Okay, this is an unprecedented emergency memo. We are actually in the midst of debriefing on what else but THE RETURN OF TONY ALMEIDA. Kat keeps refreshing the hit counter to see UNPRECEDENTED levels of traffic. This is the most hits that we have ever received in one day, and it is truly a fucking inspiration to see how much passion the awesome character of Tony Almeida has generated in the fanbase of 24. I’m eager to post some acknowledgment of THE GREATEST COMEBACK IN 24 HISTORY.

Seriously, THE FUCKING SOULPATCH. The naysayers mocked it. The satirists lampooned it. The faithful respected its awesome power. And now it is back. Not because Carlos Bernard felt like not shaving, but because THE SOULPATCH IS TONY!!!! Tony has come full circle.

There is truly so much to say. I am thrilled to report that Matt is debriefing with Kat and myself right here, right now, in the immediately aftermath of THE RETURN OF TONY. This debrief will cover THE MIRACLE THAT IS THE RETURN OF TONY in excruciating detail and will be posted post haste.

THE SOUL PATCH LIVES!!!!!!!!

ALMEIDA BE WITH YOU ALL!!!!!!

Amidst all the excitement of Tony’s iminent return, some of you may not be aware of how desperately we here at AIG miss David Palmer. The Palmer storyline received a lot of flack last season for being kind of an “auxiliary” thread, and people were downing on David. But his absence in s4 has made all of us realize just how much we miss him! Not that we didn’t appreciate David last season, but man, classic case of “don’t know what ya got til it’s gone” for a lot of fans. We are constantly assured of the brilliance of the 24 creative team when they always live up to our high expectations of what HAS to happen in order for this wonderous show to maintain its title as “Greatest TV Show of All Time.” This is no exception. Without trying to spoil anything for anyone, read more here and here.

Today is a very special day for us here at AIG. It is our birthday! One year ago today, on January 19, 2004, we unveiled this site for the very first time! It took us awhile to catch on, but we are so proud of how far we’ve come as a fansite. We have grown from a simplistic temple of Tony-worship into one of the most popular, comprehensive 24 fansites in the English language and host of the largest 24-related Fanlistings Collective on the web.

When Matt and I first came up with the idea for this site, we talked about all the crazy, hilarious features we wanted for it all the time, but never in a million years would I have imagined that we would actually produce all the content we have to offer our visitors today. The 24 Season 1 Ultimate Fan Commentary alone is sheer insanity! Anyway, to commemorate this special day for us, I’d like to acknowledge how much I have enjoyed running this site for the last 12 months — not only because I love Tony, but because I love being part of this community. It makes a real difference to me to know that the work I’ve done has been enjoyed by over 16,000 fellow Tony and 24 fans throughout the world. It has been like a friend to me. Join us in celebrating a milestone of obsessive fandom today!

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There is a brief article here about the return of Tony and Michelle to Season 4, including which episode Tony returns in and a little bit of spoilery info about Tony and Michelle. Don’t read if you don’t wanna know.

The Golden Globe Awards aired last night. 24 lost to Nip/Tuck for Best Drama Series. I can’t even bring myself to be outraged by this. We won last year, and rightfully so, but given that we are only 4 episodes in to this season, I can’t say it was much of a shock or disappointment to lose. We got our moment in the sun last year, and I am happy with that.

I received my copy of “24: One Shot”, the 24 comic book, in the mail yesterday. I ordered it way back in October, but Amazon.ca had to special order it from the supplier, so it took forever to arrive. I thought it was REALLY neat, especially because the story in it takes place as a prequel to Season 1, so all of our favourite characters are back for more action, including Walsh, Nina, Tony and Jamey Farrell, and includes the first meeting between Jack and Nina. The way it ends is certainly interesting…

In other news, stuff like this pisses me off. The comments made about how the audience knows nothing about Jack as a person, which makes it difficult to care about him as a character, are simply laughable. I feel sorry for people who need every little thing spoonfed to them through unnecessary expository dialogue. Does anyone really care if Jack Bauer prefers Ginger or Mary-Anne? Please!

Throughout 3 seasons and starting on the fourth, the audience has seen the character of Jack Bauer go through monumental trials and an incredible range of character development. He is a different man now than he was at the beginning of the series. His hobbies are incidental, as are most of the boring details about anyone’s life. The members of the audience who “get” this show and who have followed it are aware that Jack Bauer is a complex man with a complex soul, that he rides the line between what’s “right” and what’s necessary, that he can be as ruthless as any of the terrorists he’s pursued, or as benevolent and human as David Palmer himself — especially when it comes to his daughter or other innocents. This is what attracts us to the character of Jack and what makes us care about him, not whether he does woodworking on the weekends or ever watched Gilligan’s Island at all. And don’t get me started on the blatant insults to Kiefer Sutherland’s acting abilities. For someone who freely admits in the article that they watched the first two seasons only casually, and then hardly watched the third season at all, to make judgements about the show (especially in terms of character development, which evolved very slowly over the courses of the seasons) is just garbage. It’s like talking about how disgusting brussel sprouts taste if you’ve never eaten them. People are fucking clueless.

The Official AIG Debrief for last night’s 2-episode stint is posted. This debrief is quite long and includes detailed discussion between Matt and I, not only of what transpired in last night’s episodes, but also Season 4 so far in general, as well as some sentimental discussion of past seasons in comparison, some of our old favourite characters, our theories on where Season 4 is going and our hopes for the future. As always, feedback, comments and additional discussion from our readers is always welcome on The Open Channel.

Anyone who hasn’t yet watched the 2 new 24-Inside interview montages posted on the Fox website should go and watch them immediately. The videos are comprised of interview clips from a recent 24 cast party, and includes footage of some of the new cast, as well as all our old favourites. For fans of Tony and Michelle, there is some great footage of Carlos and Reiko.

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Happy New Year to all you 24 fans out there from the staff of AIG!!! We are officially less than a week away from the Season Premiere and no one could possibly as excited as we are. There has been much discussion while Matt was online at home in Ottawa over the Christmas break about the premiere and we have all decided that Season 4 will kick some ass, especially now that we know there WILL be Tony action.

The New Year is a time for reflection, and I’ve had a blast re-reading all the posts in the Memorandum Archives, chronicling our thoughts about Season 3 and the state of 24 in general over this last year. The one year anniversary of this site is coming up in a few weeks, and I’d just like to take a moment to thank all the people who have made it what it has become: my compatriots, Matt and Kat, for being as obsessed as I am, our affiliates for directing traffic to our site, and most of all our visitors. We wouldn’t be here without you (well, maybe we would, but we wouldn’t have nearly as much fun doing it if there was no one reading on the other end).