LITTLE ROCK — TV has something for almost everyone the next couple of days, starting with 24.
It’s hard to believe that Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) has been saving our bacon for eight seasons now. If not for Jack, life as we know it would have melted down long ago.
Not to spoil things for you, but Jack didn’t die at the end of Season 7. Find out how he pulled it off from 8 to 10 p.m. today and 7 to 9 p.m. Monday on Fox.
That’s four hours of nail biting over two days, but we’re used to it. I’ve seen the four episodes and find Jack as a reluctant hero to be refreshing.
Season 8 begins with him looking forward to being a granddad and living near his daughter’s family. Not going to happen.
This time out we’re in New York, where the Counter Terrorism Unit has a snazzy new headquarters full of every technological gadget known to man and a few yet to be invented.
Jack is all set to head to the airport with his daughter Kim (Elisha Cuthbert) when it’s discovered that there’s a plot to assassinate progressive Middle Eastern leaderOmar Hassan (played by Slumdog Millionaire’s Anil Kapoor) while he’s negotiating at the United Nations with U.S. President Allison Taylor (Cherry Jones).
Needless to say, Jack never makes it to the airport. His next 24 hours will be one of the eight worst days in his life.
Fans will be pleased to know that Annie Wersching is returning to play Renee Walker and the delightful Mary Lynn Rajskub is back as Chloe O’Brian.
New to CTU this season are Katee Sackhoff (Battlestar Galactica), 29, as agent Dana Walsh and Freddie Prinze Jr. (Scooby-Doo, Mr. Sarah Michelle Gellar), 33, as her sweetie, agent Cole Ortiz.
As an added bonus, Gregory Itzin returns as disgraced former President Charles Logan.
The last we saw of Loganwas when his unstable wife (Jean Smart) went medieval on him in Season 6, stabbing him in the shoulder. He comes back when President Taylor is forced to ask for his help.
Season 8 promises to be another wild ride.
Appealing drama.
The CW’s surprisingly appealing family drama Life Unexpected is set for 13 episodes and debuts at 8 p.m. Monday following the return of One Tree Hill.
I say “surprisingly appealing” because unlike most of The CW’s programs, you don’t have to be a 16-year-oldgirl to enjoy Life Unexpected.
The network is billing Life Unexpected as “Juno meets Gilmore Girls.” That’s a bit too facile, but the series does have similar elements.
The show centers on Lux, a teenager just shy of her 16th birthday. Her teen mother gave her up at birth but due to an early series of health problems, Lux was never adopted and has spent her life in a series of unhappy foster homes.
Despite that disadvantage, Lux has managed to develop a sophistication and articulation that would do the verbally precocious teens of Dawson’s Creek proud. Lux and Rory Gilmore would get on famously.
Lux is portrayed by 19-year-old Britt Robertson. If you didn’t blink, you saw her in CBS’ Swingtown.
Lux decides she’s ready to be an emancipated minor, but first she must track down her birth parents to sign some legal documents.
Her folks turn out to be Portland, Ore., radio talk show host Cate Cassidy (ER’s Shiri Appleby) and Nate “Baze”Bazile (Kristoffer Polaha, last seen on Mad Men).
Lux was the result of a one-night fling back in high school. Baze never even knew Cate had gotten pregnant and the two were never a couple.
At the hearing, a judge grants Baze and Cate temporary joint custody of Lux, much to the surprise of all concerned. Lux moves in with Cate.
Complications: Baze is a bachelor still living in his ladies’ man past and Cate is in a caring relationship with her radio co-host Ryan Thomas (Kerr Smith, Dawson’s Creek).
And the promising adventure begins.
For those keeping track, Gossip Girl will return March 8.
67th Golden Globes.
The most fun of all the awards shows begins at 7 p.m. today on NBC.
More news.
KLRT-TV, Fox 16, will add another half hour of news beginning at 10 p.m. Monday. The station will still have its hour newscast at 9 p.m.
The TV Column appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. E-mail:
Style, Pages 52 on 01/17/2010