Watching 24

Hey everyone! So, I promised you some scoop on what Colm Feore is up now. It’s some pretty exciting stuff (for theatre fans at least). He has been officially cast as MacBeth in a production of the famous play. The performances run from June 1st to October 31st as part of the Statford Shakespeare Festival. If you’re going to be in Canada during that dates, you can get more information about the show by going to the Festival’s website.

I’m sure most people know about this play. It’s one of the more famous works about ambition taken way too far when a murder is committed so someone else can assume the position as ruler. Colm was quoted in a story about his appearance as saying this is a part you have to wait years and play every other type of part out there first before you can actually tackle it properly and he thinks now is the time for him to give it a shot. Congrats to him- I’m sure he’ll go a great job! Hopefully there will be clips posted somewhere for those of us who are unable to go. And if you are lucky enough? I hope you know we all expect a full report on the experience.

Here’s a funny coincidence for y’all. According to the cast listing, Geraint Wyn Davies is going to be playing Ducan. You might remember him as the vampire detective (no, not that one!) Nick Knight on the Canadian series Forever Knight. So… do you know why this is a coincidence? If you do post your answer in the comments and let’s see who can get it right! If you don’t…. don’t worry! I’ll have the answer tomorrow in another post.

I leave you with a little MacBeth clip thanks to ShakespeareandMore:

Wow… it’s hard to believe that we’re here. The final countdown! Thanks, Aaron for a fun and entertaining feature idea! And now… to see where they ranked after the finale…

Jack Bauer (639)

Doing what he has to do for now to help Kim (and being pretty dang cool about it compared to how he used to do this. He actually explains himself upfront and doesn’t just instantly knock Renee out) +7

Managing to take down bad guys and make a pretty good attempt at an escape after being subjected to a spinal tap. +10

Using the guilt card against Tony -3

Having the Imam come back to talk and ask forgiveness in the hospital. +5

FINAL: 658

Tony Almeida (308)

Recapturing Jack Bauer (something not that easy to do) +8

Planning to blow up Jack to get revenge on Wilson -4

Managing to play pretty much everyone at one point or another with no one being the wiser +7

Doing a typical bad guy rant instead of just offing his prey and running -5

FINAL: 314

Renee Walker (630)

Getting the message to Kim (hey, it isn’t her fault Kim loused that up with her lame cover story about the toothbrush) +4

Disarming the bomb +7

Turning over to the ‘dark side’ and doing whatever she was intending to do to Wilson. + 7

FINAL: 644

President Taylor 353

Refusing to cover up Olivia’s role in the Hodges murder +8

Getting right back to doing her job (I’d be ready to crawl into a hole and hide for awhile after a day like this with no sleep) +3

FINAL: 364

Olivia Taylor (158)

Looking way too suspicious during her chat with the Justice Department -4

Not making sure that the data card she had was the right one (this one is just inexcusable) -10

Spending the episode whining and freaking out over her guilt and then being a petulant child when she finds out mommy won’t make it all go away -4

FINAL: 140

Hello again!! Looks like Kiefer (and fans of the show) might just have some good news today. I’m sure y’all remember that Kiefer was involved in a fight a little bit back when a fashion designer accidently knocked into Brooke Shields. He’s due in court at the end of June over the assault charges. Well, there was a new development that may just change things in Kiefer’s favor.

It seems that Jack McCollough (the designer in question) and Kiefer have talked things out and have released a joint statement together talking about Kiefer’s regret about what happened as well as well wishes from both sides. Kiefer also reportedly apologized on a talk show last night as well. This might just mean a dismissal of all charges, which could save a whole lot of trouble considering that Kiefer is already on probation. We’ll see how that all turns out and I’ll let you know when any new information comes along.

So, how many of you are following this story? Do you have any opinions about what happened and what should be done about it? Be sure to comment and let us all know about it. I guess that’s about it for today. Take care guys!! I’ll see y’all again Monday with the season finale countdown and some news on what Colm Feore (Henry Taylor) is up to now. I also plan to have some best/worst season wrap up stuff over the rest of this week as well. Have a great rest of the weekend!

Sorry for my absence yesterday. It was my birthday and I didn’t get a chance to get online and post anything. Anyway… Since this week will be the first Monday without a new episode, I’m posting the countdown on Monday and I have what seems to be some good 24 news for you a little bit later. First, though? I wanted to take this post to say a huge thank you.

This has been a lot of fun getting to post on 24 this season. I have enjoyed every minute of it, especially reading the comments from you guys. I love reading different opinions on the show and my take on it. Sometimes, you’ve changed my mind on a couple things. Anyway… I’m glad you stuck it out and enjoyed the posts (especially the countdown and school house) and I plan to keep em coming when the new season airs. I hope you’ll keep visiting the blog during this off time, because I don’t plan to stop just because the season did!!

There’s going to be more news on the actors and their projects, recaps/reviews of stuff they’re in, spoilers (when they’re released) and I’m even planning to do school houses for some of the older episodes and other stuff. If you guys have anything you’d like to see done on the blog, let me know. Enjoy and let the countdown to season 8 begin! I’m out of here for now, but I leave you with a youtube video by pyram1dhead that sums up Jack’s kill count for ya. If you go here, you can see a season by season run down of it as well other stats for each season.

UK Version of the 24 DVD. Image courtesy of http://www.freewebs.com/24uk/seasonseven.htm (show em some love, would you?)

I have learned that Kim Bauer can actually do something smart and very useful. To top it off? She doesn’t always have to get taken hostage!

I’ve learned that the medical wishes of a patient who was in his right mind at the time he made his wishes known can be overridden by his daughter later on.

I learned that killing a guy’s wife in one thing. Killing his unborn child, too? Now, that one is going to cost you! (Not to mention the rest of the country)

Evil guys are apparently magicians. They can quickly put together a plan involving laptop cameras, and taking a woman who’s plane has been delayed hostage while patching into her father’s com device all to rescue a fellow baddy who has been captured only a short time ago. Well, either that or coincidences are rampant in the 24-verse.

Renee Walker has had enough and she ain’t gonna take it anymore!

Janis is clearly either crazy or stupid. Why else would she argue with a clearly on edge agent who has taken to the Jack Bauer method of doing things? If we don’t see her anymore, I’m guessing she wised up and asked for a transfer. Or early retirement…

A sneaky temp CoS is no match for an ex-CoS and a retired Secret Service agent.

Before you destroy the supposed evidence of your wrong-doing, it’s a good idea to listen to it first to make sure it hasn’t been switched on you.

Kiefer and FOX Chairman Peter Rice at the 2009 Upfront.

Apparently, some people are hinting at the fact that 24 might, in fact, continue beyond season 8. The only thing is, it may be revamped quite a bit. As in, practically a different show. I remember when the season 1 finale aired there was some talk about possibly continuing with new characters or having the actors play different characters in a new situation.

Personally, I’d kinda love that idea. I think 24 has so much potential that’s being limited due to them trying to stick with ever-escalating terrorists threats involving big bombs and the government. Let’s face it… they have really been pushing this whole setup. An attack on the White House? How can you really top that? Have an alien invasion? There are so many other things that could be done as well. Some fans have thrown around a couple of ideas, such as busting a human trafficking ring or a drug cartel or something similar.

So what do you guys think? Would you like to see 24 end with season 8 as planned? Would you like them to play with the show’s format and find a new situation to keep it going? Post your comments below and let’s chat about it!

It figures. 22 episodes down and only two more to go and what happens? A storm screws up my TV reception so I can’t really see some of the episode. Good thing the DVD comes out today! Now I just have to find it somewhere. The Target I visited this morning already had rain checks sitting where the DVDs should be. Anyway… I did get to see most of it and will get posts out asap about the episode. For now? I wanna talk about some of my favorite moments from what I did see.

One of the most shocking moments for me came in what I believe was late in the episodes. Kim Bauer actually made a really smart and useful move! I admit, when I saw her run off after the man who was holding her hostage, I was expecting her to get killed or at least captured again. Instead, she stayed well out of sight and actually retrieved the laptop he was using so they could get information on the guy. She even remembers a lot of the tech babble from her CTU days. Good for her. This is a Kim I could enjoy watching again.

Tony- I’m torn. On the one hand the ‘you killed my son’ rant and the revelation he was just trying to get revenge against the bad guys was a little disappointing. I mean, really Tony! Have we learned nothing from cartoon villains? You never sit and go on a long rant when you should be shooting your enemy instead. Still- it was nice to see them go a different way and have Tony survive after all. And really? He could not have possibly been ‘good’. Not after taking down two airplanes full of people, smothering Larry and blowing up some FBI agents. Nice to see the writers didn’t try and make him out to be anything more than the selfish, broken guy he was.

President Taylor and Family was great. I really enjoyed Cherry and Sprauge this year and I thought the writers ended that really well. Yes, she’s a mother but she’s also President and as much as it sucks for her, she had to let the justice system deal with Olivia. At the same time, I got Henry’s feelings and, while I hate that he used emotional blackmail, I can’t hate on him for it. I think one of the best parts was seeing Taylor suck it up and get back to work after.

Can I just say again how much I have enjoyed Renee this year? She’s a great character played by a terrific actress. Lots more of her, please. It should be interesting to see where her character goes from here after clearly preparing to go full-on Jack Bauer of that guy’s ass.

Speaking of Jack… I would be perfectly happy if that stem cell treatment Kim insisted on towards the end doesn’t work. I think Jack’s scenes with Renee and the Imam and the debate he’s been dealing with this year were great and would have made a fitting end to his character. Sadly, this is 24, so Jack’s got to be back. I just hope that whatever they’d have in store next season would be as good and satisfying a send off as this would have been.

So now I wanna know what you guys think. Be sure to comment and let me know your thoughts on the finale and where you think things should go from here. Anyone you think has to return? Anyone you could live without? Take care and see ya next time!

So, who is ready for the season finale tonight? I know I am! Before we get to that, though (remember, it’s two hours tonight), I have something to share with you guys. Every now and then, you guys are cool enough to e-mail me to share some cool stuff you’ve found about the show or noticed. One of them was a reader named Ryan who clued me in on this 24 parody:

The video is by 12 episodes and shows what happens when an office gets just a little too in to the show. It’s pretty cool. I especially love the people who do the famous Jack yell. Another good moment is one of the people threatening their co-working with the photocopy machine. There’s also a nice little American Idol reference for all the fans of that show out there.

So what does everyone think? Did you like it? Was it missing something? Are you not a big fan of the parodies in general? Comment and let’s chat about it! By the way… I got another e-mail a little while back from Nil, who found something interesting. According to Nil, we’ve seen General Juma before- as a cop in season 3! How’s that for an ironic twist? So, I have a challenge for you guys. Can you come up with any other similar actor recycles? If you can, reply to this post with the actor’s name and what episodes they appeared in. Let’s see how many we can come up with! Take care and I’ll see y’all later on.

Warning- this post is going to be pretty spoilery for the finale and beyond and the info is according to E’s Kristin. If you don’t wanna know anything, I would skip this one. If you don’t wanna know, see y’all on Monday (which is the finale date. DVD comes out the next day). If you do? Follow me to the cut…. Read the rest of this entry »

Hey, guys! So, I’m back to share some of the lessons 24 has taught me this week. Feel free to add your own! I’d love to read them. See y’all next time.

I’ve learn that Tony Almeida knows Jack Bauer better than Jack knows himself.

I’ve learned that it is completely impossible for Kim Bauer to come anywhere near Jack without becoming a hostage/being in some other kind of danger.

I’ve learned that Renee is in charge- except when she gives Jack total control of everything.

I’ve learned never to trust a shady guy who helped you hire a hitman. He’ll always change the rules on you.

I’ve learned it is, in fact, possible to be a ‘regular guy’ dragged into a terror plot and not only play the hero, but survive too! (At least for now…)

I’ve learned that going to the bathroom is apparently a one way ticket to the death pool.

I’ve learned that you never try to pull one over on Agent Aaron Peirce. He’ll find you out.

I’ve learned that Janis is needier than a newborn kitten.

I’ve learned the terrorists know all and see all.

I’ve learned that it’s better to transfer funds to a hitman from your work computer when the Justice department is investigating the murder of a witness than to risk a hitman getting upset with you. It’s not like you’re under secret service protection or anything… (I still think her ‘friend’ has to be connected to the evil conspiracy somehow)

Once again, here’s the countdown for ya. Enjoy!! Let me know what you think and I’ll see y’all later. Thanks go to Aaron, as always.

Jack Bauer (639)

Giving Renee the option to leave the room before going all, well, Jack Bauer on the bad guy +3
Kicking Tony’s traitor ass +5
Helping Jibraan get the bio weapon +3
Getting the bomb contained in time +3

Gain/Loss: 14
New Score: 653

Renee Walker (630)

Officially completing her conversion to Jack 2.0 +3
Helping to find Tony +3
Essentially handing her job over to Jack over the past couple episodes -7

Gain/Loss: -1
New Score: 629

Chloe O’Brian (271)

Managing to patch Jack through to Jibraan’s earpiece +4
Not caring about strocking Janis’ ego +3
Getting out geeked by Janis again -4 (she said Tony’s computer info couldn’t be recovered, but Janis did it)

Gain/Loss: +3
New Score: 274

Tony Almeida (308)

Seeming to have almost everyone under his control +3
Failing to destroy the computer -4
Getting captured -3
Not being phased by the Jack beatdown +5
Giving a smug smile at the end +4 (you know he’s the one who set that whole Kim thing up)

Gain/Loss: +5
New Score: 313

Olivia Taylor (158)

Transfering the funds after all, thus giving even more rope for the Justice department to hang her with -5
Having conducted any of that ‘business’ in her white house office to begin with -4
Thinking a trained secret service agent like Aaron is dumb enough to fall for her lame excuses -3

Gain/Loss: -12
New Score: 146

Special Awards/Mentions:

The “Best Secret Service Agent Ever” and “Better Survive the Day” awards go to: Aaron Peirce.

The “fast thinking” award goes to Jibraan for pulling out the canister to get people to let him through when he was short on time.

Hello, everyone!! So, we’re getting down to the wire here. Only two more episodes left until the 7th worst day in Jack’s life ends. Let’s break it down, huh?

CTU/The FBI

So, Janis and Chloe spend some of the episode arguing (again) because Janis doesn’t like that Chloe seems to purposefully try and make Janis feel stupid. Personally, I don’t think Janis does that just fine on her own at times… Ah, well. At least they both got stuff done this time (Chloe decoding the information about Tony and Janis getting the info out of the damaged computer. I say the geek off is a draw for now. meanwhile, Jack’s condition is getting worse, but that doesn’t stop him from helping capture Tony (after beating the crap out of him). He’s even being allowed to drive cars still (Renee, you are either incredibly brave or incredibly stupid for that one). While all that is going on, Kim’s attempting to leave, but her flight has been delayed. While she’s letting her husband know about that, she notices she’s being tailed. After a little bit of this, she seeks out a nice couple to sit with and asks the woman to see if the guy is still watching her. The woman’s (Sarah) husband, Bob, offers to go to get some coffee for them. He instead follows the guy who was tailing Kim (an agent Jack asked to watch her) into the bathroom and kills him. When he returns, they train a webcam on Kim and fake!lawyer (Cara) calls Jack to let them know that they have Kim in their sights and if he doesn’t help Tony escape, they will kill her. He can’t tell anyone or do anything ‘funny’. Tony, who is in the same place with Jack at the time, gives him a smug look, obviously knowing what the call was about.

The White House

Olivia meets her with friend, who had told the assassin to go ahead with the hit after all. He tells Olivia she should’ve had her second thoughts sooner than she did and it’s time now to play cool and pay off the hit man. Olivia, being completely screwed, does as asked. When she returns to the White House, she is confronted by Aaron, who wants to know what’s going on. She shouldn’t be outside the White House, especially without any Secret Service protection. Plus, the Justice department is looking for the phone and e-mail records of all the people who knew about Hodges being alive. She plays cool as possible and tells him she just had to get some air and sort herself out after all the crazy events of the day. I guess Aaron didn’t really buy it, though, because he calls Ethan and asks if the recording device that Mike Novack had set up was still in the CoS office. Ethan tells him it is, but it requires Ethan’s thumb print and he’ll be there soon. Yeah- this is going to end well for her. I just hope Aaron doesn’t get taken down in some way as well.

The Bad Guys

So, Jibraan has been ordered to go to the subway, where Cara has placed a bomb with the bio weapon inside. At first, he tries to get help, but the transit cop he is sent to turns out to be one of the bad guys. He’s told that he’s always being watched and that if he tries anything else, his brother is dead. He happens to get on the same car with her and notices she looks familiar to him. He doesn’t know why, though, as Cara is disguised. Jibraan is later contacted via his ear piece by Jack (They discovered that Tony was trailing him after Janis retrieved info from Tony’s computer), who tells him that his brother is safe. Jibraan realizes then where he saw Cara and starts looking for the package she left. Jibraan finds it and rushes it to Jack and the Hazmat team where it is neutralized. He then leaves to give a statement to the authorities. Well, that’s it for now. Take care and I leave you with a little preview of next week, thanks to PokemanLuverr:

I’ve got some interviews for ya today, but first I wanna share a little preview of an episode of Law and Order: SVU that airs the 19th. Why that show? Well, Olivia Taylor (Sprauge Graydon) is appearing on it! Check it out below, thanks to the NBC website:

What do you think? Will you be tuning in? Comment and let me know.

I was also browsing the FOX site today and found a couple of interviews posted. The first is with Annie. The second is with Carlos and talks a little bit about the finale. Nothing too spoilery in it, though. Let me give you a quick rundown for those in a hurry. Annie’s interview talks about her background as a dancer and how it’s helped her with some of the stunts on 24, like having to swim in freezing waters after a 14 hour day on the set. She also takes about getting buried this season and how it was pretty scary because she had to be buried deep enough to allow Mary Lynn and James to dig her out. She also recalls how nerve-wracking the first day of filming was, because no one knew how she was going to work with Kiefer. They were also nervous about the possibility of her being unprepared for her scenes, something Kiefer apparently can’t stand.

Finally, Carlos talks a bit about some familiar stuff in his interview for the most part. For example, he talks about how Tony was supposed to come back sooner, but they could never come up with a good enough story. He reveals there’s going to be a really good fight scene involving him in the finale and talks about having trouble with the playstation 24 game. Well, that’s about it for now. Take care and I’ll see y’all tomorrow!!

Hey, guys! Stopping in with a little update on the Kiefer situation. Apparently, he surrendered to Police for questioning and he was charged with misdemeanor assault. He was then released pending a court date on the incident. The whole situation is slightly more complicated given that Kiefer is currently on probation over last year’s DUI incident. As more details come out about it, I’ll share them with you.

If you’re looking for 24 actors outside the show, you have two chances right now to see em. Dubaku is supposed to have a very small role in the new Wolverine movie, while several people from seasons 2 and 3 are appearing in the new Star Trek movie. Not enough? Well, keep an eye out for repeats of the May 4th episode of CSI Miami. She had a role as a single mother in it. And now…. I’ve got a little spoiler scoop being reported by Spoiler TV. Don’t go behind the cut if you don’t wanna know- it involves season 8. Read the rest of this entry »

Let’s see how they did this time, shall we? Let me know what you think and I’ll see y’all later. Thanks go to Aaron, as always.

Jack Bauer (639)

Being even more ragey than usual +3 (What? I love that growly yell)
Continuing to point out how he’s dying at least a couple times every episode -4
‘You have a better idea, tell me now’ +5 (I love it when people shut down Janis)
Being kind of an ass to the Imam after their mistake was discovered -4

Gain/Loss: 0
New Score: 639

Renee Walker (619)

Being one of the few truly great female characters to come around in awhile +4
Calming Jack when they were talking to the Imam +5
‘Move!! One the bed!!’ +6 (I love how convincing she is as a tough agent. Kudos to the actress)
Saying she’s in charge when she’s kinda letting Jack call most of the shots -4

Gain/Loss: +11
New Score: 630

Chloe O’Brian (258)

Getting Janis and Renee to spill the beans about Jack with a simple ‘tell me now’ +4
Spotting the problems with Tony’s groups supposed evidence against Jibraan +4
Once again being the superior (and much less argumentative) geek +5

Gain/Loss: 9
New Score: 267

President Taylor (353)

Not picking up on the fact Olivia made a pretty hasty get away after the news of Hodges death came out -4
Assuming that the white house is a ‘safe place’ to keep Henry after everything that’s happened -4
(then again, DC hospitals haven’t been too safe either. Perhaps moving him somewhere out of state would be a better move)

Gain/Loss: -8
New Score: 345

Jonas Hodges (191)

Whining about the loss of his name and company over and over -10 (Seriously… he got off SO easy with that)
Doing nothing else remotely worthy of points -2
Having been extremely entertaining +4 (I’ll miss the character)

Gain/Loss: -8
Final Score: 183

Tony Almeida (323)

Working with a group that’s apparently really bad at manufacturing evidence -6
Not being as convincing as he should of when telling Jibraan’s brother he’s a terrorist -4
Planning an attack for a time of day that would likely not be too busy -5

Gain/Loss: -15
New Score: 308

Olivia Taylor (167)

Backing out of the assassination attempt +5
Seeming to go out of her way to look as guilty as possible -6
Talking about the plot to kill Hodges over a cell phone of all things -4
Being a really crappy CoS -4

Gain/Loss: -9
New Score: 158