Time right for Garofalo on "24"

By Nellie Andreeva

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - The political left and the political right will join forces on Fox's "24" this coming season. Janeane Garofalo, an outspoken liberal, is set to co-star on the conservative-leaning real-time drama, whose co-creator/executive producer Joel Surnow jokingly describes himself as a "right-wing nut job."

Garofalo will play a government agent who is part of the team investigating the crisis befalling Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) and company in the upcoming season.

The casting will be good news for former President Clinton, who revealed earlier this year that he was a fan of the show "even though an uber right-wing guy writes it."

Garofalo is the second major cast addition to the action drama, which is going through a major revamping coming off a lackluster sixth season. Cherry Jones was tapped last month to play the new president.

After two production delays related to major changes to the story line, "24" is now slated to begin production on its seventh season September 10.

Garofalo's most recent TV series gig was a role on "The West Wing," Aaron Sorkin's left-leaning White house drama for

NBC.

On the political side, Garofalo has been a vocal critic of the Iraq War. She also did a stint as a co-host on liberal radio network Air America.

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter