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1. The big-screen 24 movie that the show’s producers have planned for several years is on hold indefinitely. It has been replaced by the two-hour TV movie — 24: Redemption — that airs Nov. 23.
2. The movie sets up the storyline for the show’s seventh season, which premieres across two nights, on Fox Jan. 12 and 13.
3. Season 7 was postponed for an entire year because of the Writers Guild of America strike. The season was originally scheduled to premiere on Jan. 13, 2008.
4. 24: Redemption is set roughly three years after the action of 24 season six. Jack Bauer, wanted by the U.S. government for questioning about all his save-the-world actions, is working as a missionary in South Africa. As always, just as he’s trying to work out his personal issues, he’s called upon to play hero — this time for a school of African children who are going to be kidnapped by an evil warlord who wants to turn them into soldiers for his government coup.
5. The movie, which was filmed on location in Cape Town, South Africa, will be released in a special “creator’s cut” DVD on Nov. 25. In addition to 10 extra minutes of footage and cast commentary, it also includes the first 16 minutes of the season seven premiere.
6. 24: Redemption introduces viewers to a new President of the United States: Allison Taylor. Tony Award-winning actress Cherry Jones (right) plays the first female POTUS.
7. President Taylor’s husband, known as the First Gentleman, is Henry Taylor, and he’s played by Changeling star Colm Feore.
8. Also in the cast: Ally McBeal star Gil Bellows as Frank Tramell, a U.S. government official who tracks Jack down in Africa; Robert Carlyle, The Full Monty star and personal friend of Kiefer Sutherland, as Carl Benton, a former colleague of Jack’s who runs the African school for rescued child soldiers; Powers Boothe and Peter MacNicol reprising their season six roles as outgoing President Noah Daniels and Daniels’ administration member Tom Lennox; and Jon Voight as Jonas Hodges, an American baddie who’s secretly funding a genocidal African rebel leader’s coup of his own government.
9. In season seven, there is no Counter Terrorism Unit, or CTU, Jack’s old employer. After the actions of season six, CTU was disbanded by the government and the FBI is now covering CTU’s responsibilities.
10. And the rumors are true: Tony Almeida is alive! Jack’s most trusted former CTU cohort appeared to die in Jack’s arms in season five, after being stabbed in the chest with a pain-inducing drug. But still kicking and causing headaches for his former government employers in the season seven premiere.
KEEP READING: Tony’s back? …
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11. 24 producers are mum on whether Tony (Carlos Bernard, left) will be a baddie throughout the season, but a scene in the season 7 trailer shows Jack shoving Tony against a wall and telling him, “So help me God, I will kill you, and you will stay dead this time!”
12. When last we saw Jack Bauer in the season six finale, he was standing near a cliff and staring off somberly after a day/season that saw him yet again save the country from doom (war with Russia in this instance), deal with the deaths of his duplicitous father and brother and have to leave his girlfriend, Audrey Raines, who’d been tortured and drugged into a catatonic state.
13. Season 7’s real-time action will begin at 7 a.m.
14. The action of season 7 moves from Los Angeles, where seasons one through six took place, to Washington, D.C., where Jack will be forced by an official gathering of U.S. government officials to defend his actions — including various methods of torture — during his self-sacrificing, save-the-world adventures.
15. Jack is called back into heroic action when the government’s computer infrastructure is threatened, leading to a major security breach.
16. Sutherland tells TV Guide, “It’s great to be back in Jack’s shoes. When the s— hits the fan, nobody reacts stronger or faster than he does, and I think there’s a lesson in that for all of us. As fearful as things get, there’s power in taking action and protecting what you believe in, and there’s a lot coming up that Jack has got to protect.”
17. 24: Redemption only hints at just how sinister Jon Voight‘s (right) Jonas Hodges will prove to be throughout season seven. Says Sutherland, “Jon shows up early on and the minute you see him, you know he’s one of the scarier villains we’ve ever had on 24.”
18. Other stars confirmed for season seven: General Hospital star Annie Wersching as FBI agent Renee Walker, who partners with Jack; Janeane Garofalo as FBI agent Janis Gold; and Mary Lynn Rajskub and James Morrison as Jack’s former CTU cohorts Chloe O’Brian and Bill Buchanan.
19. Morrison, by the way, may have the magic cure for Jack Bauer’s repeated 24-hour cycles of stress: Morrison moonlights as a yoga instructor at Los Angeles’ Center for Yoga.
20. 24 has earned star Kiefer Sutherland an Emmy, Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild award.
KEEP READING: John McCain? …
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21. The show is the actor’s first hit TV series, but he also starred in the failed 2000 pilot for a boob tube adaptation of the Oscar-winning big-screen flick L.A. Confidential.
22. Republican presidential contender and 24 fan John McCain (left) made an uncredited guest appearance on 24 during season five’s “1:00-2:00 PM” episode. He had no lines but popped up in a scene in which his character delivered a file folder to Audrey Raines.
23. Bart Simpson also made a 24 guest appearance. Rather, the voice of Bart Simpson, Nancy Cartwright, who played Morris O’Brian’s AA sponsor in season six’s “4:00-5:00 PM” installment.
24. Kiefer Sutherland, meanwhile, has lent his voice to two Simpsons episodes, including a 24 spoof installment in which his Jack Bauer helped Bart and Lisa stop bullies from setting off a stink bomb at the Springfield Elementary bake sale.
25. Among the unanswered questions 24 fans have been left with: Is baddie President Charles Logan really dead (his wife, Martha, appeared to kill him in season 6)? What happened to Behrooz Araz, the season 4 teen who had to turn against his terrorist father? And is Wayne Palmer (Dennis Haysbert, see above), the second African-American President in 24 land, still in a coma? That was his status when he was last mentioned in season 6.
26. According to the 24 Wiki, Jack Bauer has killed 184 people throughout the first six seasons of the show.
27. Can’t imagine Jack Bauer as a college student? He was … the character’s official background lists him as having a Bachelor’s Degree in English Literature from UCLA and a Master’s Degree in Criminology and Law from UC Berkeley.
28. Jack’s background also includes the U.S. Army, where he was a member of the Delta Force elite, and stints with the Los Angeles Police Department and the CIA, before he joined the Counter-Terrorist Unit.
29. Among the personal traumas Jack has faced throughout six seasons of putting his country before his personal interests: the kidnapping of his wife and daughter by a warlord; the murder of his wife by his CTU cohort, who Jack had an affair with; estrangement from his daughter; a heroin addiction he acquired while going undercover to bring down a Mexican drug lord; having to execute CTU exec Ryan Chappelle; having to chop his partner’s hand off with an ax to detach him from a bomb; having to fake his death and go on the lam to avoid being captured by the Chinese or killed by the U.S. government; the deaths of his friends Michelle, (allegedly) Tony and David Palmer; being captured and imprisoned by the Chinese; being tortured on numerous occasions; having to kill CTU cohort Curtis Manning; the deaths of his baddie brother and father; another estrangement from daughter Kim; and admitting girlfriend Audrey is safer without him in her life.
30. Kiefer Sutherland says he took the role of Bauer because it was a nice payday, but he didn’t think he’d work past the pilot, because he thought the show was too clever to get picked up.
KEEP READING: “Damn it!” …
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31. Because of the show’s real-time concept, where each season covers one day in the life of Jack Bauer, continuity from one episode to the next is a major concern. Because of that, the wardrobe crew keeps six pieces of every article of clothing worn by the characters, the actors trim their hair every five days and the production staffers monitor the sweat (a spritzed mix of water and glycerin) on characters’ faces during action scenes to make sure it’s consistent.
32. Jack Bauer’s cell phone number has been revealed in several episodes of the show as 310-597-3781. That’s the actual number of a 24 production crew cell phone, and fans who’ve dialed the number have reported talking to cast members Carlos Bernard, Kim Raver and Mary Lynn Rajskub (left).
33. Jack’s cell phone has also inspired a cheeky MySpace page, in which the phone is friends with Chloe’s laptop, Jack’s cool special ops watch and Secret Service Agent Aaron Pierce.
34. Sutherland and Glenn Morshower (as Pierce) are the only two actors who have appeared in all of the first six seasons.
35. Sutherland is committed to 24 as an actor and producer through season 8.
36. 24 has led to at least one marriage. Actress Sarah Clarke, who played Jack’s former lover and traitorous CTU partner Nina, met actor Xander Berkeley, who played CTU head George Mason, on the set during season one and were married in real life by the time Nina reappeared in season two.
37. Jack Bauer has inspired a drinking game. As Kiefer Kiefer Sutherland explained to Jay Leno in a Tonight Show appearance, college students are particularly fond of Jack’s trademark curse “Damn it!” and often play a game where they chug a beer or down a shot whenever he says it. Kiefer Sutherland also admitted that sometimes, he throws a few extra “Damn it”s into an episode, just for the fun of it.
38. Jack’s other famous quote: “I’m gonna need a hacksaw,” uttered in season 2, when he had to cut the head off an informant and present it to a gang he was trying to infiltrate while undercover.
39. Jack Bauer’s bravery has also led to a fan-generated list of Chuck Norris-ish “facts” about what a tough guy the 24 hero is. Sample: “Superman wears Jack Bauer pajamas.”
40. Among the 24-themed goodies fans can buy: custom Jack Bauer iPods, playing cards, I Heart Jack Bauer t-shirts, Jack Bauer action figures, 24 comic books, Jack Bauer postage stamps, a 24 Playstation 2 videogame and an official 24 magazine.
