"24" Life Lessons.

I've not been a fan, and the five minutes I saw of one of the new episodes struck me as pornagraphically violent, but maybe "24" should be Tivoed for the sake of ethical tutelage:

The current season of Fox's television series "24" began with a dilemma that will be familiar to long-time devotees of the program. A man's wife and child have been taken hostage by a terrorist. If the man does not help him carry out his plans, his family will be killed.

Yes, such a dilemma propels the show's pace and intensifies the dramatic ordeal. But it also points toward difficult ethical puzzles with profound implications for our current real-world moment. You don't need to watch "24" as a kind of primer on moral philosophy, but you probably should.

Here's the whole thing.