12.28 | Press release promises

"Sky One will be showing Series Three exclusively in the UK from February and has also secured all UK rights to all further series of the show."

12.17 | "But Internet Agrees: Elisha Cuthbert is Hot"

Fans of the weird and wonderful may have heard of the Weekly World News, which is full of bonkers 'news' stories. It's most famous for the 'bat boy' - the genetically engineered cross between a bat and a boy. The magazine is a lot like The National Inquirer on crack, or something.

Where I am going with this? Well, Something Awful, top geek humour site, recently held a photoshop competition to recreate a front cover of Weekly World News. Looking at the sixth page of the submissions reveals this:

12.17 | Bad news for anyone without digital telly...

"Sky One has snatched the rights to '24' after the BBC's talks with Hollywood studio Fox over the third series broke down earlier this month. Sky One is expected to sell on the terrestrial rights to the show and Channel Five is thought to be the most likely bidder. However, Sky One is understood to be insisting on a six-month delay on screening the show on terrestrial TV, which is likely to reduce the amount potential buyers will want to pay."

12.12 | Go go Gadget Terrorist Sister! Go go Gadget Bearded Father!

She's a born and bred Newcastle girl but Sarah Wynter has revealed she's a little apprehensive about her next gig on home soil. Wynter will head home next year to star opposite David Wenham and Frances O'Connor in Three Dollars, her first shoot in Australia.

12.11 | Who will save our Sunday nights?

Andrew Neil, gentleman publisher of The Business, media writer for The Scotsman and The Evening Standard and presenter of the BBC's 'Daily Politics', has written about the Beeb's failure to capture the rights to the next series of '24':

It is nothing short of a catastrophe. I’m talking, of course, about BBC TV’s failure to conclude a deal with Fox in America for the rights to the third series of '24', the award-winning television drama starring Kiefer Sutherland, pictured right, as anti-terrorist agent Jack Bauer, in which the action takes place in 24 "real-time" episodes.

It was due to return to BBC2 in January, and plans were already advanced in the Neil household for the usual Sunday-night ritual: a gathering of the "24 clan" for a pre-programme "curry out", dishes cleared, glasses filled for the start at 10PM, total silence during the broadcast (we were once forced to ask someone to leave because she asked too many questions), quick switch to BBC Three just before 11pm to watch next week’s episode, followed by 'Pure 24' on the same channel during which that night’s episodes are dissected. It sort of gives the word "anorak" a new meaning.

12.06 | '24' star finds action on FBI drama

Leslie Hope doesn't say much when she first appears on camera in the new series 'Line of Fire'.

Awakened by an early-morning phone call, Hope's character, Lisa Cohen, reaches for a half-full wine glass at her bedside right after she answers the phone. After hearing bad news on the other end of the line, she lights a cigarette.

The following words then appear on screen next to her face: 'Lisa Cohen, FBI Special Agent in Charge, Richmond Division'. They might just as well say, 'This is a long way from Teri Bauer'.

12.05 | BBC talks to buy '24' collapse

"The BBC2 controller, Jane Root, had already been forced to move '24' from her winter schedule, which is where the show played this year, because of the failure to reach a deal with Fox."

UPDATE: The BBC itself pitches in:

"Messages on the BBC's '24' website have been speculating for months that the third series would be shown on Five, though a spokeswoman for the channel said it had no plans to bid for it 'at the moment'."

12.05 | Talks break down for third series of '24'

"The third series of real time action adventure '24' will not be broadcast on BBC2 after talks broke down between Fox and the BBC.

Talks to buy the series have been dragging on for months but have now broken down completely.

It opens the door for other broadcasters, such as Sky One, Channel Five and Channel 4, to step in and pitch for the UK rights."

However, ad breaks are beginning to look tempting as they will give us the chance to go for a wee, to spark up cigarettes without missing any action or to grab hot burning food out of the oven without losing concentration, and, say, dropping it all over the kitchen floor. F'instance.

UPDATE: The Guardian has this to say:

The BBC has admitted the collapse of negotiations with Fox to buy the third series of '24' for the BBC is a "very hard pill to swallow" for both sides ... "They think it's at the high point, so they were saying 'we want this much for it'. It's a great show, but we believe it's just past its peak. We're a public service broadcaster and we can't be held to ransom over something like this," Mr McGhee said.

12.04 | Wanted: Israeli Actors for Typecast Bit Parts

"Israel is crazy about the show '24', which is broadcast here on Channel 10. The show garners the highest ratings of anything on the channel, and it recently won a local emmy for "Best Imported Drama." Kiefer Sutherland himself recorded a message for the awards ceremony in which he thanked Israeli viewers for their support. (I didn't actually see the ceremony, but I can just imagine him saying toda raba Israel in that patented Kiefer-voice of his).

It turns out that '24' likes Israel as well. Or at least it likes Israeli actors for bit roles as terrorist henchmen. Our own Aki Avni appeared in two episodes in the second season. Avni is a fair-sized celebity of moderate-size talents. His fame here rests more on the fact that he married local supermodel Sandi Bar and his gig as the host of the local version of "The Bachelorete" than on his thespianic skills."

12.04 | Kiefer in the 'Land Before Time'

"I have a hard time imagining Kiefer Sutherland in any more acting roles that are not Jack Bauer-like. So I've decided he should give up the acting thing and make the rest of his fortune doing voiceovers.

He's one of the voices behind the dinosaurs in the newest Land Before Time movie."

12.04 | Everybody in marketing and advertising - kill yourselves

Taking time out from being the President of the United States, Dennis Haysbert (AKA David Palmer) is hawking car and home insurance in a series of new TV ads:

Scare tactics are something we generally don't approve of in advertising. But in a new television campaign from Leo Burnett, Allstate is using them quite effectively to separate itself from - and rise above - discount auto insurance companies that have become a competitive threat.

In this new campaign, Northbrook-based Allstate seems to be responding to insurers that have had success recently pushing low-ball pricing. Geico is one such insurer that springs to mind. You probably thought of Geico too because its highly amusing bad news/good news television advertising has been memorable and effective.

But if people were guffawing with Geico, be prepared to tremble when you see Burnett's new commercials for Allstate, which feature blunt yet evocative copy from Burnett copywriter Jeanie Caggiano. Imposing actor Dennis Haysbert is the sole performer in all four stark launch spots. He has an impressive vocal instrument that commands attention.

"Chair," set in a courtroom, is by far the most unnerving of the four commercials. Haysbert is seated on a table next to the defendant's chair, which he first describes as a simple piece of furniture. He goes on, however, to note that it can be the most intimidating place in the world to sit when you have been sued. And that's when Allstate can be of assistance, because it provides legal counsel.

In yet another spot Haysbert stares straight at the camera and talks about fires that have resulted from deep-frying turkeys during the holidays. He rightly points out trouble never takes a holiday, and, naturally, neither does Allstate.

12.03 | Quick - call the tabloids

"A certain very young male regular character on Fox's hit show '24' was partying with friends and crew members at a La Cienega bar last Friday.

After streaking through the bar with his pants pulled down he found himself outside the bar and unable to speak coherently. As this star gestured wildly at his cell phone and mumbled mono-syllabic sounds a crew member assured he would not be driving."

12.01 | Jack Bauer may get some company next year

"Marking a departure from typical prime-time formats in recent seasons, several broadcast networks have bought scripts for drama projects that will follow a single serialized story as it plays out over the course of a full season, a la Fox's hit drama '24'."

UPDATE: "Fox ordered a script called 'The Dinner Party' from Lisa Kudrow's production company, at Warner Bros. Television. The series would revolve around a Manhattan dinner party that takes place over the course of 24 episodes." Worst. TV show idea. Ever.