Trio Ticks to 24

Eric Lively, Gil Bellows and Tony Todd sign up for season seven's two-hour prequel

Jack Bauer is enlisting the help of a Gossip Boy.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, Eric Lively, Gil Bellows and Tony Todd have signed on to star in Fox's two-hour TV prequel to 24, set to air this fall in advance of the seventh season premiere.

Lively is an L Word alum and, more importantly to a certain prized demographic, the older brother of Gossip Girl star Blake Lively. On the upcoming season, he is set to play the son of the president, who is inaugurated as Kiefer Sutherland's alter ego takes care of international incident-type business in Africa.

Bellows, meanwhile, a TV vet best known for his role on Ally McBeal, will play a State Department officer who must serve Bauer with a Senate subpoena.

Chuck regular Todd is set to appear in both the prequel and the seventh season, signing on to play the African dictator General Juma.

Let the countdown begin.