24, Countdown to the Beginning of Day Six

January is here, and that means FOX’s runaway train thriller/suspense drama "24" is less than two weeks away. Last season was the Emmy Award-winning drama’s fifth season, and Day 5 had viewers and critics riveted as President Logan was taken down for the assassination of long-time favorite character, former President David Palmer.

This season will open to find Jack imprisoned in China, 20 months after having been captured by the Chinese for invading their Los Angeles embassy, accused of killing the Chinese ambassador in Season Four. Teasers have been running all through December on FOX, and now it seems our government needs Jack to "sacrifice himself" as Jack talks about "the difference between dying for something and dying for nothing" as he says, "Today, I can die for something."

No one wants to see Jack die, and with half the recurring cast killed off last season, there will be plenty of anxiety and excitement around Jack Bauer and his return. To many action-spy junkies out there, Jack has the upperhand over even the great James Bond as the best, most intense, relentless hero we have ever seen on television or in any other fictional media.

Among the others coming back for another very long day, Mary Lynn Rajskub as Chloe O’Brian, Carlo Rota as her husband Morris, James Morrison as Bill Buchanan, Jayne Atkinson as Karen Hayes, Eric Balfour as Milo (from Season One), Jean Smart as former First Lady Martha Logan, and last season’s corrupt and disgraced President Logan himself, Gregory Itzin.

Joining the cast this season will also be James Cromwell ("The Sum of All Fears" and "I, Robot"; and we will see him as Captain George Stacy in "Spider-Man 3"), Powers Boothe ("Sin City" and "Frailty"; also, a regular on "Deadwood"), Rick Schroder ("NYPD Blue" and "Scrubs"), Kal Penn ("Superman Returns" and "Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle"), and now according to Zap2It.com, Jamison Jones (most recently from "NCIS" but he also previously appeared on "24" in Season Two as Deputy Nirman).

"24" returns, kicking off its sixth season with a two-night premiere starting Sunday, January 14th, 8PM through 10PM Eastern Time, and the blast-off continues on "24"’s regular night, Monday, January 15th also 8 until 10PM Eastern for a beginning total of four adrenaline-charged hours for the Season Six debut.