Fresh Loaf

FILL 'ER UP: This mug ain't for coffee.

We left off last week down one U.S. senator, one paid assassin, and a whole lotta Jack’s cred. This week, Larry Moss was on site at Sen. Mayer’s house, “investigating” the politico’s murder and playing effortlessly into the bad guys’ hands. Moss truly is this season’s answer to the blindly bureaucratic impediment to progress (formerly held by such brown-nosers as Miles Papazian (Stephen Spinella) in previous seasons). Jack brings Tony up to speed on evildoers and bio-weapons and whatnot via cell, while Moss unleashes the sass on Chief of Staff Ethan Kanin, telling him he advised against allowing Jack to interrogate Burnett a second time. Ethan takes a second, takes a seat and takes his resignation to President Taylor. As Ethan justifies his resignation to the president, he explains his complicity in Bauer’s alleged killing spree. The president responds with, “It doesn’t make any sense!”

Hello??!!! Anyone listening? At least one of season seven’s one-dimensional characters was drawn with a slightly thicker Sharpie. Does this mean that they call off the hounds? Not so much.

Continue reading “‘24:’ Episode 15, 10-11 p.m.”

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God certainly was tired on the seventh day and the same seems to be true for “24.” It pains me to say as much, but six hours and one made-for-TV movie into the series’ seventh season and my pulse ain’t pounding like it used to. Preposterous and over-the-top plotlines made “24″ must-see TV. Hell, the show could even make you root for torture. (Make him talk Jack! He wants to kill Americans, the sonofabitch!)

But now, where “24’s” next move used to be utterly unimagineable, it all just feels too contrived, too predictable. Hotwire a car and drive it off the second story of a parking deck crawling with FBI agents? Sigh. Fake kill a woman who was the only one to trust you but now thinks you’ve betrayed her so that the bad guys think you’re one of them? Seen it. Infiltrate a terrorist network with a rogue band of former CTU cohorts because the government can’t be trusted? Yawn.

“24″ set the bar so high from the start that it’s slowly but surely become it’s own cliche. I’m starting to wonder if Jack Bauer can save this one, and dammit, we’re running out of time!

(Photo courtesy Fox)

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To paraphrase “The Simpsons,” it’s currently the start of everybody’s second-favorite TV season: mid-season! “The Daily Show” and “The Colbert Report” returned on Monday, “30 Rock” came back last night (you can watch it now on Hulu) and “24″ launches its seventh season on Sunday, opposite the Golden Globe Awards. For a comprehensive run-down, Ain’t It Cool News has a list in both alphabetical and chronological order, but you might find the CinemaBlend list a little more readable. Apparently you can see the pilot of Showtime’s “The United States of Tara” (starring Toni Collette and written by Juno’s Diablo Cody) online ahead of its Jan. 18 debut. Some notable others include:

“The Office” (NBC) Jan. 15 (with additional episode on Superbowl Sunday, Feb. 1)
“Battlestar Galactica” (SciFi) Jan. 16
“Flight of the Conchords” (HBO) Jan. 18 — now available on FunnyorDie.com.
“Lost” (ABC) Jan. 21
“The Closer” (TNT) Jan. 26
“Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles” (Fox) Feb. 13
“Dollhouse” (Fox) Feb. 13
“South Park” (CC) March 11

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American television so often takes its cues from English and European shows, including the original version of “The Office” and many reality series, that it’s refreshing to see a British show influenced by one from the states. The BBC One spy drama “MI-5,” debuting on Atlanta’s PBA 30 at 10 p.m. Fri., Jan. 9, clearly picked up a thing or two from Fox’s counterterrorism series “24,” such as the use of split-screens and a thrumming soundtrack.

“24” (which begins its seventh season on Jan. 11) already had episodes in the can when the Sept. 11 attacks occurred before its debut in November of 2001. “MI-5” premiered in May of 2002 and had the chance to adjust its focus to specifically reflect the post-9/11 geopolitical landscape. Compared to a soft-spoken, character-driven police procedural such as Helen Mirren’s “Prime Suspect,” “MI-5” is much more glitzy, action-oriented and “American” in its sensibility, although Tom Quinn (Frost/Nixon’s Matthew Macfayden), the hero of the show’s first seasons, proves more sardonic and less intense than Keifer Sutherland’s tormented Jack Bauer on “24.”

Called “Spooks” in England and “MI-5” in the United States and France, the show also reveals a sense of humor and awareness of real-world foibles completely absent from “24.” The “MI-5” pilot involves the search for an American anti-abortion zealot who plans an English bombing campaign. When Tom’s colleagues try to put the terrorist’s flat under electronic surveillance when no one’s home, they accidentally let the cat out in the rain, and not only have to track down the stray pet, but dry it off, lest the bad guys get wise to their presence. The show itself isn’t free of missteps, either: The actress playing the pro-life American affects a ridiculous Southern accent that sounds like a mixture of Texas, Florida, Scotland and late-night drunk.

In between taut cloak-and-dagger sequences, “MI-5” humanizes the lives of covert intelligence operatives. The early episodes have Tom falling in love with a civilian who only knows him by a cover identity instead of his real name and profession, a predicament mined for wry pathos. The series’ seventh season is scheduled to begin in late 2009, giving local viewers plenty of time to play catch-up. “MI-5” has a reputation for sudden, shocking character deaths, so first-timers willing to sign up for this take on British intelligence should expect to be both shaken and stirred.

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Jack is back.

And not a moment too soon. I’ve been feeding my addiction with late-night marathon viewings of seasons 1-6 (shout out to Blockbuster Rewards’ two-for-one deal). Season 7 premieres Sun., Nov. 23 at 8 p.m. with the two-hour “24: Redemption.” Jack’s in South Africa protecting the children, killing the bad guys and torturing evildoers when necessary. Plus, it’s in real time, y’all

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