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Au revoir Jack, until the big screen - the series finale of "24" airs at 8pm on Fox.
Tonight we will stagger from last night's series finale of "Lost" to tonight's series finale of "24". In the 8 1/2 years since the premiere of "24" the show has gone from being an avant-garde, in-your-face morality play about terrorism, torture, and politics, to something formulaic and predictable. "24"'s combination of raw action and comical xenophobia was an entertaining circus to most of us but (disturbingly) taken as "truth" by the Bush II regime, the military, and "patriotic" pundits like Rush Limbaugh and his ilk. The series was at its strongest when it was about Kiefer Sutherland's Jack Bauer and at its weakest when it became plot-focused.The series also served as a vehicle to give a broader audience to some great performances by Mary Lynn Rajskub, Sarah Clarke, and dozens of other "new" actors along with old school heavy hitters like Dennis Hopper and William Devane making up a cast of over 500 named players in during its production. We had high hopes for it's most recent and final season once we heard that the setting was to be New York City, but we were quickly disappointed with endlessly looped shots of downtown Los Angeles, complete with innumerable palm trees sneaking themselves into footage over the past several months. Some handheld, closeup grittiness on the streets of NYC could have saved the series but it was not to be - instead we played the familiar game of "who's the mole?" and the shuffle of the cardboard chess pieces of nuclear/bio-bomb and/or assassination and/or Arabs/some-ethnic-Muslim-country/Russians.
Thankfully, the last few weeks have brought it all back to the man that started it all for us: Jack Bauer. It's the world vs. Jack Bauer and we want him to win, no matter his transgressions. We'll miss you Jack, your "dammit" and CTU ringtone will echo in our dreams for years to come.
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FYI: Penn Jillette's new web series starts today.
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Hey kids, what show has the most Emmys of any other show in TV history? Look for the answer at the end of our post.
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The TV Junkie Plan: "24", "Chelsea Lately", Letterman (Jake Gyllenhaal), Fallon (Ben Kingsley)
8:00pm How I Met Your Mother CBS - Marshall and Lily try to decide if they are ready to have a baby; Robin gets offered her dream job.
8:00pm Chuck NBC - Season Finale. The Ring closes in on Chuck and the members of Operation Bartowski; Casey must secretly protect his daughter from the Ring; Big Mike receives news about the Buy More.
8:00pm The IFC Media Project IFC - Season Premiere. With Max Blumenthal.
8:00pm 24 Fox - Series Finale. Day 8: 2:00PM- 4:00pm President Taylor closes in on a world-changing objective; Jack tackles one last job.
8:00pm Dancing With the Stars ABC - The final three couples perform two dances each.
8:00pm The Old Man and the Sea TCM - (1958) Hemingway's old Cuban fisherman (Spencer Tracy) in a small wooden boat relives his youth as he fights a huge marlin.
8:30pm Rules of Engagement CBS - A series of unfortunate events jeopardizes Jennifer and Adam's plans for a secret wedding.
9:00pm The Bachelorette ABC - Season Premiere.
9:30pm The Big Bang Theory CBS - Raj and Howard set up an online dating profile for Sheldon.
10:00pm Nurse Jackie Showtime - Jackie fakes an MRI to get a phony prescription; Coop is distraught over the end of the campaign; Eddie returns.
10:00pm Saving Grace TNT - Final Season Premiere. A murder case related to a rock band; Neely moves in next door to Grace; Rhetta gives Ronnie a second chance.
10:00pm Law & Order NBC - Season Finale.
10:30pm United States of Tara Showtime - Max holds an open house; Tara and Charmaine ask their mother about childhood memories; Marshall and Lionel go cruising.
11:00pm Chelsea Lately E! - Actor/comic Damon Wayans, roundtable guests include comics Loni Love, Chris Franjola and TJ Miller.
11:35pm Late Show With David Letterman CBS - Actor Jake Gyllenhaal.
11:35pm The Tonight Show With Jay Leno NBC - Actor Russell Brand; journalist David Gregory; Bettye LaVette performs.
12:05am Jimmy Kimmel Live ABC - Actor Adrien Brody; TV personality Ali Fedotowsky; Damian Marley and Nas perform.
12:35am The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson CBS - Actor Ben Stein; Mishka performs; comic Craig Shoemaker.
12:35am Late Night With Jimmy Fallon NBC - Actor Ben Kingsley; actress Rosemarie DeWitt; comic Kumail Nanjiani.
PBS' "Sesame Street" has 122 Emmys and will walk away with some more this August as they have 14 more nominations and have swept at least 1 category.
