24 Television Program

Actor Kiefer Sutherland, who stars in the Fox drama "24," has signed a production deal with 20th Century Fox Television to develop and be executive producer of series programming that can be shopped around to any television network through his newly created production company banner. The deal also calls for Sutherland to remain in his role as Jack Bauer on "24" while being named an executive producer on the drama alongside Joel Surnow, Robert Cochran, Howard Gordon and Evan Katz.

It was spy versus spy on TV Monday night. One's coming back next year, the other isn't. Fox won the last Monday of the 2005-06 season in the key "adults ages 18 to 49" demographic with the two-hour, fifth-season finale of "24." The drama starring Kiefer Sutherland as a gruff counterterrorism agent delivered a 5.4 rating/14 share in the demo, with 13.5 million total viewers, according to early data from Nielsen Media Research.

Will the big screen give Jack Bauer his biggest bad day yet? 20th Century Fox and the producers of "24" have signed a deal to make a film version of the counterterrorism exploits of special agent Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland). Sutherland wants to reprise his favorite role, but the deal is not final yet, his publicist said. "24's" executive producer Howard Gordon said he would work on the project with the show's co-creators, Robert Cochran and Joel Surnow, who will write the script.

JON CASSAR was sitting in his director's chair on the Oval Office set of "24" during a typically hectic day for the first-time Emmy director nominee. Cassar was filming the first two hours of the Fox drama's sixth season, and there was an awful lot he has to live up to. The first two hours of "24," which Fox airs in one night, have become a January event for the show's rabid fans.

Jack Bauer's long, long days have finally paid off. Fox's "24" picked up three Emmy Awards on Sunday for drama, lead actor Kiefer Sutherland and director Jon Cassar. Sutherland has been nominated every year since the show went on the air late in 2001, but Sunday marked his first win. "Every once in a while, you'll have an evening that just reminds you that you are given too much, and this is that evening," Sutherland said.

In response to the portrayal of Muslims on Fox's "24," the network is offering its stations two public service announcements that show Muslims in a positive light. The PSAs were produced by the Council on American-Islamic Relations, with whom Fox representatives met Wednesday. The 30- and 60-second spots showcase a diverse group of individuals, who in turn share personal descriptions and identify themselves as American Muslims.

When "24" debuted in 2001, critics thought it might be too soon after Sept. 11 for a show about a crisis-bedeviled counterterrorism unit. Then they worried that the series' real-time premise couldn't remain both exciting and plausible for 24 episodes. (They forgot that when a show is exciting enough, no one cares if it's plausible.) This season, the fourth, provoked complaints about stereotyping Middle Easterners.

Through four seasons, Fox's thriller "24" has propelled fans through some fearlessly over-the-top plot twists. One season, for example, hinged on how intelligence operative Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) narrowly helped foil a nuclear bombing that would have wiped out Los Angeles.

The last time "24's" hero Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) was seen -- in the fourth season finale -- he was presumed dead by most of the people in his life and literally walking off into the sunset to begin his life as a fugitive. With the fifth season premiere still a month away, fans can learn what Jack's life on the road has been like on a DVD of the show's fourth season, which has a prequel containing material that will never air on television.

Andrea Thompson, who left her role as Det. Jill Kirkendall on "NYPD Blue" in 2000 to pursue news anchoring, is returning to the fiction side of the medium. After stints at CNN Headline News and Court TV, she'll join the cast of Fox's "24" this fall. Fox said Monday that Thompson will portray a technical specialist who has "a critical role in dealing with the threat of an ominous terrorist attack." The show will begin its third season Oct. 28.