24 Gossip

After being locked in a Chinese prison for 20 months, Jack Bauer had to reflect.

The star of 24 and America's only hope against a growing terrorist threat could wait a few minutes before he shaved and saved the world. First, he had to process a slew of surprising celebrity facts.

Yes, Jack, the thin, boring character portrayed by Mischa Barton is truly gone from The OC. Here are some other tidbits you missed:

• Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey have broken up. She may have slept with Bam Margera, he's definitely doing Vanessa Minnillo. Her dad is still nuts.
• Britney Spears filed for divorce from Kevin Federline. She still can't sing.
• Keeley Hazell made a sex tape. So did Dustin Diamond. You probably wish we hadn't told you about that second one, huh?
• Beauty queens acted like young, single, gorgeous women that were provided with fame and free vacations. Take your time looking through Katie Rees photos. We certainly did.
• Nerds everywhere had to buy new pants at the thought of Tricia Helfer nude.

It's a lot to digest, we know. But some things haven't changed. Nicole Richie hasn't had a bite to eat since you were captured.

And you made it back just in time for new seasons of The Hills and American Idol.

So welcome back, Jack. It's been a long time. Grab yourself a torturing device, rescue the world from devastation and let's mock Brooke Hogan together. Just like old times.

Come on. Did you really think television could contain Jack Bauer?

The omnipotent American hero has expanded his role of saving the planet earth and everyone in it to the comic book realm. Specifically, 24: Nightfall is a prequel to the ongoing hit FOX series.

Fans of 24 will remember that before the clock started ticking on Season One, Bauer was the head of an elite Special Forces team sent to take down the mass-murder, Victor Drazen (played by Dennis Hopper in the series) Events quickly spiral out of control, as is so often the case for CTU and company.

But does Jack call on Harry Potter or anyone else for help? Of course not!

24: Nightfall, a six-part adventure premiering in November, was
written by regular 24 writers J.C. Vaughn and Mark L. Haynes.

"For fans of 24, particularly those who have been on the edges of their seats since Season One, this is the story that sets everything in motion for Jack Bauer," said Vaughn. "The events in Season One were directly related to events two years to the day earlier. Now our readers will get to see exactly what happened and lead to the coolest show on television."

The series was Best Drama at The Emmy Awards in August. Star Kiefer Sutherland also won a best acting award.

Yesterday, Fox took part in the Television Critics' Association presentation, delivering numerous inside scoops on some of your favorite shows. The event featured writers, producers and a few actors, such as the delicious Wentworth Miller (pictured).

Let's get right into the action!

Peter Liguori, Fox's entertainment president, admitted that his network "does an outstanding job from January through August... the whole ball of wax is really about improving our fourth quarter.'' Sounds like he wants some hits until American Idol and 24 save the day in January.

The solution appears to be scheduling shows with periodic, longer-breaks; just how Prison Break premiered before baseball playoffs, came back strong after the World Series and then took a long hiatus while Jack Bauer saved the world again.

This explains the 16-episode order and November premiere of The O.C. (although nothing from the panel explained why the show has sucked a huge one for the last two years). Liguori said the drama will play continually through March - and if it manages to weather the Grey's Anatomy vs. CSI Thursday-night war, it may even get extended to 24 episodes. In other words: no chance.

Liguori also reiterated that So You Think You Can Dance? and Hell's Kitchen have both been picked up for another season. The Gossip was way ahead of him on that one!

Tidbits regarding Prison Break were then revealed. With the felons now fugitives, viewers shouldn't expect to see much of Stacy Keach's Warden Pope; production's moved from the Joliet, Ill., penitentiary to the wide open spaces of Dallas (which can double for the many different locations needed for the second season).

The inmates will be spreading out too, as they enter what creator Paul T. Scheuring called their ''respective endgames." Scheuring later said he had only planned on two seasons, but now sees the first two seasons as the first chapter of a trilogy. We assume that means more money will equate to more episode.

Rush Limbaugh, Clarence Thomas and other well-known conservatives owe Jack Bauer a debt of gratitude; not just for constantly saving the world, but for providing these bores with entertainment on a weekly basis.

At the Ronald Reagan International Trade Center, these gentlemen gave thanks for the hit FOX show, 24. The Heritage Foundation hosted a forum with a panel that featured homeland security experts, the co-creators of the show and three of the show's stars to purportedly. The topic at hand?

"America's Image in Fighting Terrorism: Fact, Fiction, or Does it Matter?" Soon enough, however, the event became a love-fest.

In the front row sat Supreme Court Justice Thomas. Among others in attendence, he listened to Rush gush.

"I am literally in awe of the creativity of the brains behind the program," said conservative talk radio icon Limbaugh, who moderated the panel. "The vice president's a huge fan. Secretary (Donald) Rumsfeld's a huge fan."

Since its debut a few weeks after 9/11, 24 has managed not only to climb to the top of the ratings, but to build a serious conservative fan base that reaches the highest echelons of the U.S. government. We're sure watching it is NOT the hard work President Bush often refers to.

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff did note that the show had some differences with his reality.

"I do not have an ops center like CTU," he said. But the general themes of the show are real. "The characters are presented with difficult choices, choices about taking violent and drastic action against a threat and weighing that against the consequence of not taking the action and the destruction that might otherwise ensue."

Limbaugh said he hadn't seen the show until someone gave him the DVDs of the first two seasons. On a flight to Dubai, he and former vice presidential aide Mary Matalin watched 18 hours of the show consecutively.

That's comforting to hear. Hopefully, the government will soon send Bauer into Iraq and put an end to this nonsense.