BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. -- Whether Americans are ready for a female president remains to be seen, but the hit show 24 already has elected one.

Tony Award-winning actress Cherry Jones will serve as President Allison Taylor in the seventh season of 24, which begins next January.

It's an intriguing choice for the Kiefer Sutherland-powered Fox series, given that Hillary Clinton's run for the White House will be kicking into high gear as 24 returns.

State-by-state primaries for the 2008 presidential election get under way in January, and Clinton is endeavouring to become the first female president in U.S. history.

Clinton is a Democrat, of course, and a polarizing Democrat at that. As an organization, Fox certainly has placed itself on the right side of U.S. politics through the years.

So how will President Taylor be presented?

If she's a good president, it will be perceived one way. If she's a bad president, it will be perceived another way.

Certainly, Peter Liguori, Fox chairman of entertainment, and Kevin Reilly, Fox president of entertainment, are aware that President Taylor's policies and mannerisms will be scrutinized by Republicans and Democrats alike.

"That's what a living, breathing show is all about," Liguori said. "We welcome the conversation."

Having a lightning-rod character tied to current events may help to re-invigorate 24, which became derivative last season. Ratings are down a bit (although they're still healthy), and the show slowly has transformed itself from a critical favourite to a critical target.

"Every season is a new day, Jack Bauer will still be there, and one of the great things about 24 is the fertile dialogue," Liguori said.

"Those loyalists who were having questions about what was going on with the show, that is what feeds the show for the following season. What is Jack going to do in this new day? But all things considered, last year's performance doesn't require wholesale changes.

"Tune in, that's my answer."

Fox's big hope on the sitcom front is a new show called Back To You, starring Kelsey Grammer (Frasier, Cheers) and Patricia Heaton (Everybody Loves Raymond) in the roles of duelling co-anchors at a Pittsburgh TV station.

"What would be wrong with doing three of the greatest television shows in history?" Grammer responded when asked why he has chosen to jump back into the sitcom pool after playing Dr. Frasier Crane on back-to-back legendary series.

So is there any chance of Frasier ever coming back in another setting?

"Frasier is dead," Grammer said.

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