With the return of 24 to the airwaves in less than a month (January 17, 2010), this week on Tuesday Trivia we’re going back in time to find out which 24 villain became a real life killer when he accidentally shot and killed Brandon Lee on the set of the movie, The Crow.

First, a look at the show itself. Created by Joel Surnow and Robert Cochrane, 24 began airing on November 6, 2001, and follows Jack Bauer (Keifer Sutherland), a CTU agent who always seems to have one hell of a day. Although the show is supposed to take place in real time, with one episode being an hour on the clock, it actually takes 10 1/2 months to film an entire season, and there is over 25 hours of footage edited into a single, hour-long episode.

Actors are supposed to have no more than two wardrobe changes per day (season), meaning that when the costume designers go to work, they have to be very precise when making multiple shirts, pants, etc., sometimes buying the entire stock on one item just so it matches the continuity of the show.

24 has certainly seen its share of villains over the years as well. Everyone from drug lords and corrupt politicians, to moles inside the Counter Terrorist Unit, there is always someone for Jack Bauer to take down, thus saving the country from imminent danger once again.

In the first season, one of the villains of the show was Ira Gaines, a terrorist working for the Drazen family who masterminds the plot to kidnap Terry and Kim Bauer, and assassinate president David Palmer. Gaines’s connections run so deep, that he even manages to convince CTU agent Jamey Farrell to be a spy for him, so he can learn of the agencies moves and be one step ahead of them. In his final showdown with Jack Bauer, he draws his gun, forcing Jack to kill him before being taken prisoner. Apparently Ira Gaines was more afraid of the Drazen family than succumbing to death.

The actor that played Ira Gaines though, was no stranger to death. On the set of the 1994 Hollywood film The Crow, it was this actor who fired what was thought to be a blank at the son of martial arts expert, Bruce Lee. Only it wasn’t a blank, it was a real bullet, and Michael Massee, who played Funboy in the film, was the one who was inadvertently responsible for ending the career of one of Hollywood’s brightest young talents, Brandon Lee.

Michael Massee has since went on to not only appear in 24, but in numerous television shows including Alias, Supernatural and Carnivàle.

With that, our time has run out. See you next week on Tuesday Trivia.