24 is an American serial action/drama television series. Broadcast by Fox in the United States and syndicated worldwide, the show first aired on November 6, 2001, with an initial 13 episodes.

24 is broadcast in real time, with each season depicting a 24-hour period in the life of Jack Bauer, who works with the United States government as it fights fictitious terrorist threats to the United States. Bauer is often in the field for the Los Angeles Counter Terrorist Unit as it tries to safeguard the nation from terrorist threats. The show also follows the actions of other CTU agents, government officials and terrorists associated with the plot. The first six seasons of the show were all based in Los Angeles and nearby locations - both real and fictional — in California, although occasionally other locations have been featured as well — most notably, Washington, D.C., where a portion of the episodes took place during the fourth and sixth seasons. Departing from tradition, the seventh season is set primarily in Washington, D.C.