Fox's "24: Live Another Day" gets a killer review from Forbes

Oh man, I know I shouldn't have such high expectations for "24: Live Another Day," but I am sooooo pumped about Jack Bauer's return to TV. No matter how ridiculous its plotlines got (Kim Bauer & the mountain lion, anyone?), no matter how unrealistic its nonstop depiction of torture as the magic interrogation tool, no matter how many times my childhood homeland of L.A. got threatened with nasty viruses, chemical poisoning, or nuclear destruction, it remained my all-time favorite TV show.

Sure, season 8 degenerated pretty quickly, and the torture porn at the end sickened me. But at its best (seasons 5, 7, 2, 4, 3, and 1, in roughly that order), it was, for me, appointment TV of the "do not call me between 9:15 and 10 pm on Monday nights." (The 15 minute delay was to let enough of the show build up in the TiVo buffer so that I could skip commercials.)

This review from Forbes of the upcoming 12-episode season gives me high hopes that this is going to be awesome:

Yes, it was disappointing when 24 ended its eight year run in a lackluster fashion, but it’s been more than made up for with what we’ve been given in 24: Live Another Day. The Jack Bauer we all fell in love with in 2001 when we needed a hero like him is back, and he’s back with purpose. There’s no telling how “conclusive” the mini-series will be, no word if it will be the conclusion we all wanted in 2010 (rumors of a feature are still floating around), but based on the first two hours, this is definitely a much better taste of “the last of Bauer” than we were previously given.

By the way, "24" is about the absolute best TV show for treadmill running; it's a constant shot of adrenaline, and every episode ends in a mini-cliffhanger that just dares you to stop watching.