Sorry for the delay; what with four hours of 24 and lots of other stuff going on, we didn’t get our carnival off the ground the same way we usually do.

But that doesn’t mean we don’t have some good entries.

Let’s start with the first Motivational Posters of Season 8, by Adam at The Jack Sack. While all are wonderful, as usual, the one entitled “Dissonance” is brilliance. Really. Brilliance. And I have to, once again, share the fantastic Bauertar poster Adam did previously:

OK, anyhow, BuddyTV can’t quite compete with that, but has an amusing Jack Bauer “Damnit” Security Advisory System, even though they misspelled Dammit. Yes, technically, the word is spelled Damnit, but every Jack Bauer fan for, like a decade almost, has been spelling it Dammit. So, Dammit, get with the program, BuddyTV!

Our very own The Man found this one, for the boys (and some girls, of course), on Funny Crave: The Women of 24. It has every single one of ‘em: Michelle, Starbuck, even Janis Gold. Yes, EVEN JANIS GOLD. This post was, as The Man said, “What Wyatt was doing this weekend.”

Steve over at The Magic Lamp continued his completely over-the-top and chock-full of detail and humor summaries: 4 pm to 5 pm; 5 pm to 6 pm; 6 pm to 7 pm; and 7 pm to 8 pm. Warning: You may need four hours to read through all four episodes’ worth.

Booker Rising has a mini-rant about this season so far, but admits that some of it is just a matter of the usual suspension of belief one must have in order to be a 24 fan. If you read the comments, he also notes that bad 24 is better than most other shows anyhow, which we here at TV Tyrant and Blogs 4 Bauer have often said. And what 24 fan doesn’t rant about the show now and again?

Then, there is my commentary on the first four hours and two videos that sum up the first four hours in about five minutes.

Finally, there were our two live blogs: Sunday’s two hours and Monday’s two hours — each of which has gotten nearly 300 replays. Yeah, people replayed the liveblog. TRUE STORY. We were brilliant, obviously. Either that or Nancy Pelosi can’t get enough of B4B. We prefer to think both, of course.

And our Point/Counterpoint series kicked off Season 8 with
• Jack Bauer is a bad influence on his grandchild, By Grandpa Oscar and
• Jack is a Great Grandpa! by Teri Bauer

And, the first Cap This! of Season 8.

Stop by in a couple hours to join us for tonight’s liveblog.

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Honestly, it’s hard to get too excited about an episode that was so obviously filler and in which so little happened.

I mean, what does it say when Kiefer Sutherland headbutting a fashion designer on the streets of Manhattan in defense (kinda sorta) of Brooke Shields is almost more interesting than the Monday episode (for the definitive story on this, see Point / Counterpoint)? Especially when there are only three hours left in this day and we still have no idea what the frak is going on.

I guess that’s why I never really got around to a separate blog post on it this week and decided to wait for the weekly blog carnival, which I am always happy to host.

Basically, this is what happened this week:

Tony and Red Not forced the Token Muslim guy to pretend he’s a jihadist so they could blame their bad behavior on “those people.” Thing is, this guy was basically the least enthusiastic jihadist EVAR. Seriously, folks, if anyone in the intelligence (or intelligent) community actually believed this video, that this man who had nothing on his record and just got a bunch of money wired to him minutes before the video was shot (ahem, Chloe had that figured out before Jack even got to the guy’s house, for goodness sakes!) and was SO unenthusiastic about his jihad against the bad Americans, they need a vacation. Now. He couldn’t even convince his brother.

Olivia turned from hard-nosed Bitch to whiny little beyotch after nothing more than a car bomb. And, by the way, the car bomb was a little obvious, guys. Adam from The Jack Sack publicly called it before it happened and on 24, whenever someone is left alone in a car for “just a minute” while the other person goes about 200 yards away to “sign him out,”  you can pretty well bet the car’s going to blow up. And Olivia, SHUT UP! Stop whining girl, you got what you wanted. And it’s a pretty good bet you’ll be caught, even if this was independent of your shenanigans, so I hope you enjoy sullying your mother’s good name. (Kudos to Sprague Grayden, by the way, who is obviously a good actress, being able to play such an unlikeable character after being such a likeable character on Jericho!)

The first husband came home to the White House, the best villain in quite some time bit the dust, Jack apologized to Chloe for not telling her he had mad cow (frankly, Mary Lynn and Kiefer both did an excellent job on that scene) and at the liveblog we said “Mooooo” a lot.

And before Jonas went “boom,” he was renamed Robert Tippet and learned he would have to live next door to Steve Martin doing a mobster impression for the rest of his life. That’s when he put out the contract on his own life.

The main question left, besides WTF is wrong with Tony?, is who the last mole is. The fanbase is rooting for Janis Gold. Don’t disappoint us, Howard.

OK, so to the carnival:

Steve gives us his usually detailed recap, Season 7 – 24 – 4 am to 5 am, posted at Magic Lamp. It’s full of Web 2.0 jokes and made me giggle more than once.

Colin Timberlake gave us Underappreciated Actors: Michael Massee, posted at colintimberlake.com. Anyone who could plot to kidnap Jack’s wife, even at the bidding of Victor Drazen, has a titanium-coated pair.

King Tom wrote Of Patsies, Overachieving Hitmen and a Wasted Supervillain, posted at King Tom’s Kingdom, bemoaning the lack of action this season and the loss of a great Jonas-in-witness protection spinoff, which would have been 24‘s first spinoff in seven seasons.

And Adam gave us multiple posts to peruse at The Jack Sack, including his 4 a.m. to  a.m. Quick Review and his Star Trek Movie Review – love the art on that. You also have to check out his co-produced (with the folks at AlmeidaisGod[dot]com) – “Almeida” music video.

That concludes this edition of the Carnival of Bauer!!!. Submit your blog article to the next edition of Carnival of Bauer!!! using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

Want to host a future edition of the carnival? Say so in the comments and mention your favorite Jack Bauer kill.
Link to B4B’s Point/Counter

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When I volunteered to do this week’s Carnival of Bauer!!! I didn’t realize I’d not only be the lucky one to host a carnival about the (brief) return of Kim Bauer, but also the (possible) turn to the dark side of Darth Zombie Tony Almeida.

But I’m the luckiest girl in the world, as we all know (I am, after all, the only full-fledged female member of Blogs4Bauer). And so, I am hosting a fabulous carnival.

And now, the carnival:

Adam presents 24 Season 8: Exclusive Sneak Preview posted at The Jack Sack™. You’ve gotta watch this whole thing. Has taken his excellent screencap skills and transferred them into video-making. I’m totally sold, and I think that Howard Gordon needs to take a cue from my B4B compatriot. This is totally the way to go with Season 8.

Jeff Kouba presents 24 Day 7 1:00 AM – 2:00 AM posted at Truth v. The Machine. This episode offered the best Dumpster gunfight scene since Milo and Marilyn were trapped behind one back in the Crapapalooza in Season 6, he suggests. You know, he’s right. No one does Dumpster gunfights like 24. Urban warfare.

King Tom presents A Supervillain’s Fantasy: Taking A Swing At The President posted at King Tom’s Kingdom. It’s true; it pretty much doesn’t get any better, villain-wise, than Jonas Hodges. And President Cankles sure did a good job of acting as if she were giving into his demands before she ordered him arrested. You go, girl!

Steve presents Season 7 – 24 – 1 am to 2 am posted at Magic Lamp. As usual, Steve’s post is chock full of funny, but this was my favorite line: “1:31 am – Renee tells Jack that the current plot device, the nerve agent, is no longer a problem, since it all burned up.”

Over at the TV Squad, they report on how Season 8 is going to be in New York. Now maybe they’ll use the script outline we wrote after the end of the Crapapalooza.

Who would win in a fight between Jason Bourne and Jack Bauer? That’s actually the best matchup yet. Make your feelings heard over at Hot Sticky Bun.

The debate is on: Is Tony really bad? Laura ponders over at Suite101.

And, the question on everyone’s minds: Will Jack Bauer die? 24Headquarters poses the question. There is, after all, one more season of 24 on the table, so maybe it wouldn’t be until after a Season 8. Or after a movie. Or never. Will he succumb to mad cow? Moo!

Finally, as always, there are the Blogs4Bauer liveblog; a memorial of sorts to Agent Larry Moss, who we all hated until about 5 minutes before they killed him off; and a CapThis contest.

That concludes this edition of the Carnival of Bauer!!!. Submit your blog article to the next edition of Carnival of Bauer!!! using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

Want to host a future edition of the carnival? Say so in the comments and mention your favorite Jack Bauer kill.

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All across 24 fandom, people remain in mourning for a man we once disliked but came to love almost as much as Jack and Tony.

Call him a mime. Call him Chiggy Killer. Call him Billy Boy. Whatever you want to call him, do it with the flag at half-mast and hat over heart.

First off, we have Jeff Kouba with not one, but TWO glorious posts at Truth v. The Machine. In 24 Day 7 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM he recaps the hour, including the secret love Bill harbored for Chloe. And my favorite sentence of the Carnivals so far: “In the subsequent chaos, approximately 28 of the remaining 4 Africans are gunned down.” Then, he confesses he actually watches Dollhouse and noticed a horrible secret connecting it to 24, in It would explain a lot.

Adam gets all mystical and ponders who or what Bill might come back as if he were reincarnated, in 24 Season 7: Bill Buchanan, Reincarnated? posted at The Jack Sack™.
Note to Adam: We all know why you offered up No. 4. Have you come out of your Scotch bath yet?

King Tom presents Ode To Bill posted at King Tom’s Kingdom and includes my favorite James Morrison (the actor, not the dead musician) photo ever: The New York Yoga magazine cover with Morrison on the cover. He’s a yoga master, after all. Tom also reminds us that he had a relationship with Michelle Dessler, yet still bore no ill will toward Tony.

Tom Harris, a British MP (minister of Parliament), is only up to Season 4, but he offers up how his son asked, “Does Superman wear Jack Bauer pyjamas?” (That’s how those wacky Brits spell pajamas) in his personal blog, And Another Thing… and offers up this quite accurate statement: “Jack Bauer is the man every man wants to be like but is also really, really scared of.”

Blogs4Bauer’s very own V the K handled this week’s TiVo blogging duties, deftly weaving comedy (igniting Jack’s farts to kill the terrorists) with the tragedy of Bill’s death (Jack comes perilously close to showing an emotion). It is, of course, over at Blogs4Bauer.

Then there’s the now-cliché, but always amusing, Jack Bauer vs. Chuck Norris posted at 944.com.  We’ve been through this before. Jack shoots Chuck before Chuck even thinks about doing a flying crane leap or whatever it is he does.

And, finally, here’s a matchup we haven’t seen before: Jack Bauer vs. Candyman posted at Digital Spy. They chose the horror film monster because the actor who played Gen. Juma also played Candyman. (I’ve only said it twice now, and I’m not in front of a mirror, don’t worry.) Given that the C-man is already dead and has a swarm of bees at his disposal, this isn’t your ordinary matchup. Nice.

That concludes this edition of The Carnival of Bauer!!!. Submit your blog article to the next edition of carnival of bauer!!! using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

Want to host a future edition of the carnival? Say so in the comments and mention your favorite Jack Bauer kill.

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It’s posted, over at Blogs4Bauer. Check it out.

I promise you’ll be glad you did, because it includes a great motivational poster by Adam of The Jack Sack. Not this one:

Tell Adam you want more motivational posters – he said he’ll make more if you ask. And you don’t even have to ask nicely.

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Hour 7 totally rocked the house, with 5 Jack kills, Red Hot getting at least one kill, Tony claiming some lives, Phlox blowing up and general mayhem – along with the First Dude talking his way out of getting his brains splattered all over the wall.

Sure, we had a total WTF moment when Chewbacca got home and his waitress girlfriend came by to ask if they were still on for dinner, and Jack didn’t drop any Dammits, but it was an excellent hour of television, by any standard.

So it’s no surprise we have some excellent entries this week for the Carnival of Bauer!!!, and I’m thrilled to say Adam from The Jack Sack™ made a carny screencap for me (actually, gave me two choices, and as a bonus I’ll put the runner up at the bottom of this post):

To start things off with the appropriate humor, let’s head on over to the aforementioned Jack Sack™ and check out the latest set of e-cards. No. 3 makes me sad.

Steve over at the Magic Lamp, whose minute-by-minute recaps of 24 are so frakkin’ funny that Dave Barry posts them on his blog, does it again Warning: He does these so detailed it might take you an hour to read it. But it’s pretty funny, so it won’t be a wasted hour. Like this: “2:54 – At the White House, the news shows the Kidron plant is in a state of disarray, with some people wearing chemical outfits. Others are just going into neighboring towns which must have some kind of anti-insecticide shielding (but really HUGE bugs).”

Kasia over at Almeida is God waxes poetic over the episode. She truly, madly, deeply loves 24 and, of course, Tony. One thing I missed, though, was the symmetry of Jack and Tony’s handshake mirroring the opening scene of Season 2 (my personal favorite, btw), but that’s not lost on her.

Jackster at the covert diaries of jackster maps out all the potential moles in Season 7 so far, detailing the pros and the cons on why each would or wouldn’t fit the role. I really hadn’t considered Janis Gold as a mole, but he had some interesting theories. Fact is, it’ll be another 15 hours before we find out all of them for sure.

TonyJunkie from Tony Almeida Junkie Blog found a great little article about the good folks of Kidron, Ohio, who were quite surprised to find their town was the focal point of a 24 terrorist near-attack.

Jeff Kouba of Truth vs. the Machine recaps the hour with a Copy That drinking game, in which, just as it sounds, you have to drink every time someone utters “Copy that.” Needless to say, he’s a bit tipsy by episode’s end.

King Tom from King Tom’s Kingdom points out something I hadn’t noticed before (and neither had he) that our big bad guy (so far) is named “Ike.” Yes, Like Eisenhower. Really?

Finally, we have Blogs4Bauer‘s weekly Tivo Blogging update by our very own VtheK, complete with all the “official” (to B4B, at least) nicknames of the season to date.

Want to  join in the fun next week? Submit your blog article to the next edition of carnival of bauer!!! using our carnival submission form. Past and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

Again, thanks to Adam for the fabulous screencaps! You should see what he can do with some paint, children’s furniture and too much knowledge of Star Wars!

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Hour 7 gave us almost everything that is the best about 24, except for the fact that Jack didn’t say “Dammit” a single time.

You  hear that? Not a single D-bomb.

But Chloe computered, Jack killed at least five bad guys, Renee Walker shot a guy in the back – yeah, baby! – and Bill, Tony, Jack and Chloe all working together for the common good.

And now, they’re going straight to Madame President because they can’t trust anyone else. This is what I wanna know: How does any president at this point not know that s/he simply must trust Jack Bauer? Tell me President Cankles (sorry, my friends at B4B started calling her that and I can’t stop now) doesn’t have some sort of secret memo from the multiple President Palmers that says,

Always listen to Jack Bauer. Always. Really – always. No, really. You need to listen to Jack. Did I mention that you should do whatever Jack Bauer says?

I think there should be a special panel on the desk in the Oval Office with that etched into it that pops out anytime someone tells the president not to listen to Jack or that Jack’s a bad man.

OK, I know the jokes – If everyone listened to Jack, the show would be called “2.”

I love how Matobo totally believes everything Jack says now, only an hour or so after meeting him. And blowing up Phlox (the guy who played the man who invented the stupid program that controls every sensitive computer-run system in the frakkin’ United States once played an alien doctor on the Star Trek spinoff Enterprise, for the five of you who didn’t know that) was inspired.

C’mon. We watch 24 because people are killed and blowed up and that sort of thing. You know you loved it.

I also love how FBI Special Agent Renee Walker is totally shadow CTU now and how Queens Boulevard is completely mocking out Larry for his pining for the fijords (sorry, how the guy who played Billy Walsh on Entourage keeps pointing out to the Special Agent in Charge that his judgement just might be suspect because he luvvvvved Agent Walker, who’s lost to him now because once you go Jack you don’t go back).

Now, the debate is whether Queens Boulevard is indeed a mole. He is certainly being set up to be a mole by all the camera angles and shots of him making weird faces and his interactions with Larry and Janis Gold. While that’s a little obvious, 24 usually isn’t too good with the subtletly, so that doesn’t mean anything. He might be, he might not be.

Meanwhile, Colm Feore – what a first husband, huh? He killed Agent Gidget and talked his way out of being murdered by a second bad guy. He can deal with Chewbacca (sorry, Dubaku) – who, by the way, seemed to be controlling the entire firewall breach operation from The Matrix.

Bottom line: Awesome episode. Great action, lots of kills, minimal downtime. Lots of Jack, Renee got a kill, Tony spoke in his not-quite-whisper voice. Jack + Tony + Chloe + Bill = Awesome. Add in a little Renee (I haven’t liked a Bauer girl this much since Kate Warner) and you’ve got yourself a great little team here.

Can’t wait until next week.

Oh, and I’m hosting the Carnival of Bauer!!! again this week (yay me!), so come back here sometime Thursday for the lowdown on what everyone in the blogosphere is saying about our man and our show. Go here to submit your post.

Sorry, have to go – RUNNING OUT OF TIME!!!!

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Yours truly, the only female member of Blogs4Bauer, has the extreme honor of hosting the first Carnival of Bauer!!! of Season 7.

It’s been a very long time since the last carnival — heck, we were still on Blogspot then —  but it’s very welcome. It posts tomorrow (Thursday) sometime… Basically, once I have a chance to get through all the posts and write it up.

I’m the luckiest girl in the world!

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