24

The first hour... is as kinetic as any episode the show has done. [26 Oct 2003]

The new 24 is off to a more interesting start than its sophomore edition. [27 Oct 2003]

This is just an action fairy tale, a modern Saturday afternoon serial or contemporary penny dreadful, designed to keep us hanging on its every outlandish turn by exasperating us, if necessary, with characters we love to hate and contrivances we delight in dissing. ... It's insulting to our intelligence. And we can't stop watching. [28 Oct 2003]

By 1:20 p.m. the series's third season is already as tightly coiled, clever and suspenseful as the first two. [28 Oct 2003]

Although not for everyone, '24' remains the equivalent of a great popcorn movie or page-turning book ... [and] has become an accomplished exercise in storytelling that takes full advantage of the television form. [27 Oct 2003]

The series that strains our nerves and our credulity returns with more hour-by-hour suspense, and amazingly it still works.

[A] gripping premiere. [28 Oct 2003]

It sure looks like '24' executive producers Joel Surnow and Robert Cochran are ready to give America more anxiety-amped razzle dazzle with one of television's most original and compelling drama series. [28 Oct 2003]

This is now the problem with '24': The first season was a giddy novelty; the second season was a guaranteed tune-in to see if the producers could pull off the same trick twice. But now we know the rhythm of the series, and so its anything-can-happen energy has dissipated into a how-can-we-bring-back-fan-favorites waiting game.

In other words, same old '24,' for better in the initially intriguing plot and worse in the way much of the story seems to derive from other shows, including 'The West Wing' and the narcotics mini-series 'Kingpin.' [28 Oct 2003]

Menace so permeates the atmosphere that a certain glum predictability has set in to the scenes. [28 Oct 2003]

'24' continues to roar forward at a breakneck pace, and it does tantalize by dropping clues that keep viewers hooked ... But with the minutiae of love affairs gumming up the works, it's more difficult than ever for viewers -- and the show's characters -- to keep their eyes on the big picture threat that's supposed to drive the series. [26 Oct 2003]