Sutherland takes lead in ABC thriller

Kiefer Sutherland is returning to television. He finds himself suddenly destined for the Oval Office as the appointed President after a massive attack during a State of the Union leaves the POTUS, the V.P. and everyone else above Sutherland’s paygrade dead. The veteran actor, best known for his role as CTU agent Jack Bauer on Fox’s 24, has signed on to star in political thriller Designated Survivor, which has landed at ABC with a straight-to-series order, TVWise has learned. And if they don’t have Donald Sutherland show up as a former president named Snow, they are really missing a trick. And Sutherland is that man held in the safe house while a mass murder takes place.

Finally, we’re going to get a chance to see what the Sutherland Presidency would look like thanks to Designated Survivor, a new “conspiracy thriller drama” on ABC. The involvement of the Mark Gordon Company may have helped as well; that’s the force behind other recent hits on ABC, like Quantico and Grey’s Anatomy; as well as other network shows like Showtime’s Ray Donovan and Criminal Minds (CBS).

“Designated Survivor” marks the actor’s first regular primetime series since “24” wrapped after eight seasons in 2010.

Sutherland played the role of Jack Bauer for nearly 200 episodes of 24 proper, not counting the TV movie 24: Redemption and the limited series 24: Live Another Day. Tick, tock, tick, tock…