Tuesday, January 17, 2006

At The Watercooler: "24"

They don't waste any time, do they? As always, "24" gets off to a great start, launching some evil scheme (the assassination of former President Palmer and the taking of hostages at an airport to scuttle a treaty between the US and Russia) that is merely a diversion for an even more evil scheme down the road. Connie Britton of "Spin City" caught directorboy's eyes -- he thought she was the only good thing in "The Brothers McMullen." Her son with bee-stung lips and a pouty manner (Brady Corbett) was good in the terrific "Mysterious Skin." And Jean Smart had a great scene as the First Lady forcing a staffer to do what she wanted with the threat of yelling "rape." And with Sean Astin at CTU, we now have two hobbits in primetime! No overnight ratings (the Mediaweek people are at a convention touting midseason shows), but Sunday night's two hour premiere did gangbusters. Most TV shows never know when to quit -- here's hoping they wrap things up with style this season and launch that movie franchise. Finally, the very "24" inspired "Prison Break" will join "24" on Mondays starting March 20. Is that too much cliffhanger-ing for one night or a good pairing?

6 comments:

priv8pete said...

I'm a little teary-eyed over the passing of both President Palmer and Michelle before the first ad break. And with Tony in a coma, there aren't any likeable characters to root for aside from Jack. If Tony doesn't wake up in the next 12 hours, Jack better call up Chase (and his Luke Skywalker-like cyborg hand) for some backup!!! Oh, and we want to see Kim poolside...

Michael in New York said...

What about Jack's new girlfriend? Or Palmer's teary-eyed brother, out for vengeance? And I love the unstable but savvy First Lady.

Michael in New York said...

As for yuor side question about the possible movie, that's not just off-the-cuff thoughts from me. They've discussed their desire to turn the show into a movie franchise after ending the series.

priv8pete said...

Jack Bauer would make a great big screen action hero. I even had thoughts of Die Hard 2 when the terrorists took over the airport. How do you think the films would go? Two hours in the life of Jack Bauer or would they abandon the time element?

priv8pete said...

Oh, a fun site about THE Jack Bauer:
http://www.notrly.com/jackbauer/

Michael in New York said...

The movie would condense the 24 hours into a two hour movie but not limit it to two real-time hours -- they'd keep the ticking clock but give themselves a little leeway.