Do You Like 24?
I recently saw the 2nd 5 hour episode of the new season of 24 which plays 9 times a day back to back to back on the new 24 network formerly known as FOX or some such thing. Part of me expected to actually like the show despite all my nay-saying over the years about how nothing in 24 would appeal to me. Part of me thought that, as it was the case with LOST, I would become an addict.
BUT NO! 24 was everything I thought it would be: a "we're constantly being threatened by terrorists and need to be 'saved' by people like Jack Bauer, poorly acted, cliché laden, obsessed with America, 'we'll get them' voyeurism" show. Sure its tense but that alone does not explain the amount of hysteria over this show.
Example from this past week's episode 2 of 193 straight hours of heart-pounding 24 action...
Jack BauerI'm not afraid of dying.
In China I wasn't afraid of dying, I was afraid of dying for nothing.
Now I know I'm dying for something.
That "something" was intelligence about where a terrorist was hiding out. I laughed out loud when I heard those lines.
So, my question to all of you 24 fans is this... WHY do you love this show so much? It is usually better than this? WHAT is the reason you are so in love with it?
posted by Charlie at 3:01 PM
10 Comments:
Amen brother. With a better antenna setup my TV has now been able to receive the new 24 Network formerly known as FOX. I also thought there were only 24 hours a day and 7 days a week but during a commercial for 24 the producers promised it would be on for 39 hours a day, 8 days a week. The Gregorian calendar has been adjusted to accomodate the new show times.
Also, from the episodes I've seen it's the same old show every year: Jack v. some group of terrorists; someone may or may not be working on the "inside"; Jack at some point is falsely accused of being a mole/traitor/rogue agent/criminal/etc.; some person in authority has to decide whether to zap a whole city, or schoolbus, or airplane, or orphanage with a giant ray gun in order to kill one terrorist with a doomsday weapon; and lastly someone is always having to weigh the ever-at-odds values of civil liberty and national security. Fill in the blanks with new times, new places, and new names (and maybe rearrange the order) and voila you have season 17 of 24. It's the SAME SHOW OVER AND OVER AGAIN PEOPLE. Oh, and in the terrorist handbook it states in Section 1.235.4 subsection A-10 that "all terrorist plots must have a timeframe of exactly 24 hours."
What's even more hilarious are the movie goers who flocked to theaters and spent $36 million to see 24: The Movie known more commonly as The Sentinel.
Thank you for finally having the courage to stand up against the status quo and the majority in society and shout "I Don't Get It." You are the new leader of the anti-24 movement known as 60 for how many seconds I can watch 24 before Kiefer Sutherland makes my eye sockets bleed.
Thank you. Well said my friend. I'm still laughing out loud.
you hit the nail on the head charlie...
it isn't about america always winning. it isn't about the baddest dude taking out the terrorists. it's about exactly what you got when you watched it...comedic value.
you think it's funny what he said about dying? how about the part where he took that guy out by biting him in the neck?? you know jack bauer has already died and come back to life once already? this show is a load of laughs and for that reason, i watch it faithfully every week.
i suppose its secondary value is that it accurately portrays the social/political fears and desires of many americans. that's why all the political talk shows go nuts over it. people love to see their fears and desires played out in drama. that being said, it's good to get a good look at what people are most afraid of, however misplaced that fear may be.
grace and peace
I like this discussion! They say that Barth's Commentary on Romans 'dropped like a bombshell on the theological landscape,' well we seem to have a new revolutionizing phenomenon, though this time it is nothing important, or well-thought-out, no it's just a dumb propagandizing TV show! I have yet to watch it, if nothing else, because I know that each episode lasts 36 hours with no commercials. It appears it only pauses for a football game or two and then picks right back up. In case I was to succumb to the sweet seductions of the TV idols on my new HDTV (my partents bought it for me as an early birthday present, for the Super Bowl!) you two have came along and saved me, thanks Charlie and Kaz, see you tomorrow!
Rusty, bring your HDTV with you so I can see it.
Thanks, Kaz
I've only seen the first couple of episodes of the first season back in the day. It never really appealed to me. And then I read a review of the show in this David Lynch -themed cult magazine called Wrapped in Plastic that totally panned it even on creative grounds (the connection to Lynch is that Kiefer Sutherland was in the Twin Peaks movie called Fire Walk With Me).
And now I have wonderful theological categories for not filling my mind with this blubber, thank you.
I also have never seen Lost, which may get me kicked off this comment section! I'm a late-bloomer to this theology stuff so I've been spending my time trying to catch up! ;)
Peace,
Eric
Despite it being plugged horrendously during the Chicago/Seattle game this past Sunday ("The score is 24-24 ... much like the NEW SEASON OF '24' STARTING TODAY ON FOX!") much to my annoyance, I've never seen an episode of "24."
I think it's kind of like the movie "Little Man." I haven't seen it, but I know without a doubt that I would not like it. ;)
I watched the first season of 24 and was not impressed. Now, many seasons later everyone is telling me how great this show is and that the first season is nothing like the new ones. Well they were right. The first season was bad. The newest season is nothing like it except that it sucks even harder.
i (gulp) agree with you. also, the show sucks.
Count me in the "24 sucks" crowed.
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