Kiefer Sutherland stars in this precedent-setting television series from executive producers Joel Surnow ("Wiseguy") and Robert Cochran ("La Femme Nikita"), Ron Howard, Brian Grazer and Tony Krantz. The entire season takes place in one day, with each of the 24 episodes covering one hour, told in real time.

Episode one begins at midnight, on the day of the California Presidential Primary. JACK BAUER (Sutherland) is finishing a game of chess with his daughter, KIMBERLY (Elisha Cuthbert). At fifteen, Kimberly has learned other games as well -- for example, blaming her mother, TERI (Leslie Hope), for the marital struggles that caused Jack to move out of the house temporarily (he has only recently moved back home). Shortly after the chess game ends, Kimberly sneaks out of the house. No sooner have Jack and Teri found this out when the phone rings; Jack, who heads up the government's Counter Terrorist Unit, must report to work immediately.

At the office, Jack learns that an assassination attempt will be made that day on Presidential candidate DAVID PALMER (Dennis Haysbert), a U.S. Senator and the first African-American with a realistic chance at the White House. Furthermore, it appears that a rogue element inside the Agency may be in on the hit.

Making use of its unique real-time element, 24 will follow several key characters as they live through a day that none of them will ever forget: Kimberly's "night on the town" takes an unexpected and sinister turn; Teri, unwilling to sit passively at home, sets out to find Kimberly, and encounters more danger than she ever imagined possible; Senator Palmer, not yet aware of the attempt on his life, faces a different kind of trouble -- a long ago buried scandal might surface just in time to derail his political career; and a mysterious man who claims to be a photographer phones one of Palmer's aides from an airliner bound for Los Angeles to arrange a photo session for the next morning. Could he be the assassin? If so, seated next to him is an attractive woman, MANDY (Mia Kirshner), who overhears the conversation.

Meanwhile, Jack, with help from his Chief-of-Staff NINA MYERS (Sarah Clarke), is charged with the responsibility of stopping the assassination and uncovering the rogue element inside the Agency. Yet, his daughter still hasn't come home and the clock keeps ticking...