TV: 24 (Day Five Preview)
I’ve taken to reading the tv guide. I’ve only read one and a half books so far this year, but I can tell you what is showing on Saturday morning ITV2. Tragic.
In three separate publications over the weekend, ‘24’ Sky One, 9pm was Sunday’s pick of the day. Only it wasn’t 24. It was a ten minute preview for the new series which starts at the same time next week.
My heart leapt into my stomach whenever I saw the tv listing. Each time I was convinced they’d moved the premiere forward a week, to fit perfectly into my Sunday night hangover and takeaway plans. It was only after being disappointed for the third time it began to sink in that a 600 second trailer had actually been chosen as a tv pick of the day. Because 24 really is that good.
It’s been a year since Jack ‘to all intents and purpose, dead’ Bauer walked off into the sunset, looking oh-so-cool in his Aviators and man-bag. One would have hoped that his more resourceful instincts might have kicked in and at least got himself a haircut. However, in classic 24 themes, Jack is a bum. A bum with a very fancy car.
We open in Chicago, fuelling the fires of the much lauded (by me) 24/ER crossover. Hopes are dashed again when Chloe arrives to tell Jack he needs to get out of there, a-sap. Our favourite IT geek, looking rather swanky through the scowl, hangs around just long enough to deliver the killer line “I cant believe you have to live like this now”. But you just know she means it with love. A discarded mobile phone, some not so subtle product placement and a baddie (who sadly does not appear to be Mandy) on a motorbike later, and it’s over.
Kiefer’s hair, which I’d like to believe is a tribute to his former career and recent professional renaissance (or something), will no doubt be long gone when day five begins. As for the others, who knows. The most hyped series to date has spawned a surprising lack of spoilers. We know Jack has a new bird – I’m guessing post crew cut – with a bratty teenager in tow, and that some dude from LOTR shows up in a suit. President Ineptitude returns with an, apparently, even more annoying wife – an impressive feat in itself.
Rumour has it that at least one of the big guns will die in the opening few episodes. If, as I suspect, it’s one of Tony or Michelle, I will be disappointed with 24 for the first time since Teri’s memory loss saga. But I suppose a pre-emptive rant about an incident which may or may not occur, in what is the best programme on tv, period, is not really in the spirit of the current 24 mania.
Indeed, Jack fever is at an all time high. Our brooding hero adorns the walls of bus shelters, fills the commercial breaks of rival channels, and even the BBC (maybe slightly regretting the decision to hand over control of CTU to Sky, while retaining the international rights for 2 Pints of Lager) have incorporated the yellow digital clock into their winter Olympics trailer.
I understand that the show must grow in popularity in order for it to survive and avoid being cut to 18 episodes. After all, I’m guessing that some of the dramatic tension might be lost if 24 skipped directly from midnight to 7am, with the twilight hours being explained away by Jack getting some kip and having a poo. However the current world domination makes me somewhat uneasy.
Will the new crowd of viewers be lost at the inevitable mention of “since Teri”? Will they feel Tony/Michelle’s pain when Michelle/Tony is killed? Will they truly understand the significance of some baldy old guy in glasses peering round a door? And as a veteran fan (from the dizzy heights of Day 2 Episode 3 no less) why do I care so much? Maybe I’m just projecting my own fears that it wont live up to all this hype. But it’s got to. If the 10 minute preview can get three different critics pick of the day, the new series will surely blow us all away. Or at the very least, beat back to back re-runs of American Idol.
In three separate publications over the weekend, ‘24’ Sky One, 9pm was Sunday’s pick of the day. Only it wasn’t 24. It was a ten minute preview for the new series which starts at the same time next week.
My heart leapt into my stomach whenever I saw the tv listing. Each time I was convinced they’d moved the premiere forward a week, to fit perfectly into my Sunday night hangover and takeaway plans. It was only after being disappointed for the third time it began to sink in that a 600 second trailer had actually been chosen as a tv pick of the day. Because 24 really is that good.
It’s been a year since Jack ‘to all intents and purpose, dead’ Bauer walked off into the sunset, looking oh-so-cool in his Aviators and man-bag. One would have hoped that his more resourceful instincts might have kicked in and at least got himself a haircut. However, in classic 24 themes, Jack is a bum. A bum with a very fancy car.
We open in Chicago, fuelling the fires of the much lauded (by me) 24/ER crossover. Hopes are dashed again when Chloe arrives to tell Jack he needs to get out of there, a-sap. Our favourite IT geek, looking rather swanky through the scowl, hangs around just long enough to deliver the killer line “I cant believe you have to live like this now”. But you just know she means it with love. A discarded mobile phone, some not so subtle product placement and a baddie (who sadly does not appear to be Mandy) on a motorbike later, and it’s over.
Kiefer’s hair, which I’d like to believe is a tribute to his former career and recent professional renaissance (or something), will no doubt be long gone when day five begins. As for the others, who knows. The most hyped series to date has spawned a surprising lack of spoilers. We know Jack has a new bird – I’m guessing post crew cut – with a bratty teenager in tow, and that some dude from LOTR shows up in a suit. President Ineptitude returns with an, apparently, even more annoying wife – an impressive feat in itself.
Rumour has it that at least one of the big guns will die in the opening few episodes. If, as I suspect, it’s one of Tony or Michelle, I will be disappointed with 24 for the first time since Teri’s memory loss saga. But I suppose a pre-emptive rant about an incident which may or may not occur, in what is the best programme on tv, period, is not really in the spirit of the current 24 mania.
Indeed, Jack fever is at an all time high. Our brooding hero adorns the walls of bus shelters, fills the commercial breaks of rival channels, and even the BBC (maybe slightly regretting the decision to hand over control of CTU to Sky, while retaining the international rights for 2 Pints of Lager) have incorporated the yellow digital clock into their winter Olympics trailer.
I understand that the show must grow in popularity in order for it to survive and avoid being cut to 18 episodes. After all, I’m guessing that some of the dramatic tension might be lost if 24 skipped directly from midnight to 7am, with the twilight hours being explained away by Jack getting some kip and having a poo. However the current world domination makes me somewhat uneasy.
Will the new crowd of viewers be lost at the inevitable mention of “since Teri”? Will they feel Tony/Michelle’s pain when Michelle/Tony is killed? Will they truly understand the significance of some baldy old guy in glasses peering round a door? And as a veteran fan (from the dizzy heights of Day 2 Episode 3 no less) why do I care so much? Maybe I’m just projecting my own fears that it wont live up to all this hype. But it’s got to. If the 10 minute preview can get three different critics pick of the day, the new series will surely blow us all away. Or at the very least, beat back to back re-runs of American Idol.
posted by Shhh at 3:17 PM
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