I’m here at the Ronald Reagan building in Washington for a panel discussion on ”24” and the War on Terror. Rush Limbaugh moderating, Tony Almeda and Chloe O’Brien on the panel (as well as President Logan). Oh yeah, some guy named Michael Chertoff’s here too. :p

No sign of Jack Bauer. He probably doesn’t have time for things like this.

It’s just about to get started, so I’ll post impressions later today.

***Update***

It’s a who’s who of attendees. Clarence Thomas is down front, Maureen Dowd is floating around, and Laura Ingraham is here as well.

***Update***

This was a much more interesting discussion than what I’d anticipated.

To start, Michael Chertoff made a pretty astute observation: that Jack Bauer often has to make “the best choice from a series of bad options”. It’s a simple statement, but it applies in real life. All too often the Kos’s and Atrios’s of the world demand that we do things their way, not understanding that their way is either unrealistic or impossible given the options our enemy present to us.

Joel Surnow, the creator of “24″, brought down the house when he said that the show is a form of “wish fulfillment.” He went on to say it’s pretty clear on the show that “terrorists are the bad guys and we’re the good guys.” Yes, we hear that sentiment so infrequently from Hollywood that the audience cheered.

Also, interestingly enough, Surnow said the idea of a “real time” show came about before the idea of CTU. The original “real time” concept was going to be a wedding day, and it was going to be a romantic comedy.

Limbaugh was great and really had a fun time with the cast and crew of the show. He and Carlos Bernard (who played Tony Almeda) had some great moments of bantering back and forth.

Surnow was predictably close-lipped about what’s in store for Season 6, but he did offer a few clues. If you don’t want to read the spoilers, stop reading now.

The show will do stuff in D.C. next year. The president will be based in D.C., but most of the show will continue to be shot in Los Angeles.

Aaron Pierce will be back next year. Interestingly, Surnow said he was originally going to be killed off in Season 5, but the actor convinced the producers there had been too many main characters die.

President Logan will be back next year as well, or at least that was strongly suggested by Surnow.

And one spoiler for the “24″ movie, which is currently being written. It was described by Surnow as a big action flick that will not be tied to real time (but will take place over 24 hours). It will also be shot on location, and Surnow mentioned it would have a lot of overseas filming.

Jim: Wow! I shudder with envy. Envyenvyenvyenvyenvy!