Fox will relive long day

Jack Bauer is going where he's never gone before — summer reruns.

For the first time, Fox will rerun a season of "24" during the summer. Meaning Jack (Kiefer Sutherland) is going to be reliving that very long day filled with terrorists, assassinations, nerve gas, missiles, murder, mayhem and an evil president of the United States.

Beginning June 16, Fox will air back-to-back episodes of the show at 7 and 8 p.m. That will continue for 12 consecutive weeks, carrying through all 24 episodes and all 24 hours of the serialized show.

It's that serialization that has kept Fox from repeating any of the previous four seasons of "24." Dating back to the days of "Dallas" and "Dynasty," serialized shows haven't repeated well.

But we do live in somewhat of a different TV world than we did back in the '80s. DVDs of "24" seasons have sold quite well in recent years.

If you missed this season, you won't have to wait for the DVD release to catch up. And the just-completed Season 5 was the most successful "24" to date — ratings were up 14 percent over Season 4, which was the show's highest-rated until now.

And that's rather remarkable all by itself. Most shows don't do their best ratings in their fifth season. Even big hits generally begin to decline at that point.

EVERY SEASON OF "24" ends with the same question — how can they possibly top this? And every season the show's writers and producers manage to do just that.

Not that they don't worry about it themselves. "I honestly thought we'd run out of steam at the end of Season 4," executive producer Howard Gordon told TV critics just as Season 5 was coming to an end. "This time last year, I was in a bit of a panic over where we'd go."

But only a bit of a panic. "I think we have developed faith in the process and in ourselves and in this particular show to keep on giving," he said. "There always seems to be more material."

And he pretty much promised a great Season 6. "What we've talked about for next year, I've got to tell you, as a writer is very exciting," Gordon said.

So . . . how will Jack get away from the Chinese?

We'll have to wait until Season 6 begins in January to find out.

"LAW & ORDER" WILL be replacing at least two characters this fall. Not that there's anything different about that, given the revolving door on that show over the years.

Dennis Farina announced he's leaving his role as detective Joe Fontana after two years to "pursue other offers."

Not sure that sounds all that credible, but you've got to feel for the guy who had to replace perhaps the most beloved member of the "Law & Order" cast, the late Jerry Orbach.

The show was already casting about for assistant district attorney after Alexandra Borgia (Annie Parisse) was killed in last month's season finale.

There have been no announcements on new cast members, although there are rumors that somebody might come over from the now-canceled "Conviction."

The real question is — how will "Law & Order" do when it moves to Friday nights in the fall?

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E-mail: pierce@desnews.com