24

24 is an Emmy Award and Golden Globe-winning hour-long serial drama series produced by the Fox Network. It was created by Joel Surnow and Robert Cochran and premiered in the United States on November 6, 2001. The series will conclude on May 24, 2010, following the airing of the eighth season finale.

The show, starring Kiefer Sutherland as Jack Bauer, focuses on the events of the fictional Counter Terrorist Unit in Los Angeles, and in its seventh season, the FBI in Washington, D.C.. In order to present a suspenseful real-time narrative, each episode typically follows not only Bauer and CTU/FBI, but a group in the U.S. government, the terrorists or conspirators behind the day's events, and one or more civilian families. One of the series' directorial trademarks is the frequent use of the split screen.

24 concluded airing its sixth season on May 21st, 2007, and was shortly thereafter renewed for an additional two seasons. The seventh season was set to premiere on January 13, 2008. However, due to delays in production and a strike by the Writers' Guild of America, the premiere of Season 7 was postponed until the strike could be resolved. A television movie entitled 24: Redemption aired on November 23, 2008, serving as a prequel to Season 7. The premiere of Season 7 finally aired on January 11, 2009. Season 8 premiered a year later, on January 17 2010.

Season 1
Season 1 starts and ends at midnight on the day of the California Presidential Primary. The plot is that Serbian terrorists are plotting to assassinate a presidential candidate, David Palmer, while Jack Bauer's wife and daughter have been targeted by the Serbian individuals unknown to Jack. Jack suspects that people that he works with in CTU may have been involved in both, and works simultaneously at defending Palmer from attack while unraveling the situation behind the capture of his wife and daughter. Palmer also must defend his own son from allegations of murder. Read more on Season 1....

Season 2
Season 2 starts and ends at 8:00am, set about 18 months after Day 1. The two main plots of the season are stopping a nuclear weapon from detonating inside Los Angeles and preventing a war between the United States and several Middle Eastern countries, which would benefit European and American businessmen (led by Peter Kingsley, Alexander Trepkos, and Max) who orchestrated the day's events.

Subplots include Kim Bauer running away with a child from an abusive step-father, Kate Warner suspecting that her sister's Middle Eastern fiancé is a terrorist, President Palmer attempting to find a traitor in his administration and George Mason dying of radiation poisoning. Read more on Season 2....

Season 3
Season 3 starts and ends at 1:00pm. The main plot of the series involves orchestrating a complex sting operation in order to stop the selling of a deadly virus to the open market. This attempt ultimately fails, which leads to trying to prevent the spread of the virus in Los Angeles by a British terrorist mastermind.

Subplots include President Palmer being blackmailed by a major supporter of his party, Jack Bauer's drug addiction as well as his reaction to a relationship between Kim Bauer and Chase Edmunds and Tony Almeida's conflict between his job and the woman he loves. Read more on Season 3....



Season 4
Season 4 starts and ends at 7:00am. There are several main plots including the kidnapping of the Secretary of Defense and his daughter, the attempted meltdown of several nuclear power plants, the destruction of Air Force One and a nuclear weapon heading towards Los Angeles, all masterminded by a Turkish terrorist. At the end of this season, Jack Bauer is forced to stage his own death and start a new life. Read more on Season 4....

Season 5
Season 5 starts and ends at 7:00am with the assassination of David Palmer and Michelle Dessler, with Tony Almeida and Chloe O'Brian also targeted. Jack Bauer is forced to come back to CTU after his presumed death to fight Russian terrorists and, ultimately, his own government. Read more on Season 5....

Season 6
Season 6 starts and ends at 6:00am. After many negotiations and concessions by President Wayne Palmer, the Chinese return Jack Bauer to the United States so that he can be surrendered to terrorist Abu Fayed, who is attempting to have rival Hamri al-Assad taken out by falsely accusing his cell of being responsible for numerous terrorist attacks over the previous 11 weeks. Upon discovering the truth, Jack manages to escape and, with the help of Assad (who actually intends to renounce terrorism and broker a peace with the United States) is leading the hunt for Fayed. Jack's assignment involves thwarting Fayed, securing several suitcase nukes, stopping a Russian arms dealer responsible for helping Fayed and bringing a Chinese government agent, along with an American industralist (who happens to be Jack's father) to justice in order to avert a full-scale nuclear conflict. Read more on Season 6….

Season 7


Season 7 starts and ends at 8:00am. Four years have passed since Day 6 and Jack Bauer is on trial in Washington DC for his supposed past crimes whilst working for the now-disbanded Counter Terrorist Unit. Jack's day takes an unexpected turn when supposedly dead former colleague Tony Almeida returns. Meanwhile, newly elected President Allison Taylor leads the country through difficult times alongside White House Chief of Staff Ethan Kanin. First Gentleman Henry Taylor also provides assistance, but he pursues a goal of his own regarding his son's alleged suicide. A national security crisis prompts an investigation by a team of FBI agents including Janis Gold, Renee Walker, Larry Moss and Sean Hillinger.

Season 7 was set to premiere on January 13, 2008 with two episodes, and an additional episode on January 14. On November 6, 2007, FOX announced that due to the WGA strike, the season was to be postponed indefinitely until production could resume so that the show could continue its tradition of airing all 24 episodes without breaks. Because of the delay, Season 7 is the first to have all episodes completed before it begins airing. The long-awaited two-night four-hour season premiere aired on Sunday, January 11 and Monday, January 12, 2009. Read more on Season 7...

To account for the long wait before the premiere of the season, a two-hour prequel was produced, set in Africa, entitled 24: Redemption. It aired on Sunday, November 23, 2008.

Season 8
Season 8 begins and ends at 4:00pm. The first trailer called "Survive" was posted on the fox.com website on October 28, 2009. It takes place in New York City and Jack Bauer is alive and well. He is officially retired and wants to move to Los Angeles with his daughter and granddaughter. Plans change when an informant provides information that an assassin plans to kill the Islamic Republic of Kamistan President Omar Hassan at a peace agreement between him and President Allison Taylor. Jack is forced to go back to the newly established CTU and begins what it is going to be another bad day.

Series conclusion
In the afternoon of 26 March 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.

Peter Rice, Chairman of Entertainment at Fox Networks Group said that "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”. 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.

Feature film
Plans to continue the show on in feature film form are now being explored, with Billy Ray having written the screenplay, and plans for shooting to commence in late 2010 or early 2011.

Series creators Joel Surnow and Robert Cochran, current showrunner Howard Gordon, and star Kiefer Sutherland are attached to produce. The film is expected to enter production in 2011.

Awards

 * Main article: 24's awards and honors

24 has been honored with numerous award nominations, particularly technical awards (such as editing, directing, and sound). The following is a selected list of awards the show has won.


 * 2002
 * Golden Globes - Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series (Drama) - Kiefer Sutherland
 * Emmy Awards - Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series (for episode "Day 1: 12:00am-1:00am")


 * 2003
 * Emmy Awards - Outstanding Music Composition for a Series (Dramatic Underscore) - Sean Callery
 * Golden Globes - Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series (Drama) - Kiefer Sutherland


 * 2004
 * Golden Globes - Best Television Series (Drama)
 * Screen Actors Guild Awards - Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series - Kiefer Sutherland


 * 2006
 * Emmy Awards - Outstanding Drama Series
 * Emmy Awards - Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series - Kiefer Sutherland
 * Emmy Awards - Outstanding Directing in a Drama Series - Jon Cassar (for episode "Day 5: 7:00am-8:00am")
 * Emmy Awards - Outstanding Music Composition for a Series (Dramatic Underscore) - Sean Callery
 * Emmy Awards - Outstanding Single Camera Picture Editing for a Drama Series - David Latham (for episode "Day 5: 7:00am-8:00am")
 * Screen Actors Guild Awards - Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series - Kiefer Sutherland


 * 2007
 * Emmy Awards - Outstanding Sound Editing for a Series (for episode "Day 6: 10:00pm-11:00pm")


 * 2009
 * Emmy Awards - Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series - Cherry Jones
 * EMA Green Seal Award for "rigorous standards designed to promote sustainable practices in the entertainment industry"

Series

 * Pure 24 (2003) was a talk-show-format series that aired on the BBC after each episode of season 2. It featured audience discussion, previews, contests, and interviews with the cast and crew.
 * 24 Inside is an ongoing talk-show-format webcast consisting of interviews the cast and crew of the show.
 * 24: Conspiracy was a spin-off series of one-minute mobisodes, taking place during Season 4.
 * The Rookie is a series of short webisodes sponsored by Degree.
 * Day Zero was an animated web spin-off set before the first series.
 * 24: Dossier was a tie-in with the premiere of Season 7 relating to the disbandment of CTU.
 * Internet media include websites and podcasts (regularly updated audio files where fans review the show).

Specials

 * See also: DVD special features...


 * 24 Heaven (2002) was a special aired on the BBC after the first season ended in the U.K.
 * 24: The Postmortem (2002) was a special aired on the BBC after the first season ended in the U.K.
 * 24: Access All Areas (2003) was a special aired on the BBC. Host Natalie Casey visits the major Los Angeles filming locations for season 2.



Books and comics

 * There are five graphic novels.
 * There are fifteen reference books.
 * There are several novels based on the series, collected in the 24: Declassified series. There is also one book set after the events of Day 1.

Other media

 * 24: The Game is an official Playstation 2 game set between Days 2 and 3.
 * There are four soundtracks, and several featuring remixes of the theme tune.
 * All seven seasons, as well as 24: Redemption, have been released on DVD, and Season 7 has also been released on Blu-ray Disc. The first two seasons were released on VHS in the United Kingdom.

Background information and notes

 * All 24 cast members are required to have their hair trimmed every 5 days.