Reviews by Matt

I recently started re-watching “24.” This is for a few reasons, one because the new season starts in January and it has been a while since I watched the old seasons. The television movie will air in about 2 weeks. The other is because over a year ago I began a quest to watch every DVD I own and those will go a long way in finishing my adventure. This has gotten me thinking about the precedent that this show has set.

When it was first aired in 2001, the premise was nothing like television had ever seen. The show followed counter-terrorist agent Jack Bauer over one whole day in his life. He and the rest of CTU are trying to figure out who is trying to assassinate David Palmer, a presidential candidate who eventually went on to win the election. Those behind the assassination attempt kidnap Bauer’s wife and daughter in order to get him to do what they want.

The show became a hit as millions tuned in weekly to see if and how Jack would ultimately prevail. There is more the show can claim than huge ratings. It is the reason we have shows like “Lost,” “Heroes,” and all the other shows that require weekly viewing. My love of shows like “Lost” and “Heroes” is well known and that can all be traced back to “24.”

Even at its worst, the show is still better most. I have not been the biggest fan of the past 2 seasons, but there is something that keeps me watching.

In season two Jack’s daughter Kim had an almost un-watchable story, at one point she gets stalked by a cougar, but the main story of the nuclear bomb threat was enough to make up for it. Season three again suffered from a forced Kim storyline. The last season had so much internal backstabbing in the White House that it weakened the rest of the season.

So why do I still love this show? Where “Lost” and “Heroes” are full of questions and theories, “24” does not. It relies on suspense, action, and Jack Bauer doing what it takes to do his job to keep the viewer coming back.

Last year’s writer’s strike resulted in no news season. The network said that they did not want to air a partial season. It was all or nothing. The strike lasted long enough to keep the show out of production.

The father of serial television returns with “24: Redemption” on Nov. 23. This will do something never done in “24” history; abandon the 24 hour time format. It will be the prequel to the events that will occur on Jan. 11 when the seventh season of “24” begins. From what I have seen from the trailer of the movie, I am not expecting much. The trailer for the season though looks awesome and it looks like the show is back in true form.

Stay tuned. I will be reviewing both the movie and the new season in the near future and be sure to check out the trailers for "24:Redemption" and season seven which i have added below