When I hear that countdown timer sound.... - deet deet det deeet deeet .....
Ah, yes. My guilty pleasure is Fox's wildly successful, white-knuckle, heart-attack series '24' starring K. Sutherland.
My friend Corey and I would watch it after several shows are stored up on his TIVO, but now I have a bunch of people coming over to join my 'drug habit' of 24.
I had to think about a top 10 list of why I loved the show so much.
#1: Jack is a stud. You don't mess with him and he does WHATEVER IT TAKES. Bite ya and do the Hannibal gig, or shoot a colleague to keep the mission going. Yet under all this machismo, there is a nobility about him that questions his own morality and understand the need of sacrifice.
#2 Interesting characters. You have characters on the show that touches every emotion. Hatred, love, exasperation, admiration. There's one episode when my friend and I went, "That crazy dog of a woman died! FINALLY!"
#3 Every hour is No-Doz dropped into a can of mountain dew. One friend described it as, "I can't go to bed after the show." Intense.
#4 Nothing is untouchable - except Jack (but we know that because his contract is renewed. Presidents have been killed, nice couples blown up, even Frodo's best friend Sam died in a gas cloud. Yes, there's no Bobby Ewing dreams here - you're dead. No contract renewals. No explanation. You're gone. Buh-bye!
#5 The show reflects society's desire for moral clarity and a deep need for heroes.
#6 Great original formula. Finally, a bunch of writers who wrote a soap opera for men. Each episode links to the next and you watch two episodes it's like a Lays potato chip: you can't eat one!
#7 It's a boy's dream: guns, explosions, bullets and flat-out WWF fighting to the max.
#8 Jack Bauer (again - hello! That's why they renewed his contract!!!) I've replayed Jack on TIVO JUST TO SEE AGAIN when he just marches into a hostage situation and then just does exactly what he said he would do: he's going to take down the bad guys. Few James Bond moves and determined gun fire; the baddies are gone. There's not a guy on earth who doesn't like a guy who 'GETS THE JOB DONE'
#9 Justice. Every turncoat, Benedict Arnold, or weasel get his just rewards.
#10 Great lines. There's enough one-liners to write a book. We men speak simple and brief.