In mid-April, we reported that the '24' producers were studying potential story lines for the seventh season of the FOX hit series, one featuring Quebec's separatists. About two weeks later, it was confirmed that Jack would go through his next action-packed awful day in a different scenery. In early July, we learned that writers had planned to have the action set in Africa and the U.S. but that the network sent them back to the drawing board because that story line would be too expensive. Eventually, official spoilers started to leak and FOX announced the names of actors joining the show (more after the jump).

But yesterday, FOX sent out a press release so juicy that it had some people pinch themselves to make sure they weren't dreaming!

Spoilers after the jump!

But before we get to the information revealed in the press release, let's review what was confirmed over the summer:

• Veteran actress Cherry Jones was cast as the president of the U.S.
• The First Husband would be played by Colm Feore.
• Janeane Garofalo would play an FBI agent who is tasked to investigate Jack Bauer and other ex-CTU personnel. On her team is an agent named Larry played by Jeffrey Nordling.
• John Billingsley joined as Latham, a recurring character.
  
• In the premiere, Jack will hunt down Gabriel Schecter for information. This upscale man in his early 40s is a supplier of illegal contraband.
• One of the story lines of Season 7 will revolve around the death of the First Son, Roger. His death was classified as a suicide but his father, Henry, believes it was murder and wants to prove it.

But that's nothing compared to the bombshell FOX dropped on us (and that I briefly mentioned in yesterday's Spoilers Anonymous): Tony Almeida is back! Spoilers addicts may remember that the show wanted Tony back in last season's finale. He was supposed to tell Jack that things were not what they seemed and that Jack needed to know the truth. This story line was trashed but the idea of bringing back Tony was not, especially since he was a fan favorite.

So what does the press release reveal?

• With CTU dismantled, the show's setting moves to Washington, D.C..
• Jack Bauer faces trial for his actions in the pursuit of justice.
• Bauer's day gets off to a shocking start when former colleague Tony Almeida, last seen in "Day 5," returns after being left for dead by a terrorist conspirator in CTU's infirmary. Show-runner Howard Gordon says that since the fate of Tony wasn't clear, it opened a door for them to bring him back.
  
• The president and her husband are named Allison and Henry Taylor.
• Bob Gunton will play Ethan Kanin, the White House Chief of Staff.
• Other FBI agents assigned to investigate Jack are: Annie Wersching as Renee Walker and Rhys Coiro as Sean Hillinger. The press release reveals that Garofalo's character is named Janis Gold and that the last name of Nordling's character is Moss.
  
• More details are given about Billingsley character: Latham is a security specialist whose first name is Michael.
• Chloe and Buchanan return.

Personally, I'm happy with Tony's return. I always liked the character and would have watched a spin-off with him as the lead if it had ever happened as rumored. I hope that the writers make his return believable and give his role some meat. You cannot bring back such an important character without him being critical to the plot. I hope he does more than answer questions from the FBI agents! I want him on the field with Jack.

"Day 7" of '24' will premiere on Sunday, January 13 from 8 to 10PM It will then air in its Monday at 9PM timeslot starting January 14. New episodes will air every week through June.