24 Top 10

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Very excited about the start of the new season. Here are some of the reasons I love it:

10.    Chloe. David Gafford's first season watching and can't stand her. I told him she grows on you. Actually I like so many of the characters (many of them now dead and gone). Jack truly is the best, though.

9.    Edge of my seat excitement. I love getting wound up in the story.

8.    Unforgettable moments. Already had two or three this season--Jack's escape, Jack's reaction to shooting Curtis and the bomb.

7.    Henry Michael calls from college to have the "can you believe..." conversation after the show most weeks.

6.    Fun to review what happened with friends. More and more staff are watching, but I've failed to engage my small group members. John, on the other hand, is a 24 evangelist extraordinaire in his small group.

5.    My mom watches it with us, so I get some mom-time in.

4.    It's so creative. Who thought up Jack's escape method?

3.    I get one or two huge surprises per season. I'll never forget my total surprise when, in season three, Jack gets off the plane in Mexico and is warmly greeted by the drug kingpin guy.

2.    It's so much fun to watch with friends. We went over to Jeff and Anita's for the openner and Anthony was there (we've seen many episodes together) and Ron saw his first real-time episode. We'll end up seeing many more over there this season.

1.    It's our show. It's the only show Lois watches (besides NFL football games on Sundays, which she loves). Lois isn't really crazy about it, but she's just being a good sport. I really like having a show we watch together. We've had a few. In our early married years it was Hill Stret Blues. We missed maybe two or three episodes and that was before VCR's and TiVo's! Then it was Thirtysomething. After that, Lois & Clark (with the kids). We went a long time without having another show. I didn't have a favorite, must-watch show until Smallville. And because Smallville and 24 were on at the same time (and I didn't want to have another show), I missed the first two seasons of 24. Been hooked since season 3, which is still my favorite.