• by Adam Buckman , Featured Columnist, January 16, 2017

The War on Terror has been with us for so long that even our terror-fighting TV shows are entering a second generation.

It’s almost unbelievable that in all the time that has passed since the first “24” aired on Fox -- 2001-2010 -- we’re still fighting the same war, in real life and on TV.

Or to put it another way, “Homeland” is still on (Season Six started last night on Showtime), so why not bring back “24”? That’s what Fox is doing next month, starting with a high-profile premiere following the Super Bowl on February 5.

The new “24” then settles into its regular time period -- Monday nights at 8 -- the next night. The premiere episode has been available to TV columnists for several weeks, thanks to Fox, which is apparently eager to promote this terrorist-fighting reboot. It is one of the more highly anticipated shows of the new midseason.

The chosen title for this new “24” is “24: Legacy,” which has a “Next Generation” quality to it without having to actually use the tired phrase “Next Generation.” 

There is indeed a new generation of terrorist-fighting government operatives in this new show. Kiefer Sutherland is nowhere to be seen. Now 50, he’s currently the President of the United States on “Designated Survivor” on ABC.

In the new “24,” the central character is a resourceful former Army Ranger named Eric Carter, played by Corey Hawkins, who is 28 and African-American. 

A current president is not introduced in the premiere episode of “24: Legacy” (unless I blinked and missed him, or her), but a candidate for president is seen. It’s none other than Jimmy Smits, who famously ran for president on “The West Wing.” 

In the set-up for this new “24,” the candidate’s wife is a former chief of the Counter-Terrorism Unit (CTU). She is not quite able to let go of the job and a seemingly mundane visit to her old office to say hello to her former colleagues suddenly puts her in the middle of one of "24's" signature races against time.

A race against time is pretty much the underpinning of every "24" episode. You might recall that the gimmick behind "24" was that all of the action in each episode was supposed to take place within the confines of a "real" hour.

This often failed the reality test -- particularly when Jack Bauer (Sutherland) would somehow circumvent L.A.’s infamous stand-still traffic to arrive at the site of a potential terrorist attack in well under five minutes. And yet, the action on the old “24” was choreographed so well that these lapses in reality were easy to dismiss.

You might recall that in its time, the original "24" was one of the most heart-stopping TV shows ever produced. When I began watching the first episode of “24: Legacy,” and one of its signature life-or-death sequences turned up in the first few minutes, I wondered if I would have the fortitude to sit through another episode like this (not to mention an entire 24-hour season).

For the most part, the new “24” is as nail-biting as the original. If there are any weaknesses in the premiere, it’s in the prevalence of various story-telling and character clichés, including one scene where Carter and another ex-Ranger somehow dodge machine gun fire that should have reduced them to ribbons.

It’s one of the least imaginative ways of keeping the hero of a TV show alive. Basically, you have the people attacking him -- all professional killers -- suddenly developing a case of terrible-marksmanship-it-is.

In other clichés, Carter is forced by life-and-death circumstances to ask his estranged brother for help protecting his wife. Carter feels she will be safe there because his brother is a straight-up ghetto gangsta with a cohort of sullen-faced henchmen who are all armed to the teeth.

Oh, brother. Isn’t it high time we move on from this recurring cliché in movies and TV shows in which at least some of the black characters are inevitably thugs? 

One of the hallmarks of the old "24" was its extreme violence, which broke new ground for what was permitted on commercial-supported, broadcast TV. Among the scenes that drew attention back then were ones involving various torture methods, including one instance in which a power drill with a large bit was used to bore a hole in a man’s back, and another in which a kitchen knife was driven straight into a man’s knee.

Neither of these methods turned up in the premiere episode of "24: Legacy." But there is still time. This first episode takes place in the hour between noon and 1 p.m. (Pacific time).