Such a simple idea--yet so fiendishly complex in the execution. 24, as surely everyone knows by now, is a thriller that takes places over 24 hours, midnight to midnight, in 24 one-hour episodes (well, 45-minute episodes if you subtract the commercials). Everything takes place in real time, which means no flashbacks, no flash-forwards, no handy time-dissolves. Every strand of the plot has to be dovetailed and interlocked so things happen just when they should, in the right amount of time. Not that easy.

Creator Robert Cochran and his team of writers and directors have done an impressive job of putting the jigsaw together and keeping the tension ratcheted up high, as federal agent Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) runs around L.A. trying to stall an assassination attempt on an African American presidential candidate and rescue his wife and daughter from the clutches of the Balkan baddies. Twists, turns, revelations, and cliffhangers are tossed at us with satisfying regularity. It's not perfect: we get some hokey plot devices (instant amnesia, anybody?); the final twist makes no sense whatsoever; there are altogether too many huggy family moments; and as for Dennis Hopper's "Serbian" accent....

What's with all these five star ratings?

**Rent before you Buy**

I like Keifer Sutherland. He's a great actor and I enjoy his performance in this show. Solid performances from all of the actors in fact. But there are just too many "you have to be kidding me" moments. The premise is great, and I give them credit for trying something different instead of churning out more clones of Law and Order or X Files.

The show can be fun at times, but after watching the 16th episode, and literally laughing out loud seeing what becomes of Jack's wife and daughter by the end of it (I don't want to spoil it in case you actually make it this far into the series so you can laugh out loud too!), I absolve myself of watching any furthur episodes. The suspension of disbelief and cliches is just too much, it's like watching a terrible thriller.

Do yourself a favor and rent this before you even think about buying it. Myself, I'm stuck with an unfinished season 1 (because I can't bring myself to watch another episode, yes it's that bad.) and an unopened season two and three that will be going up on ebay when I have time this weekend.

The main reason I even purchased this title was because of all the glowing Amazon reviews.

Do yourself a favor and check out HBO's "The Wire" or FOX's "Firefly" (masterfully done, I can't say enough good things about Firefly or The Wire)

The fine performances and original idea save this from a 1-star rating.

Have a comfortable couch and long weekend ready

For those of you not familiar with "24," the most-important thing for you to know is that Federal Agent Jack Bauer (Sutherland) is a combination of Dirty Harry and James Bond: he'll do whatever it takes to get the job done, even if it means breaking all of the rules. To quote Homer Simpson: "It means he gets results, you stupid Chief!" There is no way anyone in real life would get away with half of the outrageous antics Bauer manages to pull off in just one hour. But that's what makes it so much fun to watch.

"24" is a terrific serial adventure. By no means is the writing devoid of plot holes, but as long as you suspend any resemblance of reality, it is incredibly fun to watch, as well as addictive. It's funny to me to think that, whereas "24" is an entire season of shows that follows one day and has been a success, the show "Murder One" followed one murder case for a season's worth of shows and was a ratings nightmare. Regardless, if you're anything like me and enjoy shows that don't follow the usual "wrap it up in 44 minutes" formula, you'll enjoy the first season of "24."

I didn't start watching "24" until the most recent 4th season, which hooked me from the start. I decided to revisit the previous seasons. Having just completed this first season, I enjoyed it overall, but preferred the 4th. The storyline of having to protect Presidential Candidate Palmer was a good one, but was lost for the most part because of Bauer and his family. Granted, I haven't yet seen either seasons 2 or 3, but what I loved about 4 was the complete focus of Bauer on his assignment. Overall, I think the 4th, 24-hour mission was better because of the complete lack of any ridiculous dangers involving his daughter, Kim.

If this is where you journey with "24" begins, then you'll have some good surprises in store. Just watch out for Dennis Hopper's Eastern European accent. It has got to be one of the worst ever captured on film.

Action packed and full of surprises

At first glance, the premise of 24 seems like a gimmick - the events of the show take place in "real time", meaning that if it takes 15 minutes to drive from point A to point B, 15 minutes will pass in the show. Therefore, the show requires lots of overlapping stories to fill the gaps that such travels bring. In this case, thanks to the writing teams and the directors, the gimmick works and the show succeeds very well. Without giving away anything that doesn't happen in the first few episodes, the main plot involves federal anti-terrorism agent Jack Bauer investigating a tipoff that says there will be an attempt on a presidential candidate's life. The candidate, David Palmer, is African American and a current senator - are either important? The subplots (which are all ultimately interlinked) include a coverup in the Palmer family about a suspicious death, the kidnapping of Jack's daughter, and the murder of one of Jack's bosses. To complicate things, just before he dies, the boss tells Jack of traitors in his unit - but he doesn't know who they are.

The plot weaves in and out of these stories, with a cliffhanger in at least one of them to whet the viewer's appetite for the next show. The shows are action packed - obviously Fox believed in the show right away, because it looks like the effects/stunts budget for one episode would cover the entire season of "Law and Order" or "CSI." There are many surprises - everything is in play, and any given character could be killed at any given time (except Jack, of course, who has to last at least until the last show). Just when you think you know what's going on, the writers take a turn - they are unexpected (and unpredictable), but not unfair (they aren't just played for shock value).

There are advantages and disadvantages to owning this series on DVD. On the up side, there's no commercials or other distractions to take you out of the story - it's critical for a show like this that the viewer remains immersed in the show. On the down side, there are places where the gimmick breaks down, and these are especially obvious when watching shows in close succession. For example, at the end of one early episode, a girl is hit by a car.At the beginning of the next episode (supposedly 5 minutes later), she is already in the ambulance and on her way to the hospital. 45 minutes after that she has had surgery, suffered momentary heart failure, and woken up to talk to the doctors. Likewise, some characters apparently vanish - for example, the dark-haired girl who negotiates with Gaines in the first couple of episodes. We see them drive off together in one episode, and then never see her again. Similarly, the boss's revelations before he's murdered are ignored and/or contradicted by later events. Finally, all the events seem to take place within a 15-minute drive of the unit's HQ (even in rush-hour LA traffic!) None of these problems would be remembered by the average audience member watching the series over the course of several months, but are jarring when watched on DVD over a few weeks.

These are minor quibbles (as is the fact that the DVD contains no extras worthy of the name). The show is generally solid, with lots of great action and suspense.