The 9-Part Thriller Stephen King Labeled "Perfection In Long-Form TV" Is Perfect For Binge-Watching

Published Oct 24, 2026, 3:45 PM EDT Padraig is a Senior Features Writer and has been part of Screen Rant since 2017. Padraig is a writer, editor and retired Game of Thrones extra who has been writing about movies and TV online for over a decade. He has also written for The Irish Times, Den Of Geek, Little White Lies and many more. It's pronounced Paw-rick, BTW. Stephen King penned a loving tribute to a series he labeled as the closest he's seen to "perfection in long-form TV." Stephen King's books (and their various movie adaptations) have been a mainstay in pop culture for over 50 years, but the author has also been an excellent tastemaker. Whether in his defunct column for EW or on social media, King is often recommending movies, TV shows and books worth seeking out. In 2026 alone, King has endorsed Taylor Sheridan's Landman, the horror movie The Cycle and labeled Sarah Langan's Trad Wife the best horror novel of the year. King has also regularly sung the praises of classic shows like Breaking Bad, Lost and 24. The latter is a nine-season thriller famous for its real-time format, where each episode covers an hour in one very eventful day. It was a stressful and exhilarating show at its peak, which is when King penned an essay praising it as one of the best series on TV. Stephen King Labeled 24 "So Good It’s Scary" Credit: Fox via MovieStillsDB King was specifically writing about the sixth season, after he got his hands on the first four episodes. Calling 24 "the world’s first überseries," he analysed all the reasons it had managed to stay fresh after six years. This includes its relentless pacing, and the fact that no supporting character - no matter how beloved - was safe from the axe. In addition to the TV show, Kiefer Sutherland's Jack Bauer also fronted a 24 video game for the PlayStation 2 and the TV movie Redemption. The author stops short of labeling 24 as "perfection," critiquing its occasional "loopy" subplots - such as Kim Bauer's (Elisha Cuthbert) famous encounter with a cougar - but also states it is "the most successful example" of it to date. He even tackles the show's controversial use of torture as a plot device, though he underlines that such actions clearly do take a toll on Jack Bauer's soul. In his essay, King stated his intention to watch the first four episodes over the course of a week, only to binge them in a single night. Fans of 24 will be familiar with this problem, as the show could be so addictive that it was hard to resist the urge to just start the next episode right away. In hindsight, it's a little ironic that King chose the sixth season to pay homage to 24, as for many critics and fans, that was the season where the quality began to drop. A Quarter Century Later, 24 Is Still A Perfect Binge-Watch Thriller Still, even a lesser season of 24 is better than most of its rivals. The show's unique format means the story is always moving forward, placing Jack his allies in impossible moral and ethical dilemmas. It also featured a superb supporting cast, from Dennis Haysbert as television's greatest President David Palmer to Mary Lynn Rajskub and Jean Smart (Hacks). While many shows have tried to recapture what made 24 work, such as The Night Agent or Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan, none have worked quite as well. 25 years after the original season debuted, 24 is still one of the best binge-watch shows to grace the small screen. It even helped invent the term, as devotees often binged entire seasons when they arrived on DVD. Some viewers even avoided watching the latest series of 24 on TV in favor of waiting for the boxset, so they could experience the entire day without ad breaks. The show was very suited to its time, but while there has been talk of revivals in recent years, it's tricky to see how the format would work now. Would modern audiences have the patience to sit through an entire 24-episode season, or would it do something similar to the short-lived spinoff 24: Legacy and cover an entire day in 12 episodes instead? That seems to be an issue holding back a potential reboot, but even if 24 never comes back, King was right to label it as thriller TV perfection. Source: EW Release Date 2001 - 2010-00-00 Showrunner Robert Cochran Directors Robert Cochran Writers Robert Cochran Franchise(s) 24 Creator(s) Robert Cochran, Joel Surnow