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RSSIt's the 7th season of '24' and I feel good
I'm writing this column from the 102nd floor in the northwest corridor of my willing suspension of disbelief.
That's because even though my suspension of disbelief is at an all time high this season (really four people can take on government corruption and a maniacal terrorist plot?), I'm cautiously optimistic about this season of 24. I'm feeling so good about the show that not even the rumor that we'll see Jack's daughter Kimberly (Elisha Cuthbert) this season alarms me. (Plus I kind of feel it is off set by having Sprague Grayden play the President's daughter). Let's discuss.
1. I love, love, love Cherry Jones as President Allison Taylor. I'm going to go ahead and declare her to be the best good President the show has had since Dennis Haysbert (with Charles Logan, of course, being the best bad President). There's something so relatable and believable about her. And she's a nice calming presence on the show.
2. I really like Renee Walker (Annie Wersching). Except for Chloe, the show has often struggled to come up with solid and interesting female characters who aren't evil. If Renee turns out to be this season's traitor, I'll be devastated. However, right now I'm more worried that she won't live to see the end of the season. Also I'm wondering if anyone would like to place a bet about when Renee and Jack kiss. I say it happens by episode 14.
3. Actually I don't think I need to worry too much about Renee, because my money is on the President's Chief of Staff Ethan Kanin as this year's big surprise bad guy. Also I'm thinking Sean is a bad guy too but that might just be because I find him highly annoying.
4. I'm not going to lie to you, I'm worried about Tony (Carlos Bernard). I see him going rogue in the near future.
5. I'm kind of excited for a Chloe/Janis showdown that will be happening on Feb. 16.
How are you feeling about this season of 24? Are you cautiously optimistic that this season will be better than last season? Who do you think this season's big surprise bad guy will be? When will Jack and Renee kiss? Talk about it below.
Where Have I Seen Them Before?
Did you recognize Darrell Hammond of Saturday Night Live as the eerily calm bad guy on Damages. He was the one at the end of the episode who told Daniel Purcell to memorize the face of the man who was about to be framed for his wife's murder.
Alan recognized Maggie Siff who turned out to be the lieutenant's daughter on Life on Mars. Siff is Tara on Sons of Anarchy and was Rachel Menken on Mad Men. Vincent Curatola, Johnny Sack on The Sopranos, was the rival lieutenant.
Alan also recognized Chandra West as the woman who accidentally killed herself on Eleventh Hour. She was Tina on John from Cincinnati, John's girlfriend Dr. Jennifer Devlin on NYPD Blue and is currently playing Naomi's dad's girlfriend on 90210.
Kurt recognized Raphael Sbarge as the cancer researcher on Eleventh Hour. There's not a show Sbarge hasn't guest starred in but I remember him most as the doomed Ray Wallace in season six of 24 (remember his son was inadvertently friends with a terrorist) and Kurt always remembers him as Jake on The Guardian.
Kindra recognized Bruce Thomas, Stephen Trager on Kyle XY, as the doctor doling out lethal injections on Eleventh Hour. And what have I learned from all of this? So many of you are watching Eleventh Hour. Who knew?
Rachel caught Christopher Wiehl as the evil football player on Psych. Wiehl was Roger on Jericho, Derek on Playmakers, Jake on Love Monkey and Rachel will always remember him as Owen from the "Never Kill a Boy on the First Date" episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Kristin recognized Tom Irwin as the lawyer who came to Kate's door questioning who Aaron's mother really is on Lost. He also was the doomed and heroic plant manager on this week's 24. Irwin is Father John on Saving Grace and Graham Chase on My So-Called Life.
Frank Whaley was the fake FBI agent on CSI. Whaley was Christopher Wey on The Dead Zone and I'll always remember him from the movie Swimming with Sharks (a great rental if you've never seen it). Paula Malcomson was his fake FBI partner. She was Jerri on John from Cincinnati, Trixie on Deadwood, Meg (Sarah's mom) on ER, and Colleen (the Other Sun shot) on Lost.
Some Fun Links
The second season of Reaper will begin sooner than we thought. The show returns to the CW schedule on March 3. Catch a peek here. Also this scheduling change moves the season finale of Privileged to Feb. 24.
You can get an early look at tomorrow's episode of Supernatural by clicking here. The show is in repeats until March 5 after this week.
And if are looking for Valentine's Day greetings that are a little different check out www.FridayNightLove.com which features characters from Flashpoint and Numb3rs.
That's all for today. I'm back on Friday with quotes of the week and thoughts on Gossip Girl, Secret Life, 90210 and much more. Have a question? Seen a familiar face? Want to nominate a topic for discussion? Write me at amytvgal@zap2it.com. Talk to you on Friday.
Zap2it Twitter Talk 
Yeah! Reaper is coming back early! Thanks for letting us know so I can go ahead and program my dvr :)
PS - Amy, on a completely unrelated topic, have you heard anything about how the folks at NBC are feeling about the FNL ratings? Is there any possibility of a season 4?
Can't wait for Reaper!
@katie71483: I'm not Amy, but I have heard that NBC is feeling good about FNL's chances. http://popculturecurmudgeon.blogspot.com/2009/01/friday-night-lights-looks-good-for.html
looks-good-for.html
The current season of 24 is bugging me. I really liked the evil Secret Service guy that was with the First Gentleman, but then he got killed off...by being choked to death...by a paralyzed man? (Sorry, he had the use of his hand. So, a Secret Service officer can be taken out by the one hand of a civilian? No wonder Jack is the only one that can save the day.) And then there's the FBI field office that is beginning to play out like an episode of "The Office," with protocol being called everywhere. And say what you want about Sean, when Janis is looking for the number of a florist and Moss is crying about his lost love, Sean is the only one with the "Hey! National crisis, people!" rationale.
And don't get me started on Dubaku and his girlfriend...What?
Thanks, Jen!
any idea why the would move Supernatural during Feb Sweeps? That doesn't seem like a good sign.
The Supernatural link didn't work for me.
Does anyone know why we are only getting one new episode during February sweeps?
I have a question if February is sweeps month why are all my favorite WB shows in repeat next week?
Because of the digital tv conversion that may or may not happen this month, sweeps are being postponed until March.