Following its October 4 premiere on ABC, episodes of The Nine will be available on ABC.com's ad-supported broadband player for approximately four weeks. In addition, consumers can purchase episodes the day after broadcast on a variety of digital download platforms.

* Actress Kim Raver likes TV shows with numbers - after finding fame as a star on firefighter drama Third Watch, the actress became a regular on 24 and now she's set to star in another tense drama series, "The Nine."

* Arizona senator John McCain won a dream role on his favorite TV show, 24, when he visited the set for a day recently. The popular politician was in Hollywood on business when he asked if he could visit the set of Kiefer Sutherland's hit espionage drama. Producers pounced on the opportunity and gave the Republican senator a walk-on role.

The cast of 24 is growing. Julian Sands, Peter Weller and JoBeth Williams join the series for its fifth season. British-born actor Julian Sands will play billionaire bad guy "Vladamir Bierko" while Peter Weller portrays "Christopher Henderson," the federal agent who recruited Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) to counter terrorist work more than a decade ago. JoBeth Williams is Henderson's wife, Miriam. All three characters will come face-to-face with Bauer as he desperately attempts to prevent the series' most lethal terror threat yet on US soil.