24 (TV series)

24
24 intertitle
Genre	Action Thriller Drama
Format	Serial drama
Created by	Joel Surnow Robert Cochran
Starring	Kiefer Sutherland Mary Lynn Rajskub Carlos Bernard Elisha Cuthbert Dennis Haysbert James Morrison Reiko Aylesworth Kim Raver D. B. Woodside Penny Johnson Jerald Roger Cross Gregory Itzin Cherry Jones Louis Lombardi Annie Wersching Sarah Clarke and others
Composer(s)	Sean Callery
Country of origin	United States
Language(s)	English
No. of seasons	8
No. of episodes	192 + 24: Redemption (List of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Joel Surnow Robert Cochran Brian Grazer Howard Gordon Evan Katz Kiefer Sutherland Jon Cassar Manny Coto David Fury Brad Turner Brannon Braga Alex Gansa Chip Johannessen
Location(s)	Los Angeles South Africa Washington, D.C. New York City
Running time	43 minutes
Production company(s)	Imagine Entertainment 20th Century Fox Television Real Time Productions Teakwood Lane Productions
Distributor	20th Century Fox Television
Broadcast
Original channel	Fox
Picture format	NTSC 480i (SDTV) PAL 576i (SDTV) 720p (HDTV) Fox HD 1080i (HDTV) Sky+ HD
Original run	November 6, 2001 (2001-11-06) – May 24, 2010 (2010-05-24)
Status	Ended
Chronology
Related shows	24: Conspiracy The Rookie

24 is an American television series starring Kiefer Sutherland as federal agent Jack Bauer, produced for the Fox Network and syndicated worldwide. The show is presented in the semblance of real time, with each 24-episode season covering 24 hours in the life of Bauer. First broadcast on November 6, 2001, the show ran for 192 episodes over eight seasons, with the series finale broadcast on May 24, 2010. In addition, the television movie 24: Redemption was broadcast between seasons six and seven, while a feature film is also planned.

Bauer is the only character to have appeared in all eight seasons, as well as appearing in every episode of the series. The series begins with him working for the Los Angeles based Counter Terrorist Unit (CTU), for whom he is characterized as a highly proficient agent, but one taking an "ends justify the means" approach regardless of the perceived morality of some of his actions. Throughout the series most of the main plot elements unfold like a political thriller. A typical plot has Jack Bauer racing against the clock as he attempts to thwart multiple terrorist plots, including presidential assassination attempts, nuclear, biological and chemical threats, cyber attacks, as well as conspiracies dealing with government and corporate corruption.

The show has won numerous awards, including Best Drama Series at the 2003 Golden Globe Awards and Outstanding Drama Series at the 2006 Primetime Emmy Awards. Kiefer Sutherland has been awarded Best Actor – Television Series Drama at the 2001 Golden Globe Awards, and Outstanding Lead Actor – Drama Series at the 2006 Primetime Emmy Awards. At the conclusion of its eighth and final season, 24 became the longest-running espionage-themed television drama ever, surpassing both Mission: Impossible and The Avengers.

Synopsis

Premise

An example of a 24 split-screen with the running clock, from the season 7 finale.

The show's real-time nature is emphasized by an on-screen digital clock which appears before and after commercial breaks. Smaller, silent, clock displays also appear at other points in the narrative, between commercial breaks. The time shown is the in-universe time of the story. The narrative will often place time windows on key story events. This will often be "within the hour", suggesting the event will occur within the episode.

24 uses the 12-hour clock rather than the 24-hour clock. AM and PM are not used for the on-screen clock; they are only seen during the opening narration.

Each episode duration without commercials is approximately 43 minutes, as is common for hour-long television shows on commercial networks. Time continues to elapse during the commercial breaks, with the exact amount denoted by the digital clock display at the beginning and end of each act. Mundane events, such as travel, sometimes occur during commercial breaks and thus these events are largely unseen.^[1] The season 2 and season 3 premiere episodes aired without commercial interruption and just contained advertisement from show sponsor Ford at the beginning and end. The total running time of the premiere episodes are 51 minutes, approximately 8 minutes longer than normal episodes.

The story time correlates with elapsed viewing time if episodes are broadcast with commercials inserted at the commercial break points prescribed by the episode, and commercials run for the correct duration. In line with the depiction of events in real time, 24 does not use slow motion techniques. The series also does not use flashbacks, except once during the first season finale. Watched continuously without advertisements, each season would run approximately 17 hours.^[1]

Where the clock is shown either side of a commercial break a distinct beeping noise for each second was usually heard, along with a steady pounding. These beeps alternate between C and D tones. However, after highly emotional moments, such as the death of a major character, the clock will run without the beeping, with ambient noise (if any) allowed to play instead. The producers and fans have dubbed this the "silent clock", and its use has become a hallmark of the show. The silent clock was used eleven times; six were following the death of a character, while five were not. At the end of the series finale, the clock counts down instead of up for the only time, from 00:00:03 to 00:00:00.

The first season began and ended at midnight, and during its ninth episode (8:00 – 9:00 AM) Jack mentioned that he had already been awake for 24 hours. In most subsequent seasons the story starts in the morning. Seasons two and seven began at 8:00 AM, Seasons four and five began at 7:00 AM, and season six began at 6:00 AM. This was a more realistic period of time for the characters to have been continuously awake.

Season three began and ended at 1:00 PM. Season eight began and ended at 4:00 PM because filming began in the summer when there were more daylight hours available.

The action switches between different locations tracing parallel adventures of different characters involved in the same overarching plot. A secondary story will often take place outside of this plot, which is necessarily implemented because of the real-time constraint. As a result, there are long sections of unseen narrative for each character; any one character is only seen for a portion of an episode's overall running time.^[2]

Overview

Season 1 begins and ends at 12:00 AM on the day of the California presidential primary in Los Angeles. Jack Bauer's protocol is to protect Senator David Palmer from an assassination plot, and rescue his own family from those responsible for the plot, who seek retribution for Jack's and David Palmer's involvement with a covert U.S. mission in the Balkans.

Set 18 months after season 1, season 2 begins and ends at 8:00 AM in Los Angeles. Jack must stop a nuclear bomb from detonating in Los Angeles, then assist President David Palmer in proving who is responsible for the threat. This is necessary to avoid an unfounded war between the United States and three Middle Eastern countries.

Set 3 years after season 2, season 3 begins and ends at 1:00 PM in Los Angeles. While struggling with a heroin addiction, Jack must re-infiltrate a Mexican drug cartel in order to acquire a deadly virus being marketed underground. Meanwhile, President David Palmer is preparing for a live presidential debate in the run up to elections. Later, Jack and Palmer must co-operate with terrorist Stephen Saunders, who eventually gains possession of the virus, and then stop him from releasing it in several American cities.

Cast of Season 3

Set 18 months after season 3, season 4 begins and ends at 7:00 AM in Los Angeles. Jack must save the lives of his new boss Secretary of Defense James Heller and Heller's daughter Audrey Raines (with whom Jack is romantically involved) when they are kidnapped by terrorists. The same terrorists then launch further attacks against America, and Jack is forced to use unorthodox methods to stop them, which will have long-term consequences for both Jack and the U.S.

Set 18 months after season 4, season 5 begins and ends at 7:00 AM in Los Angeles. Jack is believed to be dead by everyone except a few of his closest friends. He is forced to resurface when some of those friends are murdered and he is framed for the murders. Terrorists with connections to the U.S. government attempt to steal nerve gas in order to protect U.S. oil interests in Asia, and Jack discovers an insidious conspiracy while trying to stop them.

Cast of Season 5

Set 20 months after season 5, season 6 begins and ends at 6:00 AM in Los Angeles. Jack is released after being detained in a Chinese prison for twenty months. Terrorists plot to set off suitcase nuclear devices in the United States and Jack must stop them. Later, Jack has to choose between his loved ones and national security when the Chinese set their sights on sensitive circuitry that could trigger a war between the U.S. and Russia.

Due to the 2007–2008 Writers' Strike, season 7 was delayed one year. To bridge the near 2-year gap between seasons, Redemption was produced. It was a television movie which aired on November 23, 2008. Set three and a half years after season 6, Jack finds himself caught up in a military coup in the fictional African nation of Sangala. Meanwhile, in the United States, it is Inauguration Day, where Allison Taylor is being sworn into office as President.

Cast of Season 8

Set 65 days after the events of Redemption, season 7 begins and ends at 8:00 AM in Washington, D.C. Jack is assisted by the FBI and old colleagues after a major national security incident occurs when the firewall responsible for protecting America's government computer infrastructure is breached by the same people responsible for a conflict in Sangala. Jack must then secure evidence to begin their arrests, some of whom are within President Taylor's administration, but not before an attack on the White House ensues. Later, private military contractors attempt to release biological weapons on U.S. soil, at which point their superiors are working with one of Jack's old colleagues, Tony Almeida.

Set 18 months after season 7,^[3] season 8 begins and ends at 4:00 PM in New York City. Jack is about to leave for Los Angeles with his daughter, Kim, her husband and her daughter Teri when he is brought in by CTU to uncover a Russian plot to assassinate Islamic leader Omar Hassan during peace negotiations with U.S. President Taylor. This leads to Islamic extremists creating a dirty bomb, which they threaten to detonate unless Hassan is handed over. Later, Jack must seek retribution for lives lost amidst a governmental cover-up initiated by former president Charles Logan and approved by Taylor.

Recurring elements

There are several recurring elements on 24 which helps to cement its very distinct genre into television history. Often episodes will consist of many narrative twists and turns, usually accompanied by a cliffhanger ending. Because of the extreme serial nature of the show, viewers are expected to not miss anything in order to avoid any plot-related confusion. The cliffhanger ending helps to ensure minimal absence of viewers between episodes. Themes within these sudden narrative changes will almost always include aspects of death, betrayal, retribution and espionage.

Often protagonist Jack Bauer will serve the greater good at the cost of his own great personal expense. In the first season, he foils an assassination attempt against David Palmer, but is unable to save the life of his wife Teri. In the second season he is willing to sacrifice himself in order to stop a nuclear bomb from killing innocent civilians, but in doing so leaving his daughter Kim an orphan. In the eighth season, Kim acknowledges herself to Jack that he could never live with himself if he could have prevented the death of an important political figure, despite his desire to leave the situation alone in order to be with her.

In an attempt to keep the show fresh in its storytelling, most characters depart and new ones arrive as the series progresses. The first, second and third seasons dealt with a particular set of core characters, and their story arcs are depicted in the first trilogy. Examples of these are the surviving members of the Bauer family who must deal with Nina Myers, the woman responsible for the death of wife and mother Teri, the relationship progress of Tony Almeida and Michelle Dessler, and the successful rise and eventual downfall of David Palmer's presidency.

A new set of core characters emerge in the second trilogy, consisting of the fourth, fifth and sixth seasons. It includes the strained relationship between Jack Bauer and Audrey Raines, the induction of President Charles Logan, his eventual corruption and aftermath, and the consequences for Jack Bauer's actions in regard to his involvement with Chinese officials.

A final set of core characters are prevalent in the third trilogy, comprising Redemption, and the seventh and eighth seasons. It involves Jack exiling himself, but then being forced to answer for his past actions. He returns to his former life only to discover he can no longer use methods of torture to do his job, a scenario which causes many civilians to be in peril. Jack's new partner Renee Walker pertains to this fact when she states "I can't help thinking that if we had listened to Jack, none of this would have happened." Similarities of chosen methods and inner darkness between Jack and Renee sparks a romantic relationship, which is eventually taken away from Jack. Furthermore, Allison Taylor is elected president and vows to stand by her principles at all costs. After losing her family, she desperately wants something significant out of her presidency, and is determined for a nuclear arms treaty to be signed by her country and others in an effort to restore peace. However, this desperation causes her to partake in events that drastically question her principles.

Cast and characters

Cast appearances

24 is known for making major changes to its main cast every season. The only regular cast member of all seasons is Kiefer Sutherland. He is the only actor to appear in all of the show's 192 episodes. Glenn Morshower, who plays Aaron Pierce, made appearances in the first seven seasons. Background extra Michael Jacey (who plays Agent John) is the only actor besides Sutherland and Morshower to appear in the first six seasons.

Due to the unpredictable nature of each season's storyline, the main characters change frequently. More commonly in the earlier seasons, a character may begin in a recurring role before being upgraded to a leading regular role in the following season. The only instance of an actor being promoted mid-season from recurring to series regular are Lana Parrilla and Roger Cross in season four.

A "Special Guest Star" billing is used for appearances by famous actors, including Lou Diamond Phillips, Richard Burgi, Dennis Hopper, Sean Astin, Powers Boothe, James Cromwell, Robert Carlyle, and Kurtwood Smith. It is also used for former series regulars making return appearances in the series.

The "Special Guest Appearance by" billing has been used for the returning Dennis Haysbert in seasons four and five, and for Jon Voight in Redemption and season seven.

Main characters

• ^† = As of last appearance or mention in a televised episode.
• * = Also appeared in 24: Redemption.
• ** = Was moved from guest star to main cast member mid-season.

Notable recurring characters

24 features a large number of recurring characters in every season. Below, in order of appearance, are the recurring characters who have appeared in at least 10 episodes, or have appeared in multiple seasons (Mandy), or play an important role (Victor Drazen).

• ^† = As of last appearance or mention in a televised episode.
• * = Also appeared in 24: Redemption.

Production

Conception

The first season was signed for an initial 13 episodes. The next 11 episodes were ordered later. After leading actor Kiefer Sutherland won a Golden Globe for his role in the first 10 episodes, the ratings of the show increased, leading Fox to order the second half of the season.

A feature film based on the show is being planned. Kiefer Sutherland described the film production as "exciting" because, "It's going to be a two-hour representation of a 24 hour day, so we were not going to be restrained by the real time aspect of the TV show"^[4]

The seventh season, originally scheduled to premiere on January 13, 2008, was postponed in the wake of the 2007-08 Writers Guild of America strike. To ensure a nonstop season, a trademark of the show since the start of its fourth season in January 2005, the season was postponed a full year until January 2009.^[5][6] To help offset the strike-induced delay, the show returned on November 23, 2008, with a feature-length TV movie, 24: Redemption, that takes place nearly four years after season six and sets up the story that launched season seven.^[7][8][9]

Setting

The first six seasons of the show were mostly based in Los Angeles and nearby California locations—both real and fictional.

Other locations have also been featured. Portions of the fourth and sixth seasons and Redemption were set in Washington, D.C. The first half of season three was partly set in northern Mexico. Redemption is set mainly in the fictional African nation of Sangala, which was filmed in South Africa. The seventh season is set primarily in Washington, D.C.^[10] Season 8 takes place in New York City.^[11]

Counter Terrorist Unit (CTU)

The main setting of the show, having featured in seven of its eight seasons, is the fictional "Counter Terrorist Unit," an organization assigned to prevent acts of domestic terrorism. Jack has been employed or deployed by CTU in every season but the seventh, during which the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Washington DC branch, served as the show's central law-enforcement agency.

A CTU office consists of two main departments. One side of the organization handles field operations, sending out tactical teams ("tac teams") to confront and apprehend threats, sometimes with the back-up of local police departments and/or SWAT. A field agent must have combat training and some proficiency with firearms, and are often armed-forces veterans. The other side employs "data analysts," civilians who stay at headquarters and handle a variety of jobs: providing telemetry via satellite footage, decrypting intelligence, hacking enemy computer systems, searching for leads amongst the city's background chatter of cell-phone and e-mail traffic, looking up files on the season's antagonists, and generally keeping field agents up-to-date on what has, is or might be happening. (CTU, and thus 24 itself, is very much a product of the Information Age.) Finally there is tech support, on-site security and janitorial/maintenance staff, but characters in these professions rarely impact the show.

Though only two CTU offices have been seen on-screen in any detail (NYC in Season 8, and CTU Los Angeles in the first six seasons), they had these physical features in common: a large open area where analysts and non-active field agents congregate, holding cells for detention and interrogation of suspects, various server rooms for the office's computing hardware, a medical department, and a raised private office for the director of CTU.

CTU offices are established in various cities; Season 3 alone mentions branches in Austin, Texas, San Francisco, California, New York City, and Washington, DC. These "domestic" units are answerable to "Division", who often sends over a new Special-Agent-In-Charge to take over the director position from whichever main-cast character was (formerly) in that position. Above Division is "District", which oversees much larger areas such as an entire state. According to supplementary material, CTU started out as a subdivision of the Central Intelligence Agency, despite that agency's inability to field operations on American soil, before becoming its own agency. On at least one occasion CTU LA was folded into the Department of Homeland Security.

Despite the high-risk nature of its duties and the careful employee screening one would expect, CTU often suffers setbacks for the sake of plot. Every season of the show has featured at least one double agent amongst the in-office personnel. CTU LA and CTU NYC have both been physically attacked as well; the NYC office suffered an EMP attack in Day 8, and CTU LA was bombed in Day 2, struck by nerve gas in Day 5, and was assaulted by the Chinese in Day 6.

While CTU itself is a fictional agency, several entities with similar names or duties, like the National Counterterrorism Center, have emerged since the show's debut on television.

Relation to other productions

Immediately prior to 24, series co-creators Joel Surnow and Robert Cochran executive-produced La Femme Nikita for its entire five-year run on USA Network. Both series deal with anti-terrorist operations, and the lead characters of both series are placed in situations where they must make a tragic choice in order to serve the greater good. As a result, the on- and off-screen creative connections between 24 and La Femme Nikita are highly pronounced. Numerous actors from La Femme Nikita have portrayed similar roles on 24, a number of story concepts from La Femme Nikita have been revisited on 24, and many of the creative personnel from La Femme Nikita currently work (or have worked) on 24 in the same capacity.^[12][13]

Like the 1997 film Air Force One, 24 has featured Air Force One and use of the 25th amendment. Air Force One was featured in 24 Seasons 2 and 4. Air Force Two (carrying the Vice President but not the President) was featured in season 6. 24 used the same Air Force One set from the film.^[14] Seven actors featured in 24—Xander Berkeley, Glenn Morshower, Wendy Crewson, Timothy Carhart, Jürgen Prochnow, Tom Everett and Spencer Garrett—appeared in the film Air Force One.

Series conclusion

On March 26, 2010, a statement was issued from Fox explaining that Season 8 would conclude 24's run on television. Kiefer Sutherland gave a statement:

Executive producer and showrunner Howard Gordon was also a part of the decision. He was quoted saying:

"24 is so much more than just a TV show – it has redefined the drama genre and created one of the most admired action icons in television history," said Peter Rice, Chairman, Entertainment, Fox Networks Group. Kevin Reilly, President, Entertainment, Fox Broadcasting Company added, "We are extremely proud of this groundbreaking series and will be forever thankful to Kiefer, the producers, the cast and crew for everything they’ve put into 24 over the years. It’s truly been an amazing and unforgettable eight days.^[15]

Plans for a feature film are now being explored, with Billy Ray being contracted to write a screenplay, and plans for shooting to commence in late 2010 or early 2011.

Feature film

A feature film adaptation of 24 was originally planned to be shot during the hiatus between the sixth and seventh seasons. Series creators Joel Surnow and Robert Cochran planned to write the script with showrunner Howard Gordon working on story.^[16] Filming was to take place in London, Prague, and Morocco.^[17] Plans for the movie were later put on hold. Kiefer Sutherland stated, "It's impossible to ask writers to work on the show and then come up with an amazing film we can shoot in the break between seasons."^[18]

It was later decided that the film would begin production after the conclusion of the eighth and final season. The film will take place and be shot on-location in Europe. Joel Surnow, Robert Cochran, Howard Gordon, and Kiefer Sutherland will serve as executive producers on the film, while the screenplay will be written by Billy Ray.^[19]

In April 2010, Kiefer Sutherland said in an interview at a BAFTA event in London, that the script was finished and he would be reading it upon his return to the United States. Sutherland also said that the film will be a two-hour representation of a twenty-four-hour time frame.^[20]

Impact and reception

Reaction

Because of the "real-time" storytelling approach to 24, and the series' willingness to directly address the threat of terrorism, the implementation of torture as a way to acquire information and the use and misuse of government authority, the series has generated a sizable critical reaction, both positive and negative. The series and the main character, Jack Bauer, have been accused of promoting the use of excessive violence and torture, in part to support the policies of the Bush Administration.^[21]

In Germany and Switzerland, 24 has been criticized for the various techniques employed by its protagonists in apprehending terrorists.^[22][23]

The series has won numerous Emmy Awards for its technical and artistic achievements. In 2008, Empire magazine ranked 24 as the sixth greatest television show of all-time.^[24]

Ratings

Seasonal rankings (based on average total viewers per episode) of 24 on Fox.

Note: Most US network television seasons start in mid-September and end in late May, which coincides with the completion of May sweeps. However, 24 begins its season in January and runs new episodes non-stop until May, a trend which began after many fans grew unhappy with constant preemptions. Two new episodes are often shown on the same night, and the entire season takes less than 24 weeks to air. 24 airs during February and May sweeps.

^{^[*]} = Indicates a "non-stop" season, in which the season did not start at the beginning of the television season in September, but rather in January (the start of mid-season) to air new episodes every week until its season finale in May. These seasons also have a four-hour two-night premiere, beginning on Sunday from 8-10pm EST and continuing on Monday from 8-10pm EST.

^{^[^]} = Indicates 24: Redemption, the made for television movie and the rating was for the movie only.

Viewership increased midway through its second season when the mega-hit American Idol became the lead-in to 24 starting in February 2003. For its fourth season, Fox gave the show a vote of confidence by moving 24 out of the post-American Idol time slot (to make room for the eventual hit drama, House) and placed it on Monday nights at 9:00 p.m. Eastern (8:00 p.m. Central) while it aired the show in consecutive weeks, beginning in mid-January of 2005. The consecutive-week schedule was also implemented for 2006, beginning in mid-January 2006.

In comparison to its 2005 season, 24 in 2006 was up 16% in overall viewers and 14% in viewers of the advertiser-friendly 18–49 age demographic.^[34] Thus, the series has so far reached its ratings peak in 2006. Ratings have remained steady, therefore 24 has managed to retain most of its audience through its entire run thus far. This circumstance is unlike other serialized shows such as Lost, Prison Break and Heroes, which have lost much of their respective audiences over subsequent seasons.

The sixth season's two-night, four-hour premiere, broadcast in 2007, garnered the largest audience in 24's history, averaging 15.7 million viewers.^[35] Ratings peaked at one point to 16.3 million. By comparison, the precedent seventh season's two-night, four-hour premiere, broadcast in 2009, decreased slightly in viewers, averaging an overall 27 million viewers over the two nights.

The eighth season's two-night, four-hour premiere increased by 15% in viewers from the previous season. It averaged 11.4 million viewers on its Sunday premiere.^[36]

Awards

24 has won and been nominated for various television awards, at events such as the Golden Globes, Primetime Emmys, and Screen Actors Guild. The series has been nominated in categories including acting, directing, writing, editing, sound, music score, and stunt coordination.

The series was nominated for Best Drama Series at the Golden Globes in 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2006, winning the award in 2003. Kiefer Sutherland was nominated at the Golden Globes in 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, and 2008 (for 24: Redemption), winning the award in 2001. Dennis Haysbert received a nomination for Best Supporting Role at the 2002 Golden Globes.

The series was nominated for Best Drama Series at the Primetime Emmys in 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2006, winning the award in 2006. Kiefer Sutherland was nominated at the Primetime Emmys in 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2009 (for 24: Redemption), winning the award in 2006. Creators Joel Surnow and Robert Cochran won for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series at the 2002 Primetime Emmys for the pilot episode. The series' fifth season was its most successful for awards, earning 12 nominations and 5 wins, including winning Best Drama Series and Best Lead Actor in a Drama for Kiefer Sutherland (after being nominated every year previous); Jon Cassar won for Best Directing, with Gregory Itzin and Jean Smart receiving Best Supporting Actor/Actress nominations. At the 2009 Primetime Emmys, Cherry Jones won for Best Supporting Actress in a Drama. Other notable Emmy nominations include Stephen Hopkins and Ian Toynton for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series.

The series was nominated for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series in 2003, 2005, and 2007 at the Screen Actors Guild Awards. Kiefer Sutherland was nominated in 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007, winning the award in 2004 and 2006. The series won for Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a TV Series in 2008 and 2010.

Distribution

Television

24 is widely broadcast in other parts of the world, including Canada, Africa, Europe, Latin America, Asia, Australia, New Zealand and the Middle East.

Kiefer Sutherland attributes the show's support from Fox to its early success in the UK.^[37] Its viewership in the UK decreased significantly when the BBC, which is available free of charge to the whole population, lost the rights to subscription channel Sky1 after the second season.^[38]

Home media

The release of 24 on DVD has had a significant impact on the success of the television series. In an interview with IGN in 2002, Sutherland revealed, "[24's] success in [the UK] was phenomenal. It was the biggest show the BBC has ever had. It was the number one DVD there, knocking off Lord of the Rings, which is unheard of for a television show DVD to actually knock-out every feature DVD available. And that's because they showed it without commercials."^[39] The US sales of the Season 1 DVDs increased the audience size of Season 2 by 25%.^[40]

At CES 2007, Fox Home Entertainment announced the complete first season of 24 would be released on the Blu-ray disc format in early 2007^[41] although this never came to fruition.

The Region 1 DVD releases of 24 strictly emphasize actor Kiefer Sutherland on the cover art for all seven seasons to date, while the Region 2 & 4 DVDs instead echo the series' split-screen format by featuring the major players in each respective season. This presented audiences who had not seen the TV broadcast (since the series moved to premium channel Sky One) in the UK with a large spoiler on the front cover of season four—which featured 'surprise' special guest star Tony Almeida.

A "limited special edition" of Day Six is also available in the United States. In addition to the DVDs, the box includes a booklet with an episode guide, each major character's job description and biographical information, and script excerpts. A limited edition of Day Six is also released in the United Kingdom, available from HMV stores.

In mid-2007, the first four seasons were re-issued, featuring slim-packaging in line with the season 5 release, and improved video quality, especially in the first season, which was initially rushed to DVD. The metallic "24" logo has also been dropped in favor of the seven segment display logo.

A special edition of the first season was released on May 20, 2008. The new set includes a seventh disc of bonus features, while discs 1–6 contain all 24 episodes with deleted scenes, audio commentaries, and 5 extended episodes. The set is released in a steel box.^[42]

The television movie 24: Redemption was released on DVD in Region 1 on November 25, 2008, and in Region 2 on December 1, 2008. The DVD contains the broadcast version as well as an extended version with optional audio commentary, a making-of featurette, child soldiers in Africa featurette, a season 6 recap, and the first 17 minutes of the season 7 premiere episode.

The seventh season was the first season to be released on Blu-ray format.^[43] The eighth season will also be released on Blu-ray. A complete series set will be released on DVD along with the release of season eight.^[44]

All eight seasons are also available for purchase on iTunes and Amazon Video on Demand. 24: Redemption and Season 8 are available from Zune Marketplace.

DVD releases

Other media

The success of 24 has led to the series being extended into other arenas, including media specifically created for mobile devices and the Internet. One can now see recent 24 episodes from the current season on the Fox website^[45] and on iPhones and T-Mobile phones. In addition, the series has spawned video and board games, toys, soundtracks from both the series and the video game, and a number of original novels inspired by the series, as well as a number of "behind-the-scenes" books.

References

Further reading

• Steven Keslowitz, The Tao of Jack Bauer: What Our Favorite Terrorist Buster Says About Life, Love, Torture, and Saving the World 24 Times in 24 Hours With No Lunch Break (2009). ISBN 1440120625
• Steven Keslowitz, The Simpsons, 24, and the Law: How Homer Simpson and Jack Bauer Influence Congressional Lawmaking and Judicial Reasoning, 29:6 Cardozo Law Review 2787–822 (May 2008). (PDF)
• Jepson, Rich. 24 Terrorism Through Television. ISBN 978-0-9561504-0-0. 
• Hart Weed, Jennifer; Richard Davis, Ronald Weed. 24 and Philosophy: The World According to Jack. The Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture Series (1 ed.). Blackwell Publishing. ISBN 1405171049. http://au.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-1405171049.html. Retrieved 2008-02-07. 

External links

• 24 at the Internet Movie Database
• 24 at TV.com
• 24 on 24 Wiki

Days Day 1 · Day 2 · The Game · Day 3 · Day 4 · Day 5 · Day 6 · Redemption · Day 7 · Day 8 · Episode list Merchandise Conspiracy · The Rookie · The Game · The Soundtrack Government agents Jack Bauer · Kim Bauer · Nina Myers · Aaron Pierce · Tony Almeida · George Mason · Ryan Chappelle · Michelle Dessler · Chase Edmunds · Chloe O'Brian · Curtis Manning · Edgar Stiles · Bill Buchanan · Morris O'Brian · Nadia Yassir · Renee Walker · Arlo Glass · Cole Ortiz · Minor agents Antagonists Victor Drazen · Mandy · Nina Myers · Max · Stephen Saunders · Habib Marwan · Vladimir Bierko · Christopher Henderson · Charles Logan · Abu Fayed · Phillip Bauer · Cheng Zhi · Jonas Hodges · Alan Wilson · Ike Dubaku · Benjamin Juma · Yuri Suvarov · Minor antagonists Presidents David Palmer · John Keeler · Charles Logan · Wayne Palmer · Noah Daniels · Allison Taylor Government officials Mike Novick · James Heller · Audrey Raines · Karen Hayes · Tom Lennox · Ethan Kanin · Olivia Taylor · Minor government characters Supporting characters Teri Bauer · Sherry Palmer · Martha Logan · Omar Hassan · Minor characters · List of 24 characters Other Cast members · Critical reaction · Media