24, Season 1 (2002)
Review by Doc Ezra
Film:
DVD:

Created by Robert Cochran and Joel Surnow
Starring Kiefer Sutherland, Leslie Hope, Sarah Wynter, Sarah Clarke, Xander Berkeley, Carlos Bernard, and Elisha Cuthbert.

Features:

• Series introduction with Kiefer Sutherland
• Alternate ending with director’s commentary

Rating: TV–14

Anamorphic: Yes, oddly enough.

My advice: Rent it for a long weekend, buy if you’re a fan of the series.

The premiere of 24 took the network TV world by storm. In an age of endless stupid reality shows and sitcoms built on formulas that were tired three decades ago, it promised something different for the viewer: a TV drama that played out in “real time.” Each episode of the series represented a single hour of the worst day of Jack Bauer’s life (to date). Not only did this demand a creative approach to narrative framing and scene construction (often involving multiple pictures running concurrently on the screen), but it virtually guaranteed a steady audience.

In short, the plot of the season goes like this: Jack Bauer (Sutherland) has received word that there will be an assassination attempt on a presidential candidate on the day of the California primary election. With just enough leads to make the threat credible, Jack sets out to make sure the assassination is foiled. Over the course of the next 24 hours, his family is kidnapped, his co-workers alternately support and confound him, several people are shot, and everything slouches toward the final muzzle flash that will disrupt American politics during a very sensitive time.

I was one of those unfortunates that missed a few episodes early on, and even with prompting from the plot summaries on the Web, felt hopelessly lost and confused for the next several shows trying to catch up. So the DVD set was eagerly anticipated, to be sure. And if all you’re concerned about is getting the episodes in a nice durable format for home viewing, this set should be all you need.

However, if you were hoping to hear more about the actual making of the series, the unique hurdles that had to be jumped by writers and creators alike in order to create this real-time spectacle, you’re out of luck. The extras on this set are pretty damned thin for a show as immensely popular and critically acclaimed as 24. There’s the introduction with Kiefer himself, which comes across as a canned snippet filmed for the benefit of those that slept through the Fox marketing blitz when the show was upcoming, and needed to be informed of the premise. It’s coming off a teleprompter, and is all of about two minutes long. Lame.

The alternate ending is interesting, in that it provides one of the rare examples of a television show deciding NOT to opt for the feeble “happy ending.” This alternate ending was filmed in case the network pressured the creators for something a bit more upbeat than the show’s actual finish as aired. With a touching reunion of Jack’s entire family, it really was astounding, upon seeing it, that the network execs didn’t insist on its use. Every once in a great while, these suit-wearing goobers surprise me by exhibiting signs of cajones.

The picture and audio quality is as good as the day the shows were aired, so outside of the weakness of the extra features, there’s nothing to complain about in the set’s quality. The show itself earned every accolade it gained, and the performances of Sutherland and the other principals are all top-notch. The tension of the show is maintained beautifully, and the season’s plot has enough twists and turns to keep people guessing ‘til the last minute.

If you’re a fan of the show, then you’ll probably want to pick this collection up. You’ll be frustrated by the lack of attention the show received during its DVD treatment, as I was, but at bottom you’ll want the set for the episodes, not the effluvia. If you haven’t seen the series, or missed episodes and stopped watching, rent or borrow it to make sure the show suits you before sinking serious green.