Oh my! There is plenty to say about last night’s excellent episode, but I will save it for the official debrief transcripts, which should be posted very shortly. I plan to do major updates tonight. Also, the return of the 24:Inside webcast is coming on May 4. Guest include Carlos Bernard and Reiko Aylesworth, both of whom are sure to be wonderful. However, the more important question is whether they replaced that idiot bimbette hostess from last time! The only possible advantage I could see for her staying is that Carlos’s sardonic humour will eat her for breakfast! So I guess we shall see about that. For more details about the webcast, visit FOX’s official site.

Edited/updated to add (January 2009) -
You can view this webcast here. This is the first episode of 24: Inside that features Daphne Brogdon, once the loathe of my life, but now mostly in my good books after plugging AIG in an interview with Carlos Bernard during ComicCon 2008.

At last, AIG has started posting content for a new feature we call “top 24 of 24″. What this is, is basically our opinion on the top 24 of anything in 24, for example, top 24 episodes, top 24 moments, etc. Some of the more complex and thought-provoking lists are going to take some time to compile, but we have started off the venture with the Top 24 Imbeciles of 24, an in-depth look at the 24 dumbest characters of all time.

A new Carlos interview has been added. The interview itself isn’t that new (originally aired in February), but I came across this follow-up to the first ESPNRadio interview with Carlos. This 11 minute interview takes place at about the mid-point of s3 and is of above average quality. The DJ asks Carlos questions about winning the Golden Globe for best drama series, how the show is written, the Tony-gets-shot storyline, answers to the mysterious 5 week hiatus, plus some serious Chicago Cubs discussion.

cbel.com has named AIG one of the 35 best hand-selected 24 sites online! cbel is a directory where actual humans hand-select sites for their search directory, and AIG made the cut. We are in excellent company too, as you can see from their list of links.

In further excellent news, it is official, there WILL be an s4! To read further details, click here.

In even further news, for those of you devoted fans who enjoy a little humour in your addiction once in awhile (obviously you must, or why would you be here at AIG, right?) check out 24 Handy Diagrams. These are TOOOOOO hilarious. Don’t forget to look at the Yusuf wallpaper and the “which season am i watching?” side by side comparison. Also check out the “Save Yusuf” petition. All of this is pure and brilliant comedy.

Last night’s episode was simply excellent, and with good reason. It marked the return of the great Jon Cassar behind the lens and Michael Loceff behind the pen. I thought Sunday’s episode was a character assault on all the senses? Well, this latest episode just carried that over and took it even further.

I see the 7-8am episode as very much all about Jack and Tony, much as the 7-8am was in s1, and as a result featured a return to new exploration of classic 24 themes. Primarly, the quintessential job vs family quandry. By now, Tony, Jack and Kim have become like a family. In fact, the entire nucleus of CTU LA is like a family now, after all the hardships they’ve faced, and at the heart of that family is Jack, Tony and Kim. They are a New Trinity. They are the last 3 characters still in the forefront of the show who shared the original pain of Nina’s betrayal and Teri Bauer’s death. The Kim-in-the-field plotline was a stroke of pure genius. Tony has an understanding of Kim’s dedication to this career, how much it means to her after everything that has happened, one that Jack is blinded to by his love for his daughter. Tony did stay true to the brotherhood, ultimately leaving it up to the Bauers to decide, but doing just as Jack would have done if the positions were reversed. And Jack knew that Tony was making the only call he could make, he was just too pissed to care. This episode had unprecedented levels of Jack/Tony action that are so intense and brilliant, I am at a loss to adequately describe them here.

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This interview with writer Evan Katz is a great read. He addresses many legitimate fan questions, such as why Nina was killed off and what the writers think the fans of this show expect, as well as optimism regarding an s4.

Ooooooh what to say. Alas Ryan!!!!! There’s a lot to be said about the tragic death of Ryan Chappelle, which will be addressed at length in the AIG debriefs, which will be posted on Wednesday. Due to these two episodes being broadcast so close together, I am doing one large back-to-back update on Wednesday, rather than rushing to get it all done now.

May TGOVD haunt Bush for all eternity!!! Last night turned out to be decidedly unholy as FOX pre-empted 24 to broadcast Dubya’s last-minute press conference/Q&A. I did tune in briefly to CNN to see Bush field a couple of questions from reporters, but due to my timezone, didn’t see much of the actual conference or any of the prepared statement. Being Canadian and having a strong dislike for the way the Bush administration has virtually destroyed US/Canada political relations, not to mention everything else to do with invading Iraq, lying, taking away Americans’ civil liberties, trying to legislate conservative morality, etc etc, I figured tuning into the press conference might provide some amusement as I watched George W. Bush blather and bleat like an inarticulate moron trying to evade difficult questions from reporters who are finally tired of towing the party line. I was not disappointed. However, not even supreme humiliation and impeachment of Bush could make up for the pre-emtion of 24, so the relatively mediocre embarassment he suffered during last night’s conference was nowhere near enough to take away the pain of 24 not being on, especially since we had no warning.

However, the 6-7am episode will air in Canada on Global at the usual time on SUNDAY APRIL 18. For our American friends, I believe FOX is airing it Sunday in the usual timelslot, 9/8c. I’m sure you all know this, but just in case. Then the 7-8am episode will air just 2 nights later on the usual Holy Day. The short wait between episodes will be nice, but FOR THE LOVE OF ALMEIDA can’t Bush hold his conferences on Monday night? There’s nothing good on Monday anyway.

*Editor’s Note – Blind Ambition was the name of a fanlisting for Ryan Chappelle that AIG hosted from 2004-2007.

So, I go to check out all of the site stats for everything on the AIG network, and it sure seemed like a lot of people were finding AIG through Blind Ambition today, instead of the other way around. So I go to the Blind Ambition site stats and suddenly we have 140 hits today. This is about 15 times as many hits as Blind Ambition gets on a usual day, so I was confused as to the reason for Chappelle’s sudden surge in popularity.

As it turns out, Blind Ambition : The Official Ryan Chappelle Fanlisting was a link in this week’s salon.com “I Like to Watch” column, in their little blurb about 24. Even though I completely disagree with their off-the-cuff attitude towards the show and their lack of Salazar luv (and they called Michelle a whiny waif!), I am pumped that one of our sites was linked in the article! To read the entire article, you must obtain a free daypass by watching an Audi ad flash movie, then read the article. The part about 24 and Ryan is on the second page. There is no actual information about Blind Ambition or AIG here, just that the salon writer selected Blind Ambition to represent Chappelle in her article.

Anyway, the point of all this is that the AIG fan network finally got some semi-major press exposure and hopefully this will generate more regular AIG visitors. It’s all about infamy, baby!

OMFA CHAPPELLE!!! Just when Ryan does a moral 180, tells Tony to violate “every regulation in the book”, and starts digging up a significant lead on Saunders, he is destined for assassination! Matt and I are taking this one pretty hard. We have been rabid fans of Ryan Chappelle since basically the first episode he was ever in, s1 1-2pm. When 90% of people who watched 24 couldn’t even tell you who Ryan Chappelle was, Matt and I were in there with Chappelle props. We just clung to the little Chappelle action we got and had our own little secret Chappelle worship society. When he came back in s2 it was such an ecstatic moment for us. We had lost all faith that Chappelle would ever return, and then he did, and man, we were so happy. Now that he’s evolved to major supporting status in s3, and people finally know who he is and have begun to recognize his awesomeness, he’s gonna die!