The first season began and ended at midnight, and during its ninth episode (8:00 – 9:00 am) Jack mentioned that he had already been awake for 24 hours. In most subsequent seasons the story starts in the morning. Seasons two and seven began at 8:00 am, seasons four and five began at 7:00 am, and season six began at 6:00 am. This was a more realistic period of time for the characters to have been continuously awake. Season three began at 1:00 pm and season eight began at 4:00 pm.
The seventh season, originally scheduled to premiere on January 13, 2008, was postponed in the wake of the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike. To ensure a nonstop season, a trademark of the show since the start of its fourth season in January 2005, the season was postponed a full year until January 2009.[4][5] To help offset the strike-induced delay, the show returned on November 23, 2008, with a feature-length TV movie, 24: Redemption, that takes place nearly four years after season six and sets up the story that launched season seven.[6][7][8]
Like the 1997 film Air Force One, 24 has featured Air Force One and use of the 25th amendment. Air Force One was featured in 24 Seasons 2 and 4. Air Force Two (carrying the Vice President but not the President) was featured in season 6. 24 used the same Air Force One set from the film.[13] Seven actors featured in 24—Xander Berkeley, Glenn Morshower, Wendy Crewson, Timothy Carhart, Jürgen Prochnow, Tom Everett and Spencer Garrett—appeared in the film Air Force One.
The sixth season's two-night, four-hour premiere, broadcast in 2007, garnered the largest audience in 24's history, averaging 15.7 million viewers.[37] Ratings peaked at one point to 16.3 million. By comparison, the precedent seventh season's two-night, four-hour premiere, broadcast in 2009, decreased slightly in viewers, averaging an overall 27 million viewers over the two nights.
