24 (TV series)

24
24 intertitle
Genre	Action Thriller
Created by	Joel Surnow Robert Cochran
Starring	Kiefer Sutherland See cast list
Composer	Sean Callery
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	8
No. of episodes	192 + 24: Redemption (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers	Joel Surnow Robert Cochran Brian Grazer Tony Krantz Howard Gordon Evan Katz Kiefer Sutherland Jon Cassar Manny Coto David Fury Brad Turner Brannon Braga Alex Gansa Chip Johannessen
Production locations	Los Angeles Washington, D.C. New York City
Running time	42–44 minutes
Production companies	Imagine Entertainment Real Time Productions Teakwood Lane Productions
Original release
Network	Fox
Release	November 6, 2001 (2001-11-06) – present
Related
24: Conspiracy The Rookie

24 is an American serial action/drama television series starring Kiefer Sutherland as special 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 has run for 192 episodes and 8 seasons, with the series finale due to be 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 after the series finale airs.

Bauer is the only character to have appeared in all 8 seasons. 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 a 'ends justify the means' regardless of the perceived morality of some of his actions. Throughout the series most of the main plot elements are political thriller like in nature. A typical plot has Jack Bauer racing against the clock as he attempts to prevent 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. On conclusion of its eighth and final season, 24 will become the longest running espionage themed television drama ever, surpassing both Mission: Impossible and The Avengers.

Series overview

24 is a thriller presented in "real time"; each minute of airtime corresponds to a minute in the lives of the characters. Time continues to pass during commercial breaks.

24 employs fast-paced and complex stories, and often contains unexpected plot twists. Each day's events typically revolve around thwarting an impending terrorist attack, each season is made up of various interwoven story threads. These may run for just one hour, but more usually run over several hours. These typically involve investigations of leads on terrorists, tracking suspects, and averting attacks. The exact objective of the day may also evolve over the course of the season, as the antagonists adapt, contingencies arise, and larger-scale operations unfold. Stories also involve office and interpersonal drama, and delve into the private lives of its characters even as national emergencies are erupting.

A recurring theme involves characters being faced with ethical dilemmas of whether to allow tragic events to occur for the sake of a greater good. In Season 2, a Department of Defense staffer has the chance to warn CTU of an imminent attack, but avoids this as it would alert the culprits, and allow a valuable trail to go cold. The sitting President is often faced with dilemmas. In Season 6, President Wayne Palmer asks Jack Bauer to sacrifice himself in exchange for the location of a known terrorist.

Jack and others frequently employ torture or threats of torture to extract information. CTU has used "hyoscine-pentothal", a fictional pain-inducing drug, in interrogation sessions where quick results are needed. This has been used on both agents and antagonists. Its hypothetical effects are unlike those of the real hyoscine and pentothal.

The show has been criticized by human rights groups for featuring too many scenes of torture. In response, the show's writers have said that they will try to reduce the number of torture scenes in future episodes, not as a concession, but because it was starting to overwhelm the storytelling.

Real-time presentation

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 appearing 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 44 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.

The story time will correlate 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.

Where the clock is shown either side of a commercial break a distinct beeping noise for each second is usually heard. 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 its traditional 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. So far, the silent clock has been used eleven times; six were following the death of a character, while five were not.

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. 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.

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 were set in Washington, D.C. The first half of season three was partly set in northern Mexico. The seventh season is set primarily in Washington, D.C. Season 8 takes place in New York City.

Counter-Terrorist Unit (CTU)

The main setting of the show, having featured in six 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 "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. The other side employs "data analysts," 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, 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 Special Agent In Charge.

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 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, 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.

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:

This has been the role of a lifetime, and I will never be able to fully express my appreciation to everyone who made it possible. While the end of the series is bittersweet, we always wanted 24 to finish on a high note, so the decision to make the eighth season our last was one we all agreed upon. This feels like the culmination of all our efforts from the writers to the actors to our fantastic crew and everyone at Fox. Looking ahead to the future, Howard Gordon and I are excited about the opportunity to create the feature film version of 24. But when all is said and done, it is the loyal worldwide fan base that made it possible for me to have the experience of playing the role of Jack Bauer, and for that I am eternally grateful.

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

Kiefer and I have loved every minute of making 24, but we all believe that now is the right time to call it a day. I echo his sentiments of gratitude toward the show’s amazing creative team, as well as the studio and network who have always believed in us and shown us unbelievable support. 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.

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.

Production

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.

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. 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.

Cast

See also: List of 24 characters, List of 24 cast members, Minor characters in 24, and Minor government agents in 24

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, has made appearances in each of the first seven seasons, but as of 2009 had appeared in a total of only 49 episodes. 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

Actor	Character	Episode count	Main cast seasons	Recurring cast seasons	Status†
Kiefer Sutherland	Jack Bauer*	190	1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8	—	Alive
Leslie Hope	Teri Bauer	24	1	—	Deceased
Sarah Clarke	Nina Myers	36	1	2, 3	Deceased
Elisha Cuthbert	Kim Bauer	79	1, 2, 3	5, 7, 8	Alive
Dennis Haysbert	David Palmer	80	1, 2, 3	4, 5	Deceased
Sarah Wynter	Kate Warner	25	2	3	Alive
Xander Berkeley	George Mason	27	2	1	Deceased
Penny Johnson Jerald	Sherry Palmer	45	2	1, 3	Deceased
Carlos Bernard	Tony Almeida	115	2, 3, 5, 7	1, 4	Alive
Reiko Aylesworth	Michelle Dessler	62	3	2, 4, 5	Deceased
James Badge Dale	Chase Edmunds	24	3	—	Alive
Kim Raver	Audrey Raines	52	4, 5	6	Alive
Alberta Watson	Erin Driscoll	12	4	—	Alive
Lana Parrilla**	Sarah Gavin	12	4	4	Alive
Roger Cross**	Curtis Manning	44	4, 5	4, 6	Deceased
William Devane	James Heller	20	4	5, 6	Alive
Mary Lynn Rajskub	Chloe O'Brian	123	5, 6, 7, 8	3, 4	Alive
Gregory Itzin	Charles Logan	42	5	4, 6, 8	Alive
James Morrison	Bill Buchanan	64	5, 6, 7	4	Deceased
Louis Lombardi	Edgar Stiles	37	5	4	Deceased
Jean Smart	Martha Logan	24	5	6	Alive
D. B. Woodside	Wayne Palmer	48	6	3, 5	Alive
Peter MacNicol	Tom Lennox*	24	6	—	Alive
Jayne Atkinson	Karen Hayes	30	6	5	Alive
Carlo Rota	Morris O'Brian	29	6	5, 7	Alive
Eric Balfour	Milo Pressman	28	6	1	Deceased
Marisol Nichols	Nadia Yassir	24	6	—	Alive
Regina King	Sandra Palmer	9	6	—	Alive
Cherry Jones	Allison Taylor*	41	7, 8	—	Alive
Annie Wersching	Renee Walker	37	7, 8	—	Deceased
Colm Feore	Henry Taylor*	12	7	—	Alive
Bob Gunton	Ethan Kanin*	31	7	6, 8	Alive
Jeffrey Nordling	Larry Moss	19	7	—	Deceased
Rhys Coiro	Sean Hillinger	10	7	—	Alive
Janeane Garofalo	Janis Gold	21	7	—	Alive
Anil Kapoor	Omar Hassan	15	8	—	Deceased
Mykelti Williamson	Brian Hastings	17	8	—	Alive
Katee Sackhoff	Dana Walsh	20	8	—	Deceased
Chris Diamantopoulos	Rob Weiss	12	8	—	Alive
John Boyd	Arlo Glass	22	8	—	Alive
Freddie Prinze, Jr.	Cole Ortiz	22	8	—	Alive

• ^† = 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).

Actor	Character	Seasons	Episode count	Status†
Karina Arroyave	Jamey Farrell	1	10	Deceased
Daniel Bess	Rick Allen	1	18	Alive
Mia Kirshner	Mandy	1, 2, 4	7	Alive
Michael Massee	Ira Gaines	1	12	Deceased
Vicellous Shannon	Keith Palmer	1, 2	13	Alive
Glenn Morshower	Aaron Pierce	1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7	49	Alive
Jude Ciccolella	Mike Novick	1, 2, 4, 5	58	Alive
Željko Ivanek	Andre Drazen	1	14	Deceased
Paul Schulze	Ryan Chappelle	1, 2, 3	23	Deceased
Dennis Hopper	Victor Drazen	1	5	Deceased
Michelle Forbes	Lynne Kresge	2	18	Unknown
Phillip Rhys	Reza Naiyeer	2	10	Deceased
Laura Harris	Marie Warner	2	14	Alive
John Terry	Bob Warner	2	12	Alive
Daniel Dae Kim	Tom Baker	2, 3	11	Alive
Lourdes Benedicto	Carrie Turner	2	10	Alive
Joaquim de Almeida	Ramon Salazar	3	12	Deceased
Christina Chang	Sunny Macer	3, 7	11	Alive
Zachary Quinto	Adam Kaufman	3	23	Alive
Vincent Laresca	Hector Salazar	3	12	Deceased
Vanessa Ferlito	Claudia Hernandez	3	11	Deceased
Jesse Borrego	Gael Ortega	3	14	Deceased
Geoff Pierson	John Keeler	3, 4	19	Alive
Paul Blackthorne	Stephen Saunders	3	10	Deceased
Nestor Serrano	Navi Araz	4	10	Deceased
Shohreh Aghdashloo	Dina Araz	4	12	Deceased
Jonathan Ahdout	Behrooz Araz	4	12	Alive
James Frain	Paul Raines	4	10	Deceased
Arnold Vosloo	Habib Marwan	4	17	Deceased
John Allen Nelson	Walt Cummings	4, 5	12	Deceased
Tzi Ma	Cheng Zhi	4, 5, 6	12	Alive
Sandrine Holt	Evelyn Martin	5	10	Unknown
Nick Jameson	Yuri Suvarov	5, 6, 8	13	Alive
Julian Sands	Vladimir Bierko	5	11	Deceased
Peter Weller	Christopher Henderson	5	11	Deceased
Stephen Spinella	Miles Papazian	5	10	Alive
Adoni Maropis	Abu Fayed	6	15	Deceased
Rena Sofer	Marilyn Bauer	6	12	Alive
Evan Ellingson	Josh Bauer	6	10	Alive
James Cromwell	Phillip Bauer	6	8	Deceased
Powers Boothe	Noah Daniels*	6	14	Alive
Kari Matchett	Lisa Miller	6	10	Alive
Ricky Schroder	Mike Doyle	6	12	Alive
Hakeem Kae-Kazim	Ike Dubaku*	7	9	Deceased
Jon Voight	Jonas Hodges*	7	10	Deceased
Frank John Hughes	Tim Woods	7, 8	21	Alive
Sprague Grayden	Olivia Taylor	7	14	Alive
Necar Zadegan	Dalia Hassan	8	18	Alive
Nazneen Contractor	Kayla Hassan	8	19	Alive
TJ Ramini	Tarin Faroush	8	11	Deceased
Mido Hamada	Samir Mehran	8	10	Deceased

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

Plot synopsis

Season 1 begins and ends at 12:00 AM on the day of the California presidential primary. Jack Bauer must 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. Jack must stop a nuclear bomb from detonating in Los Angeles, then assist President David Palmer in proving who is responsible for the threat.

Set 3 years after season 2, season 3 begins and ends at 1:00 PM. 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.

Cast of Season 3

Set 18 months after season 3, season 4 begins and ends at 7:00 AM. 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. 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. 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.

Redemption is a television movie which aired on November 23, 2008, bridging the gap between the sixth and seventh seasons of 24. 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. 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. A larger conspiracy involving government officials and private military contractors is revealed as the season progresses. The season features the show's first female president, Allison Taylor, and it is the first season to take place completely outside Los Angeles.

Set 18 months after season 7, 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 young daughter when he is brought in by CTU to uncover a Russian extremist plot to assassinate Islamic leader Omar Hassan during peace negotiations with U.S. President Taylor.

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.

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. 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.

Impact

Main article: Critical reaction to 24 (TV series)

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 the minds of the voting public, in part to support the policies of the Bush Administration.

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

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.

U.S. television 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.

Season	Timeslot	Premiere	Finale	Rank	Viewers (M)
1	Tuesdays 9/8c	November 6, 2001	May 21, 2002	#76	8.60
2	Tuesdays 9/8c	October 29, 2002	May 20, 2003	#36	11.73
3	Tuesdays 9/8c	October 28, 2003	May 25, 2004	#42	10.30
4*	Mondays 9/8c	January 9, 2005	May 23, 2005	#29	11.90
5*	Mondays 9/8c	January 15, 2006	May 22, 2006	#24	13.78
6*	Mondays 9/8c	January 14, 2007	May 21, 2007	#27	13.00
Redemption^	Sunday 8/7c	November 23, 2008		#17 (for week)	12.12
7*	Mondays 9/8c	January 11, 2009	May 18, 2009	#20	11.14
8*	Mondays 9/8c	January 17, 2010	May 24, 2010		9.36 (to date)

*= 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. 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. 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.

Awards and nominations

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

The series has been nominated for Best Drama Series at the Primetime Emmys in 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2005; while winning the award in 2006. Kiefer Sutherland has been nominated at the Primetime Emmys in 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, and 2009 (for 24: Redemption); while 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, as that season earned the series 12 nominations with 5 wins, including winning Best Drama Series and Best Lead Actor in a Drama for Kiefer Sutherland after being nominated every year previous. While 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 has been nominated for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series in 2003, 2005, and 2007 at the Screen Actors Gulid Awards. Kiefer Sutherland has been nominated in 2003, 2005, and 2007, while 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

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. Its viewership there, however, decreased significantly when the BBC lost the rights to subscription channel Sky1 after the second season.

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 England 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." The US sales of the Season 1 DVDs increased the audience size of Season 2 by 25%.

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 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.

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. Season 8 will be also released on the Blu-Ray format.

The first seven seasons are also available for purchase on iTunes. Season 8 episodes are also added to iTunes and Zune Marketplace after each specific episode aired.

DVD releases

Season	Region 1 Release Date	Region 2 Release Date	Region 4 Release Date	Episodes	Discs	Bonus Features
1	September 17, 2002 May 20, 2008 (Special Edition)	October 14, 2002	December 2002	24	6	Introduction to Season One by Kiefer Sutherland and a preview of Season Two; alternate ending to the season finale with optional audio commentary by Joel Surnow. Special Edition: Two audio commentaries; 25 deleted scenes; five extended episodes; "The Genesis of 24" Documentary; The Rookie online short films.
2	September 9, 2003	August 11, 2003	September 2003	24	7	Six audio commentaries; 44 deleted scenes (with optional commentary); "24 Exposed" featurettes; "On the Button: Exploding the CTU" featurette; Multi-angle scene study.
3	December 7, 2004	August 9, 2004	September 2004	24	7	Six audio commentaries; 45 deleted scenes (with optional commentary); Season 4 Promo; Season 4 Prequel; "24: On the Loose" featurette; "Boys and Their Toys" featurette; "Biothreat: Beyond the Series" featurette; Multi-angle scene study.
4	December 6, 2005	August 8, 2005	November 2005	24	7	12 audio commentaries; 39 deleted scenes (with optional commentary); Season 4 Prequel (Director's Cut); Season 5 Prequel; Making a Scene: Making of Season 5 Prequel; "Breaking Ground: Building the New CTU" featurette; "Blood on the Tracks" featurette; "Lock and Load" featurette; 24: Conspiracy cell phone mobisodes; The Longest Day music video; 24: The Game: Behind the Scenes.
5	December 5, 2006	November 6, 2006	December 6, 2006	24	7	12 audio commentaries; 23 deleted scenes (with optional commentary); Season 6 Prequel; "Supporting Players" featurette; "Unsung Heroes: 24 Camera Department" featurette; "Music by Sean Callery" featurette; "Logan's Retreat" featurette; 100th Episode Reel; 24: Behind the Scenes book sample.
6	December 4, 2007	October 1, 2007	September 19, 2007	24	7	12 audio commentaries; 22 deleted scenes (with optional commentary); Season 7 Preview; "Master Illusionist: 24's Special Effects" featurette; "24 Season 6: Inside the Writers' Room" featurette; "24 Season 6: Opening with a Bang" featurette; "The Technology of 24" featurette; Webcast Diaries; Day 6 Debrief mobisodes; Public Service Announcement from Kiefer Sutherland; Deleted cameo scene with Ricky Gervais; Easter Egg: Jack Bauer on The Simpsons.
7	May 19, 2009	October 19, 2009	November 11, 2009	24	6	12 audio commentaries; 14 deleted scenes (with optional commentary); The Fimucité Festival Presents: The Music of 24; "Hour 19: The Ambush" featurette; "24-7: The Untold Story" featurette; 24 in 24 documentary (Region 2 only); 21 Scenemaker webisodes (Region 2 only).
8	TBA	October 30, 2010	TBA	24	6

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. Filming was to take place in London, Prague, and Morocco. Jon Cassar revealed in an interview "I think the idea is to do an hour of it that sets it up where you can go around the world and set up a story in normal film time, and probably the last hour will be in real time – something like that."

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."

Executive producer Howard Gordon says on the future-film, "My hope is to go [shoot the feature film] after the eighth season. That's sort of what we're aiming for. I think that a big-screen 24 will be a fitting send off for Jack."

It is now known that a film will be made after the eighth season, and that filming will still take place outside of the U.S., with London thought to be a possible location. As of 2010, the film will be released after the eighth season.

On February 9, 2010, Fox announced plans to produce a feature length film set in Europe. The same team that produce the TV series will be involved, and Billy Ray has been contracted to produce a script.

On March 16, 2010, Fox confirmed that the script is being written and production should commence later in the year or early in 2011.

On April 19, 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 U.S.

Other media

Main article: List of 24 (TV series) 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 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.

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. 24 and Philosophy: The World According to Jack. The Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture Series (1 ed.). Blackwell Publishing. ISBN 1405171049. Retrieved February 7, 2008. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |origmonth= ignored (help)

External links

• Official website
• 24 at IMDb
• Template:Tv.com show
• 24 (TV series) on 24 Wiki

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