At The Watercooler: "24"

First, the new season is great fun -- just as silly and over-the-top as ever (without being laughable or sacrificing suspense). The standout this year has to be Jean Smart as the unstable but savvy First Lady. But I was wrong about the movie version of "24." Now I think it's a terrible idea. Why? I assumed they would retire the show, give it a rest and come out a year or so later with a slam-bang feature film. Instead, they'll decide in the next two months whether to go ahead with the film. If they do, they'll film it while on hiatus and then jump right in to Day (and season) Six. Do that and people will just get sick of the show. It reminds me of when "The X-Files" released its movie between the fifth and sixth season. That was surely the beginning of the end for the show, both creatively and commercially. If you make a movie, the stakes have to be raised -- it can't just be a bridge between new TV episodes. And that's exactly what they'll be stuck with. I always believed "24" could work for multiple seasons and they've accomplished that brilliantly. But squeezing in a movie -- rather than taking a breather, doing it right and letting us miss Jack Bauer -- will ruin the franchise.