TV Series Premiere Thread - "Comic Book Men"

since darth_ignant started a thread to discuss TV Series Finales i thought it'd be good to start one for TV Series Premieres. i have the ok from Raven to start this. we'll start off with the tv series premiere of 24 starring Kiefer Sutherland.

Victor Rovner transmits from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia that a shooter is coming into town to target Senator Palmer. Agent Richard Walsh, a high ranking Counter Terrorist Unit (CTU) officer, is alerted. Senator David Palmer, an African-American running for President, writes his speech for the next day?s California primary election. Jack Bauer plays chess with his daughter Kimberly in their home. Before going to bed, she tells him that she?s glad he moved back in. Jack and his wife Teri go to her room to find she has snuck out the window. Nina Myers, Jack?s chief-of-staff at CTU, calls him into the office because Richard Walsh is in town. Jack phones Kimberly?s ex-boyfriend Vincent, but he doesn?t know where she is. Kimberly and her friend Janet York are on their way to meet up with some guys named Dan and Rick. Jack arrives at CTU headquarters and calls his wife to alleviate her fears. Turning back to work, Jack gathers his team and suggests that perhaps Senator Palmer is the reason they have been called in. He asks them to start pulling together information on the candidate. Along with Nina are CTU employees Jamey Farrell and Tony Almeida. Meanwhile, Kimberly and Janet arrive at a furniture store where they meet the guys. Jack asks a friend at the LAPD to keep a lookout for his daughter. Walsh arrives and briefs Jack?s team about an expected attempt on Palmer?s life. Walsh privately tells Jack that there may be a leak within CTU involved in the hit. Martin Belkin, a foreign photographer, calls Palmer campaign manager Patty Brooks from an airplane bound for Los Angeles. He is scheduled to meet Palmer for breakfast the next morning. Mandy, the woman in the seat next to him, overhears his conversation and asks about Palmer. Nina confronts Jack about not being included in a meeting with District Director George Mason. Jack does not tell her what the secrecy is about. Teri calls to tell Jack that she found joints in Kimberly?s desk. Jack apologizes for not being there to help. In a heart-to-heart talk with Rick, Kimberly lies and says that her father is dead. Mason does not reveal to Jack what his source is for the information on the Palmer case. Jack is suspicious, and shoots Mason with a tranquilizer gun to knock him out. Jack orders Nina to look up the assets of convicted heroin dealer Phillipe Darcet because he has always suspected that Mason skimmed money from the bust. Jack hopes to use that information to blackmail the District Director. Teri receives a call from Alan York, the father of Kimberly?s friend Janet. He too is looking for his daughter. Jack requests that Nina get Tony to access the Darcet files. Tony is suspect that Nina is doing this because she is still sleeping with Jack. She doesn?t give a straight answer, but convinces the reluctant Tony to get her the information. Jack asks Jamey to trace the passwords for the email accounts on his home phone line. He informs Teri that Kimberly?s password is LIFESUCKS. On the plane, Mandy continues to grill Martin flirtatiously. There is growing attraction between them. Senator Palmer gets a phone call from Maureen Kingsley at the network. He gets angry at her allegation, and avoids telling his wife Sherry what was discussed. Nina grows worried about Jack?s erratic behavior, and she voices her concern that he is breaking the law by tapping into private files. He says that he will not compromise himself. Meanwhile, Teri and Alan York decide to try to find the girls at an address found in Kimberly?s email account. Seeing her mother?s repeated calls on her cell phone, Kimberly asks the guys to drive her home. Martin and Mandy make love in the airplane bathroom. She asks if they can get together in Los Angeles, but he replies that he will be ?pretty busy.? At CTU, Tony sends to Jack the accessed wire transfers on the Darcet account, a

 

This is a premiere I'd wished I'd seen (along with "Farscape", "Lost", and "Battlestar Galactica")

 

Well they have these cool little discs now that have those on them

Do mean you wish you had seen it when it intionally premiered? I was disappointed to miss the premier of a couple of shows I enjoy during their initial run. I've gotten to see them all whether in re-runs or DVD though. On the other hand I watch so much TV that I've seen enough premiers of shows I'll never watch again to balance it all out.

 

i thought they should've just had the ending to this episode w/ the plane blowing up and mandy parachuting away and cut to the end there. w/ tony reporting and the thing w/ kim sort of took away from that suspense in my opinion

 

if anyone has any ideas for the next show to discuss. PM me please

 

Yeah, this was a great opening show. Set the template, as many premieres do. Great show though, true art.

 

The premiere episode of 24 really got the show off to a terrific start. The real-time format of a show is pure genius. It really builds suspense, and better illustrates that when Jack or CTU is racing against the clock, it's literal. The show just grabs hold of your throat and won't let go.

The first episode really highlighted several important themes that have run throughout the entire series:

? Jack is a patriot. No doubt about it.
Walsh's interaction with Jack about being "the only person I can trust", and Jack's speech to Nina about turning in fellow agents for corruption ( "they weren't bad guys. They just compromised. Once." ) is still one of the best of the entire series.

? Jack will do what it takes to find the truth.
Drugging his direct superior and blackmailing him for information, breaking into his daughter's private email account, Jack is not above breaking regulations in his pursuit of the greater good.

? Nothing is as it seems. Expect the unexpected.
Witness the scene where CTU is wondering about Palmer's assasin. Quick cut to the plane with the photographer Martin Belkan. His looks and demeanor perfectly typify an international assasin, but as it turns out its the ditzy-acting beauty sitting next to him that is the real killer. She swipes Belkan's info, kills a flight attendant without even blinking, and calmly puts her gear on while the bomb she set is counting down.

Kim thinks she is going on a blind date with some college guys. But are they just local dudes, or do they have something else up their sleeve?

The idea being floated that Palmer is an assasin's target because he is black.

Looking back at the premiere from season's end, it is amazing what has transpired. Nina and Jamey are both traitors, Walsh is killed, Tony emerges as a go-to guy rather than a whiny underling, Palmer's hitters don't want him because he's black or running for President, Alan York is really a hired killer, etc etc.

? Jack is a guy who loves his family.
The setup of hearing about Jack and Teri's marital troubles, their discussions and concern about raising Kim, and his attempt to balance a crisis situation at work with a family crisis at home make for a compelling character.


Terrific episode, and a fitting start to this whole crazy journey that is 24.

 

Do you wish you had seen it when it originally premiered?

Definitely. You never seem to be able to catch up if you miss the first show.

 

I think for the most part that is true; but I have a friend who just started last season and has been able to follow it for the most part.

It really is one of the greatest shows ever put on. The shine has worn off a bit, but the whole concept of season 1 was fantastic. They tried a season long storyline on some others shows..(Murder 1 for instance) but it never really seemed to catch on til this show; and even when it first started it was not much of a hit.

 

Yeah, the critics have always loved it, but a lot of the public has come on board since Season 4. It's a good time to have started watching. Especially since Season 3 sort of cleared the decks regarding most of what transpired in the first two seasons.

 

There are places on the 'net where you can read episode recaps. Maybe I should do that.

 

Read away.

 

That's a lot of reading...but here goes.

 

DVD is your friend.

 

DVDs are insanely expensive.

 

I didn't get to see the premiere when it first came on. But I watch it whenever it's on now, no matter what season. It's a fantastic show and each season is better than the one(s) before it. Except for the first season, obviously. Jack Bauer has to be one of the best characters, I think, in a TV show.

 

I watched the day marathon on FX, back when it was on, and after I watched the first episode, I remember wondering what all this was about? But it was pretty good, so I stayed on.

 

Saturday, 9-10 pm. BBC America "Robin Hood"

I'm guessing this won't be much like the old Richard Greene series.

 

It is the worst adaption of the story i have seen in a while the bbc messed up.

I prefer the old series that was on ITV in the 80`s, while nt acurate(a lot of pagen symbolisim) it was darker and more exciting than the muck the bbc produced.

If you ever get to see a series called "dead Ringers" they do a parody of it i couldnt realy tell wat was different

 

I've heard some good things about this series, but unfortunently, I don't get BBC America.

 

Tonight:

SERIES DEBUT:

From EW:

"The Riches" A-
Brit thesps Eddie Izzard and Minnie Driver are not necessarily the first pair you'd pick to play RV-driving gypsy criminals. They might not be the thousandth, but both are terrific in this dramedy...."

I am a dedicated non-fan of Driver, but Izzard's talented...

 

Season Premiere: "Live at Gotham" on Comedy Central, with newbie standups...

 

Tonight:

"On the Lot"

"Carrie Fisher is having a tough time as a reality-show judge. Though she shares the responsibility with Brett Ratner, Garry Marshall, and Jon Avnet on this Apprentice- meets-Project Greenlight experiment (exec-produced by Mark Burnett and Steven Spielberg), that didn't make critiquing the 50 aspiring filmmakers any easier. ''I had to do Simon Cowell-ish things,'' says the writer-actress. ''It's awful. I'm going to have to go back into therapy.'' But she did manage to find some admiration for the budding auteurs. ''You need to have all these skills,'' she explains. ''[These contestants] would breathe, eat, and sleep movies constantly since they were 16.'' ? Shirley Halperin

 

Looks interesting. I'll check it out.

 

I'm sure it will be bad, but I'll probably watch if only to see if Carrie Fisher can complete some sentences.