24

24 is an Emmy and Golden Globe award-winning American television series. Broadcast by Fox Network in the USA and syndicated worldwide, the show first aired on November 6, 2001, with an initial thirteen episodes. In January 2007, 24 was made available online to US viewers through Fox on Demand. It is set in the fictional U.S. government Counter Terrorist Unit (CTU).

24 is presented in real time, with each season depicting a 24-hour period in the life of Jack Bauer, who works with the U.S. Government as it fights threats on her soil. Bauer is often in the field for the fictional Los Angeles Counter Terrorist Unit (CTU) as they try to safeguard the nation from terrorist threats. Based in Los Angeles, the show also follows the actions of other CTU agents, government officials and terrorists associated with the plot.

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. There have been six seasons of 24 produced. On May 15, 2007, it was confirmed that FOX has ordered seventh and eighth seasons, with the seventh planned to begin airing in January 2008. A motion picture based on the show has been written and was scheduled to be filmed in 2007 for a 2008 release but plans for production were put on hold to focus on the TV series.

ELEMENTS

Real Time

24 is a thriller that is shown in "real-time," with each minute of airtime corresponding to a minute in the lives of the characters. Commercial breaks are placed at times when non-essential plot is taking place (i.e. characters driving somewhere will begin when a commercial break starts and arrive at their destination at the end of the commercial break.) This allows for the show to actually occur in real time without compromising action.

Actual show run time without commercials is about 45 minutes, as is typical for hour long television shows on many commercial stations. However, the effect only works if episodes are shown with commercial breaks during the show (which, for example, is uncommon for public television stations in Europe), and then only if these are inserted at the right points in time and have the exact right length, which may not fit in with the normal programming of a commercial station.

Watched continually each season would take approximately 18 hours to finish. This real-time nature is emphasized by an on-screen digital clock appearing before and after commercial breaks, with a distinct beeping noise for each second, alternating between C and D tones. This time corresponds to the in-universe time of the show. The characters will often place time windows (such as the common "within the hour") on certain events such as terrorist threats, thus strongly hinting that the attack/event will occur before the end of the episode.

The action switches between different locations tracing parallel adventures of different characters involved in the same overarching plot. As a result, there may be long sections of unseen narrative for each character; in that case, a character may only be seen for a portion of an episode's overall running time.

Storytelling and Visual Style

24 employs fast-paced and complex plots.

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 Dept. of Defense staffer has the chance to warn CTU of an imminent attack on their building, but argues that doing so would put the culprits on alert and thus cause a valuable trail to go cold. A similar situation occurs in Season 5, when terrorists plan to release a canister of nerve gas inside a busy shopping mall. 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, while Season 4 is notable for a scene in which two men — one of whom possesses crucial information about a nuclear missile strike, and the other is the husband of a major character — lie 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. For example, in Season 6, President Wayne Palmer asks Jack Bauer to sacrifice himself in exchange for the location of a known terrorist.

The first season began and ended at midnight, leading to the situation that the main characters had to go almost two days without sleep. Later seasons have tended to use a less punishing time window, starting in the morning or early afternoon.

For the first two seasons, 24 frequently used split-screen action to follow multiple plots, although from Season 3 onward this was scaled back somewhat and confined mostly to phone conversations and shots leading into and out of commercial breaks.

Counter Terrorist Unit

Counter Terrorist Unit (CTU) is a fictional elite branch of the CIA and similar to the real-life FBI/NYPD Joint Terrorism Task Force and the CIA Counterterrorist Center's Special Activities Division. Its headquarters are in Washington, D.C. with satellite operations in major cities where threats are likely. CTU's primary mission is to disrupt and destroy foreign and domestic terror cells hostile to the United States, as well as protect it from terrorist attacks. With an office in nearly every major city, CTU also has a role in creating security policy and fighting groups of organized crime that fund terrorism. Although CTU is fictional, a similar department, the National Counterterrorism Center, was set up by the government.

CTU offices are run by a Director, also called the Special Agent in Charge, to whom the Director of Field Operations and the Chief of Staff report. Departments within a CTU office include Communications ("Comm"), Logistics, and Tactical ("Field Ops"). Communications and Logistics personnel report directly to the Chief of Staff, whereas Tactical personnel are deployed into Tactical Teams ("Tac Teams") by the Director of Field Operations.

The Los Angeles CTU Field Office houses several areas. The first floor contains the Situation Room, as well as the main communications complex and command center, often referred to as "The Floor." On the second floor is the Director's office and Field Ops office. Situated elsewhere in the building are the Information Technology department (I.T.), an in-house Medical clinic, Meteorology department, several Holding Rooms used for interrogation and confinement, and Tech Rooms, which contain the bulk of the physical computer hardware used by CTU.

The CTU offices within a region report to a Divisional Office, overseen by the Division Director. Divisional offices cover a larger amount of territory in their jurisdiction. Finally, the Divisional office and all other offices report to a District Headquarters, overseen by a Regional Director. This title implies that each District Headquarters has jurisdiction over an entire region of the United States. However, in Season 1, the reverse was implied: the District Director, George Mason, reported to District Manager Richard Walsh (who was killed in the second episode), and then Ryan Chappelle, the Regional Director from Division. However, in the Season 2 finale, Chappelle referred to a Mr. Vaughn, the District Director, as his superior.

CTU often suffers setbacks for the sake of plot. Despite the high-profile and high-risk nature of its duties, it is frequently infiltrated by double agents, and several times has been attacked or seized by terrorist forces.

According to recent rumors about the upcoming seventh season, which takes place three years after the events of season six, CTU has been disbanded by the government. The season will take place in New York and Washington.

**wikipedia.org