Can't sleep, so just thought I'd post a quick comment about Series Three of 24 which is now two episodes in on Sky One.
I loved Series One and Two of this show - and although we're only be 2 hours into Jack Bauer's third longest day, things are already looking good. Friends be warned, I'm not available on a Thursday night for the next 23 weeks.... No seriously, I'm not. 24 is a religious appointment to view for me.
With this new series, I particularly like the fact that they've broken with TV convention by giving the hero a rather unpleasant drug habit (good guys are normally clean as a whistle, although admittedly we know that Smack Bauer only acquired this habit in order to bring down a drugs baron - so that's all right then!) and I also like the way the producers have given the show a different look, going for a much whiter and crisper images than the graininess associated with previous series.
What I don't like however is having to watch it on Sky One. I confess I seldom watch this channel, and now I can see why: the ad breaks are incredibly long, not only have they taken a 41 minute show and padded it out to last for a whole hour, but they've also edited the show at different punctuation points to the natural breaks put in by the programme makers and adhered to by the US distributor (Fox). As a result, whilst the show is good - the breaks - both their length and placement, makes for a very 'bitty' and broken experience.
Of course, none of this changes the fact that I'm not available any Thursday till September, but it also means that even more than with Series One and Two, I can already sense that I'm not going to fully appreciate this Golden Globe wining drama until it comes out on DVD.
