not an option.)

Other notable changes to the lists include Smallville and Stargate Atlantis dropping off in 2009, while 24 and True Blood took their places.

And before fans of Dexter get to thinking that their show is in the same boat as NBC’s suffering Heroes, keep in mind that Dexter airs on Showtime, a premium-cable channel that not many people may subscribe to. Those who don’t have the option to watch Dexter on Showtime resort to downloading. Your thoughts on the 2009 list? Are you included in any of the millions who’ve downloaded Heroes, or Lost, or even Dexter? If so, tell us in the comments why you download instead of watching on TV.

Arrrgh: Most Pirated Shows of 2009

About a month ago I posted promo photos for the upcoming season 8 premiere of 24 (which is set to air over two nights on January 17th and January 18th).  FOX has now released more, including shots with newcomer Freddie Prinze Jr.  I don't mind Freddie, but I rarely see him in any dramatic (sorry, I Know What You Did Last Summer doesn't count), so I'm interested to see how he fares in 24.

Series Returns with Two-Hour Premiere Event Sunday, January 17, on FOX

Katee Sackhoff, Freddie Prinze Jr., Mykelti Williamson, John Boyd, Jennifer Westfeldt and Chris Diamantopoulos have joined the cast of 24 for the series’ eighth season. The Emmy Award-winning drama starring Kiefer Sutherland returns for its next astonishing day with a two-night, four-hour premiere beginning Sunday, Jan. 17 (9:00-11:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX.

Season Eight will unfold in New York City amidst the shadows of the Statue of Liberty and the United Nations. In this new day, CTU has been upgraded and is run by MBA-schooled and razor-sharp head honcho BRIAN HASTINGS (Williamson, “Forrest Gump”). COLE ORTIZ (Prinze Jr.), an ex-Marine who wants to follow in JACK BAUER’s (Sutherland) footsteps, runs the division’s Field Operations. Expert data analyst DANA WALSH (Sackhoff, “Battlestar Galactica”) collaborates with systems analyst ARLO GLASS (Boyd, “The Notorious Bettie Page”) inside CTU. ROB WEISS (Diamantopoulos, “The Starter Wife”) serves as PRESIDENT ALLISON TAYLOR’s (Cherry Jones) new chief of staff, and MEREDITH REED (Westfeldt, “Grey’s Anatomy”) is an ambitious journalist with ties to the unfolding situation.

As previously announced, Sutherland, Jones, Mary Lynn Rajskub and Annie Wersching also return. In addition, Bollywood icon Anil Kapoor (“Slumdog Millionaire”) makes his American TV debut as OMAR HASSAN, a Middle Eastern leader who comes to the U.S. on a peacemaking mission.

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Email: clarissa @ tvovermind.com

Follow: twitter.com/clarissa373

More Promo Photos - 24 Season 8