Well, it looked for a moment like Jack Bauer had his own Scooby gang. Yusef Auda, the brave outsider, Johnathan Wallace, the ballsy tough guy, and Kate Warner, the ditzy girlie. Jack brought them all together and they fought the baddies and won out, against all odds. Chances are that Bauer would have gone on for the next few hours gathering together all of Los Angeles' freaks and weirdos until he had enough manpower to take on Vice President Prescott's evil cabal.
And then they had to go and ruin it by killing off Wallace. It was so obvious that the chip would be inside him. I've seen this done in a hundred movies before. It's almost as if the writers are relying on your ignorance of the old classics to make you think that '24' is the most original story ever written. Sort of like plagiarism, or Gareth Gates' cover versions, or something.
I was most amazed by Michelle Dessler carrying her phone into the 'restroom' to sneakily phone Jack from a cubicle. It was like a re-run of the bit in the first season where Jamie contacts Drazen. And, yet again, Tony was there when the call finished to catch her out. He really should stop hanging around the ladies' toilets.
Anyway, for a change, nobody had a good hour - except Kim, who managed to find out that her Dad isn't dead. Miguel even managed to keep his bad news - that he's lost a leg - from her.
I don't know about you, but considering that Kim's storyline is all wrapped up now, is this the last we'll see of her? Much like how Nina Myers and Sheri Palmer both disappeared mid-series and are both looking increasingly unlikely to turn up again? And whatever happened to Kate's dad, Bob Warner? And Marie Warner? And, my personal favourite, Gary Matheson? Eh? Someone's got some explaining to do.
And speaking of Gary Matheson, the sheriff who Kim speaks to at the police department tells her that he was seen killing his wife, and that they have a witness. I mean, huh? Who on earth kills their wife in front of someone else? That's the one part of this episode that I understand the least. I just don't get it. Is Gary Matheson - gnk - failable? Just a mere mortal? Someone who might be so dim that he'd get caught committing murder and thus might not be criminal mastermind behind the whole plot that I had him down for?
Gosh. Looks like I've got some re-evaluating to do.
The character who comes off worst from this episode has to be President Palmer. It's almost like he's cracking up under the strain. The part near the end of the show where he focused purely on the small middle-eastern boy killed by the National Guard troops showed astounding lack of concentration. No real life President could surely give so little attention to what his close staff were telling him. Mike Novick and Lynne Kresge are trying to restore order in a nation of 250 million, and Palmer's upset because some kid died and no-one bothered to find out his name. Talk about focusing just on the macro - he needs to expand his horizons, somewhat. My advice? Get back on Air Force One and take a holiday, Mr President.
I guessed that the chip would be in Wallace's stomach as soon as he said 'inside... urrrgh', and died. I was shouting 'Look up at the wall, Jack, you dumb fuck!' at the TV when Bauer put his head in his hands right in front of the x-rays. Sometimes, I'm just too clever for words.
06.27 | "The following takes place in the year after the California Presidential Primary"
"The 7 DVD set of '24' season two features 45 deleted scenes, cast and crew commentaries, three behind the scenes documentaries and cast and crew commentaries including Kiefer Sutherland and director Joel Surnow."
Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment have announced season two of '24' for release 11th August 2003 priced at £49.99. It'll be available the day after the season's finale on BBC2 (and well before the US release). You can see more information on release at the excellent R2 Project site.
Extras on the disk will be:
45 Deleted scenes which can be viewed independently, with or without commentaries, or branched into episodes
Two part documentary '24 Exposed', totalling 96 minutes
Featurette 'On the Button -The Destruction of CTU'
Episode commentaries from cast and crew including Kiefer Sutherland, Dennis Haysbert, Sarah Wynter, Sarah Clarke, Xander Berkeley, Penny Johnson Jerald, Michelle Forbes, Joel Surnow, Bob Cochran, Jon Casser and Howard Gordon
Let's just hope that these aren't just the interviews taken from old episodes of 'Pure 24', though. I've got a feeling that some of them will be.
Sarah Wynter, who plays Kate Warner, has been chosen as 'the face' of Australian clothing label Country Road's spring-summer collection. So the Australian Daily Telegraph interviewed her about clothes and stuff.
06.23 | "She gives no indication of knowing what she's talking about"
"I've already ranted and raved on the BBC messageboard about just why Tamsin Sylvester should be frogmarched from the Pure 24 "studios" and sent back to simpering about clothes on Liquid News or whatever else she does normally."
Another weblogger lays into 'Pure 24'. Still, this David Wilson, the Criminal Justice professor who was on the show last night, was pretty entertaining. I vote that he gets to be a guest on the final show, sitting alongside Charlie Brooker.
Huh. Is Jack Bauer thick, or what? He must be - surely even Kate Warner can work out that the country's going to war without Jack having to explain it to her? And if Jack's so thick, how did he get to be so effortlessly cool?
President Palmer disembarks from Air Force One, which means we get to see the Division offices. It's a great set, all gun-metal grey and widescreen plasma TVs. Essentially, it's the CTU corridor, painted different. He chats to the Chiefs of Staff, tries to avert a war, yada yada yada. He probably does this kind of thing every day.
But, hey, the exciting sub plot of the liquor store hold-up came to and end way too soon! I was really loving the whole Kim standing around looking scared whilst dull stereotype (and worst character on '24' ever) picks up phones, points guns around and shouts at people about his terrible wife. The only way that'd turn out to be of any point to the plot whatsoever is if it turns out that this Garcia chap is Palmer's Vice President, or something.
Which he ain't, because Jim fucking Robinson from 'Neighbours' is. I mean, huh?
Jack is so thick during this hour that he manages to get himself followed to some secret rendezvous point. That's hardly the way to go if you want to find the only man capable of stopping the war. Still, he was lucky - it was only this weak-assed Yusef Auda bloke. Yusef seemed at first to be the only baddie so suspicious that he must be a goodie, and now he's the only goodie so keen and alert that he must be a baddie. So which is it?
And if the security guy locked down the CTU parking lot after Jack escaped with Kate, how did Yusef manage to drive after them? Surely he would have been stopped from leaving the building?
Tony Almeida gets Carrie to do some of the worst computer hacking since Trinity blew up a power plant in 'The Matrix Reloaded' using a DOS screen. Looks like this special 'CTU-OS' has a built-in sneeky snooper's monitoring routine. I think you activate it by pressing shift-escape, or something.
The best bits of this week's show come at the end. Jack seemingly is selling out Kate Warner, by bundling her into the boot of a car so she can go catch a plane with an evil killer. If you're clever, you might have noticed the simultanous juxtaposition with Mike Novick and Lynne Kresge preparing to sell out the President. Shocking stuff, eh? And then came the unexpected 'oh no, we're under attack' sniper fire - which is a trick that the writers haven't used in, ooh, an episode and a half.
All in all, a good hour that takes us back to the '24' of the first season - dark, lots of shooting and agents double crossing themselves every which way. None of this weddings, presidential retreats or nuclear bombs nonsense. Strange that this change in tempo coincides with the start of a new day, coming as it does with the '12AM - 1AM' episode.
More news from the '24' world:
Apparently, Kiefer Sutherland has started a 'relationship' with Angelina Jolie.
Yet another weblogger has had a scary dream about '24'.
Commentary on the morality of Jack Bauer sleeping with someone as old as his own daughter.
06.16 | VPs
If you're wondering where Palmer's Vice President is, here's a tip from his official website:
"President Palmer is traveling at his retreat in Oregon. Today he will give remarks to the National Wildlife Benefit, tour the Nike Campus, and give remarks to the University of Oregon Regents Committee. The Vice President will give remarks to the World Human Rights Summit in Washington, DC."
That'll explain why we haven't seen the Vice President, then. I'm just presuming that he does pop up at some point...
Boom. Mushroom cloud. Cue a minute or two of sentimental dross matched only by the crap dished out by BBC1's 'State Of Play' earlier in the evening. Man, I could strangle those MP and journalist dudes, but not before telling them just how inferior to the President of the USA and Jack Bauer that they really are.
Anyway, Yusuf Auda begins by pissing off Tony Almeida. Like I said last week, this Auda guy is so bad that he must be good.
Jack gets rescued within five minutes of the blast - amazing, isn't it? Wouldn't the helicopter have been blown up by the the nuclear blast? Who knows, eh? Jack probably bought the chopper from the same place he got that black shirt, which survives plane crashes, being shot at and close bodily contact with Kate Warner, without even a button falling off.
Syed Ali gets a going over by Michelle Dessler, who - sixteen hours into the series - has now done her first useful job towards CTU's mission of saving the world. Still, for old times' sake, Jack later gives her the hard task of phoning up a policeman to see if any word's been heard from Kim.
Michelle also gives us this episode's first of the too-many-to-count mentions of America's favourite tourist camp, Guantanamo. I bet Palmer sends members of his staff there on holiday.
President Bush - sorry, Palmer - learns that it'll take eight hours for the first strikes against the middle east to take place. He then tells us that he'll address the nation in less than six hours - meaning that he'll be talking live to the American people at 5AM. Hmm, sounds crazy, but I guess that due to the time zone difference, this means 9AM New York time.
And - suddenly - Syed Ali is assassinated. The episode's master stroke. I wasn't expecting this, and I bet Ali wasn't, either. It leaves you thinking for half a hour that there's a second season mole inside CTU - else, how would the shooter know where Ali was? But, by the end of the hour, it's clear that the assassin was one of the 'coiled snake' gang. Whether it's the missing seventh member from the airfield, or the dodgy Colonel Samuels who had dealings with Roger Stanton - who knows?
The question is: why does he want Kate Warner? Is there any chance that Bob, her father, could be involved in this? Or has the plot moved on too far since his last appearance? After all, in real life, he'd be starring as the dodgy father in yet another drama series by now, right?
Sorry for all the questions I'm asking, but the only things this hour leaves clear is that Syed Ali's Cyprus recording is definitely fake, and, two, that he's definitely not going to Guantanamo, no matter how many times the actors namedrop it.
06.13 | "Actually, it is all kind of unreal. It's fiction. It's TV."
"Having too many plot twists would be like having too many genes; I don't know if that's possible. Our duty is to make those twists entertaining, and to make them at least feel organic to our story. If you take a step back and look at '24', it's all completely preposterous. It's all fiction. It's all crazy, crazy fiction. But the bottom line is, we want to do something that our fans enjoy, that our fans can chew on, that our fans can get into. That's the real point of this whole thing."
Story editor Virgil Williams is interviewed by tvguide.com. And don't worry, it doesn't reveal any part of the plot past Marie shooting Reza.
06.13 | Someone's ripped off 'Being John Malkovich'
"Being Jack Bauer will challenge presenter Natalie Casey to pack as much as Jack did into 24 solid hours. She will retrace his steps, visit all the key locations, and attempt to recreate a few of his more remarkable moments."
And they're looking for your suggestions. Looks like BBC3 will be showing a few 'special' programmes when the series end. I'm looking forward to seeing Tamzin Sylvester fawning over Kiefer Sutherland in the last episode of 'Pure 24'.
Much like BBC Radio One, BBC1's 'Match Of The Day' and numerous websites, NBC's 'Late Night With Conan O'Brien' chat show now has a '24' spoof. It's called '60', and each episode takes up one second of a minute. I don't get the joke, but you can watch it online and see if you can figure it out.
06.09 | Let's get an Emmy in honour of George Mason
"Actor Xander Berkeley dazzled the world with his amazing performance as the dying George Mason on Fox's television show, '24'. His performance is without a doubt worth of an Emmy for Best Supporting Actor. This petition is to show support for the year's best supporting actor."
After enjoying last night's episode, you must sign this petition. It's already got three times as many signatures as the one to get Miguel back into '24' that I wrote about the other week.
The Lonewhacko weblog has some photos up of Kiefer Sutherland shooting an episode of '24'. The pictures were taken in August 2002, ans they were taken during daylight, so I guess they're from shooting of one of the early episodes of the second season. If you look closely, you can see the van that Jack was driving around in when he was with Eddie Grant's gang - the people who blew up the CTU building.
Mike Novick tells the President that they will be able to witness the explosion from Air Force One. That's a nice touch. Palmer goes to the window facing east and sees nothing but some bady super-imposed special effects.
Jack, as always, is clever enough to land his parachute just outside of the bomb's blast radius. Just how does he do it, eh?
And what a coincidence. The bomb went off on the hour. That sole-remaining terrorist and Marie Warner the Barbie twin obviously did know how to put together and program a nuclear device accurately.
That's quite a cliff hanger. Now just where does the series go from here? Palmer obviously arrives in Los Angeles, and goes to press the flesh. Kim probably ends up getting picked up by the scary SUV woman again. Jack probably has a long walk back to civilisation, so no doubt he'll be back in the thick of the action within, say, the first five minutes of the next episode.
RIP George Mason. See you in 'U-Boat' with William H Macy.
Oh, cool. Tony Almeida gets to speak to the President. Palmer questions why Syed Ali would have taped his conversation, and Tony assumes that Ali would want proof in case one of these countries were to turn against him. Or, more likely, that it's planted information from NSA, or whatever government agency wants President Palmer to lay waste to the middle east. Then again, CTU still has Syed Ali in custody, so why don't they just ask him?
Jack's flying the plane? But he's comitted to season III?
Kim - don't trust the dodgy woman driving the SUV. Didn't you learn anything from the first series? Oh, and this woman 'understands'. By that, I'm sure she suspects that Kim's a murderer, or something. Which probably means that she is one herself, then.
I'm never getting into a stranger's car ever again. Especially not if it's an SUV.
Fifty-five minutes until the bomb explodes? What a surprise.
Looks like Kim's hitching a lift. From a fatter, greasier Miguel. Oh, she's blown it. What a surprise. Etc.
Palmer meets with new dodgy military character. There's plans for a war knocking around in the back rooms of Air Force One. It's nice to know that the next nine hours of plot will have a little something to fill them up. Palmer tells this crew-cutted thug that the military can not implement the plan without direct authorisation from him. As if that'll happen... I bet Sherrie's already on the case to press the red button...
Right. So this is the helpful place in the plot where the writers make Kate admit her love for Jack. All the while, I keep thinking that someone should be paying attention to Mason, and making sure that he's not stepping onto the plane... somehow I think that Jack makes it out of this alive, and that was a lovely final glance from Kate, there. Definitely something between those two, I'm sure.
Holy crap, Batfans. It's a suicide mission. This sounds like a call for George Mason, exit stage left. Or maybe Jack, if he's feeling up to it.
MASON! George turns up at the airfield... coughing... but I thought he was dead?
Maybe he'll vomit all over the bomb to defuse it.
Jack says "Is there a problem?". You would have thought he would have learnt not to ask that - there's always a problem.
No way to disarm the bomb? You're in an airfield, Jack - fly it out of LA. Somehow I think the city will survive the next nine hours.
Looks awfully like George is trying to find a way onto the plane... I wonder if he'll manage it, especially in his condition. He's falling further apart by the minute. I'm guessing he loses an arm by the end of tonight's show.
THERE'S SOMEBODY ELSE ON THE PLANE! Any guesses? Elvis Presley? Hitler? Lord Lucan? Jon F Kennedy? No, duhh, Jack - it's George Mason! Nice to see that, although his brain is falling out, George still remembered to bring Jack a parachute. And there was me thinking that they'd lower the plane and Jack would jump out. He'd survive, of course, but there's probably not the special effects budget for that kind of nonsense.
Marvellously, Tony manages to patch Kim through to Jack on his plane for one last 'final conversation. I mean, are they kidding? I'm surprised that Kim can remember the phone number. I think that's what this series has been missing - Jack's flood of phone calls to his wife, Teri, was what made the first season so interesting. It was just unbelievable that he'd have so much time on his hands.
More lesbian chat? Tony Almeida might have more than two moles on his hands. Except that, of course, the dodgy characters with middle eastern accents always turn out to be goodies. I wish I could help save the world by just standing around in an office, talking about 'feelings' and pointing out really obvious facts about the mission. You'll have thought they'd be more pressed for time, especially considering that the bomb COULD! GO! OFF! AT ANY TIME!
Prevailing winds? How does Mike Novick know this shit so quickly?
Looks like the plan to explode the device over the sea is off. They've got to think of the poor fisherman. Eh?
Lynne Kresge says "We don't get food from the desert". No shit, Sherlock. Of course, she is forgetting those lovely cactus salads and sand burgers. I think that the fat Miguel from earlier had been munching on some of those.
Jack promises to look in on George Mason Jnr, once Daddy's flown to his certain doom. So, if a war is the main plot of the next few episodes, I can already see the sub-plot of Jack babysitting George's grown-up son, and maybe hitting Vegas and spending the contents of Mason's secret bank account.
Four minutes until the bomb goes off...
06.08 | Show your appreciation
"Fans were shocked. Amazed. Bewildered. Nina was a character we all came to trust wholeheartedly and could not believe the outcome. But Nina is a character people love. Not love to hate, but hate to hate. Having gotten to know her over the course of the season, you cannot help but believe that, despite her treacherousy, there is still an underlying vulnerability that gives her some kind of saving grace."
If you agree with this statement, sign up to the Nina Myers fanlisting.
'24' gets nominations for 'Programme of the Year' and 'Outstanding Achievement In Drama', whilst Kiefer Sutherland gets put forward for 'Individual Achievement In Drama' at the Television Critics Association Awards. I'd do a joke now, but I put the best one I can think of in the headline. Gosh, I'm a wag, ain't I?
Australia's The Age has published a good article about how recent TV shows have started using spying as a kinda cool, zeitgeisty way of coming up with plot devices. So, of course, '24' gets a mention. As does the BBC's 'Spooks', which I hate with a passion. I might go into why later, if anyone thinks that statement is abhorant.
06.06 | They should have got Steve Penk - no doubt he's cheaper
"On Wednesday, 2th July at 9 PM ET/PT, the National Geographic Channel will premiere 'Doctors Without Borders: Life in the Field', a gripping new series about doctors, nurses, and a dedicated support team on the international front lines of emergency medicine presented by Kiefer Sutherland, star of the Fox Television Network drama, '24'."
I don't know what you lot feel about this, but Kiefer appears to have picked a real dud of a deal with this one. I mean, what next? Will he want to present You've Been Framed or It'll Be Alright On The Night, or something?
06.06 | Deal signed
"Howard Gordon, one of the executive producers on Fox's critically acclaimed '24', has signed a new two-year deal with 20th Century Fox TV. Gordon's current contract with 20th had a year remaining on it, so the reportedly seven figure extension will keep him at his studio home for another three years."
Zap2it.com gives us some good news about the '24' back-room staff.
06.04 | More webloggers on '24'
"I'm a spoiler whore when it comes to shows like Buffy, Angel, Smallville, etc. But I never want to check out the spoilers for '24'. The intensity of not know what's going to happen is excellent. It completely shreds my nerves but that's fine by me. Because of the show's formula, reading the spoilers for it kinda defeats its purpose. I love being knocked by the surprises and the way it makes you think you know where it's going and then takes a completely different turn. Obsessed by 24 to the point of no sanity. I think I'll have that as my epitaph."
The excellently-designed respect-your-levis.com put up a posting about '24' spoilers. You'll find it under 21st May - I'd link to the archive, but I can't find how to do so.
06.04 | Lesbians would be cool, though
"You know, I always forget to talk about '24', but not today, ohhh no. Last night, it was pretty damn good. Though I reckon they could have not had Kim in this season, her storylines are just so completly ridiculous and pointless. I'm praying something doesn't develop between Jack and Kate, please god no. And Tony! My lovely Tony has been promoted. You know what I bet, I bet Carrie Turner, the new person to replace Paula was not only Michelle's old boss, but there could have been some kind of relationship there. Call me looney, but did you not feel that tension!"
Weblogger Jaina gets the same feeling that I do about Michelle and this new character at CTU. Are they lesbians? Sisters? Friends? Neighbours?
I guess lesbians would be the most exciting answer, right? Knowing a TV network like Fox, they're so loathe to include anything so 'deviant' in their programmes, it's such an unlikely answer. They're more likely to be related in some way, I figure.
Oh, George. Poor old George.
At 9PM, I was pulling a freshly-baked lasagne out of the oven, ready to munch it before watching my favourite TV show. George hit 9PM, and had to contend with pulling his plutonium-baked hair out, and fainting.
That fainting scene was one of the best things I've seen Xander Berkeley, the actor who plays George Mason, do. He's had thirteen episodes to do some really dry and sarcastic humour. And now he's got around to some visual slapstick, just minutes before he walks out of the CTU office for the last time. You've gotta love him.
A bigger surprise was seeing Bob Warner pop up again. He's still in that CTU interrogation room. Is there any chance that he could actually form some connection between his daughter Marie and Second Wave? I guess so, because he would have been allowed to leave if he hadn't. I bet that he's the next character to undergone a torture scene.
The part of the episode that pissed me off was when Jack Bauer let Marie off with a particularly weak interrogation. On past performance, she got off lightly. I was rootin' for her to get a shootin'. Still, Jack got the information out of her that he needed.
Let's round up a list of Jack's 'little conversations' for the day:
8:49AM - Jack interviews Marshall Goren. He gets what he needs - the baddie's head.
Result: Successful interrogation.
11:57AM - Jack talks to Joseph Wauld, who ends up giving him pictures of his informant. He then shoots himself.
Result: Successful interrogation.
1:09PM - Jack interrogates Nina, shooting a gun at her along the way. She agrees to help him find Mamud Faheen.
Result: Successful interrogation.
3:08PM - Jack uses Nina to ask Faheen where they can find the bomb.
Result: He fails this time, but probably because he's using Nina as a go-between. If only he spoke generic middle eastern languages, eh?
5:54PM - Jack changes tactics and goes 'softly, softly' on Kate Warner to find out what information she knows about Syed Ali. She tells him about hearing the word 'prayer'.
Result: Successful interrogation.
7:17PM - Jack interrogates Ali in the basement of the mosque, breaking an arm and possibly a jaw. Jack threatens to shoot the man's family - Ali tells him where to find the nuclear bomb.
Result: Successful interrogation.
9:28PM - Jack presses Marie Warner to find out where the real bomb is. He squeezes a bullet wound in her arm to cause her pain. She cracks and lies to him, but Jack finds out what he needs to know, anyway.
Result: Successful interrogation.
So that's seven interrogations in 14 hours - and, all in all, they're mostly successes. That must be some kind of record. Jack should write in to 'Interrogation News Monthly' magazine - I'm sure they'd give him some kind of reward. And I'm not even counting Tony talking to Reza and Bob Warner, Syed Ali's second-hand man chopping up bits of Kate Warner's private detective friend, or the people in South Korea extracting - quite literally - information from Jason Park, Syed Ali's associate, which happened right at the beginning of the first episode.
I bet one of the writers is a sado-masochist.
But anyway. Kim looks to be getting smarter. She knows how to turn on a TV! And how to change the channels - without a remote control! Well done, that girl. She can twist my knob any time. No, seriously - Kim even managed to grab a knife, only to hold it out so Lonnie could grab it. Where did he learn that knife-fight-style techniques? I thought he had no contact with the outside world?
Then he had the nerve to ask "D'ya think I'm psycho?". I mean, duh. D'ya think I'm here to amuse you? The lone, tough survivalist, deep down, has a heart of gold. He probably keeps it refrigerated, down in his basement bomb shelter, and he probably got it from the last blonde stupid enough to follow him down there.
Tony has not only settled himself into Mason's office, but into the teary, tender, provider of 'human' moments. "That was a beautiful thing you just did," says Michelle Dessler. Tony looks longfully back into her deep brown eyes, like someone out of a cheap porn movie. Ugh. Give me George Mason's one-liners any day. Still, at least Carlos Bernard, AKA Tony Almeida, used to have a porn star beard.
Finally, Jack gets another high-speed chase through the airfield, along with the unveiling of yet another nuke. I started getting deja-vu at this point. It's like I'd seen it before - almost a week before, in fact. Ever get the feeling you've been cheated? This episode, though high on action and cool scenes, advanced the plot precisely nowhere. This time, though, the bomb was in the back of a truck. It's almost as if this series is sponsored by an automobile company. Or a bomb company, I can't tell which.
06.02 | "Sagittarius and Aquarius - it's the perfect match"
Cutie soothsayer Elisha Cuthbert has it all figured out. "Sagittarius and Aquarius," she immediately answered, when I asked her if she thought Britney and Justin, the two Mouseketeers, would ever get back together.
Bloody Hell, the actress who plays Kim Bauer has just gone all astrology on our asses. I was having problems following her character's relevancy to this season's plot, but now I'm completely lost. And she goes on...
"Sagittarians are ambitious and driven," expounded the 24 fox, somewhat breathlessly, "while Aquarians are more fun loving and outgoing - so, the Aquarius is good at giving them [Sagittarius] the support they need while they're doing their thing, and at the same time, they also get us to relax and have fun."
No wonder the last girl I dated dumped me. I don't even know what star sign I am. Well, it's either that, or the fact that I'm a geeky fan-boy. One of these two, anyway.
06.02 | Anyone got the ratings for the UK?
"After slumping last year, programs such as American Idol and '24' starring Kiefer Sutherland have lifted ratings 20 per cent this year."
The Australian reports that '24' is doing well in the USA. In fact, in February, the show was getting over 13.6 million viewers an episode, scoring well in the 18-49 demographic. In America, that's the most important part. No point in having millions of viewers if they're all toddlers and grandparents, after all. Unless you're the Boohbahs
It was just last week that I got bashed on the 24weblog.com forum for slagging off 'Pure 24'.
Well, I'm glad I watched it this week. All credit is due to Tamzin Sylvester and the crew - it was a great episode.
Charlie Brooker was back on. Obviously, the show's producers read 24weblog.com. I've been begging for another appearance from him since February. Now Brooker's done a second appearance, I demand that he's back on the show for discussion of at least the final three shows, plus any post-series 'post-mortems' broadcast. This year, stuff Jonathan Ross, I say. Brooker is your man.
One of the best things about this week's show was that not a lot of time was spent discussing the actual episode that had just been on BBC3 - more time was devoted to ideas and themes behind the series, the history of the characters, discussing how the characters would act. The other guest, ex-MI5 spy David Shayler, spent most of his time telling us how feasible all the different gadgets and technologies are. For example, did you know that all this patching of phone calls between CTU, Jack, Kim or the President just won't be workable in the real world?
There was also a neat-o use of on-screen graphics, too. More of this, please.
Still, it was pretty hard to ignore discussion of the events in the episode shown on BBC3. Needless to say, I won't be revealing a thing on this website until next Sunday night. Don't any of you BBC2 viewers think that I don't love you. Remember - you can get a Freeview digital set-top box for around £60 now, though.
I'm also astounded by the way how every single week 'Pure 24' has access to the major stars of '24'. In fact, the only week when they haven't spoken one of the principle cast members on a phone hook-up from the States, was the week when they had Philip Rhys, the actor who played Reza Naiyeer, live in the studio for the entire show. The person who books the guests obviously earns their money well.
Also, I spotted the return of my two favourite audience members. One of the ladies was in the front row, and was the first person asked to speak, the other was sat in the back row on the right hand side. They're moles, I tell you.
