JANUARY 1 2009
AMERICANWAY 53
11 a.m. to 12 p.m.
Watched my ex-girlfriend come face
to face with the woman I stayed with
while in hiding— not awkward at all
5 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Shot an old family friend in the leg to get
information from her terrorist husband
before the Beltway heavyweights quickly becomes an
afterthought. “Jack is pulled from the Senate investiga-
tion because as part of a threat that now is upon us, we
learn that somebody Jack knows, Tony Almeida (Carlos
Bernard), turns out to be alive,” Gordon says.
Tony alive? But didn’t he die back in season five? Gor-
donacknowledges thatTony’sback-from-the-dead return
is “potentially absurd,” but he insists the payoff is more
important than the plausibility. “Sometimes, it’s worth
traveling a short distance of willing suspension of disbe-
lief to be part of a good story,” he says.
Gordon says therewill likely be other surprise returns
and that a few new faceswill be joining the cast aswell,
including Oscar-winning screen legend Jon Voight and
Tonywinner Cherry Jones, whowill play the show’s first
female president. “[Cherry’s] story turns into an interest-
ingone,”Gordonpromises. “It’shard, havingdonesomany
fictional administrations, tofindnewstuff sometimes, and
I think in this case, we found somegreat stuff.”
The showwill also see a change of scenery this year:
For the first time in
24
’s history, the entire season will
take place in Washington, D.C., instead of in Los Ange-
les. But one thing that won’t change is the heavy dose
of adrenaline-pumping action. “Some of the things that
we’ve done [this season] are unlike any of the things
we’ve ever done before,” Gordon says. “This is probably
the best chance for people who’ve never seen the show
to see it.”
So set your watches and get ready for another day-
long JackBauer–led thrill ride.
7 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Took the controls of a nuclear device and
stopped it from detonating
5 a.m. to 6 a.m.
Rescued my teenage nephew frommy
deranged father
Think you’ve had a tough day at the office?Apeek inside
JackBauer’s personal journal will make you grateful that all
you have toworry about is that annoying coworker in the
next cube and a copymachine that’s on the blink. Here’s just a
sampling of all that our hero’s endured thus far. —T.K.
TheFollowingTookPlaceBetween…
7 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Infiltrated secret government
detention center that’s holding
presumed-dead warlord
10 p.m. to 11 p.m.
Saved presidential candidate’s life
for the second time in 24 hours
Day One
1 a.m. to 2 a.m.
Reached inside a corpse with my bare hands
to remove a microchip containing vital intel
5 a.m. to 6 a.m.
Saved my daughter’s life over the phone by talking
her through shooting her abusive boss
10 p.m. to 11 p.m.
Kissed my wife’s murderer in order to get
her to cooperate in my sting operation
7 a.m. to 8 a.m.
Rushed to my daughter’s rescue while she
was on an undercover assignment
(Can’t that girl take care of herself?)
Day Three
10 a.m. to 11 a.m.
Held up a convenience store to delay a suspect
6 a.m. to 7 a.m.
Faked my own death to keep the government from killing me
Day Two
Day Four
Day Five
Day Six
