Hollywood veteran and seasoned action star Kiefer Sutherland is about to make his way back to TV and rejoin his flagship genre of political thrillers in a new series on ABC titled "Designated Survivor."

According to Deadline, Sutherland has been tapped to play the titular role in the series, and it will be getting a debut on the network with a straight-to-series order. This followed after a bidding war for the series landed it at ABC, which came at a hefty price. The network offered the most money and had to take it as a series as opposed to a spec or a just a pilot.

The series has an interesting angle that has not been taken on TV yet. The term "Designated Survivor" refers a to real life person in the Cabinet who is taken to undisclosed location during certain major events. This person is held there under the Presidential Succession act, should anything catastrophic happen to the president and immediate successors.

In the show, Sutherland plays the title character and following an attack while delivering he State of the Union address, the president and his immediate successors are killed. This of course leaves the "Designated Survivor" as the president.

Sutherland's character is suddenly given all the power of the free land, and he is not quite ready for the challenge. He is a low level Cabinet member and a family man.

The content of the series is described as being a family drama that gets caught in the middle of political conspiracies at every turn.

This is a role that Sutherland is quite used to after pulling off an incredible performance through several seasons of Fox's hit series "24." He played the main character in that show, Jack Bauer. Every episode in every season was an hour of a 24-hour day. The non-stop action and constant political and terror-laden plotlines made the series an instant classic for viewers.