President David Palmer might be dead. Or not. And maybe it isn't going to matter whether the assassination attempt on last week's season finale of "24" was successful.
"I can confirm for you that an attempted assassination has been made on the president, and we don't know what will happen," said Fox Entertainment president Gail Berman.
Actually, she knows more than most about what's going to happen next season. She is, after all, in constant discussions with "24" creators/executive producers/writers Joel Surnow and Robert Cochran.
Without giving much away, Berman did say that the assassination attempt (or is that assassination?) won't necessarily be something that season three of "24" is going to revolve around.
"I can tell you that I don't believe it will be the driving force of the third season, so that will give you a hint," Berman said. "You'll have to tune in."
She did express great confidence in Surnow and Cochran's ability to build on the show's extremely successful second season — ratings were up 36 percent from season one, and the show is now the fifth highest-rated drama on any network among the all-important 18-to-49 demographic. Of course, trying to follow a season that saw the detonation of a nuclear bomb that nearly destroyed Los Angeles, the temporary overthrow of a U.S. president by his vice president and Cabinet, and the assassination (or is that assassination attempt?) of that president is a daunting task.
"Look, I think there's no question this has been an extreme season, and it's been exciting, and I think everyone went along for the ride because it was so well done that you could believe that it could happen. And that, I think, is great television. The audience could believe. And, you know what? We expect it to be equally as good next year."
And they expect the show to continue to be full of surprises. Like the one in last week's season finale, when Mandy (Mia Kirshner), the assassin who kicked off season one by bailing out of a commercial jetliner moments before the bomb she planted on the plane exploded, returned to assassinate (or is that attempt to assassinate?) President Palmer.
"What we did do with bringing the assassin back, I think, was a great tip-of-the-hat to our very loyal fans," Berman said. "We know, and it's been overwhelming in my e-mail, for those people who recognized Mandy from the pilot, to bring her back as the person involved in the assassination attempt last night — that was a huge, big deal for fans of this show. People were kind of going crazy.
"It also has to do with the story, but I'm not going to go there."
Whatever that means.
THE PERILS OF KIM: There is one bit of troubling news about the third season of "24" — Kim Bauer (Elisha Cuthbert) will return. That would be the daughter of the series' lead character, Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland), whose Perils-of-Pauline-esque adventures have been by far the weakest part of the show.
Berman played network politician, insisting that "Elisha Cuthbert is a fantastic actress" who has "been asked to do a lot." But she also admitted, "there have certainly been internal discussions to the point of people coming to virtual blows about where Kim's arc took her this year.
"I think that the guys have a new idea for Kim for next year. We love the fact that Kim provides another opportunity for people to talk about this show."
In other words, they'd rather have people complaining about the show than not talking about it at all.
E-MAIL: pierce@desnews.com