24

[HB]

I grew up in a household with the easy rhythm of the family around the television each evening. My dad would read the paper and smoke his pipe, my mother smoked her cigarettes. A hazy layer formed about three feet above the floor in the family room of our split-level. I hung close to the carpet where the air was clearer. Summertime was a treat because the air conditioning would offer fresh relief; drinking in the cool ozone breeze was my quiet pleasure.

Eating a bowl of ice cream in front of the TV was our nightly habit. My mom loved to mix Pepsi and vanilla ice cream to create a tall frosty float. It's been a long time since we've shared our common love of sweets (although her sweet tooth's demands far eclipse my own).

My television habits carried forward into adulthood. Today I'm a recovering TV-aholic. Good genes may have saved me from the consequences of too much ice cream, but I inherited the TV junkie gene. No matter how bad the movie, I'll watch it to the end. How could I sleep not knowing? Now I resent the years lost to the mindless pacification of the big-eyed box. Some call it relaxing. I call it an utter waste of mental energy.

Mental pablum.

The unthinkable happened a couple years ago: I relented and agreed to install cable television. That's akin to placing a mini-bar in each room of a recoverying alcoholic's house. But the kids love Disney Channel, and my wife loves Food Network. Now Rachael Ray is part of our extended family. Emeril too. I've lobbied unsuccessfully to ban big-eyes from the house. What's comforting background noise for some is a flame to moth-me. Why can't I just ignore it?

Times have changed. I watch little television these days. As you probably guessed, another activity has taken its place. But one show has managed to draw me in:



The premise is pretty simple -- viewers follow the hourly events of one harrowing day in the life of Counter Terrorism Unit agent Jack Bauer. Some parts are quite a stretch. Their techs can crack a computer in 15 seconds flat, Jack can get from one side of LA to another in twenty minutes. This season is about terrorists using a stolen nuclear bomb to attack the US.

Can't beat the escapism of a nail-biting thriller. Sometimes the potential reality of the scenarios they depict are more frightening than the storyline itself. I'm hooked. Don't look for me to be online next Monday at 9pm.

[NewEnglandCliff]

Dan,

I could've written that - it's uncanny, right down to the Pepsi floats, except we used Coke. The only TV my girlfriend and I watch is FoodTV and 24, but we don't watch this years season of 24. We get the DVD from Netflix and watch last years without the commercials. Just watched Chase's hand get chopped off 2 days ago, with a new season on the way so don't blow it for me!!

....On second thought that would probably defeat the purpose of your thread, so I guess I'll just have to avoid it. The temptation!

How do you have time for kids? Never would've guessed that.

Cliff

[geir]

My interests should say: coffee guitar woodworking and 24/Jack.

geir.

[HB]

I cannot believe it. 24 premieres tonight with a two-hour special. I've only seen the first hour and I'm hooked again.

[buzzmc]

I'm a 24 junkie though. The only bad part has really been Jack's daugher that one season...

Sure, things are a stretch, but it's still written very well, and it's always exciting the twists and turns it takes. I try and ignore the fact that Jack has more lives than a litter of kittens and all their 9 lives.

Still, this season's got me hooked too Dan.

-b

[HunkaBurninLove]

I love this show and found this season to be pretty good.

Non-stop action (for the most part), and characters you love to hate.

As of now, only 4 episodes left for this season!

[Tsiros]

I hate television wholeheartedly. i do not have television set at home. (i have a radio in case there is an emergency). I dislike watching other people do stuff whether it is tv, movies, outdoors, anywhere. I think watching television is like pouring sulfuric acid on your soul.

TV LIES


What guitar ya got, geir? i've got an ibanez rg270. had. i smashed it.

[mattwells]

My interests should say: coffee guitar woodworking and 24/Jack.

geir.

Geir - I am about 1/2 way through building a guitar from a kit, mind if I shoot you a couple of questions about it?

I can't get into television, and there are only a few shows I really love. I am a Sci-Fi geek, and the now departed Firefly remains close to my heart, but we don't have cable, so I have no idea what is going on with TV. Of course, we have been catching up on older movies we have missed.

Activities: fixing my motorcycle when it is broken and riding when it is not, coffee, and right now, packing up our duplex for our move into our first house.

Matt

[Tsiros]

Matt hey
geir is strangely silent. that,or my post freaked him out and now he's hiding

what kinda bike ya got? my and my buddy have bought a trashed gsxr250, the naked one and he's fixing it on his own and i'm learning. so exciting!

[Psyd]

I hate television wholeheartedly. i do not have television set at home. (i have a radio in case there is an emergency). I dislike watching other people do stuff whether it is tv, movies, outdoors, anywhere. I think watching television is like pouring sulfuric acid on your soul.
TV LIES

*sigh* People always blame the tool, when ignorance of its use is really the problem. On my tv, I have shows that show me what is happening in the world of opera, theatre, and music. The world, mind you, not just EMPTY-V. I also get instructions on how to repair my home, what is happening in the congress and the senate, what urban myths are in fact true, and which are just hoaxes, West Wing, and how to cook better for my health. As well as how to cook better, not for my health! I get to see what's happening in Austin and what's up at the Met, whose winning the F1 Grands Prix across the entire globe, and what's up with the Mets. And, as an added bonus, I get the history of the planet from when dinosaurs roamed the earth to what happened yesterday while I was at work. In my neighborhood, in the country, in England, Germany, the world. Add to that that AI can set it to drone on quietly in the background, masking any odd noises form the house's plumbing, the neighborhood dogs, or the weather, and it's a wonderful tool.
I've spent time to learn how to use it, though. I've also spent time making content.
'Slike when someone tells you that they don't like espresso and they've only ever had Starbucks. There is a whole world ready to open for them.
And after an eighteen hour work-day of 'doing stuff', sitting in front of the glowy box winding down while my body gets to rest and my mind gets to expand, I sometimes wonder what I'd do without it. I'd have to give over a far larger portion of my home to reading material than I already do, that's for sure!

[jrtatl]

* I get to see what's happening in Austin . . .

Have you spent any time there? I lived in Austin from '93 - '98 (UT class of '97 -- Hook 'em Horns!) Much of my family still lives in and around Austin (and Dallas).

[Psyd]

Have you spent any time there? I lived in Austin from '93 - '98 (UT class of '97 -- Hook 'em Horns!) Much of my family still lives in and around Austin (and Dallas).

My profession used to take me there 'ever whonce in a whall'. I stopped going after; they built all the crackerboxes on every one of the 'rolling hills' around town; Whole Foods got a bit too big for their britches; and all the cool funky bars on Fourth and Sixth (not to mention the other side of the bridge) got bought by big business and corporations; SXSW bacame someplace that big business and corporatons plied their trade instead of a place where up and coming artist might get a break; and I-35 bacame far too, uhm, 'exciting' to consider a daily commute.
I dunno, after they moved the airport I kinda wondered what was becoming of the place. It just doesn't seem to have that 'feel' anymore. I used to hang out when the movie 'Slackers' was just some home movie footage some guy shot one day in Austin.

[HB]

I almost forgot! Jack's back tonight at 8pm EST...

[DC]

So good to have Jack back!

What did you make of it? Seemed a strong start to me - seems like this one is going to have a much darker edge to it than previous series. Wonder if those creepy guys who were controlling the President last time will make a re-appearance? They never resolved that.

Dave

[HB]

You're right, Jack is darker than ever. Months of torture in a Chinese prison will do that, but I think he needs quality time with a behavioral psychologist. Whenever your first gut reaction is to tie your brother to a chair and alternate between suffocation and threats of painful knife in the shoulder joint torture, you've got serious "issues."

But I'm hooked again. Making it home in time to watch 24 was on my mind driving up from Orlando. Made it in just over 9 hours and even had time to log into HB before the episode started.

[HB]

We're up to 8pm in Jack's 24 hour struggle to save the US from multiple nuclear strikes from stolen Russian "suitcase nukes".

Although I haven't missed an episode, my enthusiasm for this season's plot is waning. Previous seasons seemed more nuanced, the character development richer. This year the question running in my mind at the top of the hour is, "Who is Jack going to torture this episode?" After spending months under the torment of the Chinese, I might have given him a pass on his predilection for inflicting pain to extract information, but it seems that even his superiors barely flinch when his excesses are brought to light. They have "field kits" should the need arise.

Not that it's new the show, google turned up similar commentary dating back to 2004's season (e.g., "Whenever an urgent or sticky question of fact arises, someone -- bad guy or good guy, terrorist or counterterror agent; it doesn't matter -- automatically sparks up the electrodes or starts filling syringes with seizure juice." Slate, 2004). Jack and others seem resigned to the necessity (?); they seem less human for it.

[PaniniGuy]

I've missed three episodes since the show has been on (and only because I was in Sofia during Feb/Mar 2003 and couldn't convince the embassy to show it).

This season has been a major disappointment. Seems like nobody's trying, not the writers, not the continuity people, not even Chloe, who must be getting tired of having the same chair for six seasons. Remember how much fun it used to be to time things to see if the continuity folks were keeping it real? No more. Everyone in CTU must have the same jet car that Tommy Lee Jones had in MIB because they certainly never seem to get stuck in traffic.

I believe this should be the end for Jack - or wrap it up in a cliffhanger and take it to the big screen for a finale, like the Sopranos are said to be doing.

[HB]

I was down on the first half of the season, but the second half dropped the repeated torture scenes in favor of a more character-driven plotline. The last show just ended and it was classic "Jack saves the world and loses himself" finale. With the ties with CTU cut and his relationship with his love severed for her own good, next year is a clean slate. This was not my favorite season of the series, but still an overall good one (7.5 out of 10).

[cafeIKE]

Saw one episode once because house guest insisted...

This thread is definitely one I'd mark I NEVER WANT TO SEE THIS THREAD AGAIN, if I could