24 : TwentyFour

[MrPogo]

Time always sped up and slowed down throughout the episodes anyway. I know as a DVD viewer the hour was always compressed into 45 minutes of actual footage, but for every "ten minutes passes in five minutes" - which could be explained by a missing ad break - there was a "three minutes of 24 time lasts ten minutes of real time".

[Sponge]

So, strangely, I have never watched 24. Would you say it's worth watching it knowing that I have a ton of other series and movies still to watch and it's going to take quite long to watch it all? Basically I'm asking, is it (still) really special?

Season one is still going to be worth a watch. Some of the others, less so.

[Chadruharazzeb]

It's well worth a watch if you're into really daft action sagas. I love really daft action sagas so I've started on Strike Back which is like a cross between 24 and Call of Duty.

[Sane]

Alright, guess I'll just start with season 1 and see where I end up.

[Harsin]

Season one is still going to be worth a watch. Some of the others, less so.

The first half of season one in particular, when all they knew was they had 12 episodes and then got the order for the second half and had to scrabble together comedy storylines to fill them in.

[Mr Cochese]

The second half is at least worth it for guest appearances from Lou Diamond Philips, Ivan Zvnlknlkovic, and Dennis Potter.

Also, try to stick it out to the end of Day 3 if you can be bothered.

[DocG]

The first half of season one in particular, when all they knew was they had 12 episodes and then got the order for the second half and had to scrabble together comedy storylines to fill them in.

Yes. The first half-season is very good, really tightly plotted. Then the second half is ropey, then the rest of the show settles into a rhythm which is somewhere between the two. It never gets any better than the first few episodes though.

[Capwn]

I think watching 24 for the first time now just wouldn't do it justice. There was nothing like it at the time. It kept doing risky things for TV that have since been copied many times.

[Chadruharazzeb]

I never saw the first series actually (or "Day 1" as it might be called). Was Jack less of a psychopath in it?

[Paulando]

Watch the odd-numbered seasons! 1 is great, 3 was brill, and 5 was probably my favourite (it had Robocop in it!).

I love 24 but it'd be hard to recommend someone spending 8 days of their life right now to take in everything it had to offer.

[Monkeyboy]

I never saw the first series actually (or "Day 1" as it might be called). Was Jack less of a psychopath in it?

No, he was a psycho from the start.

[Monkeyboy]

So, strangely, I have never watched 24. Would you say it's worth watching it knowing that I have a ton of other series and movies still to watch and it's going to take quite long to watch it all? Basically I'm asking, is it (still) really special?

The first episode of the first season really sets the tone. It's awesome. Plus, it has Mandy. 24 veterans know what I'm talkin' about.

[DarhkFox]

1-3-5-2 are the best . 4 is a bit shit but carries across a main character into the next series. 6 onwards are quite forgettable but I'd say they are all worth a watch really.

[Rudderless]

I'd go as far to say 6 was the only bad season, and that was after a really good start (episode 4 is a belter). 4's not the best but has Mandy and a fantastic bit with Tony. 8 started slowly, but towards the end had a sustained run of terrific episodes, culminating in the assault on Logan's car in the tunnel, which is one of the all-time great Bauer moments.

Having started watching them over again, it's telling how flabby 1 gets in the middle, though it picks up in the last two or three episodes. Season 3's probably the pick of the bunch for me.

[Soulstar]

I finished watching the whole series a few weeks ago which I've been on and off over the last few years. I bloody love it. Some of the series were a bit on the Meh side, but I really enjoyed 7 and 8. The final season really broke Jack down to his limit.

[SqueakyG]

LIke the opposite of Star Trek movies, the odd-numbered seasons of 24 are the best.

I've probably done this breakdown opinion before, but...

S1 - Great start...relatively slow, sensible and well-crafted compared to what came later.

S2 - Not bad, but burdened with a subplot featuring the laughable misadventures of Kim Bauer.

S3 - Awesome! No dud plotlines, amazing shocks. Introduction of Chloe O'Brian.

S4 - Meh... it plods along just fine, but it's the first time 24 feels a bit samey, rehashing the same stuff again.

S5 - Fucking mental. This is the point where 24 became flat-out silly, but it does it with style. Best corrupt president in TV history. And it's quite a Robocop reunion too!

S6 - Quite boring, which is a shame because it deals with Jack's family, but the drama is a dud.

S7 - Kind of a reinvention, with a new location and some new characters. Mostly decent, but not as good as 24's glory days.

S8 - Goes side-by-side with season 7 as "watchable but not awesome any more". Set in (greenscreened) New York.

Interesting note: fourteen years pass between season 1 and season 8! All of those "18 months after season 2" and "3 years after season 5" add up. Not that it matters. 24 is kinda like superhero comics - it takes place in a fantastical time where nobody ages and technology is always 10 years in the future.

[dumpster]

24 is great, but if you want to watch it for the first time now, you need to start at series one, watch it at your own pace, then leave a gap of at least 2 months between each series.

When we watched it unfold, one series each year, it was great. Ploughing through the box-set is unbelievably tedious because it never lets up and doesn't stop.

If you can watch one episode a week, you'll enjoy the cliffhangers and the tension. If you watch 8 series back to back, you'll become numb to it all.

[Bacon Horsemeat]

"Chloe, I need you to hack into the high security mainframe and find out who's behind the bomb attacks."

"How long do I have?"

"We haven't got long, it's 10 minutes before the next bomb goes off"

"OK on it"

"What's taking so long?"

"I'd be faster if you just stopped asking me every 5 seconds Jack"

"DAMMIT CHLOE!"

[mercenarri]

We just finished watching all 8 seasons again. The second time round I found it starts off slow and with each season gets better and better (excluding season 6 which was dire). Season 3 and 8 are my favourite by a long shot.

[Eighthours]

We just finished watching all 8 seasons again. The second time round I found it starts off slow and with each season gets better and better (excluding season 6 which was dire). Season 3 and 8 are my favourite by a long shot.

Then how is season 3 your joint favourite?

[Mr Cochese]

3 has so many amazing "you did not just do that" moments.

[DocG]

Is S3 'I'm gonna need a hacksaw'? Which season is 'it's above the knee, she'll be able to walk'?

[Mr Cochese]

2 and 5.

God, I'm like an encyclopedia of Bauer atrocities. Bauerpedia.

[El Pibe]

Chloe was a twat.

[JohnC]

They've been filming in London.

And Stephen Fry has been revealed to be playing the Prime Minister.

[Gambit]

There's also another shot of Jack Bauer next to a red phone box, just in case you were unsure as to what country they are in.

[Monkeyboy]

Despite the location shooting, I take it we'll be getting lots of shots of Jack running down an alleyway in LA with a green screen of double decker buses, black cabs, and Big Ben in the background?

Mind you, I'm excited. More 24!!

[Gambit]

I miss Tony.

[Kodamarama]

Why is Chloe dressed as some sort of futuristic sex android? It was so much better when she was a clueless autist.

[Hideous Kojima]

Why is Chloe dressed as some sort of futuristic sex android? It was so much better when she was a clueless autist.

Because no autistics have dyed hair and wear black jackets.

Seriously I must commend the writing and her performance; I dunno if it was intentional but she is easily the best portrayal of Asperger's Syndrome I've ever seen.