All Good Things Come to an End

It's hard to believe that in the past couple of weeks a few iconic television series have come to an end. It's rare nowadays that a series has a meaningful run before walking off into the sunset. Before last week, I honestly can't think of the last time that I watched a season finale and knew that it was also the series finale. Usually a show is cancelled before it even gets going. Look no further than Arrested Development or Reunion (a show on FOX that had me hooked during my sophomore year of college, but was cancelled halfway through it's first season).

Now of the big three that came to end, Lost, 24, and American Idol (for all intents and purposes), I actually watched 24, so I will dedicate this post to the show's lasting memory. There were plenty of elements that made the show what it was, but I believe that these were the most significant.

The decision to have the events of the show occur in real time was a truly unique idea. You know how in highschool and college your professors encouraged you to think outside of the box? This is a perfect example of doing just that. To my knowledge no show had ever tried it and quite frankly I don't think anyone will try it again for quite some time. I'm thinking it won't be until the modernized version of 24 debuts in about 15-20 years.

This whole real time notion was really the shows linchpin from it's inception. The concept intrigued viewers enough to give the show a shot and once they watched an entire episode they got hooked by the action packed cliff hanger drama. Producing 24 hours of content with that many storylines, twists, turns, shoot outs, etc. is truly remarkable. It's for this reason that I'm already hesistant about the 24 movie. Will the movie be in real time? If not, a lot of the luster is gone. If it is in real time, then the movie might feel like a regular two hour finale without all the pent up drama from the first 22 hours.

The show was both ahead of the curve and reactionary. In terms of being ahead of the curve, look no further than David Palmer, the one term Senator who met his strong, powerful wife in college that would go on to be the first African American President of the United States. Season 1 of 24 came out well before Obama was elected to the Senate, so as far as I'm concerned he simply followed Palmer's rubric. Also, once a female is elected as to the presidency (and it will happen), I'm going to give all the credit to 24's Allison Taylor.

While the show's writers were clearly ahead of the ball in some areas, they also blended in some plot lines in response to current events. Here's one of many examples. After the whole waterboarding/torture issue came to light, the show put Jack in front of a Senate committee to answer questions about his history using torture.

A very underrated part about 24 was that, at least to me, it didn't seem to have an agenda. The show's plot consistently dealt with national security measures, which gave the writer's/producer's a perfect opportunity to unleash a little social commentary, but I never got the feeling that they were trying to make a point. This, again to me at least, is a refreshing thought, especially if you consider the fact that the show was on FOX, a company that is thought to be in bed with the GOP.

24 had two different types of characters. The first type were those that I recognized from a previous role. More often that not I didn't know their actual name, but I knew the name of a character that they had played in the past. The second type are the actors/actresses that I will now always associate with their character on the show. Their actual names will slip my memory (if they havent already), but I will undoubtedly remember the name of the character that they played on 24 and I will refer to them as such for the remainder of their careers.

Type 1

President David Palmer was played by Pedro Cerrano from Major League



President Taylor's chief of staff Ethan Kanin was played by the warden from The Shawshank Redpemption



FBI Agent Larry Moss was played by Coach Orion from D3



CTU Agent Cole Ortiz was played by Zach Siler from She's All That



Type 2



Mary Lynn Rajskub will forever be Chloe O'Brian to me. Actually she's mostly Chloe, but part of me also thinks of her as the snail from It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.



Even though she's reached name recognition status because she's hot (Elisha Cuthbert), this puck loving slut will always be Kim Bauer to me.



Carlos Bernard is a name I will not remember. To me, his name is, and always will be, Tony Almeida.



I don't even want to mention her real name (Sarah Clarke) because I still loathe her for being a back stabbing bitch in Season 1. In fact, Nina Myers who I think of when I hear the word traitor and believe me when I tell you that she had some serious competition for that top spot.

1.) Nina Myers
2.) Benedict Arnold
3.) A.J. Burnett

The lasting legacy of 24 will be Jack. There's really no debate. His ruthless determination, marksmanship, interrogation tactics, and situational savvy have elevated him to American hero status.

That being said, 24's lasting legacy is a bit different for me personally. During my freshman year of college I watched Seasons 1-2 on DVD in my buddy Glancy's room with a few other friends. Apparently we had a lottt of free time during our freshmen year because I don't remember it ever being too hard to get all 4-5 of us together to watch a handful of episodes. I'm sure this was common among 24 viewers, but we always used to guess what time the show would come back from commercial with. My strategy was always to guess 4:20 (no marijuana reference intended) after the last second shown before the commercial break. If the time you guessed was the first one shown when the show came back from commercial it was like rolling a 1.00 on the Price is Right wheel. If the time you guessed was one of the 7 (I think) seconds shown it was like landing in the green on the Price is Right wheel (I think the green was .05 and .90). Hopefully someone knows what I mean by that reference.

Our obsession with the show went as far as some of us occasionaly answering the phone and saying..."CTU, Tony Almeida speaking." Speaking of Almeida, there was actually a girl we went to school with who's last name was Almeida, so you better believe that we referred to her as every possible relative to Tony in the book. One day she was Tony's little sister. The next she was his daughter. Etc.

Bottom line, 24 was undoubtedly an iconic television show. Whether it's because of Jack, for strengthening friendships, or for some other reason, I give you my word that the show will be remembered for a long time to come.