Day 1, Hour 1

Jack Bauer has more than 24 hours of jail time ahead of him. KIEFER SUTHERLAND reported to a Glendale, California city jail yesterday, just hours after he was sentenced to 48 days behind bars. He pleaded no contest in October to a single count of driving with a blood-alcohol level above the legal limit following his DUI arrest in Los Angeles the previous month. The star of Fox's 24 had agreed to serve 30 days in jail on that charge, plus another 18 days for violating his probation in a 2004 DUI case. Under his plea deal, a second misdemeanor charge of driving under the influence was dropped.

Sutherland must also serve 60 months' probation, enroll in an 18-month alcohol education class, attend weekly alcohol therapy sessions for six months, and pay a fine. The 40-year-old Sutherland had asked to serve his time at the Glendale facility. He was ordered to complete his sentence by March 30th, which obviously should not be a problem now that he's getting an early start. He is expected to serve the full sentence, and he'll keep busy, too. As an "inmate worker," he will work in facility's laundry room and kitchen area.

Strike 2007! UPDATE

NBC's The Office has closed for the foreseeable future after its star, STEVE CARELL, failed to report to work earlier this week. Many other TV series have suffered a similar fate because of the writers' strike, which began on Monday. ABC's Desperate Housewives and CBS' Two and Half Men are among the other shows expected to halt production, for reasons such as a lack of fresh scripts.

Several actors have supported the writers' cause in recent days. Grey's Anatomy star ELLEN POMPEO has accused the networks of being greedy, saying quote, "They're profiting from the sale of the show and they don't want to share the profits."

Family Guy creator SETH MACFARLANE is another TV star who has joined the picket line. According to Variety, he's not interested in helping to complete unfinished episodes of the show. MacFarlane says the latest completed episode of Family Guy airs this Sunday on Fox.

The writers have asked for compensation for shows offered on the Internet. With the strike wreaking havoc on the TV schedule, networks will likely announce plans for alternative programming in the near future. Fox has already tinkered with its midseason schedule -- most notably, the network has postponed the seventh-season premiere of 24, originally scheduled for January, to, quote, "ensure that 'Day 7' can air uninterrupted, in its entirety." American Idol seems safe from the strike, though -- the popular singing competition returns on January 15th.