"I almost felt like I was cheating on my wife or something," says silver-haired actor James Morrison. "It was very bizarre. That's a weird analogy. It was strange to shoot in a different way."

For three seasons on FOX's "24," Morrison has played Counter Terrorist Unit honcho Bill Buchanan, trying (usually unsuccessfully) to ride herd on super-agent Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland).

That show doesn't return for its 7th season until Jan. 13, but Morrison's fans can get a little fix of their favorite guy in his frequent role of a rough-and-ready authority figure long before that (which is interesting, since, in life, the soft-spoken Morrison teaches Hatha yoga).

On Friday, Nov. 2, Morrison guest-stars on an episode of CBS' "Numb3rs," which stars Rob Morrow as FBI Agent Don Eppes, and David Krumholtz as his brother, Charlie, a math professor who uses his expertise to help the FBI solve crimes.

In "In Security," Morrison plays FBI Senior Supervisory Agent Chris Frederickson, who commands a gang task force. He arrives in Don's Los Angeles field office when the murder suspects that Don and his team are investigating appear to be working with a gang on Frederickson's radar.

"I've always admired the show," Morrison says, "and I like the guys working on it. (Buchanan and Frederickson) are quite different, although philosophically, I guess they'll both do what has to be done."

Unfortunately, Morrison didn't get to interact with the whole "Numb3rs" cast.

"Most of my scenes were with Rob," he says. "He's great. He's easy. He's present. He's very warm and encouraging. I've done a million of these guest-star things, maybe, anywhere between 50 to a million."

Among those with whom he didn't intersect was Peter MacNicol, who plays astrophysicist Larry Fleinhardt. Ironically, last season, Larry went up on the space shuttle for a while so MacNicol could take a break from "Numb3rs" to play a presidential advisor on "24."

"I did run into Peter in the dressing room," Morrison says, "but we didn't work together at '24' either, which is a shame, because I've always admired his work. Lovely man."

While Morrison isn't about to reveal any big "24" plot twists, he does say that Buchanan is still around and just may see some action.

"They tried it last year," he says, "and I didn't blow it. I wound up being able to pilot a helicopter, which was a surprise to everybody, I think. So I guess he figures we can do it again."

Asked if he's packing heat, Morrison says, "Bill's a lover, not a fighter, so I don't pack much heat. But I try to take the heat off of the guys who are packing the heat, let's put it that way."

Buchanan apparently also has more skills than just piloting a helicopter.

"Oh, boy, I'm here to tell ya," Morrison says, "and they're yet to be revealed."