Next Season of 24... The Chinese are back

Alright, so my favorite show on TV (now that the Apprentice is kinda over, and the Sopranos last season was limp) is coming back for season 6, starting in late August.

As we know Jack got abducted by the Chinese at the end of the last season and is on a torture chamber on a Chinese ship in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Can't wait to see more of Jack. Here's a quote from Sutherland himself,

Kiefer Sutherland revealed Sunday in an interview with a British newspaper that expect the sixth season of "24" to be more an inward journey.

"We've had five years of him saving a large thing. This one's much more about him saving his own ass. He'll go from being the one who hunts people down to the one who's being hunted, so that in itself turns the show around" says Sutherland.

The last season was pretty amazing, partly because of the 'life imitating art' spookiness of the US middle east crisis. Um, thanks Bush?...




Okay, enough of that, since we're on a China+Pop Culture bent, how about the NBA? David Stern recently said he was excited that 1 in 4 NBA players are from countries outside of the US, and China is actually their Number 1 priority these days. Last time I checked 1.2 billion is indeed a big number, but realistically it's still a 'growth' market. The good news is that China is getting special treatment--they'll be getting their NBA games again:

Regular season NBA games could take place in China as early as next year, league commissioner David Stern said on Sunday.

The last time the NBA came to China was in October 2004 when the Houston Rockets, led by local hero Yao Ming, played pre-season games against the Sacramento Kings in Shanghai and Beijing.

"We didn't have the China game in the following year in 2005 because we were having a collective bargain then," Stern told state news agency Xinhua in Guangzhou.

"We don't have it this year because of the preparation of the world championship.

"But we are planning to play some games next year here. It could be pre-season, or even regular season."

David Stern has been doing some wacky things over the years, even muttering something about an International Basketball League, so anything that brings the NBA and China closer together is a good thing.

Okay, so we know all the best NBA players (sorry Kobe) come from dire circumstances--is China the new ghetto hotspot for NBA talent?

Why not ask this guy?

Apologies for the cheesy music.