Now this is why people love "24." There's the adrenaline rush, the vipers, vipers everywhere, the kinetic pacing and, of course, our man Jack Bauer, emotional wreck and hesitant but unstoppable hero.

All of that runs through "24: Redemption," a two-hour movie Sunday (at 8 p.m. on Channel 40) that ties Seasons 6 and 7 together, resets the franchise and reminds fans what it was they were waiting for.

It's been nearly 18 months since we last saw Jack (Kiefer Sutherland) miraculously save the world and, equally miraculously, travel across the Los Angeles basin in just one day, but by the end of that day/season, both Jack and loyal fans appeared to have had enough.

Jack was depressed by the personal losses and moral challenges; viewers had endured their own suffering, inflicted by listless plotting and repetitive scenarios.

So the "Redemption" part of the title works for Jack and for the series. The setting fast-forwards to inauguration day in Washington, where Allison Taylor (Cherry Jones) is about to become America's first female president. She is smart, tough and kind. And because this is both "24" and Washington, she's already surrounded by plenty of liars, cheats and thieves.

Jack, meanwhile, is working at a boys school in the fake African country of Sangala. He's ducking a congressional subpoena about his past work for the Counter Terrorist Unit, most likely from the subcommittee on Ingrates Who Got Their Rears Saved.

Actually, one of the many joys of "24" when it's running well is the way no one appreciates Jack or trusts his judgment, ever. Doesn't matter how many times he has saved the country and the planet, which is into double digits by now. Plus, since there has been so much talk about "24's" torture scenes, the subpoena thing gives Jack and the show a way to confront the controversy.

That, however, is for the new season, which starts Jan. 11. So are most of the doings in Washington, though we do get introduced to the latest malicious rich guy, played with delicious sliminess by Jon Voight. Sunday's movie covers the hours between 3 and 5 p.m. in Sangala, and most of the action is there, where a brutal warlord is abducting kids for his rebel army, and Jack, naturally, must thwart him.

Almost all the old joys of "24" are back in the film, starting with the point mid-movie when Jack is facing about 25 of the evil rebels, and they are so outnumbered.

There are also the energetic production style, the constant tension, the impossible amount of action for two real hours, the ultra-infestation of moles and traitors at every level, and the glorious parade of government weasels, including an oily American bureaucrat (Gil Bellows) and a United Nations rep who is French and thus a coward.

The developments over these two hours are frustrating, satisfying and harrowing, and it looks like once again, in a time of national need – when we could really use a good escapist TV show – come January, it'll be Jack Bauer to the rescue.

Nothing says the holidays ...

There are holiday specials and then there's "A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift of All," a Comedy Central hour (10 p.m. Sunday) that's an instant classic, spoofing all the other instant Christmas classics with so much cheesiness, they don't even need fake snow.

It starts with "broadcasting legend Stephen Colbert," in a red turtleneck and white cardigan, sitting at a piano in his mountain cabin, writing songs for his Christmas special in New York. "When you sing those old Christmas standards, someone else gets the royalty check," Colbert says with that earnest, self-involved smile. "That doesn't sound like Christmas to me."

Alas, Colbert can't get to New York. He's trapped in his cabin by a bear (and at one point, Colbert considers masking his scent from the beast outside by rubbing his body with blueberry syrup and salmon).

Yet somehow Colbert gets visits from Toby Keith, John Legend, Willie Nelson, Feist and, of course, Jon Stewart, who sings to Colbert, "Can I interest you in Hanukkah?"

The gamest of all his friends is Elvis Costello, who shows up in increasingly ridiculous costumes.

Through it all, Colbert and friends lip-sync and dance around the cabin to send up songs that occasionally last a tad too long but are so wonderfully, cheerfully stupid – think Nelson as a wasted fourth wise man or Keith declaring nuclear war on the war on Christmas – it doesn't matter.

The hour naturally climaxes with a battle between the bear and Santa, plus a promotion for the DVD of the show, which, as Colbert would say, sounds like his kind of Christmas, which is the best kind of all.

Pulling the plug

And in What'd They Do to My Show action, we start with NBC pulling the plug on "My Own Worst Enemy" and "Lipstick Jungle." Both shows will likely continue to air for a few more weeks until the already-produced episodes are used up.

• USA network announced that the 16-episode season of "Monk" that will air sometime in summer 2009 will be the show's last. Meanwhile, "Monk" has a holiday episode running Nov. 28 and will come back to finish its current season Jan. 9.

• Fox said this is the final year for "MADtv." The late-night Saturday sketch show is in its 14th season and will finish its run in May 2009.

Finally, in a recent list of shows scheduled to return midseason, I forgot to include the terrific "Friday Night Lights," which is now running its third season on DirecTV. "FNL" will be back on NBC in early 2009.

Call The Bee's Rick Kushman, (916) 321-1187. Listen to him Thursdays at 8:40 a.m. on NewsTalk 1530 (KFBK) and 8:50 a.m. on Armstrong & Getty, Talk 650 KSTE.