I remember when season 5 started on FOX on Sunday, January 15, 2006. I was watching the show right before it (I want to say it was "Family Guy" but I really don't remember), and the previews for season 5 hyped up the first 10 minutes of this new season. I figured I could watch 10 minutes and see what all the fuss was about.<br /><br />After 5 minutes, I was hooked.<br /><br />If you want to try the show, my advice is to rent the first disc of season 4. It is my personal belief that this season has the best beginning. It is also the best indicator of what "24" is like, and if the first two hours do not get you hooked on the show, then nothing will.<br /><br />If the start of season 4 does hook you (which it should), then go back to the beginning. Start with disc 1 of season 1, and enjoy. You might have to force yourself through the first couple of hours, but you will be greatly rewarded with the drama that follows throughout season 1, and every other season.<br /><br />It will be difficult to stop watching season 4 after what you see, but there are things in season 4 that you will not get the full significance of if you do not go back to the beginning. Every season is very enjoyable on its own, but to get the full effect, it is best to go in order.<br /><br />My father and I did this in the summer of 2006. Having seen all of these episodes myself, I know how good they are. My dad wanted to try it, and now he is hooked. As I am typing this review, he is in the process of catching up in season 5. He is watching two episodes a week, and he is constantly calling me as we talk about the show all the time. During this summer, we watched each of the first four seasons together. He would tell me when he could only watch one more episode and then had to go to bed. One episode without commercial breaks is about 40-43 minutes.<br /><br />Nearly every time he would say "one more", we would watch 4 more hours because the cliffhangers were so good, he couldn't stop after any given hour. I was the same way during that year in college. I would say to myself "after this hour, I gotta go study" at 1 a.m. 5 episodes later, I would still be saying, "Ok ONE MORE hour, and THEN I will study". I have also done the same to a friend of mine in college. She and I watched season 4 together, and we watched the first 12 hours of that season in one night. This show is nearly impossible to get away from.<br /><br />The heart-stopping action from minute to minute makes 24 by far the best show on television. Every cliffhanger drives you crazy as you do not want to wait another week to see what happens next.<br /><br />The show is not flawless. On very rare occasions, part of the storyline seems a little thin, but those moments are so few and far between that you can and must overlook them because you want to see how it's going to end.<br /><br />Kiefer Sutherland is the only person that could play the role of Jack Bauer. Then again, maybe it only seems that way since I have grown accustomed to seeing him in this role. With that said, he has quickly become my favorite actor.<br /><br />I would say that his performance blows away everyone else in the show, but there is not one actor in the show that I have disliked. From Reiko Aylesworth and Carlos Bernard, to Dennis Haysbert and Mary Lynn Rajskub, and everyone else in between, the cast is phenomenal. As with any show involving plenty of violence, characters die. I will not say who or when or how, but there have been several amazing actors on the show, and just when you think they have killed off your favorite, someone new comes in that is just as good. You don't think that a show could constantly find such likable actors and characters, but "24" brings in the best people for every role every time.<br /><br />There are people I know who have claimed that they tried the show and did not like it. Those people made a mistake. They watched an episode in the middle of the season. Because a season on this show covers one day, and every episode is one hour out of that day, you can't get much from it when you start in the middle of a season. My dad tried that in season 5, and he did not like it. Once he tried it from the start of a season, well, you already read that. He is almost more hooked than I am.<br /><br />My brother did not like the show either, but his problem was that he was not interested from the start. He felt an obligation to humor me and give it a shot, but he sat through it as if he was just waiting for the show to end. He did not try to enjoy it, and he didn't.<br /><br />As long as you try the show from the beginning of a season, (I suggest the start of 4), and as long as you are open to the possibility of the show being enjoyable, I cannot imagine a viewer not getting hooked on "24". Some characters take time to grow on you. Others won't. Some shows take time to grow on you. This one won't. If you have not done so yet, find a friend who has the DVD's or rent them, and start catching up on, and enjoying "24", the best show on television.