24: Season One

My bed sores are just beginning to heal after a two-day 24 marathon. After boycotting the first month of this show due to Fox’s overpromotion—every…fucking…commercial break during the 2001 MLB playoffs/World Series and NFL game featured at least one, if not more, 24 mention—I picked it up halfway though and watched it till the end. Without a doubt, it’s one of the best shows on TV. Execept for a few wildly lame plot points, namely the temporary amenisia and the highly aggravating letter-opener stabbing scene, the season was flawless. Kiefer Sutherland as Jack Bauer is one of the coolest characters ever put on prime time, and Elisha Cuthbert, who plays his daughter, is beyond hot. Sadly, all this six-disc box set offers is the show, with nothing else. Yeah, there’s an alternate ending and some promo stuff, but I devoted 16 hours to this box set and learned nothing more than I would have from the Labor Day FX marathon. At least they could have added some interviews or commentary to explain how the show shaped up, if they were making it up as it went along, or how they kept it in real time. Anything to justify my muscle atrophy would have sufficed. As TV shows go, 24: Season One is five stars. As DVDs go, it’s perfect for someone who’s never seen it, or for one repeat viewing (over time, of course). But once you know how the show ends, it’s tough to find the time to go back through all 24 episodes more than once to justify it taking up space on your shelf.