24: Jack in the Saddle

January 17. Circle the date on your calendar. Highlight it with yellow. Put blue stars all around the edges. And then, right in the middle of the little square, with a thick black marker, write "24."

Because you don't want to miss the season eight premiere of 24. Even if the season sucks, which we pretty much expect it to after seasons five through seven, I'm confident that the first four episodes will NOT disappoint.

Remember the beginning of, what was it, S6?--when Jack went all Lost Boy on that dude, killing him by biting him in the neck? Remember the assassination of David Palmer in S5? The train wreck that opened up S4, with the giant ball of fire exploding up into the night sky? We are guaranteed that the first four hours will be exciting, dramatic, intense, and fraught with peril and explosions.

Here's what we know that makes us excited about the Season Eight kick-off:

1. Katie Sackoff. That's right: Starbuck has joined the CTU team as Dana Walsh, a data analyst with a past. (Weirdly, the Fox/24 website lists her character as "Renee Walsh"--but there's already a Renee, our friendly and conflicted Agent Freckles.) Anyway, we at the Green Room are happy to see Starbuck reincarnated and hooking up with Freddy Prinz, Jr. Although, I'm not sure, but she might be too much woman for him.

2. Drones. What could be more current in the world of cyber warfare, espionage and international intrigue than drones? And what do you bet that the CTU drone gets hacked and redirected sometime during the first four hours of 24? By a guy using a $26 software package?

3. Explosions.

4. My favorite 24 Leader of the Free World so far: President Allison Taylor, played by Cherry Jones. I just hope they don't ruin her character by making her morally ambiguous, like they did with every other president. And I also hope they keep her weaselly daughter in prison. That whole storyline at the end of S7 was a giant snoozefest.

5. Jack.

7. The fact that Elisha Cuthbert is not listed among the regular cast members for S8. She certainly is visible in the promos--but maybe a burning helicopter falls on her head or something, or she gets caught in the crossfire during the assassination attempt, or Freddie Prinz, Jr. accidentally runs over her with a sponsor-brand SVU. It's not that we don't like the actress--but the character and her story-lines could not be more annoying. And not in a good way.

8. Chloe, the queen of snark. And from the photo (above), she looks to be in full snark mode. Yay!

I got tickets to see a special screening of the Season 8 premiere TONIGHT. In NEW YORK. When I asked Mr. Peevie if I could zip on out there, he just looked at me. My heart, she is broken.

But I will survive. Just like Jack.