• Network: FOX
  • Series Premiere Date: Nov 6, 2001
  • Season #: 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8
Metascore
79 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 23 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 20 out of 23
  2. Negative: 0 out of 23
  1. Unlike most serialized dramas of late... "24" continues to do everything right.
  2. 100
    OK - so plausibility is not this show's strong suit. It never has been. This show is about suspense, action and violence. And, as a look at the show's first four hours reveals, all three have been taken up several notches in the series' sixth season.
  3. 100
    What's remarkable is that 24 still finds so many ways to surprise us, to take our knowledge of how things are done and turn it against us.
  4. 100
    No, the thrill isn't gone. "24" remains a wild 'n' crazy roller-coaster ride.
  5. 90
    Far from taking anything away from the pulse-pounding show, thanks to Kiefer Sutherland's magnetic performance, Bauer's subtle psychological anguish may be the most interesting surprise of "24's" new season.
  6. It's clear that all that has made "24" so huge and deserved a success is on display again in these first smashing episodes.
  7. 88
    The series' sixth season begins with an intensely entertaining four-hour, two-night premiere. [15 Jan 2007, p.33]
  8. This year, as in the past, there are all kinds of problems with "24" if you think too hard about what you're watching.
  9. 80
    Where does that leave Season 6, then, when the show has stemmed major disasters for five years running and its intensity level of choice is 11? As well-oiled as before, actually, and, judging from the four hours airing over Sunday and Monday, unafraid of edging its parallel-universe America ever closer toward a world war nightmare of mass hysteria.
  10. Even in its sixth season, "24" remains remarkably compelling.
  11. Reviewed by: Matt Roush
    80
    24's first four hours, airing over two nights, aren't quite as electrifying as last season's opening act.... But none of these problems diminish the pulse-pounding pleasures of watching 24.
  12. This remains a superb, positively riveting TV drama, however repetitive the themes and grandly implausible the scenarios.
  13. 80
    Once again, the producers and writers are creating a show that speaks to and reflects its era more succinctly and dramatically than any other network series.
  14. Reviewed by: Verne Gay
    80
    If all this sounds like "24" has been hijacked by public policy wonks or Shakespeare profs, don't worry. Your show very much remains your show.... It's just that your show got a little smarter.
  15. These episodes aren't as slam-bang great as last season's first four. But they are scarier, more personal, making it seem as if this time we have more to lose.
  16. Season 6 proves that the best part of "24" is its ability to make your pulse race as you sit slack jawed in front of the bastard machine mumbling, "They didn't just do that, did they?"
  17. 24's best seasons have always hinged on a central, tantalizing character... This year could finally be Jack's turn to fascinate.... Otherwise, this round of mayhem has little to differentiate itself. [19 Jan 2007, p.67]
  18. So just put your intelligence on hold for an hour or four, and you'll be ecstatic at Day 6's beginning.
  19. Reviewed by: Brian Lowry
    70
    The four episodes previewed are far from flawless, but even with their lapses and excesses, I can hardly wait for the next hour.
  20. Last year's body count also makes some of this year's deaths feel routine; I spent a good chunk of the early episodes figuring out which characters had lived just a little too long, if you know what I mean.
  21. 50
    The problem with the beginning of "24" isn't the plotting or the rusty acting. It's the pacing, the clunky rhythm of the action-adventure. Thank goodness, the quality of "24" fluctuates, so it has real potential to become great again in future episodes.
  22. 50
    Much as I am compelled to watch "24," and admire its craft, I find that I can't take it seriously.
  23. "24" still maintains some of its trademark intensity, but too often in these first four hours, the show is smack-your-forehead laughable.
User Score

Generally favorable reviews- based on 118 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 49 out of 67
  2. Negative: 11 out of 67
  1. It pisses me off when I see people give this show a 0, you're a piece of **** if you do. It's a great show and it deserves to be recognized. 7.2 The shows great, but the season isn't the best and could use better writers. Full Review »
  2. While increasingly unbelievable, the show has surprised me in each and every season in its plot construction. Although this season is a bit of a dip from the last, it still qualifies as an incredible season in which Sutherland once again keeps his character as entertaining as he was when he carried Teri's body away. Full Review »
  3. NicholasC.
    2
    Honestly, 24 is a great show! Always was, always will be. It does however end with Season 4. The only interesting characters die in an absolutely pathetic manner, other characters die because they're just morons surrounded by more morons and the plot -- it stops being a political thriller and becomes a very poor imitation of StarWars. I own seasons 1 to 4 on DVD, watched season 5 and after seeing season 6 decided that I'm more interested in Telletubbys than season 7. I don’t know what happened to the guys making it between seasons 4 and 5, but right now the show is simply idiotic, to say the least. Full-stop. Full Review »