24 is an American dramatic action/thriller television series co-created by Joel Surnow and Robert Cochran. It premiered on Fox on November 6, 2001.[1] 24 centers on the (fictitious) Los Angeles branch of the U.S. government's "Counter Terrorist Unit" (CTU). The series is presented in real time format; each one-hour episode depicts one hour's worth of events, and each season is a 24-hour period in the life of protagonist Jack Bauer (played by Kiefer Sutherland), a CTU agent. The first six seasons of the show are set in Los Angeles and nearby locations – both real and fictional – in California, although other locations have been featured. The television film Redemption is primarily set in the fictional African country, Sangala. The seventh shifts locations to Washington, D.C.,[2] and the eighth season is set in New York City.[3] The ninth season Live Another Day takes place in London.[4]
The first three seasons aired over a complete television season between October and May, taking hiatuses between blocks of episodes. Beginning with the fourth season, Fox scheduled 24 to premiere midseason in January with a two-night four-hour premiere, with new episodes airing every week until a two-hour finale in May. Season seven was due to premiere on January 13, 2008, but was delayed an entire year due to the 2007–08 Writers Guild of America strike.[5] Fox aired a two-hour "prequel" film, 24: Redemption, on November 23, 2008, that bridges the gap between seasons six and seven.[6] Season seven premiered on January 11, 2009, with a four-hour premiere over two consecutive nights.[7] Fox announced that the eighth season would be the final season of 24, with the series finale airing May 24, 2010. With the conclusion of the eighth season, 24 aired a total of 192 episodes and the 2-hour television film, 24: Redemption.[8] In 2013, Fox announced that 24 would return with a ninth season titled 24: Live Another Day containing 12 episodes which debuted on May 5, 2014.[9][10]
Episodes of 24 are also available in various new media formats. All eight seasons and 24: Redemption are available to purchase as DVD boxsets.[11] Fox provided the five episodes at a time as they were released to Hulu and Fox on Demand, the joint venture it holds with NBC to provide video on demand of the two networks' shows.[12][13] In the United States and United Kingdom, every episode is available at the iTunes Store to download and playback on home computers and certain iPods.[14]
A total of 204 episodes of 24 aired over nine seasons, from November 2001 to July 2014.
