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Let's face it. The original "24" was ludicrous.

Oh, it was very entertaining — great TV — when it premiered in 2001. And it remained a lot of fun to watch for several seasons.

But, c'mon, not only did Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) save the world in 24 hours, but he did it NINE times. It became so preposterous it was hard to watch.

And that's not even counting Season 7, when frogmen came up through old pipes under the White House and took the president and her staff hostage. Really.

"We really sort of understood that Jack had run his course in this," said executive producer Howard Gordon.

Sutherland has an executive producer credit on "Legacy," but it's in name only. And he does not reprise his role.

So there's something to be said for "24: Legacy" — which is Season 10 of "24" without Jack Bauer. Instead, there's a new hero in town, Eric Carter (Corey Hawkins of "Straight Outta Compton").

It isn't going to be easy to replace an almost superhuman character who became a pop-culture icon.

"I'd be crazy to say there wasn't any pressure," Hawkins said.

The action picks up six months after a squad of U.S. Army Rangers, led by Carter, killed a terrorist leader. Members of the squad have changed their identities and gone into hiding, but they're being hunted down and killed by the terrorist's followers.

Because, of course, there's a mole inside the Counter-Terrorism Unit. Because there's always a mole inside the CTU.

After fighting off assassins, Carter contacts Rebecca Ingram (Miranda Otto, "Homeland"), who just stepped down from her post as CTU director because her husband, Sen. John Donovan (Jimmy Smits), is the Democratic nominee for president.

And his campaign is somehow going to play into this terrorist plot. One way or another.

(Smits, of course, has been through this before. He played the Democratic nominee and eventual president on "The West Wing.")

Ingram trusts no one — not even her successor at CTU.

Smart. She must have watched the first nine seasons of "24."

Carter is filled with "a youthful sort of idealism that we haven't seen in that [lead] character in this show," said Evan Katz. And Carter is "at the beginning of his journey" that will "turn him into an agent" this season.

So, yeah, they're planning on more seasons of "24." Although, like the 2014 revival, this and future seasons will be 12 episodes instead of 24.

But they'll still be done in real time. Well, a TV version of real time. And if you're a "24" fan, this will feel completely familiar.

It seemed new and different 16 years ago. Today … it sort of feels like more of the same. Even without Jack Bauer.

After premiering at approximately 8 p.m. on Sunday (after the Super Bowl) on Fox/Ch. 13, "24: Legacy" moves to Mondays at 7 p.m.

Scott D. Pierce covers TV for The Salt Lake Tribune. Email him at spierce@sltrib.com; follow him on Twitter @ScottDPierce.