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]