"Damn it, Tony! This is the only way!"

Dung Dink Dung Dink Dun..... It has been too long since I have heard this, the most popular ticking clock in the history of television. And sadly I have another 3 months before I will hear them again.

For those of you who don't remember what happened to the guy who played the bully in Stand By Me, he grew up to be a super badass CTU agent, stopping off once to play a super badass Musketeer.

I'm talking about Kiefer Sutherland on 24. Sure last season was...let's say interesting for lack of a better term. Fans have been whining about the lack of good storytelling and "realism" (?!) as the reasons why the show's sixth season was not so great. But here's the real reason....Tony Almeida. The former head of CTU and the perfect foil for Jack Bauer's break all the rules attitude died in season five. "Nooooo", I moaned as Tony fell to the floor after being pathetically stabbed. It was the lamest death on tv since Wesley bit it on Angel. C'mon...both characters survive being blown up, tortured, and, had their neck slit/shot and we're supposed to believe that getting stabbed is what kills them?! Please.

Now comes news that gives me a very big happy....Tony is not dead!!!! Apparently, when a major character dies on 24, the bumper to the commercial break shows the digital clock ticking down, but no ticking sound. BUT, when Tony "died" there was clock and sound, so the astute viewers knew Tony was still alive. Huh. I guess that's what keeps the show fresh...I will have to be more attentive and less emotional when it looks like the end of a character. And who cares if this is the most random "re-introduction" of a character since J.R.
Tony's back! Read more here.

Carlos Bernard, who plays Tony, has gotta be pretty happy too! He's 45 today.
Red Sox are playing the Indians in the first game of the ALCS today!