Nine years ago, during the 2001 World Series (that had to take place in November due to the world stopping on September 11) FOX began advertising their new drama 24.Every commercial featured a scene with Kiefer Sutherland (Jack Bauer) yelling, "WHO DO YOU WORK FOR!?" to a seated Sarah Clarke (Nina Myers). I was interested.
Truth be told, I missed the pilot episode - and if my friend hadn't recorded it on VHS for us to watch later I might have never started watching the show... But I did... I watched them all (even after I knew the show was going downhill for good). Oddly, the friend who had recorded the pilot stopped watching - complaining, "The entire show takes place talking into a cell phone." I didn't realize how prophetic that complaint was... Both for the show, and our society.
An announced attempt to break the Guinness World Record for longest television viewing made me wish I lived in Hollywood. It's a tie-in to the show's last season's release on DVD. Even though I hated the last season, and only bought the show's first five seasons, I would've loved to have been one of those diehards watching hour after Jack Bauer hour. Odds are, by how quickly the theater got filled, I wouldn't have had a chance to get in unless Chloe opened up another socket just for me.
It took me longer searching YouTube for a clip to end this post with than the actual writing. But I think I picked a good one. 24 really didn't give much comic relief during the suspense, but when it did - it was awesome.
For the record, I posted that picture of Jack Bauer from the last seconds of Season Four to aid in the following confession: Once I found out the exact sunglasses used in the scene, Serengeti Medium Aviators, I got'em for myself.
