Bob McCarty Writes

I welcomed the arrival of the first two Season 8 episodes of the Fox Network program “24″ in my living room last night. After all, what man doesn’t enjoy an occasional foray into the adrenaline-filled life of “Jack Bauer”? At about the 28-minute mark of the second episode, however, the story unfolding on my television screen caused me to wonder whether or not what I was seeing on the screen remotely resembled reality.

In the scene, Counterterrorism Unit Chief “Brian Hastings” is shown interrogating “Meredith Reed,” a newspaper reporter suspected of being involved in a plot to assassinate “President Omar Hassan,” the leader of an unnamed Middle East country who’s in town for a peace conference with U.S. “President Allison Taylor.”

During the interrogation, “Reed” is shown with a device on her left bicep that resembles what medical professionals use to measure a person’s blood pressure.  In addition, her right hand — with fingers fully extended — is shown resting palm-down on a mysterious gray box.  A cord from that box connects to several fingers on her left hand, while a strap — also from the box — wraps around her right arm at a point just above the wrist.

Drawing from the knowledge gained during several interviews with experts on the use and reliability of Computer Voice Stress Analysis®, I’ve concluded that “24″ producers appear to have opted to include in their script a device similar in appearance to the Preliminary Credibility Assessment Screening System, now the only truth-verification system authorized for use by the Department of Defense, in tandem with a mysterious gray box and a computer-screen displaying seismograph readings.

Sadly, as a result of their decision to use PCASS in place of the more accurate and versatile Computer Voice Stress Analysis®, I’m afraid they’ve doomed the fictitious United States of “24″ to an early demise — perhaps at the end of this season.

Is it time to say, “Goodbye, Jack Bauer”? Stay tuned!