THE FOLLOWING REVIEW WAS WRITTEN BETWEEN NOON AND 1:00PM ON THE DAY OF THE BACKYARD BBQ BONANZA.
EVENTS OCCUR IN REAL TIME EXCEPT WHERE INCONVENIENT.
As I sit on the couch with a glassful of root beer and a bowl of Skittles, I think back to the events that brought me to this moment. I think back to a few days ago and how the big brown truck pulled up the inclined driveway and how the driver, clad in brown, stepped out and pointed at me. “You Mr. Richardson?” he said.
I nodded and he slipped me a package, asking me for my signature. As I doodled my signature with the eloquence of a third-grader, I pondered what was inside the envelope he presented me with. The truck sped away down the driveway and I tore into the envelope, revealing a silver case with a clock on the front. The clock read “24:00.”
Since that moment, the seven-disc collection of 24’s inaugural season has spun its way through my DVD player and has left me breathless. The tension and excitement of the hit FOX television series captured me from the opening moments of the first episode right through to the shocking twist ending of the final hour.
As I think about the Backyard BBQ Bonanza that awaits me later tonight, I’m reminded of the way that a great television experience can help enhance life and add so much creative fire to an average day. Lazy days indoors become full-blast adventures when time is spent with Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) as he tries to protect a presidential candidate on the day of the California Primary.
Subsequent seasons would build on the theme, using the same real-time structure to present a day in the life of Bauer as he juggled his family and his dedication to his job. As head of the CIA’s Los Angeles Counter Terrorist Unit and father to Kim (Elisha Cuthbert), he’s got a tough job fending off terrorists and potential suitors. If anyone’s equipped with the smarts and attitude to accomplish the task at hand, it’s Jack Freaking Bauer. It takes 24 weeks to watch what the man does in a single day.
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