Jack and Renee will be together again.

By ElaineB
Throughout last season some tantalizing info on Day 8 was being leaked. And, as expected, Day 8 (premiering Jan. 17, 2010 on FOX) will have at least part of its action set in New York.

According to an official FOX release: In this new day, CTU has been upgraded and is run by MBA-schooled and razor-sharp head honcho Brian Hastings (Mykelti Williamson, Forrest Gump). Cole Ortiz (Freddie Prinze Jr.), an ex-Marine who wants to follow in Jack Bauer’s (Keifer Sutherland) footsteps, runs the division’s Field Operations. Expert data analyst Dana Walsh (Kattee Sackhoff, Battlestar Galactica) collaborates with systems analyst Arlo Glass (John Boyd, The Notorious Bettie Page) inside CTU. Rob Weiss (Chris Diamantopoulos, The Starter Wife) serves as Pres. Allison Taylor’s (Cherry Jones) new chief of staff, and Meredith Reed (Jennifer Westfeldt, Grey’s Anatomy) is an ambitious journalist with ties to the unfolding situation. [Read more →]

Tags: Action, TV News & Program Updates by Elaine
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by Karl J. Paloucek

Last weekend, one of our dinner guests hinted at the power of branding on the American psyche. The topic at hand was a famous German chain of grocery stores that had to concede to carrying brands it had never previously considered so as to guarantee success in the U.S. market. The story underscored the brand loyalties that are so much a part of the American-consumer mentality. We’ve all heard that studies show that those loyalties start early and can last a lifetime, but why make a study when you can make a movie to prove your point?

Toy manufacturers Hasbro got into the game a while ago, coupling with Paramount to create film franchises based on its Transformers products and the imminent G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (debuting Aug. 7), starring Dennis Quaid. Last year, they announced a six-year partnership to bring several of their properties to the big screen, including Stretch Armstrong, Candyland, Ouija, Battleship, Monopoly and a new movie based on the game Clue.
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Tags: Action, Movies by kpaloucek
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By Elaine B
Lesson Learned: America’s got hope, and it took a very long day to prove that 24 does, too.

Actually, there are a lot of lessons in the final two hours of Day 7. Revenge is messy (courtesy of Tony and Olivia, who both pay steep prices for going after those who have wronged them). Talk is no substitute for bullets (Tony, who should have known shooting Wilson was better than telling the man why he was being shot — as if Wilson would care). Being President is a lonely job (Allison Taylor). Don’t become the enemy (Renee).

I’m not going to try to recap the action of the final two hours when you can watch the final episode on multiple Internet sites. It would take a long, long time and commenting on the oddly hopeful tone of Day 7 is far more interesting. [Read more →]

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By Elaine B
Lesson Learned: When in doubt, act like a crazy terrorist.

Real-life pals Janeane Garofalo (Janis) and Mary Lynn Rajskub (Chloe) square off on which is the better computer geek in Monday’s second-to-last episode. I know they will because Rajskub said so.

In a special “hype the season finale” interview, Rajskub (a good friend of Garafolo’s) spoke of the rivalry. “We do a lot of bickering in real life so we were excited to bring it to television and it’s going to come to a head during the finale. … We had a lot of fun doing these serious, technical roles on such an intense show.” [Read more →]

Tags: Action, Drama by Elaine
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By Elaine B
Lesson Learned: Hope is no substitute for logic.

Real-life pals Janeane Garofalo (Janis Gold) and Mary Lynn Rajskub (Chloe O’Brian) square off on violations of civil liberties in tonight’s episode. Actually, I wrote that last sentence yesterday before I saw this episode, but didn’t you know they would? Chloe just looked peeved, but Jack made it clear to Janis why they had to use racial profiling, given the situation. This is about the time that Chloe comments that Jack looks terrible and Janis tells her that Jack is dying. In a tearful moment (or one that would be tearful if we didn’t know he is signed on for Day 8), he tells her, “Whatever time I have left, I want it to matter.” It is another quiet interlude, but then this season has seemed less frantic and more thoughtful than previous ones. [Read more →]

Tags: Action, Drama by Elaine
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By Mike

If Jesse James’ badass credentials were ever in question, they won’t be come May 31, when his new Spike series Jesse James Is a Dead Man premieres. On the show, the former Monster Garage host sets himself on fire, rides a motorcycle to the top of the Arctic Circle in minus 65 degree weather, and does just about everything else he can think of to challenge his limits and the laws of physics. James told us that his wife, actress Sandra Bullock, and his three kids from two previous marriages were fine with the danger involved. (“They’re cool. They know I’m smart and I’m not reckless. I take every safety precaution I can. Hey, we could all trip and fall and hit our head on the curb and die today.”) We wonder if they’ve seen the following teaser reel.

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By Elaine B
Lesson Learned: Slower poisons are sometimes best.

In what may be a first for 24, someone actually stopped moving long enough to take a shower. Of course, it was evil Tony, who is not in a mad scramble to save the country any longer so he has the time to wash up. Still, it was a shower so brief would have made environmentalist Ed Begley Jr. proud. But since Tony was sharing the bathroom with the guy he killed, he may have wanted to cut it short. [Read more →]

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Jack and Renee discover they have been set up.

By Elaine B
Lesson Learned: Never assume you have any idea what’s going to happen next week.

There is that wonderful exchange in The Dark Knight in which Alfred and Bruce Wayne are discussing the Joker. Bruce is wondering what motivates the villain and Alfred says, “Some men aren’t looking for anything logical, like money. They can’t be bought, bullied, reasoned or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn.”

I have a feeling that is where Tony is at in this season of 24. He may think it’s all about the money, but it’s way more than that. The end of last week surprised me. I didn’t want to believe he could be so incredibly evil, but he is. Of course, he may not believe that what he is carrying will ever be used except as a bargaining chip, but he’s seen what the evil deranged can do. He doesn’t care or maybe, deep inside and like the Joker, he longs for chaos. [Read more →]

Tags: Action by Elaine
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Jack Bauer will be tackling terrorists in the Big Apple when 24 airs in 2010. No word on whether this will include a stop at Yankee Stadium (though that would be really cool) or the Statue of Liberty (even cooler). Hopefully New York’s men in blue will be portrayed a bit better than the FBI was early in Day 7. Possibly Jack and pal Renee will at least get a chance to take in some of the sights while they are in town. One thing that may prove interesting is how they will navigate so quickly through the city’s infamous traffic gridlock (maybe by slipping a cabbie a couple of twenties?). But that’s a question that pertains to LA and D.C., too.

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By Elaine B
Lesson learned: Heroes prefer to die alone.

Normally 24 watchers have a death grip on the arms of their favorite TV watching chairs. This week it was a tissue or two as, taking a cue from the weepy moments on ER and Flashpoint (the first seriously weepy cop drama I can recall), Jack is tearfully reunited with daughter Kim. Renee didn’t have to work to find Kim. She has been trying to find her father since he disappeared at the end of Day 6 to head off to Africa to make Redemption. Still, Jack will not allow her to help his condition and they have a tearful hello and goodbye.

Since there is a Day 8 in the works, chances are she will donate her bone marrow cells without telling him. He’ll learn there is a “new” treatment. He’ll survive, learn the truth and he and Kim and Renee will walk happily into the sunset until Day 8.

But that comes later. Now the good guys in the field, Larry Moss and Tony Almeida, are frantically working to contain the WMDs Hodges had his team assemble. Hodges, thinking he’s won, triumphantly heads for the White House to give Pres. Taylor his terms.

”You cannot negotiate with … a traitor and a terrorist!” Jack tells Taylor and explains there is still reason to hope Tony can destroy the weapons. She gives a covert agreement that the operation can continue. [Read more →]

Tags: Action, Drama by Elaine
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