Had I seen it before: No, but it’s a Fox show whose run overlapped with the years American Idol was relevant so I’ve seen an above average number of commercials for it.

What IMDb says: Jack Bauer, Director of Field Ops for the Counter-Terrorist Unit of Los Angeles, races against the clock to subvert terrorist plots and save his nation from ultimate disaster.

Why I picked it: I was scrolling through Wikipedia and realized I already had every Emmy winner from 2000 to present on the list, except for 24, which won in 2006. That’s basically it.

What I liked: The pilot does a good job of showing us all the future conflict to come. We see how Jack’s job keeps him from being the husband and father he wants to be. We see potential for a couple different love triangles. And then of course there’s the fact that Jack has to actually fight terrorists knowing there may be someone on the inside sabotaging him. Specifically, there’s reason to believe there will be an attack on the president’s life.

There’s also a bit of a twist at the end. We’re lead to believe that some sexy foreigner on an airplane is on his way to California, potentially to kill the president, when actually it’s the sexy lady flirting with him who ends up blowing up the airplane. And now we know what Jack’s going to have to deal with in Episode 2.

I also think the show’s signature gimmick is clever, even if watching it without commercials kinda ruins it. It makes you feel like the only way to see the end of the story is to stick it out through the whole season, and that’s a genius move. There’s one point in the pilot where they mention how the polls open at 7 am, and I was already curious about events that wouldn’t happen for another seven episodes. Job well done.

What I didn’t like: There’s really nothing in particular I’ll say is wrong in this pilot, but I will say I kinda regret watching it first thing in the morning. It’s one of those shows that you really do need to be focused on while you watch, and I’m not always good at that.

Do I want to watch Ep. 2: Yes. I’m already willing to stick it out through all of Season 1, assuming all episodes live up to the standard of this one and I don’t try to watch them in the morning.