Welcome To Elizabeth's Place!: Who wants to be a foreign leader on '24?'

Kiefer Sutherland's Return To Television Gets Cautious Praise

Kiefer Sutherland can't have felt anything but pressure as his first major TV role since 10 phenomenal years spent on '24' aired for the first time last night (26 January 2012).
Fans and critics were certainly eager to see how the Canadian actor was going to follow up what has come to be known as one of the iconic TV characters of the 21st century in secret agent Jack Bauer.
'Touch,' which sees Sutherland playing a single father of a mute son who sees things other cannot, aired last night for the first time - and the answer to whether he's managed to follow up what may be career defining role successfully?
A cautious yes, according to the critics.
Newsday was effusive in its praise, saying the program was "A bit melodramatic, a bit manipulative, Touch is still one of the best pilots of the 2011-12 season to date," and others were similar praiseworthy though understandably a little more cautious given it was the pilot episode.
"It's Mr. Sutherland's portrayal of the father--unyielding in his effort to break through to his mute child and grasp what he's trying to say with his numbers--that is the heart of this story, the power likely to sustain this promising enterprise," said the Wall Street Journal, whilst
TV Guide said "[Touch is] emotionally compelling but wildly fantastical and undeniably manipulative."Not all were enthused though, The New York Times commented "The 11-year-old boy at the center of the story has never spoken and is also the show's narrator.
It's a perfectly acceptable device, if not a particularly interesting one in this case," whilst the Los Angeles Times weren't fans at all, stating "Ironically, given a show that so clearly wants to touch its audience--from that weighty one-word title on down--we have met, apart from Martin, hardly a single character who incorporates more than the hint of an actual person.
"Contactmusic

Friday, July 24, 2009

Who wants to be a foreign leader on '24?'

The opening of 24's eighth season centers on a U.N. peace conference where President Taylor (Cherry Jones) and the president of Iran (Anil Kapoor, best known to U.S. viewers as the game-show host in Slumdog Millionaire) have prominent roles.

At a Comic-Con presentation, Kiefer Sutherland, who plays super agent Jack Bauer, said the plot is not unrealistic.
"This season is more grounded in what possibly could happen. There's a sense of reality that almost brings it back to Season 1," said Sutherland, who added that serious planning on a 24 film wouldn't start until the series approaches its end.

The peace conference is a noble goal, Sutherland said, but "when opportunities present themselves, there are also threats."

That threat would be a possible assassination attempt against the Iranian president, which of course draws a "retired" Jack Bauer in.

A short clip revealed that CTU (Counter Terrorist Unit) back after having been disbanded and it's a much glitzier place, all chrome and glass and cool lights.
When we last left Jack, he was on the verge of dying from an airborne toxin, his only chance at survival reviving the help of his daughter Kim.

"He did make it through. You'll see a little later how," executive producer Howard Gordon said.
Whatever happened worked well, because Jack will show a new feeling: happiness, largely due to being with his daughter and granddaughter, executive producer Manny Coto said.

Besides Kapoor, Freddie Prinze Jr. joins the cast as CTU agent and ex-Marine Cole Ortiz and Katee Sackhoff plays his fiancee, Dana Walsh, a CTU data analyst. Mary Lynn Rajskub is back as cranky, brilliant Chloe, although she's a bit behind the learning curve because she's been away taking care of her son. After a few episodes, Sackhoff, a veteran of Battlestar Galactica battles, said she told the writers she needed a gun. "I was starting to feel naked," she said.

The clip showed an injured man telling Jack of a possible assassination plot and Prinze, Sackhoff and Rajskub in the dark and shiny CTU.

After the clip, Sutherland offered solace to any worried fans. "Don’t be alarmed. We do still blow shit up."

http://blogs.usatoday.com/livefrom/2009/07/who-wants-to-be-a-foreign-leader-on-24.html?csp=34