Season 8



Season 8 of 24 premiered in the United States on January 17, 2010 at 8pm on Fox. The premiere was a 2-night, 4-hour event (January 17 and 18 from 9-11pm/8-10pm on FOX/Global).

Season overview
In the eighth season, CTU has been upgraded and is run by MBA-schooled and razor-sharp head honcho Brian Hastings in New York. Cole Ortiz, an ex-Marine who wants to follow in Jack Bauer's footsteps, runs the division’s Field Operations. Expert data analyst Dana Walsh collaborates with systems analyst Arlo Glass inside CTU. Rob Weiss serves as President Allison Taylor's new chief of staff, and Meredith Reed is an ambitious journalist with ties to the unfolding situation.

As President Omar Hassan of Kamistan comes to the United States on a peacemaking mission, he is targeted by a group of Russian terrorists, led by people from within Hassan's own country. CTU has to stop the impending threat, with the help of a reluctant Jack Bauer.

Timeline
Day 8 begins at 4:00pm EST (1:00pm PST), the latest in the day of any season thus far. This is the second season to use Eastern Standard Time (EST) as opposed to Pacific Standard Time (PST). According to Operation Hero, it takes place on May 20-21.

Format
As with many previous years, Season 8 can be divided into three acts :


 * 1) Jack is unwillingly dragged back into the world of CTU, trying to help them stop the assassination of Kamistani President Omar Hassan during a conference at the United Nations with U.S. President Allison Taylor. The main antagonists of this act are Davros and Farhad Hassan.
 * 2) Jack and Renee try to aquire nuclear fuel rods from a Russian crime syndicate called Red Square, but are unable to obtain them and the rods are passed on to terrorists trying to use the rods to make a dirty bomb to detonate in New York City, Jack and Cole fight to stop them. Their efforts are greatly hindered when CTU is struck with an electromagnetic pulse bomb. The main antagonists of this act are Vladimir Laitanan, Sergei Bazhaev, Samir Mehran, Tarin Faroush, and Dana Walsh.
 * 3) The third act has yet to happen.

Major subplots

 * Jack Bauer's attempts to leave New York and be with his family.
 * Dana Walsh's mysterious past as "Jenny Scott", and the hoops she has to jump through to satisfy Kevin Wade, a man from her past that she would rather forget.
 * President Omar Hassan's paranoid behaviour because of his brother's betrayal, resulting in distrust amongst even his closest allies.
 * Arlo Glass' feelings for Dana Walsh.
 * Renee Walker being reactived, despite being fired from the FBI.
 * Jack Bauer begins to develop romantic feelings for Renee Walker.
 * The EMP that is detonated at CTU, leaving them unable to assist with the mission to find the nuclear rods.

Starring

 * Kiefer Sutherland as Jack Bauer (12 episodes)
 * Mary Lynn Rajskub as Chloe O'Brian (12 episodes)
 * Anil Kapoor as President Omar Hassan (11 episodes)
 * Annie Wersching as Renee Walker (7 episodes)
 * Mykelti Williamson as Brian Hastings (12 episodes)
 * Katee Sackhoff as Dana Walsh (12 episodes)
 * Chris Diamantopoulos as Rob Weiss (10 episodes)
 * John Boyd as Arlo Glass (12 episodes)
 * with Freddie Prinze Jr. as Cole Ortiz (12 episodes)
 * and Cherry Jones as President Allison Taylor (9 episodes)

Special guest stars

 * Elisha Cuthbert as Kim Bauer (2 episodes)

Guest starring

 * Nazneen Contractor as Kayla Hassan (11 episodes)
 * Clayne Crawford as Kevin Wade (9 episodes)
 * Akbar Kurtha as Farhad Hassan (8 episodes)
 * T.J. Ramini as Tarin Faroush (8 episodes)
 * Necar Zadegan as Dalia Hassan (8 episodes)
 * David Anders as Josef Bazhaev (6 episodes)
 * Michael Filipowich as Nick Coughlin (6 episodes)
 * Juergen Prochnow as Sergei Bazhaev (6 episodes)
 * Mido Hamada as Samir Mehran (5 episodes)
 * Hrach Titizian as Nabeel (5 episodes)
 * Julian Morris as Agent Owen (5 episodes)
 * Gene Farber as Oleg Bazhaev (4 episodes)
 * Doug Hutchison as Davros (4 episodes)
 * Ethan Rains as Ali (4 episodes)
 * Jennifer Westfeldt as Meredith Reed (4 episodes)
 * Jordan Marder as Dimitri (3 episodes)
 * Rami Malek as Marcos Al-Zacar (3 episodes)
 * Sterling Sulieman as Jim (3 episodes)
 * Benito Martinez as Victor Aruz (2 episodes)
 * Stephen Root as Bill Prady (2 episodes)
 * Paul Wesley as Stephen (2 episodes)
 * Ryan Cutrona as Admiral John Smith (1 episode)
 * Frank John Hughes as Tim Woods (1 episode)
 * Scott Lawrence as Ben Landry (1 episode)
 * with Callum Keith Rennie as Vladimir Laitanan (3 episodes)
 * and Bob Gunton as Secretary of State Ethan Kanin (4 episodes)
 * and Mare Winningham as Elaine Al-Zacar (2 episodes)

Airings
The following episodes were broadcast as back-to-back as two-hour episodes:


 * Episodes 1 and 2; "4:00pm-5:00pm" and "5:00pm-6:00pm" on January 17, 2010
 * Episodes 3 and 4; "6:00pm-7:00pm" and "7:00pm-8:00pm" on January 18, 2010
 * Episodes 15 and 16; "6:00am-7:00am" and "7:00am-8:00am" on April 5, 2010
 * Episodes 23 and 24; "2:00pm-3:00pm" and "3:00pm-4:00pm" on May 24, 2010