If there is one thing that this TV Addict took away following two days holed up with a bunch of rowdy radio shock jocks is that DJ’s love to talk. Thus, you can imagine my surprise when an eery quiet enveloped Hollywood’s Hotel Palamor at the end of the second day of FOX’s January Press Junket. Turns out, Kiefer Sutherland was in the house. And if six seasons of the hit FOX show 24 taught this TV Addict anything, it’s that when Jack Bauer talks, you best be listening. Or risk ending up like this guy.

So listen I did. As Kiefer Sutherland was kind enough to take a few minutes out of his busy schedule to reveal what went wrong with season six, why the new season of 24 is the best one yet and when fans can expect to see Jack Bauer’s adventure continue on the big screen.

So it’s been like what, five years since you’ve been on the air?
Kiefer Sutherland: It feels like it, it really does [TV Addict Note: At this point, Kiefer laughs. Which was quite a sight to see considering that I'm fairly confident that Jack Bauer has barely cracked a smile over the course of 24's six seasons!] Believe me, it’s been a really disappointing time for us. Our fans have been so unbelievably loyal to us. But unfortunately there were a series of events that conspired to keep us off the air. And since it is really important to run all 24 hours continuously the decision was made to hold us off for another year so that we could premiere in January.

Did all the extra time you were afforded help or hurt the show?
We tried to take advantage of all the extra time we had this season and I do believe that now that we’ve done all 24 episodes, they’re finished and I’ve seen them I can confidently say that we’ve made the best season we’ve ever made. I hope people come back to watch it though. To say that we’re not nervous a little would be bullsh*t. Beacuse we are.

So why exactly is this the best season?
When they wrote the first season they only wrote the first thirteen episodes. I didn’t think anyone thought it would get picked up [laughs]. The last eleven episodes were kind of an afterthought. And what we’ve realized is that one conflict can’t sustain the entire day. So generally, if you take a look at the structure of the show, you’ll watch whatever that first conflict is get dealt with by episode 12. And between episode 12 to 15 there is this weird morphing into what becomes another conflict. We’ve always had that problem. Which kind of became glaringly clear in last season (season 6). So with the extra time we had as a result of the Writer’s Strike, we took a three week break and finally had the time to confront the issue because we weren’t forced to get the show on the air in two weeks.

How is Jack different this year?
If you take a look at the very beginning of season one, there is this guy with an almost blind ideology towards his country and for what he’s doing. Flash forward to season seven and you’ve got this very disenfranchised guy who is being made a scapegoat and dragged in front of the Senate where he’s forced to defend himself in a very kind of defiant way. But when he’s in private there is a huge inner conflict where he acknowledges that there is a problem with the things he’s done. And that’s what is wonderful about this character, he’s constantly growing. It might not be huge dramatic changes where he has a perm, different clothes, or a different accent like you do from film to film. But there are sixteen to twenty small changes. He is broken down, more defeated, he feels more guilty or less guilty. All of these things kind of inform the character for this year. And I think this year, more than any, because he is not in charge, he’s really trying to find himself, find out for himself in the middle of these circumstances, what he actually believes in because on so many of the issues, he’s torn.

Will Jack Bauer finally get some much needed lovin’?
I can’t even begin to explain the unbelievable difficulty of writing in real time. I mean wouldn’t it be great if Jack Bauer could have a romantic aspect of the show. But you show me a romance that can develop in twenty-four hours under these kind of circumstances. So if we did that people would go, “That’s wrong!”. There are so many things we can’t do in the show by virtue of its time format.

When are we going to see Jack Bauer on the big screen?
We have every intention of making it, but again, because of the complexity of writing the series, and the fact that we [the creative team] want to do it together, we all agreed very early on that we’d focus on doing the series and when the series was done we would then tackle the idea of a movie. To ask the writers in essence to write twelve films a year and then go and write something even more fantastic for this two-hour feature was just unfair and cruel.

Don’t miss the two-hour season premiere of 24 on FOX this Sunday January 11th at 8PM (GlobalTV in Canada)

24’s Keifer Sutherland and Mary Lynn Rajskub. BONES’ David Boreanaz and Emily Deschanel. DOLLHOUSE’s Eliza Dushku, Tahmoh Penikiett and Joss Whedon. FRINGE’s John Noble. GLEE’s Cory Monteith. HELL’S KITCHEN’s Gordon Ramsay. HOUSE’s Lisa Edelstein and Olivia Wilde. THE OSBOURNES’ Sharon, Ozzy, Kelly and Jack. TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES’ Brian Austin Green and Garret Dillahunt. And finally, LIE TO ME’s Tim Roth, Kelli Williams, Brendan Hines and Ria Torres.

Recipe for disaster: take one room full of ravenous journalists, cram them into an area that is entirely too small, populate entire area with waist-high tables, serve scones and hot coffee, then unleash the stars of the next season of 24 on the crowd. Stir well, and serve at room temperature.

Fox decided not to have a panel for 24 at the TCAs, and instead present us with the opportunity to take a coffee break and hobnob with Kiefer Sutherland, Jon Voight, Robert Carlyle, and Gil Bellows. It quickly turned into the feeding frenzy of dozens of microphones shoved into the faces of Jon Voight asking about Angelina Jolie’s new twins, and mobbing Kiefer Sutherland wanting intricate details on the plot of the next season of everyone’s favorite real-time show.

Because I value my life, and didn’t want to crowd-surf over the sea of Kiefer-crophones, I spent time gleaning what I could from the snippets of conversation I’d hear drifting across the room. Jon Voight was extremely nice and patient about the Brangelina questions, and explained that the character he’s playing in 24: EXILE is the “head of a Blackwater-like conspiracy” which sounds very 24-appropriate. In the short trailer they showed, he looks like a perfect choice for that sort of role.

Robert Carlyle is also new to the cast, and plays Carl Benton, who knows Jack Bauer from way back in the day. Apparently they “trained together 10 years ago.” I asked Robert if he’d be back for the full Day 7 season, and not just the prequel event movie, but he said he “literally wasn’t allowed to talk about that.” Highly suspicious.

Kiefer himself didn’t give up any secrets, he just mainly waxed poetic about the strike-induced shutdown, and how that has allowed them to focus more on the story and gave them a chance to introduce new characters like Jon and Robert. Also, he’s short. Not exactly new or groundbreaking, but you heard it here!

On Monday night, the TV Addict attended his first ever Hollywood Party. By all accounts I played it cool, suave and sophisticated. Breezing through the room like I belonged. Not at all like the television obsessed stalkarazzi who casually took it upon himself to interrupt nearly every actor and actress within earshot to get a quick photo.

But seriously, who am I kidding — suave and sophisticated? Not a chance! This TV Addict was at a party with Kiefer Sutherland! [You may have read about it here, here and here.] And no, contrary to online speculation, I did not drink Kiefer under the table. THE OFFICE’s Kate Flannery, well that’s a different story entirely.

The party at AREA [an uber-trendy club you may have seen on THE HILLS] was everything you’d imagine. Stars where everywhere [I quite literally almost bumped into Emily Deschanel], very strange food [Shrimp pizza? what's wrong with regular pizza!] and did I mention the stars?

Enjoy the first round of photos, including my ‘what I did say’ vs. ‘what I wanted to say’ comments. I’d post my Kiefer Sutherland photo but I’m shopping them around [US Weekly, People Magazine.. I'm waiting for a call!].