Fox's '24' – Jack apologizes for saving the world

Looks like Fox’s “24” may have jumped the ideological shark.

The show, featuring Kiefer Sutherland as the terrorist-hunting Jack Bauer, returns after a long absence Sunday night (8 p.m. EST). “24” delights right-leaners by showing an American hero battling terrorists without apology.

November’s “24: Redemption,” a Fox TV movie designed to set up the new season, threw a bone to conservative viewers by openly mocking a UN official.

This weekend, though, Jack does some serious navel gazing.

SanDiego.com’s Robert P. Laurence reports a few juicy quotes from Jack during this weekend’s first episode.

“It’s better that everything comes out in the open,” he says. “We’ve done so many things in the name of protecting this country, we’ve created two worlds. Ours and the people’s we’ve promised to protect. They deserve to hear the truth and decide how far they want to let us go.”

Let’s not write off “24” before seeing the quotes in their full context. But it’s clearly a sign the producers are trying to adapt to a new political reality.

But will audiences respond to a kinder, gentler Jack? That approach might generate a few new fans, but it could turn off those who saw “24” as that rare Hollywood product that took the threat of terrorism seriously – and didn’t feel the need to rationalize taking extreme measures to protect the innocent.