Officially on the '24' bandwagon

Doc-wife and I are halfway finished watching a DVD set of 24: Season One. I bought the set a couple months ago after hearing the buzz surrounding the series, but we never seemed to get enough time to watch it – this week’s chilly temperatures and blowing snow have provided that time.

The only thing I can say is “holy crap…I can’t believe what have we been missing!?!” It’s so addicting, I’m in danger of joining the legions of my fellow countrymen who ask themselves “what would Jack Bauer do?” before embarking on some controversial course of action. I'm officially on the "24" bandwagon.

I remember when the show debuted…gimmick, I thought. How can you enliven a show and retain an audience when each episode covers only one hour in the day of its protagonist?

Question answered.

The show packs so much action/suspense/adrenalin/intrigue into each episode it’s a wonder Bauer continues to stride the Earth with gritty purpose, rather than slumping into a fetal position with his favorite teddy bear and wishing it would all go away. How the heck anyone can watch this in the conventional network airing manner is beyond me…so many of the episodes end in cliffhangers, it would be sheer torture waiting for next week’s episode. And if you happened to miss an episode? Forget it…life just wouldn’t be worth living.

Bauer unfailingly does the right thing in his pressure-cooker circumstances – cool and collected doesn’t even begin to cover it. The supporting cast is filled with fully-fleshed characters, too, from his family and co-workers to the apparently honest and principled Presidential candidate who has discovered he is surrounded by a nest of vipers he had previously called his campaign staff and family. The acting is solid and almost too believable.

The dizzying twists and turns, betrayals and revelations in each episode would be impossible to follow if you missed one during the regular network airing…this show is the best argument I’ve ever seen for Tivo.

It probably comes as no surprise that Walmart or the Amazon website will be getting a visit from the Rantmeister in a couple days to pick up season two…I’d like to think that’s what Jack Bauer would do.