24

[laughing_bear]

I recorded this, so I can press forward when the ads pop in, and watched it tonight, I would be interested in your opinion on the Mega TV Show 24.

Personally I find the level of "tolerance" displayed towards issues such as torture, just as one example, totally inacceptable.

Apparently a staggering 33 million people sat in front of the box and watched the season 5.

I think they should consider to substitute the advertisement sections with a best of Bill O'Reilly's Factor spots, spitting and jabbering his right wing slander.

[Sharp]

I think you should throw the telly out the window as there’s nothing but crap on it anyway.
Consider the money you would save and how much more music you would write.

Sharp.

[laughing_bear]

Hey Sharpy,

Yeah, I'd sign that! Apart from excellent programs such as Blue Planet and other documentations, the majority is unbearable low level stuff. A year ago we thought about upgrading to Sky plus, the box with internal HD, but for what? From the +600 channels we watch less than 10 frequently, National geographic, artschannel, film 4, etc are quite good, but the average s**t is just a waste of time.

Saw another Attenborrough docu on history channel yesterday, Planet Earth, simply stunning, from diving monekys to unelievable helicopter shots from migrating birds crossing the Himalaya , I've never seen such before. Mindblowing beautiful work in deed, music by George Fenton.

As for 24, I think this is an interesting phenomenon and I have little doubts about the political agenda behind the series. In times where civil rights are cut to pieces, people's phonecalls are tapped etc. etc., the hero in this film is tortured, imprisoned, stripped of all his rights by his country, and then returns to happily die for the very same country that ruined his life and health. The message is obviuous!

I find that whole thing very transparent in deed but was really stunned by the figure of 33 million people watching it.

[tritex4]

24 delivers for a lot of people.
Personally I don't watch it.

[Francois]

Not keen on it either. These days, I subscribe to a DVD rental service where I can get unlimited discs, up to 3 at a time. That way, I can watch what I want to watch, and at a time that suits me (and my wife).

Saying that, British TV is still one of the best in the world. You can watch interesting program at a prime-time slot. Try that in France or Italy, and see what's on offer. You'll cringe !

[RiotNrrd]

I watched the first season of 24, and thought it was a nice idea in a sea of shows for which the word "formulaic" isn't strongly descriptive enough. And then, due to work related matters, missed the **** final episode.

At which point I decided that the show required too much involvement on my own part. In the old 1960's show "Mission Impossible", if you missed the first 10 minutes you were lost, but you could still comprehensibly watch it next week (assuming you turned the tv on in time). With 24, if you miss any of the weekly shows, the entire season is a bust. That's more commitment than I can muster for a tv show. So the first season is the only one I've bothered with.

I do think it is just entertainment, though. Violent entertainment, perhaps, but no more than that. I certainly don't feel the need to interpret it in any kind of sociopolitical context. I don't think it has any more to say about the culture of the United States than the James Bond films have to say about the culture of the UK.

[tritex4]

I believe that's the reason that I don't watch it.
I don't want to commit to a show.
Most shows allow you to watch the one episode, without being glued to a whole season.

I'm really surprised that the show has lasted this long.
It's like a cult film....something that finds a following.

[higskies]

The average marijuana user loses 4 points of IQ while high.

The average couch potato loses up to 11.

[Francois]

Does that mean you lose 15 points for smoking pot while slouched on your sofa ?

[laughing_bear]

I smoke since 30 years, so my IQ already is on the negative scale then!

mhhh...better standing up while watching TV.

[Fingers]

I'm typing quickly 'cause we don't have much time Bill.... We have to reaffirm that every third line, and we have to overuse the character names in telephone calls, despite it being ridiculously unnatural. That's ok though, because we're all mutants who don't eat, sleep, or pee for a whole day... we're different. That's why we never spot that one of us is a mole, and why we have to kill one of our own every series.

I loved series 4. First one I'd seen. I then went back and was blown away by series 2.

Series 5 was an absolute crock.

But if you take 24 as anything other than lame brain dead entertainment it falls apart.

For a nation that doesn't negotiate with terrorists, every series has the leaders giving in to terrorist demands and it all going t1ts up. I don't have an issue with the supposed realism of the torture interrogations, but it seems a bit pointless given the lack of realism in so many other areas!

Every series has Jack beaten to a pulp, then runnin 2 minutes later. (in one he actually died after torture and then was running around within the hour.) (After 2 years of muscle atrophy ina chinese jail, jack was breaking free in the first hour back on US soil....)

Lets face it. It's rubbish isn't it?

TV seems pretty brain dead. Every now and again there's a gem like The West Wing but the rest is definitely targetting the shallow end of the gene pool.

At least with series 6 the subject matter is current. And it beats watching Noel Edmonds opening boxes with cretins.

[Daz]

I'd rather watch the Sopranos or Curb Your Enthusiasm ... 24 never really grabbed me.

Daz.

[Giner]

Any time I see anything that looks remotely like a half-hour sitcom, and I dont know that '24' fits that description as I've never watched it, for the foregoing reason, I veer away from the TV as though it and I are alike poles on magnets. Weird, I know, but if you can sit in front of the TV for long enough, you can actually 'zone out' and benefit from the numbness that ensues into a kind of soporific state. If nothing else, it doesn't harm your lungs. It's a therapy of sorts and, rather like a glass of wine clearing the palate, the mind is cleared. This now is the opportune time to sit at your keyboard and have at it.