The Correct Order To Watch Kiefer Sutherland’s 24 Franchise

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Joel Surnow’s and Robert Cochran’s espionage series “24” debuted on November 6, 2001, and boy howdy was American ready for it. “24” followed the travails and missions of a special law enforcement agency called the Counter-Terrorist Unit and focused primarily on its ethics-optional star agent Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland). Every season of “24” revealed that evil international terrorists had secured some kind of doomsday device (a nuclear bomb, a deadly virus, canisters of nerve gas) and Jack Bauer had to run around Los Angeles locating baddies, torturing them for information, and kicking in whatever heads needed kicking.
The show took off in popularity, largely because it matched the politics of the time. It debuted only a month after 9/11, and the “get the terrorists” rhetoric of the George W. Bush administration was already proliferating into entertainment. Americans had a lot of militant anger, and TV violence took on a darker edge. “24” was maybe the purest example of the way pop action adapted to a post-9/11 world.
The central gimmick of “24,” however, was that it took place in real-time. Before ad breaks, the show would reveal its ticking clock on the screen to remind viewers that, yes, the last 15 minutes of screen time was also 15 minutes in the “24” world. And because TV seasons were 24 episodes in 2001, every season would last all night and wrap around to the following morning.
The immediacy of the series made it propulsive and addictive. It was also fascinating to watch Jack Bauer, already unhinged, become more dangerous as a season progressed. By the time 3 a.m. rolled around, Jack was exhausted and so were we.
“24” ran for six seasons, took a break to make a TV movie, ran two additional seasons, came back for a late-stage sequel season, and gave birth to a spinoff. Below is the entire “24” franchise in order: