24 Gets in Touch with Feminine Side

Jack Bauer reports to his first female President when carbon-neutral seventh season kicks off in January 2008; Fox also unveils new Simpsons guest list, including Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert

By Gina Serpe Jul 23, 2007 4:50 PMTags

Heading into its new season, 24 is hoping that progress makes perfect.

While, per usual, plot details for the show's Day 7 are being kept under tight wraps—possibly because it's being rewritten completely—the behind-the-scenes goings-on at the countdown series are enough to make Al Gore, or even Hilary Clinton, simply blush with pride.

Over the weekend, Fox announced that the reigning Emmy winner for Best Drama Series would welcome its inaugural female President into the Jack Bauer fold, casting Tony Award winner Cherry Jones to serve as the no doubt beleaguered commander-in-chief.

Jones, who appeared in Ocean's Twelve and Signs and also guest-starred as Representative Barbara Layton on the West Wing, is set to play President Allison Taylor when the new season kicks off in January 2008.

The show has already elected two African-American men to the White House. Dennis Haysbert's David Palmer served one season and managed to survive several assassination attempts before being offed at the start of Day 5. D.B. Woodside, who played brother Wayne Palmer, was the reigning President for most of Day 6, but was last seen on life-support after suffering a cerebral hemorrhage triggered by a bombing.

While Kiefer Sutherland's Bauer and Mary Lynn Rajskub's computer-savvy sidekick Chloe O'Brien are both due back, the rest of the ensemble is expected to undergo a major overhaul and Jones is the first major new addition.

Production on the seventh season was delayed last month when the Africa-set story line was scrapped and producers went back to the drawing board to dream up a new world-in-peril plot. Shooting is now expected to kick off in August.

Producers are hoping to rebound creatively from last season's torture-laden action, which crvitics blasted and viewers began to ignore. Emmy voters agreed and declined to nominate the show for Best Drama Series last week, meaning it won't have a chance to repeat. (Sutherland is up for Best Actor in a Drama, however.)

But while the network's keeping mum on any planned onscreen action, Fox suits are abuzz with a major development planned to take place off screen.

The Rupert Murdoch-powered network announced that 24's seventh-season the first ever entirely carbon-neutral TV production.

In order to achieve the environmental feat, the show will implement energy-cutting initiatives throughout the season, including introducing biodiesel fuels to power generators and production vehicles and running all on-stage production vehicles on green power. Sutherland has already shot a public service announcement about the dangers of global warming and carbon emission reduction and other cast members are expected to follow suit.

Also up Fox's sleeve for the 2007-08 TV season:

  • Springfield is once again going Hollywood, with a slew of guest stars lining up to lend their voices to The Simpsons' 19th season. Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, the latter as a life coach, make their first 'tooned out appearance on the show, while Frasier men Kelsey Grammer, David Hyde Pierce and John Mahoney reteam for an episode. Lionel Richie, Topher Grace, Weird Al Yankovic, Steve Buscemi, Matt Dillon, Dan Rather, Maya Rudolph, Placido Domingo and Weird Al Yankovic have also signed up for the yellow treatment.
  • Hell's Kitchen will be back for a fourth effin' season in 2008, with chef Gordon Ramsay once again at the spatula-wielding helm.
  • The Wayne Brady-hosted karaoke extravaganza, Don't Forget the Lyrics!, has been renewed for 13 additional episodes on the heels of a banner summer debut. The competition continues on Wednesdays and Thursdays this fall.
  • MADtv welcomes three new funny faces to its late night lineup, comics Johnny Sanchez III, Anjelah N. Johnson and Dan Oster. The sketch show, heading into its 13th season, will also celebrate its 300th episode on Nov. 17.
  • Cops also joins the milestone club, celebrating its 700th episode on Nov. 11. The long-running good guy show will also air a special episode, Cops: 20th Anniversary Special Edition, honoring its two-decades of camera-captured crime fighting, on Sept. 18.