24

In the past I have sniffed at people who have to watch "their show" on a given night of the week. But Fox's 24 is appointment TV at it's best - a show where no moment is wasted on filler, and the phone rings at commercials from friends and family who are watching.

The writers have placed two families at the center of the story. One is made up of the dissident son and loyal daughter of the U.S. defense secretary. The other is comprised of (apparently) assimilated middle-eastern folks. The mother, played by Iranian actor Dina Araz is by herself worth the ticket.

The action in every episode relentlessly turns the screws on these fictional families with the moral exigencies of modern terrorism and civil liberty. The show could be a graduate seminar on masterful scriptwriting: The art of ruthlessly hooking audiences with a lock-tight intersection of character and plot.