I, like zillions of others last night, watched the first two episodes of 24. It's a show that I was riveted to in the first season, but I have found that it is becoming predictable in its unpredictability, like an M. Night Shamalyan movie. You just know that Jack will shoot the witness, that a damsel will be in distress, and that whole families can be wiped out in a heartbeat. And that in the end, Jack will get the girl. Unless she's a spy. Then he'll shoot her.

As for the anti-Muslim sentiment that has had CAIR up in arms (everything has CAIR up in arms - they're like an imported version of the NAACP, and few people take them very seriously), I was expecting worse. From the outcry we've heard in the newspapers and on the web, it sounded like the "bad guys" would be stereotyped, swarthy guys, segregating their women, wearing the little prayer caps, and facing east while they discuss blowing up America. All I saw was a clever guy who allowed his wife to speak and make suggestions, dealing with the age-old adolescent problem of not liking your son's choice of mate. His wife was not in a chador - she was in makeup (and lots of it). And their choice of actor for the role was brilliant, since I would swear I've seen that guy play the "evil Jew" role somewhere else. I think he's known in Hollywood as Stereotype Man.

While this season of 24 may continue to hold my attention, I doubt very much it will have the same bragging rights as the first season, when my doctor told me to cut it out of my routine, because my blood pressure was too high.