New '24': CTU's Gone, Bauer's on Trial, Tony's Back

When the seventh season of "24" returns on Jan. 13, 2008, CTU will be dismantled and Jack Bauer will be in trial in Washington DC, where the show will now be set instead of the subterranean Los Angeles headquarters of the former Counter Terrorist Unit where the first six seasons have been set, Fox announced Wednesday.

Even more shocking perhaps is the return of Tony Almeida, certainly thought dead at the hands of a terrorist conspirator Christopher Henderson in the CTU infirmary after his reappearance two seasons back.

"Tony's uncertain fate near the end of Day 5 left the door open for his return," executive producer Howard Gordon said in a press release. "And since there was no silent clock at the conclusion of his last appearance -- the '24' tribute to a major character's demise -- we always kept this as a possibility."

Good news, no doubt, for the actor Carlos Bernard, who played Tony, a major '24' character in its first four seasons, whose character has been in more episodes than any other than Bauer.

Kiefer Sutherland's Bauer will be on trial for "his actions in the pursuit of justice." Mary Lynn Rajskub and James Morrison will both be back to play Chloe O'Brian and Bill Buchanan (perhaps as character witnesses for Jack).

But otherwise the cast till be filled with newcomers, among them the previously announced Cherry Jones as President Allison Taylor, Janeane Garofalo as FBI agent Janis Gold, Colm Feore as First Gentleman Henry Taylor and Bob Gunton as White House Chief of Staff Ethan Kanin.

The seventh season will begin with a two-night two hour blitz on Sunday, Jan. 13 and Monday, Jan. 14, instead of the four hour extravaganzas that have started the last two seasons, Fox says. That will allow the show to continue to air all original episodes back to back on Mondays into June.

Comments

[Amy Pandit]

I do believe season 6 was boring and not as good as previous seasons but I would still watch it. I do agree that if writers are running out of ideas then it is better not to go too far into more seasons and get out before 24 loses it's charm. I would love to see Tony back. Too bad Edgar cannot come back. Writer- please don't kill good characters unless you have to.

[GINA]

hey.. who cares what character comes back and what character doesnt.. all me and my husband are happy about is that the show is coming back and continuing to do what its done these past 6 seasons.. keep us entertained..

i cant wait..

[Dann~Fonda]

Paulie, what the HECK are you talking about?! We all know you're some computer~geek who lives in their parents' basement and who hasn't seen the light of day in over a year. Who cares if they weren't planning on bringing Almeida back 2 years ago? Ya think they plan everything years in advance?! Everyone *thougt* Tony was dead. Noone knew for sure! And, obviously the writers will explain what happened to him!

[Paulie]

Hey selena, you can't logically defy the laws of nature and physics to bring back a dead man!! Maybe you're the idiot if you think that it would make any sense to pretend a character who's dead, according to the creators/writers/producers of the show, is really magically not dead. The creators of 24 made it clear many times----Tony was DEAD and they said they would never bring any dead character back. Now they want to try to make us forget that they ever said that, they want to pretend Tony's death was some kind of plot device they had been planning all along. What a lie!! They had NO plan to do that! They're grasping at straws since season six stunk so badly, they think they can make up for that by bringing back Tony. Anybody who throws logic aside and accepts that soap-opera crap will watch anything so that takes the burden of producing a top-quality show off the writer's shoulders. They can now do anything they want, no matter how stupid or illogical, just to get ratings because they know there are people watching who aren't discriminating enough to know good writing from poor writing. Bringing Tony back is a cheap desperate stunt and I don't know why you people who think it's such a great idea can't see it for what it is. And they WILL kill him again, be sure of that. What will you do then---praise the writers for their creativity or just whine because they make a fool of you?

And Indalo, I have looked at IMDB at CB's resume. He hasn't done anything except that laughable earthquake movie and a a pilot for a show that was never televised called "Nurses". He's really been busy hasn't he? With all the shows on the air with Hispanic characters you would think he'd get at least some one-shot guest role wouldn't you? But he hasn't so I guess that tells you what Hollywood thinks of his acting skills. There are far too many highly talented Hispanic-looking actors available these days to choose from to settle for a guy who mainly scowls a lot, trying to pass that off as as "sexy". And they never had a funeral for Teri, Ryan, Mason, Michelle, and many others, not only Tony, so I guess by your way of thinking that means that if we didn't see a funeral performed they are really still alive and can all come back too, right?

The bottom line is that you can't make this show fresh again by bringing back one dead character. The writers were too quick to kill people off on this show, now they should have to live with the consequenses.

24 was a great show the first couple of seasons, now it's become a joke and it's too bad. It should have gone out while it was still strong, now it will hang on until it gets laughed off the air.

[Lone Jafa]

Man! What's up with all the haters? If you don't like the direction, stop, change the channel and watch something else. It might sound dumb but so was Kim at CTU. I do want to watch season 7. I will make my mind up after a few episodes.

[Francisco a.k.a Snake]

I know my sister (Tania) will be extremely happy to see Tony coming back even if it means he's gonna go toe to toe with Jack! Or is he?...

If they could afford to "spoil" his return, perhaps they're making him look like a bad guy now but there's sure to be some kind of twist somewhere in the first 12 hours. *just a thought*

P.S: Love you kulos!

[selena 24]

I cant belive there bringing tony back I love him but if there doing that they have to bring michelle back he's nothing without her.Im really looking foward to season 7.

[Danny~Fonda]

Just wanna say that I messed up a name. I meant to implie that paulie is an idiot--sorry Mira! I actually liked your comment. And I stand corrected: Almeida being back rocks no matter what...You haters are too into logic~~IT'S FICTION! God.......

[Alec]

I loved Tony but you can't bring him back. He died in Jack's arms in season 5. Maybe the writers should have thought about the future of the show before they got rid of all the good characters of the 24 glory days (Tony, Michelle, David Palmer, Curtis Manning, Chase Edmunds, and Edgar). I'm not liking the direction the show is going. They shouldn't be so quick to get rid of characters. They set up Mike Doyle as a potential "new Jack" then they blind him in at least one eye. Unfortunately, 24's best days are in the past.

[Indalo]

Tony was and is the best character of 24 F.A.C.T. along with Nina, whoever that person is below is clearly derranged, the season 6 show wasn't as good...okay? well maybe because Almeida wasn't in it! I always hoped Tony wasn't dead because he is my favourite character and there was no evidence telling you of his death! Only Jack saying to Henderson before he shot him that he was responsible for the death of Michelle, Tony and Palmer...so maybe Jack does'nt know about Tony being alive, but Jack has said nothing else of Almeida's fate... Season 7 has surpassed 6 before it has begun - The daddy is back!

[Danny~Fonda]

I'm sick and tired of people saying that bringing back Almeida is a real dumb idea~~He was never officially dead! There was no damn funeral! And by the way -mira-, Almeida was definately NOT the worse character and Carlos Bernard did do some work after 24 [check IMDb]!

[mira]

who r u to say that carlos is a lousy actor,i hate u sooooooooooooooo much.carlos is the 24 soul.

[Paulie]

WORST IDEA EVER!! Aside from the fact that I hate Tony and I'm glad he's gone, what the h*ll is up with making believe he isn't "really dead"? Oh, I guess it's some far-fetched sci-fi mysterious secret government plot to give him a fake death so he could come back in Jack's hour of need to help him, like Tonto saving the Lone Ranger from the bad guys....please. This idea stinks, like this show which started to reek back in season three with that horrible way they killed off Ryan Chappelle....nice government we have that would consent to that.... If the producers are now into reviving the dead here's an idea---bring back Ryan and George and Michelle and all the other main characters that have died. Have all of their deaths just been figments of Jack's warped mind....he's lost it and imagined all those people are dead. He's sitting somewhere in a padded room imagining all those deaths have happened after his mind broke with the loss of his wife.It's at least as good a storyline as the garbage that was season six.

P.S. I think Carlos Bernard is an actor of very few skills, which would explain why he hasn't done anything but play in poker tournaments since he left 24, except for one laughable TV movie about a giant earthquake that was a joke. Tony was probably the best role he'll ever have, no wonder he's begging to get it back.

I can honestly say I will have no problem NEVER watching this show again. There are better things to watch...bring on HEROES!

[Jack Mitchell]

Law & Order: 24

[Tyler]

We'll see how it works. I have confidence that the new setting will help the show become fresh again. 24 will not become a court room drama. They should not have had a press release spoiling Tony Almaeda's return. It sounds interesting, though and I look forward to the new season.

[Jim Treacher]

"WHO ARE YOU CLERKING FOR???"

[R2J]

Wow, a trial. That's going to be real action packed and surprise driven. Can this just be part of the Law and Order franchise?

The characters have run out of depth - its over. Thanks for some great years and excellent work.

Now please stop.

[Dick Tater]

I was leaning towards tuning out the new season when I learned Cherry Jones was cast. Couple that with the recycled storylines from last season, the horrible acting, and now, the "old back from the dead" gimmick." No thanks. Time is running out on 24.