Some fans were upset that last winter's writers' strike delayed the seventh season of Fox's "24" by a year, pushing it back to January 2009. But after the disappointing sixth season, gaining some distance might be beneficial to the franchise. Maybe it needed time to remain fallow and shake off the stink of a disjointed season that introduced Jack Bauer's murderous father and ended with him leaving lady love Audrey so as to spare her anymore of the pain that inevitably touches anyone who gets close to him.Sunday's two-hour TV movie, "24: Redemption" (8 p.m. EST), sets the stage for season seven. It's a prequel of sorts that chronicles two hours of Jack's time in the fictional African country of Sangala, crosscut with scenes of the inauguration of a new president in Washington."Redemption" is pretty typical "24" fodder as Jack (Kiefer Sutherland) tries to help the helpless in Africa as an uprising by a would-be dictator sweeps waves of children into his army. Naturally, Jack and his old special-forces buddy, Carl (Robert Carlyle), strive to protect a school full of kids who are targeted by the bad guys. (Why the bad guys insist on capturing these dozen children is never all that clear.)Jack bonds with one child -- "24" at its most contrived heart-tugging -- and mocks a namby-pamby U.N. worker ("Why don't you go hide in the shelter with the other children!"). And because it's "24" and he's Jack "Misery Follows Me" Bauer, he suffers and sacrifices and endures loss. As for the title? Honestly, there's little if any redemption to be found.Some of the political machinations back in Washington are handled more deftly than Jack's kumbaya-with-kids, particularly the scenes of power passing from cynical President Daniels (Powers Boothe) to idealistic President-elect Allison Taylor (Cherry Jones). There's also a sub-plot involving an evildoer played by Jon Voight, who's funding the uprising in Africa, and a number cruncher who's friends with Taylor's son (Eric Lively). These characters are likely to figure into the new season, which begins in a two-night, four-hour burst Jan. 11 and 12.(Contact TV editor Rob Owen at rowen(at)post-gazette.com.)(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)
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