But at least you have a few years to either get your avatar's affairs in order or haul ass out of there. The '24' timeline at this point is situated in the year 2012 (based on the timestamp on the computers and cell phones). This date isn't really arbitrary, as it can be approximated by the succession of Presidents and the number of years each served from their terms of office.
And it's because of all these Commanders-in-Chief that the TV dimension of '24' is really of no big whoop for Toobworld. By 2012, the POTUS in Earth Prime-Time will be whoever is the POTUS here on Earth Prime. So unlike the future events of some other shows*, a section of L.A. will not be destroyed by a small nuclear device in the main Toobworld.
At least, not under the watch of Wayne Palmer.
However, Earth Prime-Time has already suffered devastating destruction in a small section of Los Angeles, and perhaps this nuclear explosion was Earth Prime-Time/24's chance to realign itself in some way with the general historical outline laid down in the main TV dimension.
Back in 1964, an entire section of L.A. vanished, leaving behind a gaping crater. At least six blocks of a suburban area had been teleported away by the Luminoids, an alien humanoid race from the planet Luminos.
The Luminoids wanted to conduct "A Feasibility Study" to see if the human race could adapt to their planet's atmosphere and withstand the mutations that afflicted the Luminoid people.
Instead, the humans practically committed suicide by accepting the deadly mutagens rather than be subjected to slavery. ('The Outer Limits')
The Luminoids may be related, but are not the same as, the Luminans of Lumina. One of these aliens, who took the Terran name of Casey Rogers, landed in 'Port Charles', NY, in 1990 in order to search out the shards of a special crystal from his homeworld. Once reunited, the crystal caused a massive blackout throughout the area. ('General Hospital')
(My guess is that Luminos and Lumina were twin planets sharing the same orbit in much the same way as Earth once shared its orbit with the planet Mondas. At the very least they shared the same solar system.)
So the Luminoid abduction of that section of L.A. in 'The Outer Limits' may be the dimensional equivalent to the "Ground Zero" site from the bomb blast in '24'. And only the dimensional vortex - and over forty years - separate the two.
At any rate, life has gone on in the main Toobworld since that massive alien abduction, and the problems facing Agent Bauer in that dimension don't mean Jack to Earth Prime-Time.
But here's one last thought - Has it ever been stated as to what year it is in the TV show 'Jericho'? Because if this pattern of bombing major cities continues, '24' and 'Jericho' may as well be sharing the same dimension!
Just sayin', is all.....
Tele-Toby
*For example, the events depicted in 'Land Of The Giants' took place in 1986 and those of 'Lost In Space' took place in 1997. Yet both shows aired in the mid-60s. Both have already occurred in Earth Prime-Time's history.
"At least, not under the watch of David Palmer."
ReplyDeleteI think you meant Wayne Palmer.
Also, how did you get the 2013 number? I assume you added nine years, the total time that has passed since Day One, to a presumed 2004 date for when Day One took place. But where was it stated that Day One necessarily took place in 2004, and not, say, 2000?
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ReplyDeleteYou're right, thank you. I was thinking about Big Brother, because I was writing up a piece about this week's episode of 'The Unit'. (That'll be up soon.)
ReplyDeleteI'll change it and give props here to you for helping me on that.
As for the 2013 date, guess what? I screwed that up too! So thanks for asking about it as it made me double check my source. It should be "2012". (No matter what dimension you're in, that's going to be one busy year - the London Olympics, the Dalek attack underground in Utah!)
I got that date from an article I read yesterday, which mentioned that all of the computers and cell phones have that date showing on them (and it's a day in January to boot, the 23rd).
As for why I chose 2004? It was a complicated decision. First, the show began in 2001, and I don't believe that it was telling a story that already happened in its own dimension. So that would rule out the 2000 election.
Unless I'm told otherwise, or can gauge it from obvious clues (like if it's a horse or a space opera), I always believe the first broadcast of any show is taking place around the time it was aired. (Obviously every following episode for that first season of '24' filled up the rest of that one day.)
So I'm thinking that David Palmer was running for President in the 2004 election.
As to when exactly that '24' day happened, I'll leave it to someone who's dedicated to that show to work out the full timeline. (The website "Things That Never Were" might just have a link to one.) But I think it had to be closer to the election than 2001, especially since there always seems to be a moratorium on actually running for the office so soon after somebody else was elected to it.
I've read "2011" as another date that might have fit in somebody's version of the chronology, but since the props are backing up the 2012 date, I'll stick with that.
Here's the url for that story:
http://www.accessatlanta.com/entertainment/content/shared-blogs/accessatlanta/tv/entries/2007/01/17/on_the_set_of_24.html
Or just go to TVTattle.com and look for the link to the story under Wednesday's stories.
Thanks for helping me police the post!