24… The savior of America as we know it!
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I was watching 24 tonight, and it dawned on me why this is such a guilty pleasure for so many, myself included.
The show rolls through the hour like a Mack truck rolls over a field of lettuce. From the start of the ticking sound to the preview of next week’s show, there is no break in the action other than the ones imposed by commercial interruption. The show plays every week in the bombastic, frenetic style of every movie directed by John Woo. Through the season, the show moves without break from one small disaster to the next, all the while a part of the cataclysm that is the focus. To punctuate the effect of the show, it plays on Monday nights, which has always been a place of refuge for those weary souls escaping from the worst day of the work week. Joe American comes home from his first day back at the grind, and needs his hour of escapism to alleviate the pain of the day. Fox is more than willing to cooperate here, if only Joe will cooperate by putting up with the 15 minutes of commercials thrown into the mix. Actually it’s a good thing, because if someone watched the show for 45 minutes without a break they might expire from an attack of dynamic tension!
Tags: 24, jack bauer, kiefer sutherland, twenty four
6 Comments
Goncalo P.
May 15th, 2007
at 8:50am
Where I live, Portugal, you get 24 on a public network without any break; there are no commercial breaks not even in the end of season weekend-long runs of the show. And yeah, I fear for my heart every wednesday evening.
Steve
May 15th, 2007
at 9:34am
I gather all the episodes together and then watch them in one massive weekend - I just can’t stand waiting a week with the cliffhangers that they have on 24.
And yes, my health is extremely at risk….
Jake Brake
May 15th, 2007
at 10:01am
Actually it is 20 minutes of commercial and only 40 minutes of program.
theoracle
May 15th, 2007
at 10:12am
Well, I guess the faint of heart can be glad Fox doesn’t broadcast it Portugal style in the U.S.
And Steve…keep an eye on your heart rate and bp [g]
Jake, I’m not an expert on this, but do remember about 20 years ago someone involved in television saying it was 22.5 minutes per half hour of actual program. Did it change? If so, do you know when?
And to all thanks for the comments…it indicates I’m doing something right.
DKLA
May 15th, 2007
at 5:34pm
A few years ago the networks added more commercial time to their programming, so now it’s 22.0 minutes per half-hour. On basic cable it’s even less– 20.5 minutes!
vaxen
May 15th, 2007
at 7:15pm
Try living it. I’m sure most of you soon will if LOST, NAU, etc., get through…
http://199.208.208.41/
;)