24 (TV series)

Template:Redirect5 For the number, see 24 (number).

24
24 title screen 24 title screen
Created by	Joel Surnow Robert Cochran
Starring	Kiefer Sutherland Mary Lynn Rajskub D.B. Woodside James Morrison Jayne Atkinson Carlo Rota Eric Balfour Marisol Nichols with Regina King and Peter MacNicol
Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	120
Production
Running time	44 minutes approx.
Original release
Network	Fox Broadcasting Company
Release	November 6, 2001 – present

24 is a current Emmy and Golden Globe award-winning American television series, created by Joel Surnow and Robert Cochran, and produced by Imagine Television. It is broadcast in the USA by the Fox Network and syndicated worldwide.

The show first aired on November 6, 2001, with an initial thirteen episodes. After leading actor Kiefer Sutherland won a Golden Globe for his role in the first 10 episodes, the ratings were boosted, which prompted FOX to order the second half of the series. Five seasons of 24 have since been produced, with the sixth scheduled to begin airing on January 14, 2007.

Each season covers the events of a 24 hour period in the life of federal agent Jack Bauer (played by Sutherland) as he tries to prevent one or more domestic terrorist attacks, set largely in Los Angeles. The show also follows Jack's colleagues at the Counter Terrorist Unit, largely referenced as "CTU", Los Angeles office, as well as the actions of the terrorists or in some cases, actions of the conspirators, a civilian family and typically an important political figure such as a senator or president.

Season synopses

The first five days follow a similar format: a main story arc featuring Jack Bauer and the Counter Terrorist Unit dealing with a threat posed to national security. Surprise sacrifices, backstabbings, and other plot twists are common. Each season also has several major subplots that span most of the episodes and are interwoven within the main plot. Throughout each season, Jack Bauer often faces intense personal anguish in addition to his tasks to stop the terrorists.

Each season is aired in real-time and starts at the top of the hour on a given day. Each episode portrays one hour of that day, with one season comprising 24 episodes or a day in the life of Jack Bauer. The show is set largely in Los Angeles, so the "time" is set in Pacific Standard Time for the 4th season and Pacific Daylight Time for the other seasons. Every episode that succeeded Season 1 begins with: "The following takes place between [time] and [time]." During Season 1, the voice-over was "The following takes place between [time] and [time] on the day of the California Presidential Primary. Events occur in real time." The first season also had several episodes open with, "I'm Federal Agent Jack Bauer, and today is the longest day of my life."

File:24 Season 6 Jack Promo.jpg

Kiefer Sutherland as Jack Bauer

Day 1

Main article: 24 (season 1)

Starts and ends at 12:00 AM. In Day 1, Jack Bauer's wife and daughter are kidnapped by a terrorist group plotting to kill presidential candidate David Palmer. A mole inside L.A. Counter Terrorist Unit (CTU), Jamey Farrell, is exposed, but doesn't provide any information that could help the investigation. When it is revealed that the man behind his family's kidnapping is someone from his past, Jack eventually realizes everything that has happened has been to do with both him and Senator David Palmer personally, while information is uncovered that there may be another mole inside CTU, which makes the situation more complicated.

Day 2

Main article: 24 (season 2)

Starts and ends at 8:00 AM. In Day 2, approximately eighteen months after Season 1, Jack is dealing with the death of his wife, Teri Bauer, and the estrangement of his daughter, Kim Bauer, who believes Jack's dangerous line of work caused her mother's death. Jack is no longer working for CTU, but when the White House receives intelligence that a nuclear bomb will be detonated in Los Angeles over the course of the day, President David Palmer counts on Jack as the only man he can trust to find the terrorist cell in possession of the bomb and to stop its detonation. More lives will be at stake as another conspiracy arouses regarding a tape conversation about an attack to America, which was uncovered after the bomb crisis.

Day 3

Main article: 24 (season 3)

Starts and ends at 1:00 PM. In Day 3, three years after narrowly averting a war with three middle eastern countries, Jack returns from a one-year deep undercover operation, infiltrating the Salazar drug family. At the same time, a van drops off a dead body infected with a bio-weapon at the National Health Services. CTU then receives a phone call threatening to release the virus if Ramon Salazar is not released from prison in 6 hours. Jack has a new partner, Chase Edmunds, who is also romantically involved with Kim, who has now become an employee at CTU. Jack is also fighting a heroin addiction he picked up in his undercover assignment.

Day 4

Main article: 24 (season 4)

Starts and ends at 7:00 AM. It's been 18 months since Jack Bauer averted a deadly crisis in Los Angeles. Subsequently, he was fired from CTU, and has a new lease on life, as a senior advisor to Secretary of Defense James Heller. He also has found a new love in his life in the form of his boss's daughter, Audrey Raines. But an impeding hostage crisis, concerning his new boss, leaves Jack's new life in shambles. Jack finds he must go back to his old calling as a CTU agent, to save the life he has made for himself. As the day unfolds several contingency plans are revealed, all devised by Turkish terrorist Habib Marwan. Each of Marwan's attacks proves even more devastating than its predecessor and the CTU races to find him before he can unleash unprecedented terror upon America.

Day 5

Main article: 24 (season 5)

Starts and ends at 7:00 AM. Eighteen months after Day 4, Jack is living under a new alias, as Frank Flynn, and working on various oil rigs and refineries throughout America. He is currently living with Diane and Derek Huxley, a family near the Mojave Desert, South Eastern California. Meanwhile, an unknown figure orders the assassination of the four people who know Jack is alive — Tony Almeida, Michelle Dessler, Chloe O'Brian and former President David Palmer — to frame him. He returns to LA to clear his name when a hostage situation erupts. But it is only a diversion by a collaboration of conspirators and Russian separatists to obtain 20 canisters of Sentox VX nerve gas. The gas was originally to be used to attack Moscow, but the separatists begin to release it in LA in retaliation after they discover that a US agent has infiltrated their organization. Jack attempts to search for the remaining canisters and expose treachery deep within the White House.

Day 6

Main article: 24 (season 6)

Template:In-progress tvshow Day 6 is currently in production, and will begin airing on Sunday, January 14, 2007, and on Monday, January 15, 2007, with a two-night, four-hour season premiere on Fox. The sixth day will premiere in the UK on January 21, 2007[1]

The trailer for Day 6 was released October 24, 2006 at 3pm EST. [2]

Cast

Season 6 Main Cast

The 24 cast has been changed every season. The changes have ranged from small to almost the full cast. The only consistent presence is the main star, Kiefer Sutherland, who has been on the cast list for all six seasons. A likely reason that the cast is changed annually is to keep the show fresh from season to season.

The show has always many guest stars not billed as main cast members, as well as Special Guest Stars from time to time. Special Guest Stars are usually former cast members making a return appearance, which can last from a single episode to almost an entire season. Big celebrities also get this title, such as Sean Astin.

See the List of characters in 24 for a more thorough list.

See also: List of minor 24 characters

Current Regular Cast

Actor	Character	Main Cast Seasons	Recurring Cast Seasons
Kiefer Sutherland	Jack Bauer	Seasons 1-6	None
Mary Lynn Rajskub	Chloe O'Brian	Seasons 5-6	Seasons 3-4
DB Woodside	Wayne Palmer	Season 6	Seasons 3, 5
James Morrison	Bill Buchanan	Seasons 5-6	Season 4
Jayne Atkinson	Karen Hayes	Seasons 6	Season 5
Carlo Rota	Morris O'Brian	Season 6	Season 5
Eric Balfour	Milo Pressman	Season 6	Season 1
Marisol Nichols	Nadia "Natalie" Yassir	Season 6	None
Regina King	Sandra Palmer	Season 6	None
Peter MacNicol	Thomas Lennox	Season 6	None

Current Recurring Roles

Actor	Character	Seasons
Glenn Morshower	Aaron Pierce	Seasons 1-6
Paul McCrane	Graham	Seasons 5-6
Alexander Siddig	Hamir Al-Assad	Season 6
James Cromwell	Phillip Bauer	Season 6
Kal Penn	Ahmet	Season 6
Harry Lennix	Waleed	Season 6
Rick Schroder	Mike Doyle	Season 6
Rena Sofer	Marilyn	Season 6
Evan Ellingson	Josh	Season 6
David Hunt	Darren McCarthy	Season 6
Chad Lowe	Reed Pollock	Season 6
Powers Boothe	Noah Daniels	Season 6
Tzi Ma	Cheng Zhi	Season 4-6

Current Special Guest Stars

Actor	Character	Seasons
Kim Raver	Audrey Raines	Seasons 4-6
Roger Cross	Curtis Manning	Seasons 4-6
Gregory Itzin	Charles Logan	Seasons 4-6
Jean Smart	Martha Logan	Seasons 5-6
William Devane	James Heller	Seasons 4-6

Former Regular Cast

Actor	Character	Main Cast Seasons	Recurring Cast Seasons
Leslie Hope	Teri Bauer	Season 1	None
Sarah Clarke	Nina Myers	Season 1	Seasons 2-3
Elisha Cuthbert	Kim Bauer	Seasons 1-3	Season 5
Dennis Haysbert	President David Palmer	Seasons 1-3	Seasons 4-5
Sarah Wynter	Kate Warner	Season 2	Season 3
Xander Berkeley	George Mason	Season 2	Season 1
Penny Johnson Jerald	Sherry Palmer	Season 2	Seasons 1, 3
Carlos Bernard	Tony Almeida	Seasons 2-3, 5	Seasons 1, 4
Reiko Aylesworth	Michelle Dessler	Season 3	Seasons 2, 4-5
James Badge Dale	Chase Edmunds	Season 3	None
Kim Raver	Audrey Raines	Seasons 4-5	Season 6
Alberta Watson	Erin Driscoll	Season 4	None
William Devane	Sec. of Defense James Heller	Season 4	Seasons 5-6
Lana Parrilla	Sarah Gavin	Season 4	Season 4*
Roger Cross	Curtis Manning	Seasons 4-5	Seasons 4*, 6
Gregory Itzin	President Charles Logan	Season 5	Seasons 4, 6
Louis Lombardi	Edgar Stiles	Season 5	Season 4
Jean Smart	First Lady Martha Logan	Season 5	Season 6

(*)Was moved from guest star to main cast member midseason.

Critical acclaim

For his work in the first season of 24, Kiefer Sutherland won a Golden Globe for his performances; Surnow and Cochran, the creators of the show, won an Emmy Award. In 2004, the show won the Golden Globe for Best Drama Series. 24 won Emmy Awards for Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing For A Drama Series, Outstanding Single-Camera Sound Mixing For A Series, Outstanding Casting For A Drama Series, and Outstanding Stunt Coordination. Kiefer Sutherland also picked up the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series in 2004 and 2006. Sean Callery won an Emmy in 2003 for his work on Episode 2.15 (Season 2, 10:00 pm to 11:00 pm) for Outstanding Music Composition for a Series.

File:24emmykiefercast2006.jpg

Kiefer Sutherland holding two of the show's Emmys on August 27, 2006, after the show with the 24 crew

24 received 12 Emmy nominations in 2006, including Outstanding Drama Series, Outstanding Lead Actor (Kiefer Sutherland) and supporting nods to Jean Smart (Martha Logan) and Gregory Itzin (Charles Logan). Itzin said in an interview following the news, "So just to end up being one of five is obviously a big surprise and very gratifying. But in another way, I wasn't surprised because the show is so damn good, it should get recognized."

At the Primetime Emmys, 24 went on to win Outstanding Drama Series and Sutherland received his first Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series award and Director Jon Cassar an Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series. The show also won Best Dramatic Underscore Music Composition and Best Single Camera Editing.

U.S. Television Ratings

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

Note: Each U.S. network television season starts in late September and ends in late May, which coincides with the completion of May sweeps.

Season	Timeslot	Season Premiere	Season Finale	TV Season	Rank	Viewers (in millions)
1st	Tuesday 9:00PM	November 6, 2001	May 21, 2002	2001-2002	#76	8.60
2nd	Tuesday 9:00PM	October 29, 2002	May 20, 2003	2002-2003	#36	11.73
3rd	Tuesday 9:00PM	October 28, 2003	May 25, 2004	2003-2004	#42	10.30
4th	Monday 9:00PM	January 9, 2005	May 23, 2005	2004-2005	#29	11.90
5th	Monday 9:00PM	January 15, 2006	May 22, 2006	2005-2006	#25	13.78
6th	Monday 9:00PM	January 14, 2007	May, 2007	2006-2007	--	----

Viewership increased midway through its second season when the mega-hit American Idol became the lead-in into 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 9:00pm Eastern (8:00pm 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 of 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 reached its ratings peak in 2006.

Elements

Real time

File:24 split clock screenshot.jpg

An example of a 24 split-screen with the running clock

24 is a thriller that purports to be shown in "real-time", with each minute of airtime corresponding to a minute in the lives of the characters. This real-time nature is emphasized by an on-screen digital clock appearing from time to time—this corresponds roughly to the minute of the broadcast hour, factoring in commercials.

The action switches between different locations as it cuts between the parallel adventures of different characters involved in the same overall plot. The result is long sections of unseen narrative for each character. A main character might only be seen for a quarter of an episode's overall running time. The notice preceding each episode announcing that "events occur in real time" was abandoned as of the 4th episode (03:00am - 04:00am) of Season 1, though it was factored into the premieres of Seasons 2 and 3 as well. For Season 4 and 5, however, there is no such notice.

Storytelling and visual style

24 employs fast-paced and complex plots. Characters, even the most popular ones, are killed seemingly at random, keeping audiences forever on edge. Jack Bauer can be absolutely ruthless, freely killing, maiming and torturing in pursuit of his goals, making him one of the darkest leading men in TV history. Nonetheless, Bauer's compassion remains a prominent character trait throughout. In addition to its thriller aspects, the show is notable for humanizing its characters by following their office politics and family problems.

A recurring theme of 24 has characters faced with the decision of whether or not to let something tragic happen for the sake of a greater good. In Season 2, a member of the presidential staff has the chance to warn CTU of an imminent attack on their building, but believes that doing so would put the culprits on alert and thus cause a valuable trail to go cold. A similar situation occurs prior to an attack on a shopping mall in Season 5. In Season 3, the President and CTU agents must choose between the life of a high-ranking CTU official and the imminent threat of further attacks. Season 4 is notable for a scene in which two men — one of whom possesses crucial information — lay dying in an emergency room, creating the ethical dilemma of whom to save. In addition, the sitting President often has to deal with a similar quandary.

Early on, the series frequently used split-screen action to follow multiple plots, although in later seasons this was scaled back somewhat and confined mostly to shots leading into and out of commercial breaks. The lighting of the show tends to be naturalistic to the point of being sometimes unflattering, with scenes set indoors typically looking rather dark and scenes outside often using harsh sunlight.

24 in other media

More recently, stories taking place within the universe of 24 have been told outside of the TV series, such as comics, novels, a video game, and a movie in 2007/2008.

24: The Game

Main article: 24: The Game

24: The Game is a video game based on the TV series. The game is exclusive to Sony's PlayStation 2 console and was developed by Sony Computer Entertainment's Cambridge Studios, and was published by 2K Games. Taking place between seasons two and three, 24: The Game features most major actors from those two seasons. This first foray into console gaming also serves to bridge the large gap between the second and third seasons.

Comics

Three graphic novels have been released by IDW Publishing taking place at different time periods within the show. The first, 24: One Shot, attempted to emulate the real-time nature of the show. It was followed by 24 Stories and 24: Midnight Sun, which did not emulate the real-time nature of the show. All three now feature in one book released by Titan Books simply known as 24. A six-part mini-series titled 24: Nightfall will be released starting in November 2006

Books

24: The House Special Subcommittee's Findings at CTU written by Marc Cerasini, was a guide to the first season, as written by an in-universe journalist by the same name. The book contained Jack Bauer's grand jury testimony as well as character profiles and autopsy reports.

An unofficial guide to Season 2 of 24 was released in the UK in 2003, written by Mark Wright.

Three paperback novels have also been published by Harper Entertainment under the title 24: Declassified. They are:

• Operation Hell Gate by Marc Cerasini, released in the fall of 2005
• Veto Power was written by John Whitman, released in the fall of 2005
• Trojan Horse also written by Marc Cerasini, released February 2006
• Cat's Claw was expected to be released summer of 2006, but was delayed to January 2007. Written by John Whitman.
• Vanishing Point will be written by Marc Cerasini and is planned for a March 2007. release.[3]

In September 2006,"24: The Official Companion Guide" covering Seasons 1 and 2 was released in the US & UK. In early 2007, "24: The Official Companion Guide" covering Seasons 3 and 4 will be released in the US and UK.

"24": Behind the Scenes - a book featuring behind the scenes photographs and pictures will be released on the 1st November 2006.

24: The Movie

Main article: 24: The Movie

Kiefer Sutherland has confirmed that 24: The Movie is in the pipeline, and the show's creators have already started working on the script. The film would be a two-hour representation of a 24-hour day. On 29 May 2006, on the Chris Moyles radio show on BBC Radio 1, Kiefer announced that the shooting of the film will begin on 30 May 2007 (between Seasons 6 and 7), and it is expected to be released between Seasons 7 and 8 in the summer of 2008. In an interview with the Chicago Sun-Times, Kiefer confessed, "Anytime [the production team] got really close to having a great idea for having a film, we needed it for episode 18," meaning that formulating ideas for a film version of the show has been made difficult by the need to employ those ideas in the television show first. The movie became official on June 8.

Mobile

Main article: 24: Conspiracy

24: Conspiracy is a low budget, mobile-only spin-off of 24 set in Washington, D.C. It spans 24 one-minute episodes and takes place during Day 4, as indicated by a reference to the Heller kidnapping happening that day. It does not take place in real time.

Soundtracks

Main article: 24: The Soundtrack

Various soundtracks have been created for the show, and its properties. The most notable is 24: The Soundtrack which contains nineteen tracks of music composed exclusively for the first three seasons by producer Sean Callery, including the show's full theme song which, prior to the soundtrack's release, had never been aired. A second soundtrack is to be released 13th November In the UK with music from seasons 4 and 5. [4]

Action figures

Medicom, a Japanese toy manufacturer, has produced two twelve-inch action figures of Jack Bauer as he appears in Season 4, one with his shirt and vest for field missions and other with suit and tie, as he is on season premiere. Both versions come with cell phone and a hand gun. For 2007, is scheulded to launch another version, now as Jack Bauer appears in Season 5 with short hair, wearing his suburbian shirt, jeans and coach. The new version comes with his hand gun, PDA, a recorder and a shoulder satchel. [5]

Behind-the-scenes information

General trivia

• The original concept for the series was a romantic comedy that depicted a wedding in real-time, but it was scrapped in favor of the action/drama/thriller idea.
• Completing an entire season, including pre- and post-production work, takes ten and a half months.
• The popular political drama The West Wing makes a reference to CTU, in the Season 4 episode "Debate Camp", with the following exchange in a conference call. "Sir, it's Ken, on your order we'll put CTU on high-alert." To which President Bartlet replies "You have the order."
• Dennis Haysbert provided the voice for Colonel Irving Lambert in Ubisoft's game Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow. Lambert is the boss of Third Echelon agent Sam Fisher who, much like Jack Bauer, must do whatever he can to protect the interests and citizens of the United States.
• Six actors in 24 have portrayed Secret Service Agents in movies: Kiefer Sutherland in The Sentinel, Roger Cross in X2, both Xander Berkeley and Glenn Morshower in Air Force One, Jude Ciccolella in Head of State and Dennis Haysbert in Absolute Power.
• In Season 5, most of the actors have worked together already. Peter Weller (Henderson), Ray Wise (Vice President Hal Gardner) and Paul McCrane (Graham) all starred together in Robocop (1987). Mary-Lynn Rajskub (Chloe O'Brian) and Jean Smart (Martha Logan) both starred in Sweet Home Alabama. None of these actors were onscreen together on 24.
• According to 24: The Game, Chase Edmunds and Kim Bauer first met when Chase, working undercover, assisted the escape of a terrorist from CTU Los Angeles, with Kim as his hostage. Interestingly enough, Chase meets Jack a few hours later while Jack tries to rescue Kim and works with him for the remainder of the day.
• While in all seasons there are always American villains acting as moles, mercenaries, traitors and conspirators, such as Marie Warner, Joseph Wald, Peter Kingsley, Walt Cummings(to some extent) and Marianne Taylor, it seems that the nationality of the terrorists alternate each season. In seasons 1, 3 and 5 there are European terrorists (The Drazens, Stephen Saunders and Vladimir Bierko, respectively), while in seasons 2 and 4 there are Middle Eastern terrorists (Syed Ali and Habib Marwan, respectively). Season 6 will also feature Middle Eastern terrorists. Exceptions are Max (Germany, Season 2) and the Salazars (Mexico, Season 3).
• All cast members are required to have their hair trimmed every five days.

• During seasons 1–3, Tony Almeida had a Chicago Cubs coffee mug on his desk and in Seasons 4 and 5, it reappeared at his home. Tony was born in Chicago, as was Carlos Bernard. When shooting the bomb attack in Season 2, it was decided that the mug was not going to survive the attack. Bernard tossed the mug into the air, expecting it to shatter on impact, but it became caught on a camera wire and survived. After the mug was retrieved, it was decided to be indestructible and remained on the set. Fans have christened this mug "Cubby." Curiously, the Cubs play on the north side of Chicago; according to the Declassified novel Operation Hell Gate, Tony is from the south side, where the Chicago White Sox play. However, it is unknown if the books are considered canon, so Tony may or may not actually be from the south side.
• Shots of a satellite in space in the pilot episode were taken from the movie Enemy of the State.
• A scene from the pilot episode depicting a Boeing 747 exploding was re-edited for broadcast, with the image of the plane exploding removed, in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States, which had occurred less than two months earlier. However, a flash of light and pieces of burning debris are still visible.
• Xander Berkeley and Sarah Clarke were married after meeting on set during season one. They kept their relationship a secret from the producers and castmates for a while.
• There are three members of the 24 cast who were in the 1989 movie, The Fabulous Baker Boys. Xander Berkeley (Seasons 1, 2), Albert Hall (Season 3), and Gregory Itzin (Seasons 4, 5).
• At the power plant, before Palmer's breakfast speech in Season 1, Jack runs into old friend and Palmer staffer, Jessica Abrams. In conversation, she refers to mutual old friend Tracy Zigler who had erroneously reported that Jack and Teri had divorced. Both characters were named after members of the production crew; Jessica Abrams was the script coordinator and Tracy Zigler was the script supervisor.
• Provisions have had to be made in the script for the real life injuries of cast members, due to the real-time format. For instance, Kiefer Sutherland fell out of his on-set trailer early in Season 2, so a scene had to be written in where he removes a piece of shrapnel from his leg after surviving a plane crash. This explains the limp he had for a few episodes. Carlos Bernard also injured himself on set, breaking his ankle whilst playing basketball in a break in filming. A scene was then filmed that featured Jack breaking Tony's ankle during an escape from CTU.
• As an April Fool's joke on the crew, producer/director Jon Cassar revealed this fake ending to Day 2: Palmer's press conference ends and he goes down to his limo. He gets in successfully and rides off. After a while, we find out that someone is sitting next to him – Nina Myers: Palmer was in on the whole plot. The scene shifts to the desert, and the camera closes in on a parachute, then pans over to reveal George Mason, who jumped out of the plane before the bomb exploded. This joke was revealed in the Season 2 DVD special features.
• In the third season, a website address, sylviaimports.com, is given to President Palmer by Saunders, who wants Palmer to use it to send him a list of active undercover agents of the United States. The website, registered by Rodney Charters (director of photography), leads to a "Thank you" note from the crew of 24.
• Of the significant characters introduced in Day One, nine remain alive: Jack Bauer, Kim Bauer, Mike Novick, Aaron Pierce, Milo Pressman, Rick Allen, Keith Palmer, Nicole Palmer, and Mandy. Of these, only Jack Bauer and Aaron Pierce have appeared in every season of the show.
• According to an article at BBC News [6], Variety and Hollywood Reporter claim that Kiefer has signed up for a further three seasons.
• In Season 5 Episode 20, the flight Jack boards to get the recording is Flight 520, the same number of the episode.
• In the final episode of Season 5, Bill Buchanan gives a folded photo to Chloe after clearing out Edgar's locker. On the back side of the photo there are a bunch of scribbles, in those scribbles is the sentence "Jack is dead" written backwards (possibly regarding to Jack's faked death at the end of Season 4).
• The Punisher (Frank Castle) according to the 2004 film, also worked at CTU. The actual agent Castle (who died in Season 4) could possibly be an inside joke.
• Kiefer Sutherland is the only actor to appear in every episode of the series.
• Although the writers changed their plans on Chase Edmunds's fate, they had a deleted scene planned in which Chase gets killed while he was having his hand re-attached in the hospital.
• This is a second time in which a character played by Dennis Haysbert was given the 21-gun salute. The first one was in the 1990 movie Navy SEALs.
• With the exception of portions of Season 1, Jack Bauer and other CTU agents are seen using only Sprint (later Sprint/Nextel) phones, though phone models have varied during the course of each "day". In the season 1 cliffhanger, before the 2004 Sprint/Nextel merger occurred, Jack is using a Motorola Nextel phone to call his wife from the docks before she is murdered.
• In Season One, Episode 8, after Nina attempts to place a call to Jamie to apprise her of the situation after Jack had taken her hostage and shot her, in the right of the screen you can see a cameraman filming for several seconds.
• Generally, when the time is shown counting down as the show goes to commercial or ends, the ticks of the digital clock can be heard counting down. However, to emphasize particularly dramatic moments as the scene fades, a "silent countdown" was used on five occasions in the first five seasons. In Season One, on the very last scene of the season where Jack finds Terri dead, there is a silent countdown. In Season Two, when George Mason leaves CTU for the last time, there is a silent countdown (although he would come back to save Jack's life by taking over flying the nuclear bomb into the desert). David Palmer technically given one at the end of Season 2 after the toxin is placed on his hand creating the illusion that he might be dead; we just hear Palmer breathe. In Season Three, there is a silent countdown following Ryan Chapelle's death. There was no silent countdown in Season Four. In Season Five, there was a silent countdown on the fade to black immediately following Edgar Stiles' death. However, this fact upset some fans, as Tony Almieda (Carlos Bernard) did not get a silent clock when he was killed; while Edgar was just in the show in seasons 4 and 5, Tony was in every season.
• Many actors that appear(ed) on 24 are also appearing on The Unit on CBS such as Dennis Haysbert (President David Palmer), Michael O'Neil (Richard Walsh), Tzi Ma (Cheng Zhi-Chinese Consulate), and Regina King (Sandra Palmer)
• In the very first episode of 24, towards the very end, there are bytes of two original songs from the original movie soundtrack for the movie The Insider.
• Jane Espenson, Audrey's alias when calling Henderson's secretary in the Season Five 4pm episode, is a real person, best known for her writing on the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. David Fury, who is a Co-Executive Producer on 24, also worked with Espenson on Buffy and slipped her name in as an in-joke.
• Nearly all of the CTU operatives use Dell computers and monitors, with the exception of Chloe O'Brian, who has an HP monitor.

Cameo appearances

• Senator John McCain (R-AZ) makes a cameo appearance in the "1:00 PM to 2:00 PM" episode of Season 5. He has a non-speaking role as an unidentified bureaucrat who delivers a file folder to Audrey Raines (Kim Raver), and can be seen in the "split screen" for about six seconds beginning at 1:32:22.
• NASCAR driver Carl Edwards made a cameo appearance with a small speaking part in the "10:00 PM to 11:00 PM" episode of Season 5 which was broadcast on April 3, 2006. [7]

Fan Phone

In the fifth episode of the fourth season, Debbie's cell phone rang with a valid California phone number on the caller ID. Many fans noticed this and began calling the number as soon as the episode concluded. Some received a voice mail message telling them that they called the 24 prop phone and to leave a message. Others talked to live people, including Production Designer Joseph Hodges. Others spoke to stars Kim Raver (Audrey Raines) and Carlos Bernard (Tony Almeida). Hodges later admitted in an interview that director Jon Cassar came up with the idea for the "Fan Phone" because the two of them often got bored scouting new shooting locations and wanted a chance to interact with the audience. Hodges further stated that they received around 80,000 calls on the line during the first week alone.

The Fan Phone number has been spotted elsewhere:

• Debbie's cell phone displays the number after she is killed in Day 4.
• Jack Bauer gives the number during the recovery of the Air Force One "Football" where he told his cell phone number to two civilian campers.
• In Day 5, it was shown in the 18th episode (Midnight–1:00am) as Martha Logan's cell phone number.
• Spotted on the back of a picture of Edgar and Chloe during the season finale of the Day 5.

In both Days 4 and 5, the Fan Phone number is 310-597-3781. The phone number to this day still works. Callers are directed to a Nextel voicemail box if no one answers. The voicemail states:

• Nextel Operator: The mailbox belonging to
• Voice of unknown male: Nextel phone for 24
• Nextel operator: is full. It cannot accept any more messages. Please try again later. Goodbye.

As of December 2006, The phone is still active and accepting messages, although the mailbox is often full. The cast and crew are currently shooting episodes for season 6.

DVD Releases

24's DVD releases had a significant impact in the television series' life. In an interview with IGN in 2002, Sutherland revealed, "Its success in England was phenomenal. It was the biggest show the BBC has ever had. It was the number one DVD there; knocked 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 sales of the first season DVD had a growth on the show's viewers on the second season, up to 25% .

On September 5, 2006 tvshowsondvd.com

DVD Name	Release dates
	Region 1	Region 2	Region 4
The Complete 1st Season	September 17, 2002	October 14, 2002	December 2002
The Complete 2nd Season	September 9, 2003	August 11, 2003	September 2003
The Complete 3rd Season	December 7, 2004	August 9, 2004	September 2004
The Complete 4th Season	December 6, 2005	August 8, 2005	November 2005
The Complete 5th Season	December 5, 2006	November 6, 2006	December 6, 2006
The Complete 6th Season	December 4, 2007
24: Behind The Scenes - The Editing Process [8]	TBA	December 4, 2006	TBA
24 - Season 6 Premiere (first 4 episodes of Season Six and the first 12 minutes of episode 5) [9]	January 16, 2007	TBA	TBA

International broadcasters

Country	Alternate title/Translation	TV Network(s)	Series Premiere	Weekly Schedule
United States		Fox Broadcasting Company	November 6 2001
Canada		Global Television Network	November 6 2001
	24 heures chrono ("24 hours stopwatch"/"24-hour countdown")	Télé-Québec (French version)		Tuesday 9:00pm repeat Saturday 10:30pm
Argentina		Telefé and FOX (cable)	March 4 2002
Australia		Seven Network and FOX8	August 8 2002
Austria		ORF and ATV	September 2 2003
Asia		AXN
Belgium		Kanaal2
Brazil	24 Horas ("24 Hours")	Canal Fox and Rede Globo	March 1 2002
Bulgaria		BTV	January 10 2002
Colombia		Canal Caracol and FOX (cable)
Chile		Canal Fox , RedTV and Mega
Croatia		HRT
Czech Republic	24 hodin ("24 Hours")	TV NOVA
Denmark	24 timer ("24 Hours")	TV2 and TV2 Zulu	February 3 2002
Faroes		SvF
Finland		MTV3	October 13 2002
France	24 heures chrono ("24 hours stopwatch"/"24-hour countdown")	Canal+, TF1 and TF6	September 14 2002
Germany	24 - Twenty Four	RTL II	September 2 2003
Greece		ANT1 Television
Hong Kong		TVB Pearl
Hungary	24 - Huszonnégy	MTV (Hungarian television) and "Cool" channels	December 2 2002
Iceland		Stöð 2	January 17 2002
India		AXN
Ireland		RTÉ Two
Israel	שעות 24	Israel 10 (formerly Channel 10) and Extra HOT	March 24 2003
Italy		Rete 4 and FOX (pay TV)
Japan		Fuji TV and Fox Japan (List of 24 Japan voice actors)
Kenya		Kenya Television Network
South Korea		AXN and MBC (List of 24 Korea voice actors)
Malaysia		8TV
Mexico		Canal Fox	July 21 2005
Netherlands		RTL 5 (New episodes) and RTL 7 (Rerun's)	September 3 2002	1 eps. each Saturday
New Zealand		TV3 and Sky 1 (Repeats)
Norway		TV2	June 30 2002
Pakistan		Showtime Arabia's TV Land and TV Land +2 and on AXN (cable)
Panama		TVMax Template:Es icon and Canal Fox Template:En icon (cable-subtitled)
Peru		channel 2
Philippines		RPN-9, ABS-CBN Template:Tlicon, Studio 23 and AXN (Cable)
Poland	Przez 24 godziny ("In 24 Hours")	Canal+/Polsat	September 7 2003 Polsat
Portugal		2: and FOX
Saudi Arabia and Arab World		Showtime Arabia, Tv Land, Tv Land +2 (Subtitled), MBC 4 and Alrai TV
Serbia		Pink
Singapore		Mediacorp TV Channel 5		Saturday 5pm
Slovakia	24	Slovak Television
South Africa		M-Net
Spain		FOX and Antena 3	March 24 2003
Sweden		TV4	September 22 2002
Switzerland		German speaking region: SF2 and French speaking region: Télévision Suisse Romande	March 6 2003
Taiwan	24反恐任務（） ("24 hours of an anti-terrorism mission")	Videoland MAX-TV
Turkey		CNBC-e	September 15 2002
United Arab Emirates		MBC 4
United Kingdom		BBC Two (first run) and BBC Three (re-runs) (seasons 1-2) Sky One (first run) and Sky Three (repeats) (seasons 3-onwards)	March 3 2002	Sundays 9pm
Venezuela		RCTV (Season 1) and FOX (cable)

References

• "Inside Move: Phone number has a familiar ring". Variety. Retrieved January 19. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
• "Mention of 24 movie in interview with Joel Surnow and Howard Gordon". The Rush Limbaugh Radio Show.

External links

• Fox 24 website, official message board and recaps
• Wiki 24 - A highly detailed 24 wiki

Unexpected use of template {{24}} - see Template:24 for details.