Last night Fox aired another exciting episode of 24, the Kiefer Sutherland hit now in its sixth season. In the action-packed hour, a Muslim American employee of CTU was subjected to racial profiling, an informant was beaten to a pulp in a detention facility, and Jack Bauer and his father were taken hostage by Graem Bauer, Jack’s no-good brother.
Compelling plotlines, all. But the real news of the evening was the revelation that the New York City Fox affiliate’s promotional obsession with 24 is still going strong.
It was hard to miss. After the episode ended with Jack and Dad packed into a van to be executed, viewers were told to “stay tuned” for scenes from next week. Fox 5 News anchors Rosanna Scotto and Ernie Anastos then appeared to preview some segments from their 10 p.m. broadcast. “Plus, more 24,” said Scotto. “The new challenges for President Palmer.” Added Anastos: “And the ultimate 24 blog at MyFoxNY.com.”
Following commercials and next Monday’s scenes (Jack and Dad will escape!), a seamless transition back to “the news”: One moment Jack was threatening his brother (“You will experience pain I cannot even describe”), and the next a Fox 5 announcer intoned (over more 24 footage), “On 24, anything can change at any time … What the future holds for President Palmer, next at 10.” Flawlessly, the lead story of the broadcast, when it arrived, was introduced by Anastos thus: “First tonight, keeping nuclear power plants safe. The terrorist attack they can’t stop, and what they’re preparing for instead.”
Last time we checked in, Fox 5 tended to tease 24 fans at the top of its broadcast, then withheld its scoop until three-quarters past the hour, after some more teasing. True to form, entertainment reporter Toni Senecal appeared last night at 10:21, urging viewers to submit blog posts related to the show. At 10:26 she reappeared to read one such post, and at 10:35 a TV Guide compatriot of Senecal’s read another. Mark Joyella’s story from the 24 set in Los Angeles finally landed at 10:43. (The on-screen temperature? 24 degrees.)
Much of the story consisted of choice footage recapping 24‘s current season and last season, but Joyella did conduct two interviews — one with the actor who plays President Wayne Palmer, and another with a man who presumably is one of the creative forces behind the show. Neither person was named, but why bother identifying your sources when you have more 24 footage to air?
After Joyella and the actor bantered at length over the possibility that “the writers will leave this president alive and out of prison for the entire season,” Joyella closed with one final note of promotion, via 24‘s writers: “They say stick around, it’s gonna be one heck of a ride.”
Counting its introduction, Joyella’s story ran for approximately 3 minutes and 23 seconds — 1:06 longer than that lead story about the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s decision that it is impractical for the nation’s nuclear reactors “to defend against an airline attack.”
Jack Bauer always wins.
Edward B. Colby was a writer at CJR Daily.