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The scoop on ''The Unit'' | 124637__unit_l

HAYSBERT AND FOLEY

The Unit cast photograph by Justin Stephens

By Alynda Wheat

For a minute — an irrational, spazzy 60 seconds in which we forgot that CBS might actually want to do a second season of its guns-'n'-emo series — it looked like Dennis Haysbert was going to get killed off two hit shows in the same season. First, Haysbert's ex-President Palmer took a bullet to the throat in 24's season opener in January. Just four months later, his Unit character, Jonas Blane, caught a bullet in his stomach in the military drama's season finale. Shawn Ryan, executive producer of The Unit, would like to apologize for that. And by apologize, we mean blame someone else. ''While I knew Dennis was appearing in the 24 season premiere, nobody — including Joel [Surnow, friend and 24 co-creator] — told me what happened in that premiere,'' says Ryan in full tap-dance mode. ''We finished our 13 episodes right before Christmas of 2005.... We had no intention of killing off Jonas.'' Not that Haysbert was worried: ''Actually,'' says the actor, ''it never crossed my mind.''

The entire cast returns in the sophomore-season premiere, penned by executive producer David Mamet. Picking up six months after the gunfight, Jonas is back on active duty in the government's supersecret commando force with, as Haysbert says, ''a little residual pain''; rookie Bob Brown (Scott Foley) and his wife, Kim (Audrey Marie Anderson), have a new baby; and, having long wanted husband Mack (Max Martini) to leave the Unit, Tiffy (Abby Brammell) persuades him to resign. While Ryan won't say what keeps them on the base, he promises we'll finally ''get to see the good side of their marriage.''

As soapy as that sounds — and, frankly, as incongruous as it may feel next to the show's doing-it-for-our-country machismo — the combination works for The Unit, last season's No. 1 new drama with more than 15 million viewers each week. It's all a bit surprising; even Foley admits that on paper, The Unit sounds pretty unremarkable. ''Let's be honest, if you heard about it and you didn't know David Mamet was attached... eh,'' he says. ''But it's beautifully written. It's poetic.'' Season 2 will expand the storytelling and feature the addition of younger recurring characters (newcomer Daniel Wisler and Serenity's Summer Glau) in episode 2. ''The vast portion of today's military are the 18- to 21-year-old crowd,'' says Ryan. ''We wanted to introduce characters that exemplified how the Army is relying on these kids fresh out of high school.''

Baby faces may not be the only ploy to attract new viewers. ''I've heard rumors,'' hints Foley conspiratorially, ''they're going to try to sex the show up a little more.'' Ryan, for his part, won't cop to any Top Gun beach-volleyball beefcake heading our way — but can we really believe the guy who almost killed Dennis Haysbert a second time? ''We're not avoiding the sexy,'' he explains. ''Having said that, we have an attractive, appealing cast, and if the men are shirtless on occasion, well, that's just what the story demanded.''

By Alynda Wheat