Should There Be A 24 Fan Convention?

Given that iconic TV series from the 1960s, 1970s and the 1980s already have their own regular fan-base-established annual conventions, should 24 have one too?

By: Ringo Bones

Even though it seems that Keifer Sutherland’s post 24 / Jack Bauer career has been in the doldrums as of late – I mean his latest TV series Touch seems to have never became a next-day water-cooler discussion compared to other competing primetime TV series like Homeland and / or Last Resort. But should the fans of 24 establish an annual convention given that Keifer Sutherland’s post 24 acting career seems to be going nowhere?

Well, during the 1980s, Star Trek fans were “emboldened” by the first Star Trek motion picture made the annual Star Trek convention – which started around 1974 – one of the biggest TV series based conventions in the United States after as many as 35,000 Star Trek conventions – both official and unofficial – were happening every year throughout the 1980s. Will the same scheme work for 24?

Given that 24 never “jumped the shark” (that I know of), it may be justified for fans who are not contented on mere watching the latest complete series 24 Blu-Ray boxed sets to establish their own annual 24 fan convention. Who knows, it might become economically viable enough to compete with annual Star Trek conventions.

Herman Cain’s Failed US Presidential Bid: A Lost 24 Season?

Given that he’s probably the first African-American US Republican Party candidate with a credible shot at the White House, does Herman Cain’s failed US Presidential Campaign eerily looks like a lost season of the TV series 24?

By: Ringo Bones

Do you find it weird that real life – more often than not – tends to imitate art? But the truth may be stranger than fiction when it comes to the first African-American GOP hopeful and Godfather’s Pizza CEO named Herman Cain who – since now disgraced by a string of sexual harassment allegations that just a few months ago came out – seems to mimic the first season of 24. But is it really?

Sadly, Herman Cain’s real-life “Jack Bauer” was probably one of the needless casualties of former US President George W. Bush’s ill-advised mission to search for WMDs in Saddam Hussein’s Iraq back in March 2003. Herman Cain probably lost his “Jack Bauer” in George W. Bush’s malfeasantly-run Operation Iraqi Freedom. Who knows if Herman Cain’s real-life Jack Bauer could have saved him from sexual harassment allegations and an alleged 13-year-long extra-marital affair? We may never know.

24: A US Republican Party / GOP Platform?

Despite of being produced in the “Liberal Nexus” of America – i.e. Hollywood, is the TV series 24 nothing more than a media platform for the US Republican Party / GOP?


By: Ringo Bones


The mere fact that it airs on the FOX Network would have been the red flag that marks it as nothing more than just another media platform for the US Republican Party. Not to mention the oft-repeated salient themes of extraordinary renditions, belittling the Geneva Convention, ACLU, Amnesty International and what have you just to justify anti-terrorism goals – all of which do seem to look as if they are doing a comedy roast to every pacifist and humanitarian organizations on the face of the Earth. And yet the question remains whether the TV series 24 really serves as a RNC / GOP platform.

It does seem kind of odd that during the first season of 24, it promoted the idea of an African-American presidential candidate- then an elected president – and probably one of the first and few shows to do so. Just imagine if the actual Republican Party mimicking the “ideals” presented on 24, RNC Chairman Michael Steele would have been groomed for US Presidential Candidacy instead of being embroiled in a scandal when one of his credit cards was used in a strip joint called Voyeur Night Club that specializes in lesbian-themed S&M bondage “entertainment”.

So, does the TV series 24 truly qualify as a US Republican Party / GOP platform? Well, most of the time the series does “reiterate” the “inherent superiority” of White Anglo-Saxon Protestant values, and “liberal musicians” such as Greenday were only mentioned once during the first season. Never seen someone on the series played Veruca Salt’s “Loneliness is Worse” using an oud similar to that played by Hamza el-Din. And despite the occasional appearance of an ethnic minority or two, 24 seemed to appear “whiter” than 1995-era Friends. Unfortunately, most of the main characters were “liberal enough” to do the right thing. Something the US Republican Party circa 2010 seems incapable of – at the moment.

24: The End of Daylight Saving Time Episode

A 25-episode of 24 set on the last day of Daylight Saving Time could be very interesting, but is this project even feasible under present US network TV scheduling structure?


By: Vanessa Uy


Though the comedian Jay Leno has joked about it probably as far back as 2004, but is an episode of 24 set on the last day of Daylight Saving Time ever appeals to the TV series’ die-hard fans? Imagine a season of 24 where CTU agent Jack Bauer having the misfortune of saving the world during the longest day of the year in America – i.e. the very last day of Daylight Saving Time. When the clocks will be rolled back an hour as it strikes midnight – thus resulting in a 25-hour long “day”. Will 24’s parent network ever put up with this concept? But first, let us familiarize the uninitiated on the concept behind Daylight Saving Time.

When the concept of Daylight Saving Time was introduced back in World War I, it was meant as a measure to conserve coal being burned for electricity generation for lighting purposes. In this system, clocks are advanced one hour. So that the resulting rescheduling will allow work times to take advantage of shifting daylight hours. Even though the practice is only effective in Northern latitudes where seasonal variations cause large shifts in length of daylight hours, by World War II, the clocks were advanced by one hour in the United States both in winter and summer. In countries higher up in latitude – like England – double summer time was used; the clocks were advanced by two hours during summer and by an hour in winter.

The use of Daylight Saving Time is a matter of local determination – i.e. a single country’s decision while leaving other countries’ assigned Standard Time on the same time zone or longitude unchanged if they chose to. Because of this, it is often difficult to find out in one locality whether some other locality uses Daylight Saving Time. Airline schedules may be consulted for determining the time settings used in large cities. So, given that we are now familiar with the intricacies of Daylight Saving Time. Will a season of 24 set on the final day of Daylight Saving Time, one that is 25 episodes long due to the resulting 25 hour-long day, ever be produced?

Noting that on average, most American network TV shows are composed of 18 episodes per season. An American TV season lasts 6 months, thus making 26 episodes on a once-a-week airing per episode the absolute maximum in a scheduling season. Given that a typical year has 52 weeks. So an 18 episode per season show usually has an extra 8 weeks worth of extra scheduling slots for reruns and or specials for on-air cast interviews.

But 24 is not your typical American TV show – bar the fact that it has become the thorn in the side of the American Civil Liberties Union or ACLU for desensitizing the American people against vulgar displays of civil liberties violations on US citizens by the Bush Administration. Not to mention millions of Web-Surfers checking out Wikipedia on what is this thing called “posse comitatus” since the shows airing. 24 have been groundbreaking in the way that in the show’s typical season, it has 24 episodes. Thus having only 2 extra weeks left for the obligatory reruns and special episode slots. Which is why the shows producers typically keeps releasing 24 in DVD format, making them easily available to those who missed certain episodes.

Given these limitations and exigencies imposed by existing American network TV scheduling structures, a 25-episode season of 24 set in the final day of Daylight Saving Time might never be aired due to these problems. Which is too bad actually. Imagine what the fans of 24 will be missing, a dramatic shootout inside the atomic clock room of the US Naval Observatory because some evil genius has a grandiose plan of tampering the Observatory’s atomic clocks to wreak havoc the World Wide Web’s time-base. Truly a race against time.

24: The Inquisition of Galileo Episode?

The Bush Administration’s “mishandling” of terror suspects is now universally compared to Grand Inquisitor Tomàs de Torquemada’s handling of the Inquisition. Will a 24 episode based on this be still topical?


By: Vanessa Uy


I’ve thought about the concept almost three years ago after getting hooked on the Bush Administration’s War on Terror-inspired TV series 24. After witnessing scene after scene of CTU agent Jack Bauer interrogating suspects with wanton disregard on their Civil Liberties, one of those ideas flashed in my head. What if CTU agent Jack Bauer worked for the Inquisition back during the days of Galileo?

Even though the Inquisition might be busy prosecuting their warrant issued against that sodomite Caravaggio. At about the same time, the discovery of indisputable proof by Galileo that the planets orbit around the Sun is seen as the most heretical idea in his time. Just like Osama Bin Laden’s violent campaign of establishing a global Caliphate, is seen by Bush Administration Neo-Conservatives as “heretical” today. And the same still holds true today as it is back then; the powers-that-be still relies on an army of underlings to do their “dirty” work.

Imagine the scene as “Inquisition agent” Jack Bauer threatens to throw Galileo from the top of the Leaning Tower of Pisa wile held at gunpoint with a Bohemian made blunderbuss (a 17th Century equivalent of today’s Czech made sig sauer handgun). While Jack Bauer says to Galileo: “Why won’t you recant your heresy?” Then Galileo says: “My discovery is not heresy, and I will not recant.” Uttered as a show of defiance. As Inquisition agent Bauer threatens Galileo on which will hit the ground below first, a large silver coin or Galileo himself to demonstrate an earlier experiment done by Galileo on the top of that same tower.

As what everyone knows today as it is back then, confessions obtained under duress are seldom truthful. The one interrogated usually will say anything – truthful or not – in order to end on-going torment or to avoid one in the first place. But given the slow pace of 17th Century Italy; a 24 episode based on that period would surely be seen by 24 fans as “boring”, when compared to the present-day equivalent. Given that legal precedents that we in the civilized West now take for granted like the Fifth Amendment rights, individual Civil Liberties, and the Posse Comitatus Act were virtually nonexistent back in the 17th Century, our fictitious Inquisition agent Jack Bauer could practically do anything that he pleases. Even doing the right thing. Its the sort of thing that could "irk" outgoing US Vice President Dick Cheney don't you think?

24: Paving the way for an African-American President?

Did the TV series 24 allay the doubts of most Americans with regards to the idea of an African-American or black president, which culminated in the Obama victory?


By: Vanessa Uy


The idea of an African-American president had since been a frequent staple in fictitious US government scenarios in TV and movies. Remember the famous actor Morgan Freeman as the US president on that comet bound for Earth movie Deep Impact? But in media exposure and popularity terms, the hands-down winner is probably the one on the TV series 24. President David Palmer – who is played by Dennis Haysbert – not only paved the way that the idea of a black or African-American US president is not just plain plausible, but also to heal the rift of a race-centered culture clash that divided the American society since the Civil War.

The TV series 24 is indeed groundbreaking not just because of the aspect of the idea of an African-American being elected as the president of the United States. It even spawned a college course for law students in the US that’s centered around the legal aspects law enforcement statutes – often being violated – on various episodes of the TV series. And even before the one millionth surfer checked out on Wikipedia about what is the “Posse Comitatus Act”, the series spawned legions of fans who are ever glad that it is not their own civil liberties that is violated by CTU agent Jack Bauer. At least 24 did made America less skeptical about the “idea” of an African-American president. Maybe President-elect Barack Obama should invite the main cast of 24 to his January 20th Inauguration this coming 2009.