Kelsey McNeal/FOX; Michael Muller/FOX And you though Jack Bauer was the one going through a bad day...
Cherry Jones, 24's reigning President Allison Taylor, is recovering from gallbladder surgery.
The news was broken by series producer Howard Gordon after the two-time Tony Award-winning actress was MIA at a show panel Tuesday at the Television Critics Association meeting in Los Angeles.
"Cherry wouldve been here but she had her gallbladder removed. She's fine," Gordon said.
Jones, 52, is recuperating in New York. No further details were immediately announced.
According to a show publicist, shooting has already been completed and Jones' absence will not affect production schedules.
The new season of 24 kicked off Sunday.
Aside from her trophy-bagging Broadway work in The Heiress and Doubt, Jones has starred in such films as The Village, Ocean's Twelve, The Perfect Storm and Erin Brockovich.
—Reporting by Natalie Abrams
(Originally published Jan. 12, 2009 at 2:36 p.m. PT.)