Did you know there are shows on Fox other than American Idol?  It’s true!  Fox has announced its May sweeps line-up and I imagine that the other major networks will do the same in the coming weeks.  After the jump, we’ve included the premiere dates and one-line synopsis for season finales of Fringe and House, the series finale of 24, the 150th episode of Family Guy, and the Joss Whedon-directed episode of Glee starring Neil Patrick Harris.

According to director Jon Cassar (via his twitter feed), Fox has officially cancelled 24 and there will be no season 9.  While the rumblings of 24 ending have been online for the last few months, we previously reported NBC had expressed interest in keeping Jack Bauer on the air.  But that seems to be not happening.

But all is not lost for 24 fans, as back in February we reported Twentieth Century Fox had hired Billy Ray (State of Play, Breach, Shattered Glass) to write the script for a feature version of the show.  The premise is Jack Bauer would go to Europe.  And when I spoke to Kiefer Sutherland awhile back, he told me the movie “would lose the real time aspect, which would be a huge freedom for the writers.” He went on to say the film “would be a two hour representation of a twenty-four hour day.”

So what does this all mean? I think we’re going to get a press release in the near future that says 24 is moving to the big screen with production starting soon.  But that’s just my guess.

UPDATE - Fox has sent out a press release. It’s after the jump:

If you’re a fan of 24, you should know that Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) doesn’t go down without a fight.  Jack Bauer never says die, and apparently, neither do the people responsible for bringing him into your home every Monday night.

Last week, it was reported that Fox was leaning towards having the current season of 24 be its final season.  With its “big screen worthy” production costs and its recent decline in ratings, executives over at Fox feel that it might be time to part ways with one of the television shows that put them back on the map in 2001.  However, like countless terrorists from various countries have come to learn, Jack Bauer just cannot be stopped. Hit the jump to find out how Bauer might live to see another day and why I’ll follow him wherever he ends up:

24 might be heading to movie theaters, as Twentieth Century Fox has hired Billy Ray (State of Play, Breach, Shattered Glass) to write the script for the feature version.  According to Variety, Ray pitched taking Jack Bauer to Europe, and his take met with enthusiasm with Fox execs and producers of the television series.

For a long time Kiefer Sutherland has talked about making a 24 feature film, as a year ago he told me the movie “would lose the real time aspect, which would be a huge freedom for the writers.” He went on to say the film “would be a two hour representation of a twenty-four hour day.”

More after the jump:

The Screen Actors Guild cast their votes for the best performances of 2009, and the results were announced on Saturday night.  Virtual Oscar locks Christoph Waltz and Mo’Nique were honored for their supporting turns in Inglourious Basterds and Precious, respectively.  Golden Globe winner Jeff Bridges repeated here for his lauded role in Crazy Heart.  Sandra Bullock took home the award for best female lead in The Blind Side, adding some drama to what is now ostensibly two-horse race between her and Meryll Streep for the Oscar.  Poor Carey Mulligan.

On the TV side, critical darlings 30 Rock and Mad Men took home three awards: the duo of Alec Baldwin and Tina Fey swept the lead comedy awards, while Mad Men was deemed to be television’s best drama ensemble.  Michael C. Hall, fresh off a Golden Globe win, won for being the only great part of Dexter.  Freshman shows also found some love, as the youthful cast of Glee is the SAG’s favorite comedy ensemble, and Juliana Marguiles turned some heads with a starring role on The Good Wife.

Hit the jump for the full list, which also includes wins for Star Trek, 24, Kevin Bacon, and Drew Barrymore.

I am a huge 24 fan and have been since the very beginning of the series.  We’ve gone through some good times and some bad times together, as well as some embarrassing times.  From presidential assassinations, bio-threats, and nuclear bombs blowing up in Valencia; to the infamous cougar lurking in the woods, Teri Bauer’s amnesia, and basically anything involving Kim Bauer.  24 is by no means a perfect show, but what it usually delivers on is action packed seasons and cliffhangers at the end of each episode.  Season 8, which starts with a 4-hour premiere tomorrow night, has a lot to live up to after last year’s non-stop insanely good season.  Some critics would disagree, but I thought season 7 was pure 24 gold.  Although the premiere isn’t as intense as I had hoped, some great new elements have been introduced.  And let’s just say Renee Walker returns with a vengeance!  More after the jump.

FOX has announced their 2009-2010 midseason schedule.  As usual, American Idol returns in January with a two-night season premiere Tuesday, January 12^th and Wednesday, January 13^th.  The other big news from the press release is Lie to Me got picked up for a full season, Fringe airs its winter finale on February 4^th and returns April 1^st, Glee‘s fall finale is December 9^th and new episodes won’t start again until April 13^th, and Human Target premieres Sunday, January 17^th.

For a full listing of the schedule including info on all the new and returning shows, hit the jump for the press release:

I don’t watch “24″ anymore but I assume if you saw the previous seven seasons then you’ll want to see this new trailer because it feature Kiefer Sutherland in his Emmy-winning performance as Jack Bauer, a man who shouts at things and tortures people from time to time under the ticking-clock scenario that never happens in the real world.  Correct me if I’m wrong, but how many seasons have started off with Jack being out of the game but the world needs his help and he’s the only man who can both shout and torture and that’s a lethal combo for terrorists. But fans of the have already heard these kinds of points from detractors and watch the show anyone.  In my experience viewers of “24″ fall into one of two categories: People who genuinely find the show thrilling and action-packed; and people who find it laughably terrible.  Hit the jump to see which group will be happier with the trailer.

“24″ returns to Fox on January 17^th, 2010.

DreamWorks is tuning up “Motorcade” again as they’ve brought director and “24″ co-executive producer Jon Cassar to helm the thriller about a disgraced Secret Service agent who happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time when the President is kidnapped in New York.  Cassar sounds perfect for this job because he’s directed 59 episodes of “24″ and this premise sounds as terrible as anything on that show.  DreamWorks is also looking at Ryan Reynolds to play the lead but it remains to be seen if he can give the same kind of shouting/torturing intensity that Cassar got from Kiefer Sutherland. [Variety]

If you’ve been watching the great ABC show “FlashForward” on Thursday nights, you’re going to love the interview I did with David Goyer (“Blade”, “The Dark Knight”), and Brannon Braga (“Star Trek: Voyager”, “Star Trek: Enterprise”, “24″) a few days ago. That’s because these two great writers are responsible for getting the show on the air, have mapped out where the show is headed, and what mysteries are going to be revealed along the way. And if the ratings are any indication, the show is going to be around for awhile.

Now for the best part: While some interviews are brief, my conversation with Goyer and Braga went for about 30 minutes. What that means is we talked about everything – from how “FlashForward” got off the ground to how the show gets made each week. Of course, we also talked about what was up with the Oceanic Airlines billboard in the pilot and how do they deal with the comparisons to “Lost”. And for fans of “24″, Braga talks about what’s coming up in the new season and Goyer talks about “Ghost Rider 2″ and “Magneto”. I’ve done A LOT of interviews for Collider and I think this is one of the best so I really recommend checking it out. And to make it easy, I’ve listed what we talked about above each part. Hit the jump to see and make sure to tune into “FlashForward” on Thursdays at 8/7c on ABC.

Imagine if the same six or seven movies and their actors, writers, directors, etc. kept getting nominated for Oscars every year.  There would be slight deviations but for the most part, Academy members would just take their ballot from last year, peruse a couple of For Your Consideration ads, maybe read a critic’s list or two as a second source to make sure they weren’t making any selection deemed interesting, and you’d wonder if they just showed a repeat except they somehow replaced Jon Stewart with Hugh Jackman.

“TV’s Finest Night” is always a repeat and you cherish just about anyone who hasn’t won an Emmy in the past no matter the quality of the show.  Yes, “Mad Men” and “30 Rock” are excellent shows but barring a steep decline in quality, I already know who’s going to win next year because the Emmys are a bunch of lazy wimps who don’t watch anything outside the ten shows they already love.  Hit the jump for a list of tonight’s winners and only grumbling since this farce isn’t worth the energy of a blinding rage.

After making over $225 million at the US box office and another $396 million overseas, the Will Smith superhero flick “Hancock” was going to get a sequel.  That wasn’t even a question.  Instead, the question was: where will the sequel find John Hancock: reluctant crusader?  For the time being plot details for director Peter Berg’s “Hancock 2″ are still unknown, but at least we now know who will be crafting the action this time around – and the news is good if you are a fan of FX’s late, great, cop drama “The Shield”.  Details after the jump.

Three years ago fans of Fox TV’s “24″ were told that Day Eight would be the series’ last.  The show had been on auto pilot for years and after the writer’s strike and a particularly disastrous sixth season a definitive end date seemed both smart and merciful.  But with renewed fan interest following Day Seven, “24″ insiders have become a bit cagier about when, or if, the series is ever going to wrap.  Executive Producer Evan Katz recently spoke with Michael Ausiello on the subject of Jack Bauer’s possible end game. Hit the jump for the highlights.

“24″ was one of the major casualties of the writer’s strike for me, because seeing Jack Bauer kick some terrorist ass each year is a key to my happiness and 2008 was void of the “Jack Bauer Power Hour” as I like to call it.  Some shows got axed after the WGA mess, while others like “24″ took a ridiculously long hiatus and had time to make the show better than ever!! Not only that, but the “24″ peeps even squeezed in a prequel movie putting Jack in Africa last November to tide us rabid fans over, which not only added to the season, but proved to be a great stand-alone two hour piece of Jack Bauer awesomeness!

Freddie Prinze Jr. is back baby.  The legendary husband of the even-more legendary Sarah Michelle Gellar has snagged himself a plum role on the eighth (and final?) season of Fox’s “24″.  According to The Hollywood Reporter, Prinze will play Davis Cole – the field ops leader at the newly reconstituted CTU.  Cole wants to follow in Jack Bauer’s footsteps, which means he must suffer an untimely and highly emotional death.  Someone should really introduce this Cole to a guy named Chase – the former CTU field agent who harbored a similar Bauer-worship until his hero sawed off his hand.  Freedom ain’t free people.

Day eight of “24″ began filming this Wednesday with several other full-time and recurring cast members added, including Amil Kapoor as a Middle Eastern leader, Chris Diamantopoulos as the president’s new chief of staff and Jennifer Westfeldt as a journalist.  Telling you these actor’s names is probably a fool’s errand, though.  The shelf life for new “24″ cast members is about 18 hours max.