"24" Is Back!

It's baaaaaaaaack!

The hit Fox tv show "24", which didn't air last year due to the writers' strike and Kiefer Sutherland's legal problems, premiered its seventh season tonight. I have been waiting breathlessly for a year for "24" to return, maybe that's why I'm a little disappointed with the first two opening salvos of season seven.

The show got off to a promising start with Jack Bauer, played by Sutherland, getting sassy with a self-righteous, we-don't-torture-nobody's-above-the-law Senator, who was almost certainly inspired by some lame liberal Democrat. But then Jack gets called away by the FBI and the show went a little downhill from there. Not that there wasn't an interesting plot twist. The big shocker is the return of Tony Almeida, supposedly killed in season 5, as an apparent anti-government terrorist. I will keep watching this season just to find out what's up with Tony, if nothing else. But beyond that I'm not too impressed so far.

In this season of "24" America has her first female president played--underwhelmingly, so far--by Cherry Jones. Unlike the first black president, David Palmer, who first appeared in season 1, President Allison Taylor isn't natural. I couldn't shake the feeling that the writers of the show were trying to make a statement by having a female chief executive. President Palmer was simply allowed to be president, and you soon forgot that he was black. I have an unpleasant feeling that I'll never be able to forget that President Taylor is a woman. And that's not all that's bothering me about season 7.

Bauer has been paired with an FBI agent by the name of Renee Walker, played by Annie Wersching. Annie Wersching is dull. There is absolutely NO chemistry between her and Sutherland. None what so ever. The whole time I was watching them together I kept thinking that Wersching might as well have been a man. Of course, a romance between Jack and Renee isn't inevitable but c'mon! If you're gonna put a man and a woman together make sure that they have at least a few sparks flying just to keep things interesting, y'know? But that's not the biggest problem with season 7. Oh no, there's something much, much worse.

The single most atrocious defect in the latest addition of "24" is the addition to the cast of left-wing loon Janeane Garofalo. I kid you not! I don't know what the great minds behind the show were thinking to bring that woman--I use the term loosely--on board, but they sure weren't thinking right. How could they pollute a pro-America show with the likes of her?! Garofalo's presence is going to make watching my favorite tv show an exercise in mental anguish. I can't stop watching, though, because I want to find out what's going on with Tony. Lord, help me!

Hopefully "24" will start delivering its usual in-yo'-face charm and I'll soon forget about this season's shortcomings and just enjoy the ride. Maybe Cherry Jones will grow into her role as president. Maybe Annie Wersching will become interesting...well, I doubt it. Maybe Janeane Garofalo's character, Janis Gold, will get killed off by a terrorist. That would be awesome! Oh, I hope! I hope! I'll watch the next two installments of season 7 tomorrow night and keep my fingers crossed. Hee! Hee!