This week marks the return of one of TV’s most acclaimed and intense dramas, “24.” Federal agent Jack Bauer hasn’t been seen on TV since 2010, when the show’s finale left the door open for the potential of a movie. Fox begins the 12-week mini-series follow-up to “24” on Monday, May 5.

Anyone who knows jack about Jack is familiar with a few patterns on the show. For those of us so inclined, here’s a few guidelines for a 24 drinking game. Just for fun, we made sure there were 24 rules. Play responsibly, but remember that the real Jack Bauer plays by his own rules.

Enjoy!

Drink Once:

-Any time the clock ticks in or out of commercial break

-A terrorist is shot & killed

-Someone says, “There isn’t enough time!”

-Something dramatic happens at the end of the hour

-A conversation serves only as exposition: e.g. “I don’t know if you know this about Jack Bauer, but he was once in love with the President’s daughter”

-Chloe types furiously at a computer

-The President is briefed on a situation only seconds after it happens

-The word “protocols” is used, and it’s totally unclear what the hell that means

-Someone hangs up on a phone conversation without saying “goodbye”

-Intense interrogation scene (chairs flipped, suspect grabbed by the throat, etc… you know, the usual)

-The President reminds a subordinate that he is, in fact, the President

-Split-screen effect

 

Drink Twice:

-Computers do things they can’t actually do (e.g. real-time street-level satellite surveillance)

-Corporate sponsorship – zoom in close on the car’s grill, someone mentions their Cisco internet connection…

-Someone suspects there’s a mole inside the government

-“Tell me where the bomb is!!!”

-Jack defies a direct order

-An American character is forced to drive on the left side of the road in Britain

-Someone says, “You’re just going to have to trust me!”

-A sniper takes out an informant right before they reveal some useful information

-Someone still uses a Blackberry

 

Yell “Damn It!” and Finish Your Drink:

-The “Silent Clock” phenomenon where the numbers tick silently in tribute to a main character’s death

-A villainous mastermind is revealed, and he/she is Russian or Middle-Eastern (I mean c’monnnnn…)

-Someone we thought was dead in previous seasons is somehow still alive.