The second longest day of Jack Bauer's life is about to begin, but at least actor Kiefer Sutherland has some help this time.

When Fox's 24 returns Tuesday (9 p.m., Channels 19, 45), for another 24 one-hour episodes dramatizing the events of one day, the undercover agent won't be carrying the whole show.

In fact, Bauer has no interest in returning to the CIA's Counter Terrorism Unit (CTU) when the government learns at 8 a.m. that a Middle Eastern terrorist group plans to detonate a rogue nuclear weapon in Los Angeles that day.

"I don't work for CTU anymore," says Bauer when summoned back to CTU.

24 resumes more than one year after events dramatized in May's season finale, when Bauer caught an assassin while his pregnant wife was murdered.

Undercover agent Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) will have another rough day this season. Fox

A grieving Bauer has been on inactive duty, but everyone else has been busy.

Daughter Kim (Elisha Cuthbert), estranged from her father since her mother's death, has been hired as a nanny for the daughter of a wealthy Los Angeles couple, Gary and Carla Matheson (Billy Burke, Tracy Middendorf).

When Dad comes to visit her at work, she explains why she has ignored his repeated phone calls: "Every time I see you, I think of Mom. I'm telling you, it's too hard for me right now."

By the hour's end, Kim discovers that her boss is a wife-beater. This gives her a story line away from the terrorists plot - at least for now - and a reason for her dad to worry about her safety.

Los Angeles CTU chief George Mason has filled several key staff vacancies with newcomers Paula Schaeffer (Sara Gilbert from Roseanne) and Michelle Dressler (Reiko Aylesworth) after the arrest of turncoat agent Nina Myers (Sara Clarke), who remains a regular. (She's not in the first episode, so it's unknown how Nina fits into this season.)

A year later, Mason is bitter about that elusive promotion to Washington, D.C. He tells co-worker Tony Almeida (Carlos Bernard): "If I'm here a year from now, take me out to the woodshed and shoot me. I'm supposed to be in D.C. by now, not chasing little old ladies who set off metal detectors with their knitting needles."

Sen. David Palmer (Dennis Haysbert), the presidential candidate who escaped an assassination attempt, has won the election.

He has divorced his manipulative wife, Sherry (Penny Johnson Jerald), but she, too, remains a regular - which should make for great fireworks. Ms. Jerald told TV critics in July: "Don't you think Sherry really wanted to be the first lady? That's all I have to say."

In the season premiere, 24 fans meet Palmer's new inner circle as he's informed about the terrorist threat while on an Oregon fishing trip with his son. Clearly, Palmer as president will play a bigger role in the action this season.

National Security Adviser Eric Rayburn (Timothy Carhart, Catherine's ex-husband on CSI: Crime Scene Investigation) emerges as a new pivotal character. He tells Palmer that as many as 2.5 million people could be killed or seriously injured if someone detonates a nuclear warhead over Los Angeles. He also angers his boss by setting up a conference call with the Joint Chiefs of Staff, against the president's wishes.

"Today is going to be a very long day," Palmer sternly tells Rayburn, "and I don't want my own people working against me."

It's Palmer who finally convinces Bauer to return to CTU - which is no surprise to those who have seen the 24 advertisements of their phone conversation during the World Series.

"Jack, I know this is a bad time, but I need your help. This is not a routine request. . . . You saved my life. I trust you as much as I trust anyone. And now I need your help."

Bauer: "When do you need me?"

Palmer: "Now."

Yet to be connected to Bauer is a new character, attorney Kate Warner (Sarah Wynter, The Sixth Day), who producers say will be Bauer's love interest. (Exactly how much love can he find in 24 hours?)

She's a Los Angeles lawyer who has a bad feeling about Reza (Phillip Rhys), a sexy young Middle Eastern man who is scheduled to marry her younger sister Marie (Laura Harris) in a garden ceremony at 6 p.m. that day.

Don't tell anybody, but I'm guessing she's right - which will lead her to hook up with Bauer.

All these new characters will take the heat off of Mr. Sutherland, the Emmy-nominee who was exhausted by the end of last season's 10-month shooting schedule.

"Hopefully, Jack will have more energy this year," Mr. Sutherland said in an interview at the Television Critics Association's press tour in July.

If Mr. Sutherland had his way last spring, he wouldn't need a new love interest. The actor had lobbied for his wife Teri (Leslie Hope), not to be killed off in the final scene.

But he lost the argument with producers Bob Cochran and Joel Surnow, who last month won an Emmy for writing the 24 pilot. And Mr. Sutherland eventually concurred: "They made the right call."

Explained Mr. Surnow: "Having Kiefer single gives you more possibilities than if he was married. And if gives Kiefer another demon to wrestle with. So we thought that was the way to end the show."

"After all the story that had happened last year," Mr. Cochran said, "if everyone had ridden away into the sunset, and everything was peachy, I think that would have been false."

Not everything was peachy at Fox, however. Fox executives asked Mr. Surnow and Mr. Cochran last spring to write a fall episode dramatizing 24 hours in a one-hour show. Fox folks felt that would be more inviting to new viewers than the 24-episode serial, and easier to sell syndicated reruns.

By summer, Fox programmers decided not to change the show.

"It was something that we considered, we talked about," said Fox Entertainment President Gail Berman. "We all collectively felt - even though it was a good script - that it was not the show that we all had loved so much."

Can the writers keep it up for a second season?

"The overall `bible' for the new season got me really, really excited about it," Mr. Sutherland said.

Mr. Haysbert, who "has had people seriously ask me to run (for office)," said 24 "will be found to be every bit as riveting" as last season.

Fans of 24 won't be disappointed by the premiere. They won't even have time to go to the bathroom when the clock starts ticking Tuesday, because Fox will air the season premiere commercial free.

E-mail jkiesewetter@enquirer.com