"24's" CLOCK STARTS TO TICK AS SEASON FIVE CAST ASSEMBLES

SEAN ASTIN, JEAN SMART AND CONNIE BRITTON JOIN EMMY-NOMINATED SERIES Four-Hour, Two-Night Premiere Sunday, Jan. 8 and Monday, Jan. 9

The clock has already started ticking for the thrilling and unpredictable fifth season of 24, which will involve new cast members Sean Astin ("The Lord of the Rings"), Jean Smart ("Garden State") and Connie Britton ("Friday Night Lights) along with newcomer Brady Corbet ("Thirteen"). 24's "Day 5" will start with a four-hour, two-night season premiere on Sunday, Jan. 8 and Monday, Jan. 9 (8:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX. The second hour on Monday, Jan. 9 (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) will be the series' 100th episode.

The fifth hour of 24 will air in the show's regular time period on Monday, Jan. 16 (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT), and the intense series will then unfold on a weekly basis without repeats or preemptions all the way until the heart-stopping season finale.

In season four, JACK BAUER (Kiefer Sutherland) led Counter Terrorist Unit (CTU) operatives in the series' most intense hours as they prevented a criminal mastermind from detonating a nuclear bomb just minutes before it would have killed millions of people and changed the world forever.

Season five picks up 18 months later as national security is brutally breached and the thrilling clock begins to tick again. A presumably dead Jack Bauer is actually living a new life with DIANE (Connie Britton) and her son DEREK (Brady Corbet). Panicky PRESIDENT LOGAN (Gregory Itzin) is running the nation, while composed BILL BUCHANAN (James Morrison) commands CTU alongside key operatives CURTIS MANNING (Roger Cross), EDGAR STILES (Louis Lombardi) and CHLOE O'BRIAN (Mary Lynn Rajskub). Also featured in season five will be Emmy Award-winning actress Jean Smart as First Lady MARTHA LOGAN. In addition, TONY ALMEIDA (Carlos Bernard) and AUDREY RAINES (Kim Raver) return in the upcoming season.

24, created by Joel Surnow and Robert Cochran, is a production of Real Time Productions and Imagine Television in association with 20th Century Fox Television. Brian Grazer, Joel Surnow, Robert Cochran, Howard Gordon and Evan Katz are the executive producers. Kiefer Sutherland is a co-executive producer.