(S08E13) Jack Bauer may be the star of '24,' but this week it was Ladies' Night -- or maybe the expression should be Ladies' Hour in this case. Regardless, it was the fairer sex that did the ass-kicking and the ass-saving this week. More impressively, this was accomplished without a single appearance by President Allison Taylor.

Luckily, I'm far enough away that the EMP that took down CTU didn't impact my systems, though our regular reviewer, Mike Moody, didn't fare so well. While he works to recover his systems and get back online, I agreed to pinch-hit and see how CTU handled their own electronic crisis.

If last week's episode was the best episode of the season so far, this week just knocked it back to number two. I'll even forgive that we got one of the oldest and most tired '24' cliches ever in play again, because everything else was just so damned good!

Mid-season is getting to be an even more exciting time for TV premieres than the fall. We have Lost, Chuck, American Idol, Archer, and a whole bunch of other shows to look forward to. That includes 24. The new season launches with a two-hour episode on January 17 (with another two-hour episode airing the next night).

Kiefer Sutherland talks about the show in this new interview over at Parade.com. He says that not only will a New York City setting revitalize the show a bit, he confesses that no one believes they've ever done a perfect season of the show, and they want to keep doing it until they do. He also says that he'd love to keep doing the show until he's 60 years old, but "nobody would accept it."

Hmmmm, I don't know about that. It seemed to work OK for Edward Woodward on The Equalizer, right?

(Joel did a quiz for Parade.com about the show. Go and see how much you know.)

Jimmy Fallon has put himself in an interesting position. Not that kind, sickos.

Next week, he welcomes 24 star Kiefer Sutherland to the Late Night studios in the wake of his latest assault charge in which he allegedly head-butted a fashion designer outside of a night club. I'm calling it "Butt-Gate" because I won't get that opportunity again until Jennifer Lopez and Shakira get into a fist fight.

The question for Fallon is how hard will he interview Sutherland on this latest incident that could land him in jail on a probation violation. This could be a defining moment for Fallon as a late night host. Granted, he's not interviewing the head of the Saudi Royal Family or even the head of the Hilton family, but it could either give him and his show some juice or take some away.

Fox's charge to make 24 a completely green show is admirable.

It's not only expensive and harder to do than one might think, but it also flies in the face of 24's core audience. Of course, that's not its boldest effect. These days, pissing off the right wing is more "in" than Twittering about your Snuggie.

The boldest move is the effect these new measures could have on the body of the show in ways you may not expect. You might even see Jack Bauer tie a guy to a chair and hook up his nipples to a car battery to get him to admit he doesn't put his plastics and newspapers in separate recycling bins.

Rather fascinating interview with 24 star Kiefer Sutherland in the new Rolling Stone, where he and the interviewer talk about everything from why he looks forward to the day when he doesn't have to do the show anymore (though check out this news from earlier today!), why he drinks a lot, his neat freak habits, and the weird giant warehouse he lives in.

He also hates foods with certain textures. I can identify with that. I freak out if I ever touch a peach. All that fuzz. *shiver*