America's First Black President

I credit '24' series creator Joel Surnow with making Barack Obama's possibility to serve as POTUS easy to visualize.

Here's the biggest upside to the upcoming contest between McCain and Obama: the president will not be a Baby Boomer.

Thirst-Days

With these lengthening nights, I have the desire to sit at home in some comfy pajamas and snuggle with my man while watching TV. I especially miss my favorite--'The Office'-- on Thursdays due to the writer's strike. Dave broke the news to me that the whole season of '24' has been cancelled as well. I fill the time after the kids are in bed with more computer, but I really miss the tube this time of year.

'24' Recap: Partly Gruntled

I guess there are only so many ways you can end a season. And there've been five previous ways to end it. I guess I'm not too dissatisfied they left Jack in a pensive mood, considering his new career as a cliff diver. I always did like the Jack-Bauer-walks-the-earth ending. Audrey's acting as a comatose woman was brilliant. Very difficult to distinguish it from her other scenes. I disliked immensely the number of commercial breaks. It would've been more effective to install the '24' clock on the commercials than on the show. I spotted Laura Ingraham playing a White House staffer at the end of the crisis. She looked fabulous. Kudos for making Bill Buchanan Jack's partner in crime. I hope they are able to save Agent Doyle's vision. I sure liked that Ricky Schroeder. He was Jack Lite...less irritating and more handsome. [plus he doesn't have that funny ear lobe thing that Kiefer's got].

I rode the ride 'til the end. This time, the best twists and turns were before Audrey reappeared. [Hey, Joel Surnow! She's dead to me. Let her out of her contract! Jack's widowed sister-in-law has a history, and his son, and she's a lot more vivacious than any of Jack's other women.]

Chloe and Morris sitting in a CTU medical holding cell, when Morris says, 'what the hell?' First comes divorce, then comes remarriage, then comes Chloe with a baby carriage.

I like this show. Overall, a decent season. I think they need to start with the personal intrigue and end with the A-bomb. Put me down for another season.

'24' Recap: Setting Up for the Final

Well '24' is a swirling vortex of something. The final episode is next week and they have several threads to tie up. I sincerely doubt they can do it. I know they'll tie up the big storylines---the Chinese and the nuclear sub-circuitry; the Vice-President at the brink of war with the Russkies; how Doyle and Nadia will hit it off---but I cannot imagine how they'll get Chloe and her husband reconciled, Jack and his ex-sister-in-law or Audrey [gak!] reconciled, Josh back safely to his mother and Uncle Jack, and an update on Martha Logan and her ex-husband-ex-president who was bleeding out 12 hours ago. I'm doubtful they can do it successfully.

Now I'm regretting I didn't trademark the phrase "set up a perimeter" or "I know the schematics." They could still make a good drinking game, though.

'24' Recap: "Do you still think this season is boring?"

CTU now stands for Chinese Terrorists Underground.

I'm sooooo glad that Marilyn is the Jack love interest du jour and not that blamed Audrey Raines. [Way to go, Surnow!] I reassert my notion that Jack's nephew Josh [who looks just like a young Kurt Russell] is really his son...to be revealed probably at hour 23:45. Nadia let Milo take one for the team right between the eyes. Jack's dad, Farmer Hogett, is still mucking up the world. With the terrorists in CTU headquarters, perhaps Mr. O'Brien will win back his good name for Mrs. O'Brien.

Two more weeks for the big wrap-up. I can feel the ratchet tightening. If they don't let me see Mrs. Logan and former President Logan [and Aaron] at least briefly, I'll cry foul.

'24' Recap: I Loathe Audrey

The show should've ended two weeks ago. It's still a good show, but I am not seeing how they're gonna' end in a few more weeks with anything approximating the crescendo they had when the nukes got disarmed. They bring in the old Audrey storyline and it just ruins any momentum. I disliked her last season, but this year, with intimations that the Chi-coms brainwashed her into lunacy, I hate her. Why can't Jack see she's poison for him and for the show? Kiefer's an executive producer. He should've aborted this mission at the drawing board.

Upside: The Riches is still riveting.

'24' Recap: Mostly Missed It

After last week's episode with its thrilling quasi-finale, I didn't even engage for this week. The children had a bedtime that flowed over into the start time and then I was doing other chores. Some of the plot devices are getting worn-out from overuse. Jack's "promise" to do whatever he needs to save his personal loved one is exasperating. Isn't there a CTU agent who plays by the rules and gets the bad guys? Or do nice CTU guys always finish last? Chloe hacking a back-door into her own husband's computer to help Jack also needs to be retooled. Enough of these can-spot-em-from-a-mile-away plot devices. Come up with something really original, guys.

Original? Try this new show on FX: The Riches. It stars Minnie Driver and Eddie Izzard as two penny-ante grifters, part of the Travellers, who are living the American dream. At least they're trying to. They have three children: a son, a daughter [both teens] and a who-knows? [really it's a son who like to wear his sister's dresses]. There's tension built in from their new "lifestyle" and from the old thieving family that wants to see them dead. Really engaging and fun to watch. Great acting and interesting, smart characters.

'24' Recap: Oh My Freakin' Gawd

Well, they earned back my respect tonight. President Palmer [the lesser] redeemed himself by out-bluffing international diplomats and his own cabinet. Jack Bauer, teamed with Mike Doyle, found that not every method of "interrogation" will work on the martyr-minded madmen. They staged a transport/takeover, hoping that the bad guy would lead them to the two remaining suitcase nukes. Just like classic 'Star Trek', if you are the new, unnamed junior officer on the away team, you won't survive the episode. Jack, now possessing superhuman strength, stowed away on a sanitation truck. That's not exactly correct. Right out of "Cape Fear," he stowed away under a sanitation truck. And then, rather than calling into CTU for back-up, he dispatched the half dozen or so bad guys to Allah. He sent off the uber-jihadi to his death with a gratuitous, "say hello to your brother" [whom Jack had killed a couple years earlier].

Doyle arrives on the scene and assesses how it all went down, quietly marvelling at Bauer's efficiency at killing the bad guys. It could've been hour 24 tonight for all I cared. Then those SOBs [I'm talking to you, Joel Surnow!] put a new plot twist. It's Chi-coms again [I swear I know that actor from multiple episodes of Hawaii 5-0 or M*A*S*H or Bridge on the River Kwai or all three]. This time they have long-presumed-dead Audrey Raines.

Joel Surnow: put us all out of our misery. Kill Audrey now and let Jack start a new life with his former sister-in-law. I couldn't even tell if this season's Audrey is the same actress as previous seasons. Perhaps they're using yet another beloved cliche and making her Dick Sargent without even thanking Dick York. It doesn't matter. I'm bewitched.

'24' Recap: A Snoozer

The last hour of '24' was a snooze-fest. Even President Palmer shooting up adrenaline couldn't revive me. The range he displayed was very limited, too: seething with teeth clenched, seething and wincing, seething and sweating. Yawn. I actually missed the Russky chopping off his arm so as to "disable" the homing device [I told you, I couldn't stay awake]. He left a Hansel-like trail of blood that did the trick for our intrepid CTU team. Karen Hayes [dubbed "not Helen Mirren" on Lileks] had a nice telephonic moment with her husband-in-California-CTU-HQ. When did Bill Buchanan become Basil Exposition? I'm all for changing up the pace a little [there's usually a level spot on roller-coasters before the final dizzying spins], but the low-action must still drive the plot forward. The plot device of a constitutional crisis wherein the Supreme Court is called in to resolve the conflict is so been-there-done-that that it holds no dramatic tension. Hats off to the Eel [Jimmy MacNichol] for portraying a patriot under that slimy exterior.

Previews indicate that Jack gets shot in the chest next week. Well we know he's always suited up when he goes into these things, so either his armor failed him or they're really setting up Mike Doyle [played by Ricky Schroeder in the credits--when did he switch back to Ricky from Rick?]

If you missed it, you didn't miss too much. Joel Surnow: it's o.k. I still love the show. Just don't make Jack dress like Evel Knievel and jump over a tank of sharks. That would be bad.

Catfight! Flame Wars! Girls Gone Wild!

I'll play right into Althouse's evil plan and link to the current dust-up in the blogosphere. Here I am unwinding from my Monday's work, and I look at the latest post at Althouse. I heard her podcast yesterday which obliquely alluded to the dust-up that she knew would ensue [or at least it sounded "obliquely" to me because the sound level on her podcasts range from low to inaudible]. Sure enough. There's a comment thread that's rehashing an old blogwar.

I watched '24' tonight and my heart was racing. But presidents being revived from medically induced comas to slap-down megalomaniacal vice-presidents from launching nuclear weapons against mid-East targets was mild compared to the real blogging-as-art-form over at Althouse.

'24' Recap: Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch

As '24' plows through the hours, there are major story lines that just get dropped and you wonder if you're still watching the same season. That happened tonight when the story picked up the tactical nuke, deployed in an unmanned drone, launched over some target in California. Last week's involvement with Martha and ex-President Logan is gone in a flash. Karen Hughes, who I would have expected to be in California by now, is still in the presidential bunker in the DC area. President Palmer is still in a coma and the Vice-President, Powers Booth [who cannot shake his Jim Jones role in my mind] is cooly menacing our country to nuclear war with an unnamed Muslim country. At commercial, Dave said it's the same plot as Nelson DeMille's novel Nightfall. Good to know Joel Surnow and crew plagiarize from anyone who's good.

Another personnel change was revealed, pretty darn late in the game for both Jack and me: Audrey Raines is dead. Sorry. I either don't believe it or am highly suspicious. I only wish that woman would die so Jack could go on and have some real chemistry with, oh, say, his ex-sister-in-law. I'm betting that Jack's nephew [who looks remarkably like a very young Kurt Russell] is really his son. That'll be a convoluted reveal, so set your VCRs.

This episode "flew" by and the season is gaining speed like a runaway train on a downhill slope.

OH, AND: I forgot to mention that there's something about Milo that's giving me the heebie-jeebies. What's that smell? Fresh mole.

'24' Recap: Mad Martha Makes Mayhem

'24' keeps rolling along like a roller-coaster and I keep hanging on like someone trying to gain entry in The Guiness Book of World Records. Tonight, Martha Logan, played smartly by Jean Smart reappeared. She's still lovely, seems to have a good relationship with Aaron [her former Secret Service guard] ---told ya'!--- and is batty. When her former husband, the on-house-arrest-former-president needs a favor, she complies. So why is he being raced to the hospital? Oh, yeah. She hit an artery with the paring knife.

I loved Rick Schroeder's entrance. He comes from Fort Bragg. So we know he's with Special Operations, just like Jack was, and, judging by the way he man-handles the help, he's a bend-the-rules kinda' guy, too. Jack can just bleed out, Joel Surnow. You have found your next Jack and his name is Mike Doyle.

'24' Recap

Because of last week's previews, we knew to be on watch for that cigar cutter. We knew there'd be a Russian digit or two on the consulate floor by the time Jack Bauer was done. Didn't happen until 45 minutes into the episode. Dave mused that the previews give too much away.

Then tonight's previews revealed Jean Smart and Rick Schroeder making appearances in next week's hour. Yay!

Now I am truly, really fearing for the life of Jack Bauer. He's been near dead, presumed dead, mostly dead, dead-but-rescuscitateable [a la Kiefer's "Flatliners" from almost 20 years ago], but never really dead. With Rick Schroeder making his entrance, there's a real chance to kill off Kiefer's character. He could be more than merely dead. I'm talkin' sincerely dead.

Rick Schroeder has blondish good looks and all the cowboy moves. He even made me forget Jimmy Smits when he took the gig on "NYPD Bleu." If there's a clear signal that every character could die, it's now. Kiefer won't be hurting because he's an executive producer. Who knows how many morning he wakes up all-over stiff thinking, "I'm gettin' too old for this crap".

I remain riveted and struggling to keep all the threads straight. A whole week of my life intervenes between the shows and serves to keep me one step behind.

Message to Kiefer and Joel Surnow: If there's ever been a time to do something really radical, it's now. I double dog dare ya' to kill off Jack Bauer. No. Make that triple dog dare.

Monday's Not So Bad...

...when you have a chick luncheon at a good restaurant and you have another episode of '24.' I have heard reports that this show is great on DVD because you can skip the week between each cliffhanger. Also, with all the commercials removed, you can probably watch '24' in '19'.

I cannot wait to see Jean Smart reappear as the probably-ex-Mrs. Logan in the weeks to come. She just has to be there. With former President Logan becoming a key player, I know Jean Smart has to be nearby. I, for one, am very glad.

How I Knew This Was Going to Be a Good Day

[1] Althouse linked to me on the front page of her blog.
[2] My doctor said my sore throat was not strep [for the 4th time].
[3] Movie-time Monday on Playhouse Disney featured "Monsters, Inc."
[4] I picked up a free box of Godivas at the mall on the way to work.
[5] Our Best Man is on his way home from Iraq after 14 months away.
[6] The Amazing Race All-Stars will feature Rob and Amber Marino [known to some as "Romber"].
[7] It's another hour of '24.'

Blog-a-licious New Look and a '24' Night

Yesterday I was forced to, or accidentally happened to change my blog from the previous Blogger format to the upgraded Google-beta format. Whenever you do that, you lose a good bit of the personalized sidebar information. As this isn't the first time I've changed the look, I've created a stash of sidebar letters, most of which contain html codes for site meters, and blogrolls and aggregator memberships. I stayed up way too late doing the conversion. But I must admit, the wysiwyg template changes were super and pretty easy. The newest feature is one which allows labels on each post. I have almost a thousand posts to go through and edit, adding these tags. I will catalog everything eventually. Perhaps that will be a Lenten obligation? The downside, I've discovered elsewhere, is the commenting. If you're used to the good old Blogger style of commenting, now you have to get a new Google account and it seems like it takes several page changes to get a comment to post. Plus, there's a security pop-up that cannot be disabled and it pops up at the most inopportune time. I've lost many a comment on other's blogs with the new Google account. Seems like there's some more bugs to de-bug.

But it was Monday and that means '24.' As I did last week, I made a meal in the crock pot and enjoyed a warm beef stew while Jack Bauer was A-kicking or being A-kicked. Dave noted that "there's always a mole." I have seen this plot device used so frequently, it's like that trick your silly uncle used to play on you again and again. You knew he was going to do it, but the actual execution of the trick still caught you off-guard. I think that there are some writers who must've been the 98 pound weeklings in their classes. "The Geek shall inherit this show" has got to be their motto. Now that Karen quit as NSA, she'll be jetted to California. It's a trip that takes several hours in real life, but we'll see her arrive in about a month.

Hey, Joel Surnow! You know what I'd pay money to see? I'd love to see a day where Jack sleeps for 8 hours, and Chloe is at home in her pajamas reading her email and blogging and CTU is on a skeleton crew and the President is at Camp David. You think you can hold my attention on a boring day? Oh, yeah? Let's see you try.

"24" - Hour Five

We watched another excellent episode of '24' tonight. We were totally shocked that Rocket Romano turns out to be Jack's ne'er-do-well brother. With only a little Basil Exposition, we learn that at Jack's wife's funeral, Jack's sister-in-law made a play for him. Here's my out-in-left-field guess about these family dynamics: I'm betting that Jack's nephew is really his son from a brief tryst with sis-in-law. Next thing we'll find out Kimberly made Jack a grandfather while he was in the Chi-com prison.

President Palmer addressed the nation from the subterranean bunker. Both Dave and I wondered aloud whether he'd have a mock-up set to look like the Oval Office. Sure enough, he did. These guys think of everything. I wonder if they're using a cast-off set from NBC's West Wing?

Can they tie up another thread from previous seasons and bring in Mrs. Logan [the former First Lady, played by Jean Smart]? She was my favorite from the previous "day" and I would dearly love to see her in some role this "day." Mushroom clouds looming over LA and Jack's family multiplying and emerging like rabbits from a hutch. How do they keep making this stuff so gripping and entertaining?

Sweet Sunday

The children are napping. I just finished reading a juicy little novel. The season premier of "24" is tonight for two blessed hours. And then again tomorrow night for two more. Things could not be much better than this. Oh, yes! I have a paid holiday tomorrow.

David has a root canal tomorrow afternoon. But he can blog about that if he wants.

9 or 11 Reasons Why I Plan to Watch ABC's "Path to 9/11"...

....and encourage those I know to do so, too:

1. I own the book upon which it's based. I bought it in the bargain bin at Costco. I haven't gotten around to reading it just yet. It may be flawed or incomplete. But that didn't stop "The DaVinci Code" from being made into a movie, either. [author's note: I know one is fiction.]

2. I am woefully underinformed about the machinations behind the scenes of the Islamic terrorists [Jihadis? Islamofascists? Take your pick. They're the same bunch to me.][author's note: I know not all Muslims are terrorists.]

3. Many of my readers do not watch much TV. If I recommend something, even if it's just so we'll have something to discuss at our upcoming vacation, they just might watch it. I was a schoolgirl when "Roots" appeared on ABC. I remember the hype and, more importantly, I remember the show. Slavery was bad. It was worthwhile to dramatize it for the TV generation of which I am a part.

4. Rudy Guiliani said the following in a recent interview with radio host Hugh Hewitt and it made a lot of sense to me:

HH: Rudy Giuliani, looking back now five years after the original attack, or the attack on 9/11, and three years after the invasion of Iraq, knowing what you know now, was the invasion of Iraq a good idea?
RG: Yes.
HH: Why?
RG: Yes, I believe that both the war in Afghanistan and the war in Iraq were necessary. Maybe they could have been explained differently, or particularly Iraq, maybe we could have handled it somewhat differently. But the reality is, the terrorist enemy that we face is multifaceted, and loosely organized. We're not facing just one organization. Their organizational structure is Islamic fanaticism, or however you want to describe it. There are a lot of ways you can describe it. But it's not as if we're facing just one organization, or one country. And it reminds me...when I sort of analogize it to my prosecutorial days, it reminds me of dealing with the mafia. In New York, we were dealing with five different families. If all you did was eliminate one of those families, all you were accomplishing is making the other four families stronger. So the way you have to deal with terrorism is, you've got to eliminate all the pillars of support as best you can, which means Saddam Hussein, al Qaeda in Afghanistan. You've got...you had to deal with Qadafi. Luckily, he stepped down. We have to deal eventually with Iran and Syria, and places that like that support terrorism.

5. It's still not too late to learn about the Jihadis. This is an excellent vocabulary test.

6. Like Lileks, 9/11 reset my clock. I missed it. I didn't see the looming threat of Islamic fundamentalist terrorism, nor did [sufficient numbers of people in] my government. Now I see it. Now let's defeat it. James Lileks wrote, in pertinent part:

Just so you know: 9/11 reset the clock for me. All hands went to midnight. I’m interested in what people did after that date, and if the movie shows that before the attack one side lacked feck and the other was feck-deficient, I don't worry about it. It's like revisiting Congressional debates about Hawaiian harbor security in November 1941. Y'all get a pass. The Etch-A-Sketch's turned over. Now: what have you said lately?

7. The previews look promising. [There are 6 video vignettes. Best to start at 1 and go to 6]. I loved Amy Madigan in Carnivale. She's worth watching, if nothing else.

8. I'm so tired. I've spent a bunch of time over at Althouse. Rather than bog you down with the nearly 500 comments, it boils down to this for me: it's a movie about a subject that interests me. I'm watching it.

9. I miss Jack Bauer of 24. I understand that Donnie Wahlberg's character in the movie is a composite of several CIA operatives. I'm definitely getting a Jack Bauer vibe about him/them.

10. Convert-or-die is a bad choice. I do NOT want to be martyred for not wearing a burkha.

11. I don't want my daughters martyred either. Knowledge is power. Power to the people.

Gettin' My "24" Fix

I was at wit's end about what to do with my vacancy in TV viewing. NBC filled the gap. I'm watching "Last Comic Standing" [CAUTION: sound at the link] tonight and am enjoying every minute.

Better still: No Audrey.