TCA Update: Jack Bauer To Save the Children

We got a teaser glimpse of the two hour "24" prequel that will air November 23. Like the series, it will play out in real time and take place on the day the first female president (Cherry Jones) is being sworn in just as a ripped-from-the-headlines crisis between rebel groups and refugees erupts in Africa. Sooner than you can say "damnit, these are just innocent children!" Jack springs back into action.

There was no formal session, just the unleashing of some of the prequel actors into the foyer of the ballroom including Jon Voight and Robert Carlyle. It was Sutherland, however, who was swarmed by a group of nearly thirty tape recorder-wielding reporters. I stuck my hand in the fray and extracted a few tidbits.

On how liberating it was to get Jack Bauer out of his regular surroundings: "It was fantastic. At the end of season six he was so disillusioned not only by his life but circumstances that confronted him here in the States that there was something wonderful about the beginning of the show in South Africa that he had actually found a kind of peace and calm there."

On Robert Carlyle's character: "He's an old friend of [Jack's] who had been working in the special forces with him some 15 years ago and he started a school that was trying to give a safe haven and rehabilitate the children of the African wars that had been involved in the fighting....It was the first time that you saw this character [Jack] in a place where he felt like he was giving back."

On how long "24" can continue: "The honest answer? As long as people watch it."

Sutherland also noted that he's doing well since his DUI- which he called "that stupid thing I did"- and that he has completed all his legal obligations on that front and that the writers strike helped in that regard because he was able to serve his time in one straight shot without affecting the show. The show has also been a safe place for him and he's been glad to have work to throw himself into. "I've had very good friends that have made similar mistakes and have not been that lucky. So, I was very aware of how lucky I was to have that opportunity."

On possible "24" feature films: "It's something that if, when the show is over, we feel there is an audience for and it's warranted, yeah. And if the writers have a great idea."