US Weekly compiled a fun batch of photos of fictional African American Presidents of the US from TV and film and I thought it’d be cool to share some of my faves. As I said before, the pessimist in me never believed that I’d live to see an African American elected to the highest office in the land and, yet, that day has come. But, before Senator Barack Obama became President-elect Obama we were introduced to a few fictional African American Presidents in movies and on TV:

James Earl Jones became “president” in the 1972 film The Man and Morgan Freeman became “president” in the 1998 film Deep Impact (about the improbability that a meteor could crash into Earth and destroy mankind). My fave fictional African American Presidents are the Palmer brothers, David and Wayne, who ruled the country in a few seasons of the hit FOX TV series 24. President David Palmer, I gotta say, is my fave fictional President of all time. But with the election of Barack Obama as our Nation’s leader, there is no longer a need for Hollywood to create fictional African American leaders … I guess they’ll have to resort to creating fictional female presidents (like in the upcoming new season of 24) instead. It’s pretty remarkable how far this country has come with one Presidential election.

[Source]

Here are a couple pics of Elisha Cuthbert making her way to the gym here in SoCal yesterday afternoon … seeing these pics of the lass reminded me that she, you know, exists. They also reminded me that last week’s issue of Entertainment Weekly reports that she has signed on to reprise her role as Kim Bauer on the upcoming new season of 24 … which is good ‘cuz, you know, there’s that whole forgetting that she is still alive thing:

This from the mag’s new feature Ask Ausiello: Ladies and gentleman, we’ve got a signed contract! Sources confirm to me exclusively that Cuthbert has inked a deal to reprise her role as Jack’s lightning rod of an offspring for a season-ending arc that will no doubt trigger a new round of wholly outdated and painfully unfunny cougar jokes. Per my 24 mole, Kim will return minus her old beau (sorry, C. Thomas Howell) and plus a child! That’s right, Kim’s got a little puma all her own!

Well hallelujah! It’s been ages since we’ve seen Jack Bauer‘s only child on 24 and I was starting to wonder what the hell has been doing on with her. You may recall that Jack got sprung from a Chinese prison in the last season of 24 (which aired about 10 years ago) and we got nary a hint that his daughter even cared. I’m glad to see that Kim Bauer will still feature in Jack‘s life … I gotta say, I miss that. I’m not the biggest Kim Bauer fan but I do like the complications that she adds to his life. It’ll be great to catch up with the character to see how she’s been doing. I just hope she fixes that fried hair before she shoots new scenes for the show. Oh yeah, I’ve thought WAY TOO much about this … can you tell I’ve been suffering from 24 withdrawals?

[Photo credit: Splash News; Source]

An industrious Pink reader gave me the head’s up that the teaser trailer for the upcoming 2-hour prequel epsiode of season 7 of the FOX TV series 24 has been found online. According to the video, the prequel is tentatively titled 24: Exile. The video is labeled a “work in progress” and was put together for the FOX TCA Presentation, so it’s unclear how long it will stay online … click below to watch it while you still can:

Here is a bit of information about the 24 prequel that has already been released and fills in a few gaps presented in this video:

FOX has scheduled a two-hour “24″ telefilm to serve as a prequel to the Emmy-winning drama’s long-delayed seventh season. The network announced on Thursday (May 15) that the “24″ special will air on Sunday, Nov. 23 from 8:00-10:00 p.m. ET. The extended episode will take place just a few months before the events of Season Seven, which will premiere in January 2009 … When the prequel special begins, Kiefer Sutherland’s Jack Bauer is in South Africa handling an international crisis. Back at home, the newly elected president (series newcomer Cherry Jones) is preparing for her inauguration day. That second part is bound to be more exciting than it sounds. “We’re excited about the prequel because it explores Jack’s complex emotional state of mind and still has all the signature excitement and suspense that fans have come to expect from ’24,’” says executive producer Howard Gordon in a statement. “Shooting in South Africa affirms everyone’s commitment to making this season especially memorable for our fans.”

There is further explanation of the upcoming 7th season of 24 available but I am putting it behind a cut so as not to unduly spoil those of you who may not want to know about key surprises that are in store for the new season. After the jump, read the rest of this report and find out more about what we can expect from Day 7 of 24 …