Trivia for
"24" (2001) More at IMDbPro »

• Each episode is supposed to take one hour of real time, but in actuality, three minutes are gradually added to the timer during the commercial breaks. The last three minutes of air time are used for viewing commercials, station identification, and scenes from the next episode.
  
  
• At the power plant before Palmer's breakfast speech, Jack runs into old friend and Palmer staffer, Jessica Abrams. In conversation, she refers to mutual old friend Tracy Zigler, who had erroneously reported that Jack and Teri had divorced. Both characters are named after members of the production crew; Jessica Abrams is the script coordinator, and Tracy Zigler is the script supervisor.
  
  
• Dennis Haysbert was shuttling back and forth from the east coast to Los Angeles during the production of the show, because he was filming Far from Heaven (2002) at the same time.
  
  
• Reiko Aylesworth originally auditioned for the role of Nina Myers.
  
  
• Reiko Aylesworth also auditioned for the role of Kate Warner.
  
  
• Paul Blackthorne who plays the main villain, Saunders, originally auditioned for the role of Amador, another one of the season 3 villains. After failing the audition, his agent negotiated with the producers and managed to get the role of Saunders.
  
  
• During the shoot for season 4, a special six-minute segment was shot for the US version of the season 3 DVD where Jack loses his job at CTU, an antagonist of season 4 arrives in the US, and Jack has an intimate moment with his new girlfriend. This did not appear on any of the other versions of the DVD released earlier in the summer, however it does appear on the UK and German DVD release. An extended version of this segment (as stated in the commentary by director Jon Cassar) is available on the UK DVD release of season 4.
  
  
• Kiefer Sutherland signed on for three more seasons during season 5.
  
  
• Mandy is the longest running villain to appear on the series. She made her first appearance in the first three episodes of Season 1 working for Ira Gaines, and returned in Season 2's finale for a cameo appearance where she tries to assassinate David Palmer. She returns again for the last three episodes of Season 4. Mandy was also originally intended to appear in Season 5, but was replaced by another character.
  
  
• Season 4: Writer/Executive Producer Evan Katz was such a huge fan of Australian music duo Grant McLennan and Robert Forster of the band The Go-Betweens that he named the sinister corporation McLennan-Forster after them.
  
  
• Two episodes are filmed simultaneously over a period of 15 days.
  
  
• In season 2, Tony Almeida's ankle injury was added to the script as actor Carlos Bernard had really injured his ankle while playing basketball during a break in filming.
  
  
• Harris Yulin, who plays the recurring character of NSA director Roger Stanton in Season 2, is not credited at all in the opening or ending credits. All recurring and guest stars have to share their credits on screen with one or two other actors, but Yulin wanted to appear alone on them. Because this was not possible, he decided not to be credited at all.
  
  
• Partway through season 2, Kiefer Sutherland injured his leg while exiting his trailer, so a small scene was written in where Jack Bauer must pull a piece of shrapnel from his leg after a plane crash to explain Sutherland's limp.
  
  
• During season two shooting, Elisha Cuthbert was bitten by the mountain lion who menaced her in one of the plotlines. Before shooting the scene the animal trainer suggested she "meet" the mountain lion before shooting, when she went to pet the mountain lion it bit her hand. She was taken to the hospital, treated for puncture wounds and was given a tetanus shot.
  
  
• Nina Myers' fake passport shows Sarah Clarke's own married name (Sarah Berkeley), but not her birthday, which is in 1972 (the passport shows 05.05.1975).
  
  
• Season 3. Whenever Jack goes into the holding facility which houses Salazar, at some point, he is picked up by security cameras. The legend on the video surveillance monitor at the guards' station shows constantly that he is being taped by camera #24.
  
  
• Season 3. A Mexican airplane appears briefly during Salazar and Bauer's landing on Mexican ground. The logo on its side reads "Aeromexicana". The name is comprised of Mexico's two largest airlines "Aeromexico" and "Mexicana".
  
  
• During Season 2, President Palmer takes a flight aboard Air Force One. Reportedly, the sets used were the same used for the film Air Force One (1997) and "The West Wing" (1999)'s Air Force One shots.
  
  
• All cast members are required to have their hair trimmed every five days.
  
  
• Gabriel Macht was originally offered the role of Jack's partner Chase Edmunds but the producers were so impressed by James Badge Dale's audition they offered him the role and promised Gabriel Macht a significant role in the next season. This never materialized.
  
  
• Jack Bauer has a Bachelor's Degree in English Literature from UCLA and a Master's Degree in Criminology and Law from UC Berkeley. Kim Bauer has an Associate's Degree in Computer Programming from Santa Monica College. President Palmer has a Bachelor's Degree in Political Economy from Georgetown University, and a Juris Doctorate from the University of Maryland School of Law. Tony Almeida has a Bachelor's Degree in Engineering and Computer Science from San Diego State University and a Master's Degree in Computer Science from Stanford University. Michelle Dessler has a Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science from UC Davis. Sherry Palmer has a Bachelor's Degree in Sociology from Georgetown University.
  
  
• Completing an entire season, including pre- and post-production work, takes ten and a half months.
  
  
• In Season 3, Stephen Saunders demands that the President reveal some classified information, which would then be sent to him via a website. The website he mentioned is SylviaImports.com. This site was actually registered by Rodney Charters, the show's director of photography (and director of a couple of second season episodes). It contains the following text message: "A Big Thank-you from the crew of "24" (2001). Thanks for watching, we love making it for you, and yes, we did get picked up for Season 4."
  
  
• Kiefer Sutherland's first regular role on a television series.
  
  
• In Seasons 1 & 6 there is a CTU character called Milo Pressman (played by Eric Balfour). There was a character called Milo Pressman, who ran a scrapyard in the Stephen King's story "The Body" in his book "Different Season's". The story was later made into the film Stand by Me (1986) in which Kiefer Sutherland starred.
  
  
• The crew tried to keep all the cameras at eye-level to add an extra level of realism.
  
  
• The knife Jack Bauer uses is a Microtech Halo III SA Satin Blade Front opener.
  
  
• Roughly 25 hours of footage are edited into one episode of the show.
  
  
• The character name Alberta Green (Tamara Tunie) was named after actress Alberta Watson who was originally going to play the part. Watson later went on to play CTU Director Erin Driscoll in season 4.
  
  
• In the Day 5 episode 4:00 p.m.-5:00 p.m. Audrey identifies herself to the secretary as Jane Espenson. Jane Espenson is a writer who had previously worked with David Fury (one of 24's producers), on several Joss Whedon shows.
  
  
• The actors are not told in advance as to what will happen from episode to episode so none of them know whether or not they will be written out of the series
  
  
• Other than Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland), Glenn Morshower's character (Agent Aaron Pierce) is the only one to appear in all 7 seasons of "24" as of 2009.
  
  
• Both Dennis Haysbert (David Palmer) and Penny Johnson (Sherry Palmer) had supporting roles in the political thriller Absolute Power (1997) starring Clint Eastwood.
  
  
• In the fifth episode of the fourth season, Debbie's cell phone rang with a valid California phone number on the caller ID. Many fans noticed this and called the number, Some callers heard a voice mail message telling them that they called the 24 prop phone and to leave a message. Others spoke with various people, including Production Designer Joseph A. Hodges and stars Kim Raver (Audrey Raines) and Carlos Bernard (Tony Almeida). Hodges later stated in an interview that director Jon Cassar came up with the idea for the "Fan Phone" because the two of them often got bored scouting new shooting locations and wanted a chance to interact with the audience. Hodges indicated they received around 80,000 calls on the line in the first week.
  
  
• According to Gregory Itzin, while the cast and crew of 24 were on a tour of Washington D.C., they learned that Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas is a huge fan of the show.
  
  
• In Season 4, while Mandy (Mia Kirshner) has Tony Almeida (Carlos Bernard) held hostage, she goes to her neighbors' apartment and one of them calls her "Rothenberg." This is the same last name as C.T.U. agent Shari Rothenberg (Kate Mara) in Season 5.
  
  
• Alan Milliken of Season 3 shares the same last name as 24's Transportation Coordinator, Dennis Milliken.
  
  
• According to her profile on the 24 website, Teri Bauer (Leslie Hope) worked as a colorist for Dark Horse comics.
  
  
• As of 2008, the only FOX series to win the Emmy for Best Drama Series.
  
  
• Ranked #6 on Empire magazine's 50 Greatest TV Shows Of All Time (2008).
  
  
• The Season 6 plotline involving hostiles taking over CTU headquarters and Jack's nephew eluding them by crawling through air ducts almost exactly parallels a plotline from 24: The Game (2006) (VG), except that in the game it was Jack's daughter Kim eluding the terrorists.
  
  
• Jack's last name came from a character we've seen in "La Femme Nikita" (1997) (Peter Bauer, #1.06). The famous split screen we see in 24 was used on La Femme Nikita #1.03 and Jack's motto "whatever it takes" is said by Michael and Madeleine in the first season of La Femme Nikita.
  
  
• Jayne Atkinson originally auditioned for the role of The President's wife, Martha Logan, in Season 5. Jean Smart was eventually cast as Mrs. Logan, and Atkinson was later cast in the role of CTU executive Karen Hayes. In a subsequent interview, Atkinson said that her audition for the role of Martha Logan had gone well, but that Jean Smart was perfect for the part. In addition, she felt a stronger connection to her role as Karen Hayes.
  
  
• Six main actors from the movie _Robocop (1987)_ have been cast as main characters throughout the '24' series. They include: 'Peter Weller': plays Officer Alex J. Murphy in Robocop and Christopher Henderson in 24. Kurtwood Smith: plays Clarence Boddicker in Robocop and Senator Blaine Mayer in 24. 'Ray Wise': plays Leon Nash in Robocop and Vice President Hal Gardner in 24. Paul McCrane plays Emil Antonowsky in Robocop and Graem in 24. Jesse D. Goins plays Joe Cox in Robocop and Alan Hayes in 24. 'Edward Edwards' plays Manson in Robocop and Colonel Lamb in 24.
  
  
• In preparation for Season 7 of this series, the executive producers and staff writers strongly considered moving the action of the story from Los Angeles to New York. They felt that L.A. had been the target of terrorist attacks too many times in the previous six seasons, and that the location of the drama needed an update. They debated whether to place Season 7 in New York City or Washington D.C., and ultimately decided on the District of Columbia. They reasoned that, because the majority of principal photography would still film in Los Angeles, that it would be easier to fake Washington D.C. using L.A. locations, than to try to effectively fake New York. The production made three trips to Washington D.C. before the WGA strike in November 2007, the other Washington shots were inserted in the post-production process using green screens.
  
  
• Omid Abtahi is one of two actors to return to 24 as a another character. He's "Safa" in "24: Day 4: 7:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m. (#4.13)" (2005), and "Jibraan Al-Zarian" in "24: Day 7: 3:00 a.m.-4:00 a.m. (#7.20)" (2009). Tony Todd played Detective Norris during Day 3 and General Juma in Redemption and Day 7.
  
  
• Cherry Jones told Newsweek Magazine that her models for her characterization of President Allison Taylor are Eleanor Roosevelt, Golda Meir, and John Wayne.
  
  

• SPOILER: Although the writers changed their plans on Chase Edmunds's fate, they had a deleted scene planned in which Chase gets killed while he was having his hand re-attached in the hospital
  
  

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