Okay, so as most of us will no doubt be aware, Fox’s 24 is about to return to our screens on May 5^th with a 12-issue series entitled 24: Live Another Day. The new series, set roughly four years after the conclusion of season 8, sees the the show relocated to the UK and features the return of several familiar faces including William Devane as (now-President) James Heller, Kim Raver as Audrey Raines, the fantastic Mary Lynn Rajskub as Chloe O’Brian, and – of course – Kieffer Sutherland as the one and only Jack Bauer.

Now I’ve been a massive 24 fan since the first season, and while I’ll freely admit that the quality took a bit of a sharp decline in the latter seasons, I’m definitely still excited to have Jack back in my life in any way, shape or form.  However, there are a few things about this new series that are niggling me somewhat. Mainly… 12 episodes? Really? Fox CEO Kevin Reilly has explained that these episodes will represent the twelve “most important” hours of a typical 24 season, meaning that events will (sadly) no longer “occur in real time”. Which, in my opinion, kind of takes away the basic ‘hook’ of the show.

That said, I’m still really fired up about the return of the show, even in this new ‘abridged’ format.  Jack Bauer is a pretty fantastic Television creation, and the opportunity to watch him doing his thing for another twelve hours is something I’m not going to miss.  And, based on the extended trailer that has been released, it looks like we’ll be treated to some vintage Bauer awesomeness.  Check it out.

Pretty awesome, right?

But before the show airs in May, I want to hear the opinions of you fine people.  Are you as pumped-up for the return of 24 as I am, or do you feel that the show should have been left alone?  And what are your opinions on the new 12-episode running time?  Good or bad?  Sound off in the comments, boys and girls.

Oh, and before I go, here’s one more important reason why I love 24 quite so much.

Say it with me, folks…

The writer of this piece was: Craig Neilson (aka Ceej)
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