Anyone who ever watched That 70’s Show knows that Kurtwood Smith can yell and interrogate like the best of him. He’ll be appearing in the upcoming season of 24 as a senator who doesn’t exactly agree with Jack’s tactic’s.

Smith recently spoke to Kristen over at E! about his character’s interaction with Jack Bauer, saying,  “I‘m in the first episode, and then I don’t come back until episode 10. I’m a U.S. senator, and the first episode is in a hearing room—where I’m grilling Jack—and then a good deal of the rest of it takes place in the White House, and what we’re shooting this week is my last big scene, and it’s just Kiefer and I. It’s a very interesting scene. It really addresses the argument between my character and Kiefer’s attempt at justifying what he has to do.”

It’ll be interesting to see Jack have to defend his actions for once.  There’s no doubt he’s quick to torture, even if it does get results for him in the end.

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We may have only seen a brief glimpse of him in the 24: Exile trailer leaked this week, but Jon Voight will definitely be a big pain in Jack Bauer’s ass on the upcoming season of 24. Voight spoke to reporters at this weeks TCA’s and told them that his character is “a witty fellow, sarcastic perhaps. He’s intimidating because he plays it light, but he’s got a sharp barb – his tongue can hurt you. He’s got a sense of humor, but boy, he’s dangerous.”

Voight will make his first appearance in 24: Exile, and will continue throughout season seven.

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Some new casting sides have been released, detailing the following characters, who will begin appearing in episode 13.

• Greg Seaton: 40’s, ‘edgy’ CEO, to appear in multiple episodes.
• Agent Reynolds: Commander of the Critical Incident Rescue Group (within the White House).
• Richard Chapman: Late 30’s, weapons engineer working for an unknown corporation.

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24 fans have had a lot of time to reflect on the events of past seasons, particularly the shortcomings of season six.  What I want to know from  you is what you hope to see, or what you hope you won’t see in season seven?

I know I want the following things:

• Strategically planned out arcs but he writers.  No more flying by the seat of their pants.  Hopefully the 24 crew have learned from Lost, in that having a detailed plan is a good thing.
• The return of Chloe O’Brian as a lead, rather than an extra.  Season six saw Chloe go through many episodes uttering only a few lines of dialogue.  The few plots she got were tepid at best, and the introduction of Morris did nothing but take screen time away from Chloe. That’s no way to treat a fan favourite.
• No more character filp-flopping.  Audrey Raines may havebeen a decent character during season four but Kim Raver’s scheduling complications sidelined Audrey, leaving the writers no choice but to kill her.  Of course Raver’s show The Nine was quickly canceled and Audrey was suddenly alive again, except the writers had no purpose for the character.  She was easily rescued by Jack is what could have been a more effective plot had it been prolonged, and when she returned, she was damaged goods.  The writers should have left her dead, but they obviously had no plan.

What do you want or don’t want to see in Season seven?

Season seven cast photo copyright 20th Century Fox Television.

I reported last night that Prescott O’Brian’s age was a giveaway for that fact that four years will have passed between seasons six and seven, and the New York Post did the same numbers, and confirmed the passage of years with Fox.  However they also did some interesting math and discovered that 17 years will have passed between seasons one and seven.  Considering we were told that Jack was 35 in season one, if you do the math, Jack Bauer would be a staggering 52 years old when season seven begins.

Continuity error anyone?  But that doesn’t matter to Fox, who released the following statement about the time gaps between seasons, “We’ve always built in significant passages of time between seasons of ‘24‘ for dramatic purposes.  Luckily, like all great iconic characters, Jack Bauer is ageless.”

That right there?  That’s PR at its best.

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Image copyright 20th Century Fox Television.

A week ago we got news that Robert Carlyle had joined the season seven prequel, playing Jack’s mentor in Africa. Now Gil Bellows, Eric Lively and Tony Todd have been added to the cast.

Bellows (Ally McBeal) will play a state department official in charge of serving Jack with a subpoena, most likely in Africa. Eric Lively (The L Work) will play the President’s son, and Tony Todd (Candyman) will be playing General Juma, the African dictator responsible for genocide in the African nation where Jack fled after the events of season six.

These casting tidbits are slowly starting to reveal the connections between the prequel, and season seven. Bellows’ character will transition Jack back to the United States, Lively’s character will eventually go missing, leading the First Husband (Colm Feore) to try to solve the mystery, and President Juma will go from genocide in Africa, to trying to control President Allison Taylor (Cherry Jones).

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