24 news

Contains plot details of previous seasons of 24.. you been warned.

Looks like Janeane Garofalo will be joining 24 next season. Apparently they are "revamping" the cast. Why, because S6 sucked the giant vortex of rotten armpit stench?

Obviously, they need to rebuild the cast. 24's done a great job of killing off everyone Jack (and by extension, the audience) loved. It started with Teri. That was when you knew nobody was safe. That was a good death for the show.

But then, every season, someone else bought it. Mason. Chappelle. Sheri Palmer. Nina. By Day 5, someone decided to go a little batshit with the red marker. Remember, hour 1? The day they started with annihilation, not just of random faceless people, but Palmer and the Soul Patch Family?

I just didn't get it. All the characters who'd been around for ages... toast. And beloved characters, too. People we looked forward to seeing. Remember season 4, Episode 7, the Squeal Heard Round The World? You know, when Tony appeared out of nowhere with a gun and the Cubs mug, kicking ass and taking names. Or that same season, when he and Michelle kissed and made up in some random hallway while the world was falling apart. Now that was chemistry.

That was the day I stopped investing in the characters.. because you never knew who was going to buy it next. Sure, it was edgy and shocking at the time, but long term all it did was cause the viewers to be a whole lot more dispassionate. I didn't engage with the characters anymore because I knew that everyone except for Jack had a bullseye on their head. Edgar. Curtis.

I mean geez. The least they could have done was kill off Kim.

Mix the character massacre in with the fact that the writers seem to be out of ideas. S6 was a whole bunch of plot retreads. Everything that happened in Season 6, happened in some other season. Goodness! The terrorists are breaking in to CTU... for the third time. Yawn. Anyone got more guacamole? Oh no, a nuke's going off... again. There've been enough nukes to put them in a 24 drinking game.

So. Bring on Janeane Garofalo. I like her. Do whatever it is you need to do, boys. Just fix it, if you can.

Image from IMDB.