Co-star helps jack up the fun on '24'

If you know the name Chloe O'Brian, then you are a "24" fan.

And if you watch "24," you'll understand what I mean when I say that she is my absolute favorite character on TV, bar none.

Chloe, as played by Mary Lynn Rajskub, takes guff from no one — a quality I find particularly appealing.

Oh, you can argue that she's rude, but I submit that Chloe is rude only when confronted with idiots. Which, in the world of television — and especially within the world of "24" bureaucracy — casts a pretty wide net.

For those unfamiliar with "24," Chloe is the show's ace computer technician. She can do anything on the computer — things that are impossible for you and me, and probably for most of the world's most knowledgeable and adept computer techies.

But who cares? Hey, it's television.

Chloe works for CTU — Counter Terrorist Unit — a government agency that fights terrorism on every front, domestic and abroad. (Although, given the constricted nature of the show — all events over the 24 episodes of each season add up to one 24-hour day — no one travels as far afield as those on, say, "Alias." It probably wouldn't be as exciting a show if they spent 10 or 11 episodes with someone simply sitting on a plane bound for Europe.)

Anyway, Chloe's chief duty is to help out super-agent Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland), often via cell phone. And because Jack frequently goes "dark," defying his CTU bosses, she breaks a lot of rules. But we know she'll eventually be forgiven, as it's for the greater good.

I find Chloe a fascinating character. She's smart; she's fast, efficient and accurate; she knows what she's doing and she's on the side of right . . . even if that means, as if often does on "24," getting in the face of idiots who don't get it.

Although that's often Jack's fault, since he's the one who gets her to do things that are probably not in the company manual.

But getting back to the take-no-guff part, Chloe always has a dour demeanor. She does smile occasionally, but when she does, the smile drips with sarcasm. And whenever she tells someone off, it's in as few words as possible, and then she's back to business.

The character often makes me laugh, but a couple of weeks ago I almost fell out of my chair when she dealt in typical Chloe fashion with a pushy loudmouth in a bar.