The debut episode of the Schmoes Knows podcast scored an interview with Katee Sackhoff (24‘s Dana Walsh) and she is refreshingly candid as usual. Katee described the Dana mole twist as “kinda predictable” and said “I think the writers wrote themselves into a wall because they promised me that I was going to have guns.”

Sackhoff had the option to do her own show for USA Network but turned it down to work on 24 instead because the producers promised her she’d get to play with guns. “For the first five episodes I’m behind a desk, and I’m like really guys? Where are my guns?!”

“I knew I was bad, [but] I had no idea I was the mole. I knew I was bad though. From the very beginning I knew I was bad.”

The most interesting part though is when Katee revealed that Dana Walsh almost survived. Because a 24 movie was planned, producers were trying to keep their options open for character returns in the film and were debating whether or not to have her character escape death.

“We actually had discussed on that day, even up to that point, whether or not she was going to jump off and get out of there somehow. Like grab the plastic and slide down or something. [But] It was kind of one of those things where she had gone so far that you can’t not kill her at this point.”

The rest of the interview discusses filming the shooting scene and her not being able to hear for several days from the gunshot noise. Katee also praises co-star Kiefer Sutherland’s hard work ethic and says they’re working together again on a movie called Growl. You can hear the eight minute 24 segment embedded above (warning: several F bombs dropped!) or listen to the entire hour-long podcast here.

Japanese broadcasters won’t show the final season of Fox’s “24,” as planned — because its storyline involves radiation poisoning.

Executives at TV Tokyo say they’re sensitive to the storyline in light of the 9.0 magnitude earthquake and resulting tsunami in Northern Japan on March 11 — which severely damaged the Fukushima nuclear power plant, unleashing large doses of radiation.

In the final (eighth) season of “24,” which ended last May, the son of a Russian terrorist becomes ill after he’s exposed to nuclear rods.

TV Tokyo will, instead, re-air the fifth season of “24.”

“With the many victims of the current disaster in Japan, and ongoing concerns about radiation leaks from the nuclear power station, TV Tokyo has decided not to show the planned final season and show season five instead,” the network said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter.

Source: NY Post

As promised, the eighth and final season of 24 has went live on Netflix Instant Watch today, just two months after the DVD release. This addition of 24 Season 8 to Netflix streaming now makes the entire 24 series available on Netflix Instant Watch.

Like the previous five seasons and Redemption, Netflix offers 24 Season 8 in high-definition. Here’s the page to watch 24 Season 8 on Netflix.

24 Season 8 is arriving on Netflix instant streaming on February 12th, just two months after its December 14th retail release. It’s been in high demand on Netflix with a “Very long wait” time so I’m sure this will make many people happy.

This addition will make the entire series available on Netflix for streaming. The past seven seasons were put on the service last April along with the two-hour television movie “24: Redemption” (which is listed as the first episode on the 24 Season 7 page).

Netflix is the superior way to watch 24 since Seasons 4, 5, 6, 7 and Redemption are available for streaming in high-definition while only Season 7 was released on Blu-Ray thus far. Here’s the 24 Season 8 page on Netflix so go ahead and add it to your queue.

Source: FeedFliks and Streaming Soon

Total sales for the 24 Season 8 DVD in the United States are now at 548,399 units with $21,032,272 in revenue after six weeks on store shelves according to tracking firm The Numbers.

The 24 Season 8 DVD set was off to a slower debut than previous 24 DVD sets selling just 178,830 in the first week, but it has remained in the top 30 weekly DVD sales charts over the following weeks and continued to sell. For comparison, the Season 7 DVD has sold 800k units lifetime in the US.

(Thanks to Rob for bringing this to my attention.)

Here’s a promo for 24 Season 8 on AXN Asia. Anil Kapoor is the focus there and gets top billing.

YouTube Link: Anil Kapoor 24 Day 8 Promo [Asia]

Here’s a promo called “The Clock Has Stopped” for the 24 Season 8 DVD. It’s mostly the same as the early “Run This Town” Season 8 promo but was updated with new text and music. Probably not exciting for most people, but posting it for the sake of completeness.

YouTube Link: 24: “The Clock Has Stopped” DVD Promo

Wanna see what the 24 Complete Set was like in the Netherlands? Much better than the set we got in the United States, that’s for sure. PDFierro shared pictures with us and some impressions on the IMDB forums – check out his post there for all the details.

As far as packaging goes, this is the best of the 24 Complete Series releases (the German release is similar but not quite as fancy). The box opens up to reveal a bomb with all the DVD’s inside and they each come in a fancy booklet. Too bad FOX didn’t put as much thought into this with the US release. You can order the 24 Complete Collection from this link.

After being asked by fans on Twitter, Howard Gordon took to his other Twitter account, @24Season8 (shh… I think it’s supposed to be a secret) to explain why bloopers weren’t included on the DVD. The answer is pretty insulting in my opinion.

NO BLOOPER REEL FOR YOU!

What the heck? Blooper reels are a very common part of television shows and movies – fans are smart enough to realize the difference. There was even one on the 24 Season 6 DVD (the Ricky Gervais cameo). It’s not like the bloopers would be integrated into the actual episodes, we access bloopers through a special feature menu. Clear distinction from the show.

24‘s constantly serious nature is precisely why a blooper reel would be so fun to watch. I can understand withholding bloopers until 24‘s final season (like Kiefer promised before) but to not give us any period? Weak move.

Source: 24Season8 Twitter

24 Season 8 episode 20 (Dana Walsh’s execution) placed #17 on The Futon Critic’s “50 Best Episodes of 2010″.

17. “24: 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.” (fox)

(originally aired: may 3, 2010)

Dark isn’t exactly a new territory for “24″ – just Google Jack Bauer and hacksaw – but the show’s waters reached some new depths in this episode, which saw Jack anoint himself judge, jury and executioner of Dana Walsh over Renee’s death. Her usefulness in finding her co-conspirators exhausted, Jack – rather than turn her over to CTU – simply opts to murder her in cold blood. Wow.

Source: The Futon Critic

BuzzFocus has awarded Jack Bauer with “Best Action Hero” in their “Best of TV 2010″ awards. Here’s what they had to say about our favorite action hero:

Best Action Hero

Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland), 24
Fact: Chuck Norris wears Jack Bauer pajamas. After personally saving America’s butt seven times, Jack Bauer wasted no time springing into action in Day 8, this time saving New York from a major terrorist attack. And just when he was ready to retire for good, he lost yet another love, Renee Walker (Annie Wersching). The result? Bauer went absolutely berserk and singlehandedly saved the day…again. And he gets a special helping of props for putting Dana Walsh out of her misery. When it was all said and done, he was able to escape and disappear into the shadows, presumably until Fox approves on a viable movie script.

Reader’s Choice Winner: Michael Western (Jeffrey Donovan), Burn Notice

TV Guide sure likes their 24 – the series finale placed on their “best episodes of 2010” list, the final scene was one of their “unforgettable moments“, and now this Dana Walsh scene is one of their “top moments” of the year:

24‘s Jack Bauer Silences Dana Walsh (Finally)
It’s always good to see Jack Bauer take down the bad guy, but it was especially rewarding for fans when he finally put double agent Dana Walsh out of her misery. After trying to sabotage the CTU the entire season (and becoming one of the series’ most despised characters), Jack finally corners Dana and shoots her dead despite her plea for mercy.

Source: TV Guide

Since several people have asked me, here are all six of the deleted scenes found on the 24 Season 8 DVD.

There aren’t any audio commentaries for the deleted scenes this time around, so there’s no way to know why these scenes were cut. Most of them were probably removed for time reasons.

Third Strike

(8:00PM – 9:00PM) Dana Walsh sticks up for herself a bit, but Kevin reminds her that she’s a federal employee who gained security clearance to CTU under false pretenses, which is a felony that she can go away for life.

President Taylor at the UN

(9:00PM – 10:00PM) President Taylor addresses concerns about President Hassan’s recent unlawful actions. She speaks about the undercover operation taking place and asks everyone to have patience.

Episode 8 – Rob Weiss, Renee Walker scenes

(11:00PM – 12:00PM) Rob Weiss suggests that it’s time to consider a fallback position for their negotiations with President Hassan but President Taylor says it’s too early to break faith with him. She says if the nuclear rods arrive in the Islamic Republic with radicals in control of them, Hassan’s political future will be the least of their problems. In the other clip, Renee Walker feels guilt for not returning Jack Bauer’s phone messages. She says that she wanted to talk to him but didn’t want to drag him down with her personal issues after he finally found peace in his life.

How Many Armed Guards?

(9:00AM – 10:00AM) Charles Logan calls President Taylor and asks if she’s locked down Jack Bauer. She replies that he was put a helicopter to McGuire Air Force Base under armed guard. Logan says he has experience with Bauer and suggests that is not enough to contain him.

Jack’s Message to Kim

(2:00PM – 3:00PM) An extended version of Jack Bauer’s message to his daughter Kim. He describes why he is doing what he did, the names of the people responsible, the President’s cover up, and more.

Allison Taylor Watches News Report

(3:00PM – 4:00PM) President Taylor watches a television report of a suspected sniper (Jack Bauer) being arrested before Charles Logan enters the room.

Jack Bauer at gunpoint in the 24 Series Finale

Since I posted all the stories praising the series finale, it’s only fair that I post a differing opinion too. Cinema Blend is listing the 24 series finale as one of their “Biggest TV Disappointments Of 2010″ and here’s what they’ve got to say:

Jack Bauer’s Dismal Ending – 24

The season finale of 24 wasn’t bad. It resolved most of the issues for the season and even delivered on a few big moments, including Jack almost being executed and a very touching final conversation between Jack and Chloe that surely made plenty of die hard 24 fans tear up. Did the finale leave a window open for the movie? Sure but as a series closer, Jack should’ve gone out in a blaze of glory, either buried in medals for his acts of bravery or just plain buried (because some great stories have to end that way). Instead, 24 ended with Jack all alone, injured, grieving and a wanted man who now has to go into hiding. Potential movie or not 24 deserved a better ending and so did we.

Los Angeles Times made a list of “television’s top supporting players of 2010″ and Gregory Itzin’s character Charles Logan was among the ten chosen.

Gregory Itzin as President Charles Logan

7. Gregory Itzin (President Logan on ’24′)

When he showed up in “24′s” last season, he reminded us why we loved this show so much. Probably our favorite Jack Bauer antagonist of all time.

Check out the full list over at Los Angeles Times.