The 2001 TV series featuring Kiefer Sutherland as counter-terrorist agent Jack Bauer is 24.
Created by Joel Surnow and Robert Cochran, 24 follows Jack Bauer, a senior agent associated with the fictional Counter Terrorist Unit. The series is built around a real-time storytelling device: each season generally covers a single 24-hour period, with episodes representing successive hours in an unfolding crisis. Split screens, digital clocks, and simultaneous storylines reinforce that format.
The series premiered on Fox on November 6, 2001. Its first season begins with Bauer trying to protect presidential candidate David Palmer from an assassination attempt while also searching for his kidnapped family. Later seasons expand the threats to include terrorism, nuclear weapons, biological attacks, government conspiracies, and international crises.
24 ran for eight original seasons from 2001 to 2010, followed by the television film 24: Redemption and the revival season 24: Live Another Day in 2014. In total, the franchise’s main series aired 204 episodes. The title is sometimes confused with the number of episodes in a season, but it primarily refers to the show’s 24-hour narrative framework.