The following takes place...

TV is great, once again.

September was very much a letdown for me. The 2005-2006 TV season was heralded to be "the best yet!" with a bunch of Lost clones and about 12 more CSI's and Law And Order's. The Lost clones frankly stunk. I mean, you could stomach Surface perhaps but Invasion was just painfully bad. Boston Legal is back but the junior lawyers they brought in are so bad that they weaken the entire show. Further, the episodes that I have watched list Monica Potter in the opening credits but I have yet to see her on screen yet. THAT is a crime.

So January rolls around and the real TV season starts. Two weeks ago, Sci-Fi rolled out Battlestar Galactica with an amazing two-part thriller that wrapped up the edge-of-my-seat cliffhanger from the Summer. It certainly didn't disappoint.

But last night was the big one, with the beginning of Day 5 (season 5) of
24, the best weekly cliffhanger series to ever air. I actually know of many people who will wait a year to get the season on DVD because they can't wait 6 days and 23 hours to see the next chapter. To be honest, Dr. Heimlich taught me the "24 Tivo Skip" where we wait 20 minutes to begin watching the show so we can boop-boop-boop through the commercials. (If you have Tivo, you know what I just said.)

Jack (or Frank) has "gone dark" after the results of last year's events. His death was faked, and only a handful of trusted friends know he's still alive. Of course, that doesn't last long. And, as Fox promised, the first 10 minutes did indeed "change everything". As Holly McClain asked at the end of Die Hard 2; "Why does this keep happening to us?" Because you're on 24, that's why.

So I won't delve into story spoiling. I think the statue of limitations on spoils contains extenuating circumstances when it comes to 24. I just hope enough people go along for the ride to keep it going for a long time.