24

What a wonderful series this has been! The title may be nondescript and most of the actors--other than Sutherland himself--might be expendable, but high octane interest is always maintained at the same nerve tingling level. The writing is magnificent as is the acting and direction. Jack Bauer is becoming the American James Bond and, given his access to the hi-tech modern world plagued by terrorism rather than cold war politics, he may well eventually supercede the British secret agent in popularity.

The fact that the series takes place in "real time" has been a revelatory innovation. Of course, much of life is "just hanging around" but given 24's premise of only showing eventful days, the action just about manages to stay within the realms of credibility. There is no doubt that the "real time" gives a particular edge to events and the viewer does not get the feeling that the action is being pieced together as in other shows on the network.

One of the greatest successes of 24 has been the quality of the sub plots and human reationship stories intertwined with the main action. It was a sad day for me when Tony Almeida and Michelle Dessler were killed off at the beginning of the 5th season. Having said that, their replacements were out of the same top drawer and the 5th season itself may have been the best so far.

24 has become a television event and has made us all think of new ways that a story can be presented. Even novelists might follow the lead and begin to write "real time" action. Of course, James Joyce did it with "Ulysses", but that was a long time ago. The fact that 24 has cottoned on to the same idea could be the next step in changing our perceptions about how a story should be told.