PASADENA, Calif. - When we last saw Jack Bauer, the 24 action hero was being beaten to a pulp and hauled off to a Chinese torture cell.

CANADIAN CHARM ... Kiefer Sutherland poses as he arrives for Fox’s Summer Send Off Party in Pasadena.

Bauer, or rather actor Kiefer Sutherland, looked tanned, relaxed and - very unlike Jack - happy at Fox’s press tour party, an All-Star affair that Hugh Laurie (House), David Boreanaz (Bones), Courtenay Cox Arquette and David Arquette (the upcoming FX series Dirt, about dishy papers), David Foster (the upcoming reality show Duets), Brad Garrett (’Til Death) and JR himself, Larry Hagman (guesting next season on Nip/Tuck) all attended.

Sutherland, who stood with his requisite pack of Camel cigarettes in his pocket, figures 24 will pick up about a year-and-a-half from when we last saw Bauer.

“We just got the first scripts,” he told a scrum of reporters.

He was typically sketchy on other details, but admitted things look pretty grim for Jack.

“He’s at the end of his line. Something’s going to have to really rejuvenate him from the position that he’s in,” said Sutherland, “otherwise he’s just going to be dead.”

He added that it will be interesting this coming season, which starts again in January, “to come from a really deep dark place and actually try to come up instead of starting from an up position and trying to go down.”

Asked if Kim Raver, who played Jack’s lost love Audrey Raines, is through with 24 (she’s joined the cast of ABC’s The Nine), Sutherland said don’t count her out yet.

“She’s contractually free to do both shows,” he said. “We’ll have to see what happens.”

Some reporters were surprised Sutherland was at the press tour at all. His show is going into a sixth season and he’s made his millions from syndication and DVD sales. This is usually the point where a big-shot like Sutherland bails, at least until that farewell season is announced.

Still, the Emmy-nominated actor feels a certain loyalty to TV critics.

“We wouldn’t have been picked up if it wasn’t for this group five years ago,” he said.

“We were on the fence and teetering off it in the wrong direction.” He added that 24 “has been the most amazing experience of my career to date.”