24

[JoJo White]

New season starting in a couple weeks, and I haven't decided whether I'm going to watch. Last time it was on, the show became a caricature of itself (what? another leak or mole in CTU? Stunning!!!) but I'm still intrigued.

[swerb]

Im pretty much witchu JoJo. Last season was so GD bad, I swore it off.

But I start to see the promos ... remember how hard it is to find shows me and my wife will actually watch together. I'll watch. With one eye open. Hoping for the best.

Show has gotten worse, every season, IMO.

[jb]

Don't care.

Loved it from minute one to minute last. I heart Jack Bauer.

I also love the 1st hand story from the old Gnatidawg about Keifer morning aftered waiting for carry out grub.

I'm hooked.

Parody smaridy.

The only issue is when the Republican wingnuts think it is anything more than good fiction. But they're so goddamn dumb the country has finally marginalized their crazy asses into a permanent political minority while the empiracists start to try to repair the damage. Palin in 12! Please God, make it so. The damage done demands the time.

[Guest]

Ya know...I do find it amusing that two people here that are probably the least enamoured with the Neo-con bullshit of the last 8 years are two people that are still holding out some serious hope for this series, and still enjoy watching it.

(That's not to say that I didn't think that the last season was really weak...especially considering how great the first episodes were...but where could you go but down after seeing Jack bite someone's neck to kill him?)

[jb]

Ya know...I do find it amusing that two people here that are probably the least enamoured with the Neo-con bullshit of the last 8 years are two people that are still holding out some serious hope for this series, and still enjoy watching it.

(That's not to say that I didn't think that the last season was really weak...especially considering how great the first episodes were...but where could you go but down after seeing Jack bite someone's neck to kill him?)

Ohhhh ! Ohhhh! Mister Kotter! I know!

Chuck Norris and the dna of Ronnie Ray-gun as domestic tewwwowrits against Jack!?

Freakin chinx. I hate un-fair trade by those commies killing us while an alleged gubmint sworn to uphold the general union allows our demise.

[peeker643]

Hmmm.......

I watch cuz it's fun and there's nothing else on.

Not sure what that says about me on any deeper, analytical, socio-political level.

It's just fun to watch.

[consigliere]

Still the best show on free TV if you ask me. Last season was brutal the last half, but I am hoping this season, with almost two years to get this thing back on track, will be great. I believe it is still the Tony storyline they were gonna go with last year, so we'll see.

They did rid of CTU, so that is a good thing. That ran its course a few seasons ago.

Felt this show reached its climax in Season 4 and 5 which were amazing. Season 6, the last one, was the worst of the series though.

[consigliere]

I had forgotten that the 24 - Redemption movie was on this past Sunday, so finally got around to watching it last night.

All I have to say is, wow, the show may be back.

I thought the storyline for the 2-hour prequel was very good, and it sets up this upcoming seaosn beautifully. My God how I missed this show. Jack was back to his bad ass self again, and I loved some of the political undertones expressed throughout especially the UN guy being a fence rider and just looking out for his own ass. I thought it was a powerful show. My wife was very disturbed and was sick to her stomach with the kids being kidnapped like that and being used for soldiers. The ending scene with Jack giving into the subponea in order to save the kids was old school 24 and gripping.

I love Powers Boothe as a baddy. He reprised his role as Noah Daniels, and you can already tell he is steaming internally from losing the election to a woman. Also, he has been involved in some shady operations in Songalia which I am sure will be brought about this coming season. It appears that Tony will be the main baddy all season, which we have known about for over a year, and the Songalia storyline will be a secondary storyline that like in past season's will be resolved around the midpoint of the season.

Really interested in seeing how they go about explaining Tony being alive. I always felt that when he "died" by the lethal injection from Peter Weller's character (name escapes me) that he was never really dead. Seemed like they left that open on purpose, and now we know why.

Looks like Chloe is back. No CTU, and she is a "stay at home mom", which to me is how they will work around the whole angle of there being no CTU this season. Somewhere during the show, I'm betting Jack will call her and she'll have some sort of computer setup in her house where she assists him.

I can't wait for Jan 11.

[Guest]

I just watched it and thought it was great.
This season is going to be phenominal.
I also have watched every single season and will continue to do so.
Jack is one bad mother f-er.
Too bad we have to wait over a month.

[jb]

Somewhere during the show, I'm betting Jack will call her and she'll have some sort of computer setup in her house where she assists him.

Wow Tony, you sure that you want to risk any $ on that bet?

[BDFD]

I generally watch ZERO network television but a co-worker eventually convinced me to watch an episode of 24 about four years ago. I remember the 24 commercials at the time. You know, Jack with a gun in someone's mouth screaming at them wanting to know where a briefcase was. Jack vertically rappelling down a ventilation shaft to sneak up on some terrorists to rescue a hostage. Intense stuff for certain.

I turned the show on for the first time about twenty minutes in. And what do I get? An old CIA-looking guy talking to attractive female. Female was saying how much she loved Jack and was concerned for him and how much she misses him. CIA guy saying he understands and how vunerable Jack is right now and that she should go to him. Click! Back to ESPN it was.

[davemanddd]

i absolutely love the show but i actually can't stand watching it at it's regularly scheduled time on a weekly basis because i just can't stand waiting an entire week for another episode. i always just wait until the end of the season for when the dvd compilation comes out and then just watch all of the episodes back-to-back over a few days. the suspense to see what happens next would just kill me if i had to wait an entire week. that being said, i did watch the 2-hour "prequel" on sunday night and was just completely blown away. no ctu scenes whatsoever, just all jack, all the time, out in the field trying to rescue a bunch of kids from a 3rd world dictator's indoctrination into his brainwashed kiddie corps slave army. now this is the jack we all know and love. well, in a man-crush sort of way and not in a gay way. hee-hee!!! no but seriously though, i can see noah daniels being even worse of a bad ex-president than what charles logan was. logan was just a bumbling puppet, but daniels is real bastard with an extreme dark side to his character that they really haven't even begun to tap into yet. by the way, whatever happened to wayne palmer??? wasn't he still the president at the end of the last season??? yes he was injured by the bomb in the poduim in that ill-fated attempted assassination plot but was able to withstand the daniels' coup attempt using the 25th amendment. did i miss something??? anyway, most of these first few episodes of the "new" season will actually be over a year old now as a result of the writers strike that cancelled the 2008 season. i find it interesting that the new president is a woman. do you think maybe they were contemplating a hillary victory??? honestly though, i can really see this woman being more of an adversary to jack than any of the other presidents before her which should make for some rather interesting sub-plots. gawd i can't wait.

[CtownFan4Ever]

Love Love Love 24!
Only a few good shows on anyways, and that is it. I enjoyed every season, and every man should be envious of JB!
THE MAN
They could prettty much make the story line whatever they wanted and as long as JB is in there, I'm lovin every minute!
It's been a long wait...

[Guest]

Couple of more days. I have high hopes for this season.

Looks like my calendar of ridiculously time consuming projects is slacking off a bit, so I'll be doing recaps of the show again every week.

(you've been warned).

[RC]

Couple of more days. I have high hopes for this season.

Looks like my calendar of ridiculously time consuming projects is slacking off a bit, so I'll be doing recaps of the show again every week.

(you've been warned).

Cool, I loved your recaps almost as much as the show itself. Especially the odds of survival of the different characters throughout the season. My wife and I debate it all the time.

RC

[Guest]

Cool, I loved your recaps almost as much as the show itself. Especially the odds of survival of the different characters throughout the season. My wife and I debate it all the time.

RC

Thanks.

I don't see much change in the format, at least at the start.

Odds On Survival and the Jack Bauer Body Count must remain.

I'll let the season itself dictate any other features I might introduce.

[consigliere]

Cool, I loved your recaps almost as much as the show itself. Especially the odds of survival of the different characters throughout the season. My wife and I debate it all the time.

RC

Thanks.

I don't see much change in the format, at least at the start.

Odds On Survival and the Jack Bauer Body Count must remain.

I'll let the season itself dictate any other features I might introduce.

Awesome.

Can't wait for this and the 4-hour premiere this weekend!

[tbone]

Just got through Redemption.... can't friggin wait for Sunday!!!

[gotribe31]

So what did everyone think? Fired up for tonights episode! I wish the FBI chicks where I work looked like Renee. Also, FBI didn't seem to go to the CTU school of perimetiers...shooter would have been caught if Tony hadn't snuck him out.

[Dozen]

loved it, so happy it's back on

[Jennifer]

Regarding last night's premiere:

The owl is not what is seems.

Y'all are going to be pretty unsurprised at tonight's "season's first big surprise" promised at the end of hour 2 last night -- unless, of course, you are someone "surprised" that Shoppach has not been traded.

[idoctribefan]

Loved the first 2 hours last night.

My only complaints: the casting of Janeane Garofalo and the guy who plays Sean/Shawn (the guy helping Jack at the computer). Those two leave a little bit to be desired as far as acting prowess.

One question for anyone: The President's son who has died, is he the same guy that was in "24: Redemption" (with the drug-addict friend) or is it a different son? They just showed a quick pic of him and I don't recall if it's the same guy. My guess is that it's the same character.

[Jennifer]

Loved the first 2 hours last night.

My only complaints: the casting of Janeane Garofalo and the guy who plays Sean/Shawn (the guy helping Jack at the computer). Those two leave a little bit to be desired as far as acting prowess.

One question for anyone: The President's son who has died, is he the same guy that was in "24: Redemption" (with the drug-addict friend) or is it a different son? They just showed a quick pic of him and I don't recall if it's the same guy. My guess is that it's the same character.

It is the same guy because the girl friend last night was his girl friend. Besides the son's "suicide" obviously ties into the D.C. baddies from the prequel and no doubt have a sinster role on Day 7's events.

[gotribe31]

Loved the first 2 hours last night.

My only complaints: the casting of Janeane Garofalo and the guy who plays Sean/Shawn (the guy helping Jack at the computer). Those two leave a little bit to be desired as far as acting prowess.

One question for anyone: The President's son who has died, is he the same guy that was in "24: Redemption" (with the drug-addict friend) or is it a different son? They just showed a quick pic of him and I don't recall if it's the same guy. My guess is that it's the same character.

I can't stand Garofalo. The Sean guy...well, everytime I see him I think of his carachter in Entourage. Fuck commerce!

[Jennifer]

Dave -- You are right about Palmer winning the 25th Amendment battle but he later had a relapse putting the VP back in charge.

Over the last few years I have been very active first in Yahoo 24 groups and then the largest 24 message board. You are not alone in your sentiments about watching 24 all at once so I understand your sentiment. I, however, prefer watching 24 on a weekly basis because it often presents some very serious morality issues (for which it does not get enough serious credit for) and I like giving some thought to these issues and discussing them with others.

Yes, Chloe is back and appears until the end of the day (because a substantial part of this year's day was shot last year filming for the entire season is already done. Bill is back as well. Hmmm!

And Kim will be back but there is no word yet on whether the cougar would be back.

[Dozen]

Garofalo wont be on long, I think she's the leak.

[gotribe31]

Garofalo wont be on long, I think she's the leak.

Good, she sucks.

[Mr. MacPhisto]

Haven't watched any of this show until Sunday night.

Not overly impressed.

Uninteresting. Unengaging. Not suspenseful at all. Ho-hum.

I found it as predictable as CSI. I can see those "shocking" plot lines coming from a mile away.

[swerb]

I think I've just been spoiled by the HBO and Showtime dramas.

Don't get me wrong, I'm watching every minute of this season. It is entertaining. My wife loves it (which means you know its average at best) and I can log it as an hour a week of "quality time".

But ever since Bauer kicked a heroin addiction in three hours in season three, this show just hasn't done it for me.

Call me a TV snob, but the show is so GD cheesy, predictable, and unrealistic. It's the same themes every year. The mole on the inside. They try and make you think its one person, and then its always the other. Bauer going on the run as a rogue to scretly help a sercret good guy, killing and injuring tens of innocent civilians and law enforcement officials, taking on and evading 20-30 FBI/CIA/Special ops and besting them all every time. Chloe being able to tap into any computer system she wants at will. I'm sorry, if I see 7-8 things happen in the course of every hour episode, that have no chance of happening in real life ... you lose me.

You compare this show to the gritty, realistic, cutting edge dramas on HBO and Showtime ... and it's no comparison. I don't know if its that those shows are so good, or "24" just sucks that bad.

Only things different this season is Bill Buchanan's hair and the President is a woman.

[peeker643]

I think I've just been spoiled by the HBO and Showtime dramas.

Don't get me wrong, I'm watching every minute of this season. It is entertaining. My wife loves it (which means you know its average at best) and I can log it as an hour a week of "quality time".

But ever since Bauer kicked a heroin addiction in three hours in season three, this show just hasn't done it for me.

Call me a TV snob, but the show is so GD cheesy, predictable, and unrealistic. It's the same themes every year. The mole on the inside. They try and make you think its one person, and then its always the other. Bauer going on the run as a rogue to scretly help a sercret good guy, killing and injuring tens of innocent civilians and law enforcement officials, taking on and evading 20-30 FBI/CIA/Special ops and besting them all every time. Chloe being able to tap into any computer system she wants at will. I'm sorry, if I see 7-8 things happen in the course of every hour episode, that have no chance of happening in real life ... you lose me.

You compare this show to the gritty, realistic, cutting edge dramas on HBO and Showtime ... and it's no comparison. I don't know if its that those shows are so good, or "24" just sucks that bad.

Only things different this season is Bill Buchanan's hair and the President is a woman.

Mindless fun.

"24" is the Tressel of TV: predictable and unable to change, but still the best thing available.

At least they didn't do the old:

A- "You can't kill him despite me just now bringing him in to this incredibly complicated 3 yr old plan to kill, maim and pillage. We need him and there's no way I'd bring him in on anything other than the up & up. Disregard our 10 year relationship and the fact we've thwarted every threat known to man in a day while losing multiple family members, loved ones and colleagues and kicked deadly bad habits in an hour."

B- "You're right. That's why you're going to kill him and prove you're loyal to me."

Shit. Never mind.

I'll still be watching every damn Monday though.

[consigliere]

Love that this show is back on.

Is it as "great" as it used to be? Nah, prolly not....but it beats everything else on non-cable TV. Part of the problem is the show has been so good for so long, you begin to expect too much and get bored even with a very good season.

Lots of things in play here with the season already. Pumped that it is back on, and can't wait to see how it all unfolds again.

[consigliere]

Awesome job with the recaps this year....love this feature on the site. You really seem to have a lot of pent up material as the sarcasm and one liners were just flowing. I have several LOLs throughout both pieces. A couple favorites:

President Taylor meets with the former Prime Minister of SomeGala, the man who will probably become the next corrupt President-For-Life Idi Amin wannabee once the US has bombed SomeGala back to the Stone Age (a trip of only about 200 years for that place). She makes Mutobo promise to be a good boy, asking him pretty please with sugar on top not to go apeshit with the retaliation killings. He agrees, but she didn't see that he had his fingers crossed.

Jack and Walker track Tanner (the sniper) to the ship where Tony is hiding. Renee gives Jack a gun. All the better to kill people with, my dear. Jack can't shoot Tanner right away, but he does get to punch him like a speed bag for a bit, just for practice.

Samatha, Roger's former girlfriend who was earlier accosted by Henry and denied everything to his face, calls him on an unsecured line to tell him that Roger was, in fact, murdered. Way to go! I'm sure no one was listening in! For your parting gifts, you'll get a wonderful looking coffin to go along with a few milligrams of lead to the cerebral cortex. But before then, she wants to meet FOM alone.

Brilliant.

Anyway, this whole Samantha thing. If The John Voight Conspiracy Group whacked the President's son for knowing what they were up to in Songala, what would keep them from whacking Samanatha too? I don't understand why she is alive and why if they won't take the chance Roger would be quiet that they kill him, why they would think $300K in hush money to Samantha would either. Of course, she is dead anyway, and is merely a plot device I guess.

I dunno why I am thinking of this this way, but I have a feeling that things still do not seem as they appear with Tony. Maybe even Buchanan. I may be way offbase, but I could see some sort of heel change for Tony coming midseason. He's got reasons, and already has said he was lured to the dark side once already. Going to be interesting to see how they handle his character the rest of the season and if he lives.

I am actually fine with Tony's return. From the moment he got that needle in the chest by Peter Weller's character, I felt something was not right as there was no finality with his "death" and that they completely left it open for his return. Glad they did.

Agent Walker....I know you did not mention her as the mole.....but what if she is? Prolly not....but everyone is a candidate in my book.

And speaking of Walker, it is interesting how they quickly made her Jack Bauer-esque with the torture she inflicted on Tanner and doing whatever is necessary to get results by attempting torture on the guy that was assassinated (his name escapes me) and even to push the interrogation with Tony. She also dropped the "I got a bad feeling like this" like line from Star Wars which is playfully overused in 24 when she said to Tanner "You are out of time." Thought that was a clever little bit of dialogue there, and for whatever reason they are setting her up to do just as Jack does with all his methods to get answers and protect the country. Perhaps having her do all those things Jack has done in the past somehow can be used to dismiss his hearing when he is as Mitch said is "conveniently" set to go back to court at 8am the next day.

I think the FBI mole has yet to be revealed. Too obvious if it were Moss. The shocker would be Walker as no one seems to be expecting it. I don't think the computer geeks are the mole either. I did notice one chick in the last episode who made a brief appearance who I would think will be in later episodes. She had a conversation with Sean. She was the Press Secretary in the TV show with Gina Davis as the First Lady that was canned a year ago. Can't remember her name, but I am putting my finger on her as the mole for no other reason that they indirectly introduced her and may have her involved in a more meaningful way in upcoming episodes.

By the way, I think you should call the whack job general Mutobo from Songola Dikembe Mutumbo. That's what I keep thinking everytime I see and hear his name, and even see him and hear him talk.

As for the Bauer Body Count....I believe soon we will get a mass pile up of bodies. And don't forget, they made up for the lack of bodies by having him kill about 15-20 people in Redemption.

[Guest]

By the way, I think you should call the whack job general Mutobo from Songola Dikembe Mutumbo. That's what I keep thinking everytime I see and hear his name, and even see him and hear him talk.

I like that.

Consider it done, and credit will be given in the next recap.

[Jennifer]

I am actually fine with Tony's return. From the moment he got that needle in the chest by Peter Weller's character, I felt something was not right as there was no finality with his "death" and that they completely left it open for his return. Glad they did.

Agent Walker....I know you did not mention her as the mole.....but what if she is? Prolly not....but everyone is a candidate in my book.

The 24s TPTB seldom ever comment about whether a character is really dead when the situation is ambigous because they do want to leave their options open. In the case of Tony's death there was nothing ambigous about it. Even TBTB after Tony's death publicly said that Tony was really dead, not slightly dead or partly dead but dead, dead, dead. According to them he died because they couldn't see a future storyline for him that his storyline was just too interwined with Michelle's. Indeed, originally they planned to kill him at the sametime as Michelle died. In the script that was shot they left no wiggle room for his reappearance. Much later they realized they made a mistake. the To resurrect him they ended up with an absurd explanation and a wink to the audience. Michelle died just hours before Tony unexpectedly took the fatal injection yet there were unidentified CTU personnel ready to wisk him outside to a waiting vehicle where someone had just the right antidote all in time to avoid any serious brain damage.

An interesting footnote. Day 6's had more than one ending written. One of the endings had a man in the shadows pull a gun on Jack and telling him "we need to talk" with Jack recognizing the voice the reveal tick, tick, tick. If memory serves me right the scene was actually shot. It is a little hard to surmise why they did so. The original plan for Day 7 was to shoot it in Africa but Fox vetoed it as too expensive so Africa became Day 7's backstory and because of the strike a two hour prequel. Was the Tony ending killed because they decided on the Africa plot or was Tony intended to be part of the original Africa plot and decided for other reasons not to use the scene.

Mitch -- In your column you refer to the number of presidents while it is still a goodly number of presidents count the number of presidential elections to figureout the number of years that have elapsed since Day 1. I've lost count but I believe it is about 13 years since Day 1.

[BroncoFan]

Nice write up(s) as usual Mitch. Like others that have posted here Garofalo seems totally miscast and is a huge detractor for me, nothing to do with her politics, I just don't like her in the role.

Is there an over/under number of episodes before Renee dons a bikini or are we resigned to watching her in a mens button down shirt all season?

Bauer body count--I thought he nailed one guy on the raid into Bokimba's (whatever) compound, but I could be wrong. Looking forward to next weeks installment and are you going to add Dexter to your show reviews?

Finally thanks for letting a Bronco guy join the board. Here's to new head coaches....

[Guest]

Nice write up(s) as usual Mitch. Like others that have posted here Garofalo seems totally miscast and is a huge detractor for me, nothing to do with her politics, I just don't like her in the role.

Is there an over/under number of episodes before Renee dons a bikini or are we resigned to watching her in a mens button down shirt all season?

Bauer body count--I thought he nailed one guy on the raid into Bokimba's (whatever) compound, but I could be wrong. Looking forward to next weeks installment and are you going to add Dexter to your show reviews?

Finally thanks for letting a Bronco guy join the board. Here's to new head coaches....

I double checked on the raid on Deikembe Mutombo's compound, and he wasn't shooting at people, since they are innocents (relatively speaking, I'm sure).

Renee in a bikini would be excellent. Hell, I'd even be happy with her in Kim's old cougar elusing t-shirt from season 1.

Had thought about a Dexter write-up...but I'm not sure given that so many people here don't have Showtime, so they catch the episodes much later. But there's still a chance I might do either that or True Blood next season.

[BroncoFan]

I really enjoyed True Blood, given the nut job characters on that one I think you could have a lot of fun with it.

[gotribe31]

Nice write up(s) as usual Mitch. Like others that have posted here Garofalo seems totally miscast and is a huge detractor for me, nothing to do with her politics, I just don't like her in the role.

Is there an over/under number of episodes before Renee dons a bikini or are we resigned to watching her in a mens button down shirt all season?

Bauer body count--I thought he nailed one guy on the raid into Bokimba's (whatever) compound, but I could be wrong. Looking forward to next weeks installment and are you going to add Dexter to your show reviews?

Finally thanks for letting a Bronco guy join the board. Here's to new head coaches....

I double checked on the raid on Deikembe Mutombo's compound, and he wasn't shooting at people, since they are innocents (relatively speaking, I'm sure).

Renee in a bikini would be excellent. Hell, I'd even be happy with her in Kim's old cougar elusing t-shirt from season 1.

Had thought about a Dexter write-up...but I'm not sure given that so many people here don't have Showtime, so they catch the episodes much later. But there's still a chance I might do either that or True Blood next season.

Fantastic, fantastic write-ups. Haven't missed an episode ever in the history of the show, and I love it BECAUSE you have to suspend reality to watch it, not in spite of it. I don't want to see an episode of 24 where the FBI agents sit down and fill out their travel vouchers, then go get coffee, then check their fantasty baseball teams, go to the gym for a couple hrs and blow out early to play nine holes. I want Jack, killing and torturing, and Agent Walker bouncing around in his footsteps. Can you imagine how good their kid would be at torturing people? At this point, I am demanding they procreate at some point in the season.

[Stu]

Mitch -- In your column you refer to the number of presidents while it is still a goodly number of presidents count the number of presidential elections to figureout the number of years that have elapsed since Day 1. I've lost count but I believe it is about 13 years since Day 1.

He also forgot Hal Gardner, who would have taken over for Logan after he was placed under house arrest and before Wayne Palmer was elected. Also Prescott in season 2 invoked the 25th amendment claiming Palmer was unable to perform his duties, while David Palmer was restored to office, he was then incapacitated by the terrorist chick who shook his hand. Prescott would have been sworn in again as President.

So the total count is 9 in the 24 universe.

[Jennifer]

Mitch -- In your column you refer to the number of presidents while it is still a goodly number of presidents count the number of presidential elections to figureout the number of years that have elapsed since Day 1. I've lost count but I believe it is about 13 years since Day 1.

He also forgot Hal Gardner, who would have taken over for Logan after he was placed under house arrest and before Wayne Palmer was elected. Also Prescott in season 2 invoked the 25th amendment claiming Palmer was unable to perform his duties, while David Palmer was restored to office, he was then incapacitated by the terrorist chick who shook his hand. Prescott would have been sworn in again as President.

So the total count is 9 in the 24 universe.

Well Stu I was not counting "presidents" but if I were I would have counted them the same way.

Neither Gardner nor Prescott ever attained the status of "president" each only attainted status of "acting president" like in real life George H.W. Bush did under Reagan (although there is a debate whether this is true) and Cheney twice under George W. Bush. And then, of course, the most well known "Acting President" was Martin Sheen.

This may sound like nitpicking but is actually constitutionally significant. When William Henry Harrison became the first president to die in office it was hotly debated whether John Tyler became president or merely acting president. Article II, Section 1, Clause 6 of the Constitution states:

In Case of the Removal of the President from Office, or of his Death, Resignation, or Inability to discharge the Powers and Duties of the said Office, the Same shall devolve on the Vice President, and the Congress may by Law provide for the Case of Removal, Death, Resignation or Inability, both of the President and Vice President, declaring what Officer shall then act as President, and such Officer shall act accordingly, until the Disability be removed, or a President shall be elected.

Tyler, as would be expected claimed to be president as has every other vice president succeeding a deceased president through Lyndon Johnson. Notwithstanding this historians and constitutional scholars continued to debate this issue until the enactment of the 25th Amendment.

The framers of the 25th Amendment were aware of this debate and fixed the ambiquity in Section 1:

In case of the removal of the President from office or of his death or resignation, the Vice President shall become President.

But then Stu, you of course, already knew this and just wanted to jerk my chain for the 156th time, didn't you?

Sections 3 and 4 when applicable make the Vice President only "Acting President." This, of course, makes sense because the Vice President has only assumed the powers of the presidency on what could be only a temporary basis.

[Stu]

Mitch -- In your column you refer to the number of presidents while it is still a goodly number of presidents count the number of presidential elections to figureout the number of years that have elapsed since Day 1. I've lost count but I believe it is about 13 years since Day 1.

He also forgot Hal Gardner, who would have taken over for Logan after he was placed under house arrest and before Wayne Palmer was elected. Also Prescott in season 2 invoked the 25th amendment claiming Palmer was unable to perform his duties, while David Palmer was restored to office, he was then incapacitated by the terrorist chick who shook his hand. Prescott would have been sworn in again as President.

So the total count is 9 in the 24 universe.

Well Stu I was not counting "presidents" but if I were I would have counted them the same way.

Neither Gardner nor Prescott ever attained the status of "president" each only attainted status of "acting president" like in real life George H.W. Bush did under Reagan (although there is a debate whether this is true) and Cheney twice under George W. Bush. And then, of course, the most well known "Acting President" was Martin Sheen.

This may sound like nitpicking but is actually constitutionally significant. When William Henry Harrison became the first president to die in office it was hotly debated whether John Tyler became president or merely acting president. Article II, Section 1, Clause 6 of the Constitution states:

In Case of the Removal of the President from Office, or of his Death, Resignation, or Inability to discharge the Powers and Duties of the said Office, the Same shall devolve on the Vice President, and the Congress may by Law provide for the Case of Removal, Death, Resignation or Inability, both of the President and Vice President, declaring what Officer shall then act as President, and such Officer shall act accordingly, until the Disability be removed, or a President shall be elected.

Tyler, as would be expected claimed to be president as has every other vice president succeeding a deceased president through Lyndon Johnson. Notwithstanding this historians and constitutional scholars continued to debate this issue until the enactment of the 25th Amendment.

The framers of the 25th Amendment were aware of this debate and fixed the ambiquity in Section 1:

In case of the removal of the President from office or of his death or resignation, the Vice President shall become President.

But then Stu, you of course, already knew this and just wanted to jerk my chain for the 156th time, didn't you?

Sections 3 and 4 when applicable make the Vice President only "Acting President." This, of course, makes sense because the Vice President has only assumed the powers of the presidency on what could be only a temporary basis.

Even if you want to nitpick it this way, Hal Gardner would have been the actual President, not acting President, as Logan was removed from office at the end of Season 4. It was no longer temporary.

[Stu]

silent countdown.

[Jennifer]

silent countdown.

?????

[Stu]

silent countdown.

?????

you didnt watch?

silent clock at the end when jack buried her alive.

[Jennifer]

silent countdown.

?????

you didnt watch?

silent clock at the end when jack buried her alive.

I don't bother paying attention to the clock anymore after read a very long discussion among posters who know and remember every small detail that ever happened. It is so bad there that one poster after the first two hours posted he remembered the seven local digits of the phone number from a few years ago but did anyone remember the area code. Sigh! In any event, they convinced me that a silent clock is not an indicator of life and death.

Renee, of course, was not buried to death. My guess is she had a few inches of dirt thrown all over her so she couldn't being "dead" be prematurely discovered. I expect she will have no trouble rising from the dead.

What has me intriqued is the preview where David has a gun to Jack's head and is begging Tony to shoot David. That is very unJack like unless Tony's cover has been blown. Jack would rather die than see the mission fail and as far as we know Tony still needs David. It looks like Jack might be trying to get Tony to prove his loyalty to David. Tony doesn't fire and David doesn't kill Jack leaving Tony's actions ambigous.

What I really hate about this season is that it is the first time in four years I have to watch the season spoiler free. There were two excellent 24 boards that in the past seasons usually kept me a bunch of hours ahead because the leaks and moles from 24 made CTU look like it had tight security. Now I have to speculate like everone else. Sigh! Although, I do know what Kim's role in the day's doings will be.

In fact the most fun I think I have ever had was the weekend before the season finale a few years ago. A mod on one of the boards started on Saturday with the number of people who would die among the main characters during the final two hours. Every few hours and then even faster on Sunday she'd post a picture of a charcter who would live. Most of the time there were over 1,000 members online just before the time she posted. Finally, around 8 or 9 Sunday night she posted a description of Jack's death. Bear in mind that TBTB, as Kiefer, had said many times that 24 could survive Jack's death and wouldn't hesitate to kill him if it made sense (although I never believed that) As soon as I saw it was Tony over the body I knew it was a scam. The next half hour or so was just hiliarous as everybody was posting at the sametime their shock and dismay that the few posts explaining the scam went mostly unnoticed. She finally posted the last two minutes ending with Jack walking into the sunrise. You really had to be there to understand how much fun it was.

[consigliere]

In fact the most fun I think I have ever had was the weekend before the season finale a few years ago. A mod on one of the boards started on Saturday with the number of people who would die among the main characters during the final two hours. Every few hours and then even faster on Sunday she'd post a picture of a charcter who would live. Most of the time there were over 1,000 members online just before the time she posted. Finally, around 8 or 9 Sunday night she posted a description of Jack's death. Bear in mind that TBTB, as Kiefer, had said many times that 24 could survive Jack's death and wouldn't hesitate to kill him if it made sense (although I never believed that) As soon as I saw it was Tony over the body I knew it was a scam. The next half hour or so was just hiliarous as everybody was posting at the sametime their shock and dismay that the few posts explaining the scam went mostly unnoticed. She finally posted the last two minutes ending with Jack walking into the sunrise. You really had to be there to understand how much fun it was.

Ah, the ending to Season 4...to me the best season in the history of 24.

[Stu]

silent countdown.

?????

you didnt watch?

silent clock at the end when jack buried her alive.

I don't bother paying attention to the clock anymore after read a very long discussion among posters who know and remember every small detail that ever happened. It is so bad there that one poster after the first two hours posted he remembered the seven local digits of the phone number from a few years ago but did anyone remember the area code. Sigh! In any event, they convinced me that a silent clock is not an indicator of life and death.

Renee, of course, was not buried to death. My guess is she had a few inches of dirt thrown all over her so she couldn't being "dead" be prematurely discovered. I expect she will have no trouble rising from the dead.

What has me intriqued is the preview where David has a gun to Jack's head and is begging Tony to shoot David. That is very unJack like unless Tony's cover has been blown. Jack would rather die than see the mission fail and as far as we know Tony still needs David. It looks like Jack might be trying to get Tony to prove his loyalty to David. Tony doesn't fire and David doesn't kill Jack leaving Tony's actions ambigous.

What I really hate about this season is that it is the first time in four years I have to watch the season spoiler free. There were two excellent 24 boards that in the past seasons usually kept me a bunch of hours ahead because the leaks and moles from 24 made CTU look like it had tight security. Now I have to speculate like everone else. Sigh! Although, I do know what Kim's role in the day's doings will be.

In fact the most fun I think I have ever had was the weekend before the season finale a few years ago. A mod on one of the boards started on Saturday with the number of people who would die among the main characters during the final two hours. Every few hours and then even faster on Sunday she'd post a picture of a charcter who would live. Most of the time there were over 1,000 members online just before the time she posted. Finally, around 8 or 9 Sunday night she posted a description of Jack's death. Bear in mind that TBTB, as Kiefer, had said many times that 24 could survive Jack's death and wouldn't hesitate to kill him if it made sense (although I never believed that) As soon as I saw it was Tony over the body I knew it was a scam. The next half hour or so was just hiliarous as everybody was posting at the sametime their shock and dismay that the few posts explaining the scam went mostly unnoticed. She finally posted the last two minutes ending with Jack walking into the sunrise. You really had to be there to understand how much fun it was.

Why would you want to read spoilers? It'd completely ruin 24. I used to read posts after the show aired on TV forums and even that bugged me because it turned out to be nothing but people nitpicking small details and complaining. It ruins shows.

This place ain't bad because after 5 hours of 24, we are still on page 1 of posts. Good, but limited discussion.

The only time the silent clock has been used without a death has been with Palmer, Jack at the end of season 6, and the end of redemption. The best part about hour 5 was the ending and if it would be ruined if she turns out to be ok.

[Jennifer]

The only time the silent clock has been used without a death has been with Palmer, Jack at the end of season 6, and the end of redemption. The best part about hour 5 was the ending and if it would be ruined if she turns out to be ok.

True but the issue was whether a silent clock meant that a deceased was really dead or not as I recall.

I'd be shocked if Renee was really dead. The storyline this year started with the Senate hearings and CTU's in general and Jack's in particular using unlawful interrogation methods. Enter a by the book FBI agent who thinks torture is never appropriate. Confronted with a situation like the one Jack's been confronted with she slowly evolves. She starts withholding information from her boss and then ignoring a direct order from him. Slowly she is transforming into "Jackie." I've thought since the first hour her main purpose was to end the day seeing who Jack really is. Her knowlege at this point is still incomplete. As Adrian Monk would say "I could be wrong now but I don't think so."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rwz24jB9 ... re=related

[htown_dawg]

So, I'm watching the courtroom scene between Tom Cruise and Keifer Sutherland in A Few Good Men.

All I can think is that Jack Bauer would kick Tom Cruise's Scientologist arse without breaking a sweat.

[consigliere]

Gotta say, the scene when Samantha bought it was pretty intense. I felt up until she got knifed a few times she was going to get out of the predicament and be the one who save the FOM. Of course, he got out of it, but now its gonna look like he went beserk and whacked both Samantha and Agent Brian.

I'm perplexed with Tony. What was that whole Emerson/Tony exchange about? They setting up a turn of Tony down the line?

I get the whole CIP thing may be a little absurd, but this does bring up an interesting debate on how you deal with terrorists. Do you not give into blackmail as Allison Taylor is standing behind, or do you at some point have to compromise as her cabinet is suggesting?

Agent Walker lives! What are the odds that her and Jack hook up by the end of the show? That would be, what, like his 5th love interest on the show (Terry, Audrey, the chick from Season 2 I can't remember, and the Latino gal from Season 3).