I’ve been reading some of the Canadian press articles about the return of 24 tonight.  It’s amazing how different the launch has been north of the border for season 6.  I’ve been inundated with the launch promos in the U.S. while traveling last week, and impressed by their scope.  Up here though the hype is a little more subdued and most of the writers seem to focus on the Canadian-heavy casting, the history, and alot around Keifer Sutherland.
The biggest surprise to me is that this year’s big villain will be someone who I am familiar with, and at first blush seems totally miscast.  I saw Shaun Majumder first as a standup comedian who was working the university circuit when I was a freshman at WLU.  I then saw him popping up on comedy specials such as Just For Laughs, as the host of the CBC’s New Year’s Eve special several years ago, and most recently as a cast member on This Hour Has 22 Minutes.  He’s a funny guy, but being on the CBC has brought out the total cornball side of him.  For some the CBC is probably a great gig, but I find that for most that the CBC’s style it absolutely kills their career in the real world.  To succeed on the CBC, you need to be able to keep the elderly not only entertained but at bay lest they call their politicians and get your funding cut.  Goes over great in the state-funded nursing homes but not so much amongst the rest of us.
So now I have two things to watch for over the next two days of 24 premieres - how the plot will unfold on a show that I really love, and how Shaun Majumder will fare out of all of this.  I’m rooting for the guy, he seems like someone with alot of talent who has gotten typecast as a corny goof very early in his career.  I think that being a terrorist might just be the jolt his career needs.