"24": A time to kill Jack?

Since I’m new to a lot of you, let me tell you something about myself, or more specifically, my apartment.

When you walk in the front door, you’re immediately greeted by the 24” x 36” face of Kiefer Sutherland. Head toward my end table and you’ll see the latest issue of “Cigar Aficionado” with Kiefer on the cover. Enter my bedroom and you’ll find on the wall the Kiefer Sutherland collage my fiancé made me for Christmas (Yes, that is indeed true love.). I don’t want to completely scare you so I won’t mention my mouse pad or my screen savers (both computer and cell phone) or…you get the point.

So when I see magazine covers with headlines like “Is Saving the World Killing Kiefer Sutherland,” I get a little worried.

And when I read the article in this week’s “Rolling Stone”? Even more worried, because reading about the strain the show is putting on Kiefer made me ask the question I never dreamed I would ask: Is it time for “24” to kill Jack?

I needn’t have worried.

Today, Twentieth Century Fox announced a deal that will keep Kiefer on “24” three more seasons to the tune of $40 million, making him the highest paid actor on a TV drama series.

So, what happened here? Did the people at Twentieth Century Fox read the interview and decide they needed to sweeten Kiefer’s deal, or did Kiefer pull a Jack Bauer on them and use the magazine as a negotiating ploy?

Obviously, I have no idea; but I have to say that before today’s announcement, I already had a strange feeling about the “Rolling Stone” article. Even though the article begins with the somewhat shocking statement that Kiefer is “longing” for the death of Jack Bauer, he never actually says that himself. Now, I’ve been out of journalism school for a while now, but I would think that if one of TV’s hottest stars said he wanted his show to kill his character, you would make that a direct quote. And in every other interview I’ve seen Kiefer do (and I’ve seen most of them), he’s never been anything but gracious about his “24” experience.

And I’m pretty sure that even though none of my journalism professors covered this in class, going drinking with an interview subject is not the best way to get information.

So, here’s another question. Can “24” actually go three more seasons? As much as I love the show—which is A LOT by the way—I really don’t think it can. But there are possible movies in the future and this contract could be to lock Kiefer in for those (FOX has only signed the show through the 2006-2007 season.).

Now, I should probably be mad at Kiefer or more precisely “Rolling Stone” for making me think about the possibility of Jack’s death. But how can I be mad when I’ve been given the gift of Jack Bauer for a possible three more years?

Something tells me my fiancé will not be as happy...