OMG GUYS!

AN IMPORTANT 24 QUESTION!

SHOULD WE START THIS REWATCH TOGETHER ON THE SHOW’S 24TH ANNIVERSARY?!?!

OR SHOULD WE DO SOMETHING ELSE REALLY SPECIAL?! 💛🖤 #24Fox
#24YearsOf24

What we do have is that burnished orange Jerry Brunkenhiner sheen that will become something of a mainstay of the show over the next few years #24YearsOf24 #DayOne #HourOne

There’s going to be a lot of things reminding you that the show is in real time, no (obvious) edits or cheats. As we’ve said, 2001, this gimmick is the show’s biggest, most unique selling point. #24YearsOf24 #DayOne #HourOne

Actually, when we join, it’s thirty seconds past - which means that bit where Kiefer has rasped ‘Events occur in real time’ actually counts toward the total amount of clock-ticking in the episode. #24YearsOf24 #DayOne #HourOne

It’s worth pointing out that we’re told that this episode is going to depict events occurring between midnight and 1.00am. Did you spot the difference? There’s only two instances in the entire series where midnight (as opposed to 12am) is part of the narration. #24YearsOf24 #DayOne #HourOne

You don’t need me to tell you that this was the major USP of 24 - there could be no editing, or jumping ahead if a character needed to get on a plane. Even someone making a coffee could eat into valuable screentime. #24YearsOf24 #DayOne #HourOne

‘Events occur in real time’ - and we’re off! Episode 1 is ‘12.00am - 1.00am’: except it’s not, because we’re starting in Kula Lumpur, rather than California, so it’s actually 4.00pm, local time. #24YearsOf24 #DayOne #HourOne

So, in this thread, we’re going to be looking at Day 1 - Episode 1, which first aired November 6th, 2001. It’s the pilot episode of the show, and had been written by Joel Surnow and Robert Cochran and completed in October of the previous year. #24YearsOf24 #DayOne #HourOne

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OK, shall we get into it? We’re going to go through each episode beat by beat, and pick up any moments that we think are of interest. Feel free to fire up your DVD player or streaming platform and play the episodes as we tweet along. In real time, of course. #24YearsOf24 #DayOne #HourOne

It’s lucky that the first season comes out before scrolling on your phone while half watching TV really becomes a thing. #24YearsOf24 #DayOne #HourOne

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So, 24 is a bit of a risk. A single story, told week by week, which would take half a year (longer, with a mid-season hiatus) to tell. From the start, the show demands audience attention. #24YearsOf24 #DayOne #HourOne

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Though why you’d want to is an entirely different conversation. #24YearsOf24 #DayOne #HourOne

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It’s not like ‘story arcs’ weren’t a thing in the 90s. Shows like Buffy had a Big Bad that each episode got closer and closer to. But generally, it was a ‘monster of the week’ show & you could - if you wanted - just tune in on the penultimate episode and play catch up. #24YearsOf24 #DayOne #HourOne

This, clearly, is before the likes of The Sopranos, The Wire, Six Feet Under, etc. #24YearsOf24 #DayOne #HourOne

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But things weren’t that much better in, say, 1999. The general consensus was studios didn’t think that audiences could cope with a show that they literally had to tune in to week after week: audiences, they felt, needed ‘permission’ to drop out for an episode or two. #24YearsOf24 #DayOne #HourOne

For instance, in the current era of streaming, where too often it feels like if you haven’t binged an entire season of a show on the evening it drops, you’re gonna lose the chance of a season two. #24YearsOf24 #DayOne #HourOne

Obviously, TV - and the way of telling stories on TV - changes over time, and what worked five years ago doesn’t necessarily work now. #24YearsOf24 #DayOne #HourOne

What follows is a no doubt very ill-advised trawl through all nine seasons of the show that had more twists, untrustworthy co-workers, and dubious work practices than that summer job you left early because of toxic bosses. #24YearsOf24 #DayOne #HourOne

So, 2025 marks twenty four years since the first episode of #24 aired! #24YearsOf24 #DayOne #HourOne