News of the death of CTU agent Tony Almeida (played by Carlos Benard) has been greatly exaggerated. When we last saw Almeida, he had apparently been murdered by a terrorist in CTU's infirmary towards the end of season five. However, we never really did see anyone mourn Tony's death, nor did we know that he was unequivocally dead. Bernard returns to 24 for "Day 7" to help Jack Bauer through another hellish day.

TPTB weigh in the decision to bring back the popular character:

"Tony’s uncertain fate near the end of "Day 5" left the door open for his return,” said executive producer/show-runner Howard Gordon. “And since there was no silent clock at the conclusion of his last appearance – the 24 tribute to a major character’s demise – we always kept this as a possibility."

In addition to the announcement of Bernard's return, Fox also revealed that 24 will return on January 13 (8-10pm EST) and January 14 (9-10pm EST), with original episodes airing through June. The show leaves Los Angeles and CTU behind and moves to Washington, DC where Jack is facing consequences for his unorthodox actions. A team of FBI agents including Janeane Garofalo, Annie Wersching, Jeffrey Nordling, Rhys Coiro and John Billingsley come onboard to investigate Jack. Mary Lynn Rajskub (Chloe) and James Morrison (Bill Buchanan) are set to return in some capacity -- perhaps to help Jack out of this mess?
^{(Photo of Carlos Bernard © Fox Broadcasting Co. Cr: Joe Viles)}