# 24 Minutes

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21st episode of the 18th season of The Simpsons

"24 Minutes" The Simpsons episode Promotional artwork for the episode featuring Bart, Jack Bauer, Chloe O'Brian and Lisa. Episode no. Season 18 Episode 21 Directed by Raymond S. Persi Written by Ian Maxtone-Graham Billy Kimball Production code JABF14 Original air date May 20, 2007 (2007-05-20) Guest appearances Kiefer Sutherland as Jack Bauer Mary Lynn Rajskub as Chloe O'Brian Episode features Commentary Al Jean Ian Maxtone-Graham Billy Kimball Matt Selman Michael Price Tom Gammill Max Pross David Silverman Raymond S. Persi Steven Dean Moore Chip Johannessen Episode chronology ← Previous "Stop, or My Dog Will Shoot!" Next → "You Kent Always Say What You Want" The Simpsons season 18 List of episodes

"**24 Minutes**" is the twenty-first and penultimate episode of the [eighteenth season](/source/The_Simpsons_season_18) of the American animated television series *[The Simpsons](/source/The_Simpsons)*. It originally aired on the [Fox network](/source/Fox_Broadcasting_Company) in the United States on May 20, 2007 as part of the one-hour season finale, alongside the episode "[You Kent Always Say What You Want](/source/You_Kent_Always_Say_What_You_Want)". It was originally promoted as being the 400th episode,[1] but was broadcast as the 399th. It was written by [Ian Maxtone-Graham](/source/Ian_Maxtone-Graham) and [Billy Kimball](/source/Billy_Kimball). It was Kimball's first writing credit.

The episode is a [spoof](/source/Parody) of the [Fox](/source/Fox_Network) television drama *[24](/source/24_(TV_series))*, and sees [Principal Skinner](/source/Principal_Skinner)'s new Counter Truancy Unit (CTU), led by [Lisa Simpson](/source/Lisa_Simpson), attempting to prevent a [stink bomb](/source/Stink_bomb) being released at [Springfield Elementary School](/source/Springfield_Elementary_School). Guest stars include [Kiefer Sutherland](/source/Kiefer_Sutherland) and [Mary Lynn Rajskub](/source/Mary_Lynn_Rajskub) as their respective characters from *24*, [Jack Bauer](/source/Jack_Bauer) and [Chloe O'Brian](/source/Chloe_O'Brian).

The episode received critical acclaim and won the 2008 [Annie Award](/source/Annie_Award) for Best Writing in an Animated Television Production.

## Plot

To tackle misbehavior, [Principal Skinner](/source/Principal_Skinner) opens a CTU – Counter Truancy Unit – at [Springfield Elementary School](/source/Springfield_Elementary_School) with [Lisa](/source/Lisa_Simpson) heading up the operation over [Milhouse](/source/Milhouse_Van_Houten), [Martin](/source/Martin_Prince) and [Database](/source/List_of_recurring_The_Simpsons_characters#Database). When the bullies [Jimbo](/source/Jimbo_Jones), [Dolph](/source/List_of_recurring_The_Simpsons_characters#Dolph_Starbeam) and [Kearney](/source/List_of_recurring_The_Simpsons_characters#Kearney_Zzyzwicz) play truant, Milhouse is assigned on a mission to spy on them. At the [Power Plant](/source/Springfield_Nuclear_Power_Plant), [Homer](/source/Homer_Simpson) is found to be the owner of a container of expired and highly pungent yogurt and is ordered to dispose of it. Homer tries to return the yogurt to [Apu](/source/Apu_Nahasapeemapetilon), but Apu refuses to take it due to its unbearable stench and, desperate to get rid of it, takes Homer to the yogurt section and offers him whatever he wants there. While Homer and Apu are distracted, the bullies take the yogurt. Outside, Homer unwittingly breaks Milhouse's cover, and the bullies throw them both into a dumpster and send it rolling down an avenue.

Meanwhile, [Marge](/source/Marge_Simpson) discovers that there is a bake sale at the school that day, and realizes she has just 27 minutes to make a cake. In order to save time, she drastically increases the oven temperature to 1,200 degrees, quickly burning the cake and making it rock-solid. Marge desperately attempts to cover it up with pink and white frosting before rushing to the bake sale.

Lisa suggests that [Bart](/source/Bart_Simpson) help them, though he only agrees after negotiating immunity from punishment for all his past and future pranks (and making Skinner teach him a new swear word). At Jimbo's house, the bullies make a powerful [stink bomb](/source/Stink_bomb) (which resembles the canisters of Sentox Nerve Gas from [season 5](/source/24_season_5) of *24*) from the expired yogurt and a variety of other putrid items, and plan on detonating it at the bake sale. During his investigation, Bart's phone call is accidentally crossed with a call from [Jack Bauer](/source/Jack_Bauer) of *24*, who is busy in a gun battle, and turns it into a prank call against him ("Ahmed Adoudi").

Bart finds out about the stink bomb and informs Lisa. Upon returning to school, he discovers from [Nelson](/source/Nelson_Muntz) that Martin is a double-agent working for the bullies. Before Bart can tell Lisa about Martin's double-dealing, Martin knocks him unconscious and takes him to the ventilation room, where the bullies tie up Bart. When Willie stumbles upon the bullies, they overpower him and tie him up too. The bullies then return Martin's ant farm, which they had used to blackmail him into working for them, but Martin is devastated to learn one of their ants has joined the bullies' cause. Later, he hangs himself by his underwear on a clothing hook, giving himself a [wedgie](/source/Wedgie) after putting on his hall monitor sash (as a homage to the suicide in *[A Few Good Men](/source/A_Few_Good_Men)* as well as that of the character Walt Cummings on Season 5 of *24,* who is murdered and has his death framed as a hanging).

At the bake sale, the bullies start the three-minute timer for the bomb. Bart, still tied up, manages to contact Lisa by his cell phone, telling her to have Skinner dump the hot dog water to short circuit the ventilation fan. Skinner starts filling up the room with the water. Running out of air and floating dangerously close to the sharp ceiling fan blades, Bart swims down with the chair tied to his back to the room's only window, which faces the bake sale room. [Chief Wiggum](/source/Chief_Wiggum) is unable to shoot through the bulletproof glass, but Marge then throws her burnt cake like a discus through the window, breaking the window and allowing Bart, Willie, the bomb, and all the water to flood into the room. Lisa defuses the bomb with one second to spare. Unfortunately, the bake sale still gets ruined thanks to Bauer and his CTU SWAT Team arriving to arrest Bart for prank-calling him, having diverted all CTU's resources into finding him. As he says that, a [nuclear bomb](/source/Nuclear_bomb) explodes in the distance, but to the crowd's relief Bauer assures them that it went off in neighboring [Shelbyville](/source/Springfield_(The_Simpsons)#Shelbyville).

## Production

An original idea saw [Edgar Stiles](/source/Edgar_Stiles) from *[24](/source/24_(TV_series))* appearing in the episode and being killed, but the concept was dropped.[2]

## Cultural references

The title is a reference to the Fox show *[24](/source/24_(TV_series))*. The episode includes many of the show's hallmarks, such as the multiple split screens, the timer before and after the commercial break, and extended [opening credits](/source/Opening_credits) running over the opening scenes of the narrative.[3] *24* characters Jack Bauer and Chloe O'Brian, voiced by their original portrayers, make [cameo appearances](/source/Cameo_appearance).[2]

## Reception

Robert Canning on *[IGN](/source/IGN)* named "24 Minutes" the best episode of the season and gave it a 9.6/10 saying "this smart, funny, spot-on parody of *24* was so good that it came very close to redeeming the entire season."[4] He also stated "Though much of Season Eighteen was quite mediocre, "24 Minutes" ranks up there with the best of all time".[3]

In 2007, Simon Crerar of *[The Times](/source/The_Times)* listed Sutherland's performance as one of the thirty-three funniest cameos in the history of the show.[5]

In 2012, Johnny Dee of *[The Guardian](/source/The_Guardian)* listed the episode as one of his five favorite episodes in the history of *The Simpsons*. He wrote: "One reason why The Simpsons has remained so watchable is that its parodies are getting sharper – The Departed in [Debarted](/source/The_Debarted), The Da Vinci Code in [Gone Maggie Gone](/source/Gone_Maggie_Gone). None though can top this excellent riff which begins with Kiefer Sutherland announcing 'Previously on 24... I mean The Simpsons,' and dispenses with its normal format completely for an entire episode of split-screen thrills, torture and cake baking."[6]

Bernardo Sim of *[Screen Rant](/source/Screen_Rant)* called it the best episode of the 18th season.[7]

At the [35th Annie Awards](/source/35th_Annie_Awards), writers [Ian Maxtone-Graham](/source/Ian_Maxtone-Graham) and [Billy Kimball](/source/Billy_Kimball) won the [Annie Award for Outstanding Achievement for Writing in an Animated Television/Broadcast Production](/source/Annie_Award_for_Outstanding_Achievement_for_Writing_in_an_Animated_Television%2FBroadcast_Production) for this episode.[8]

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** Elber, Lynn (September 9, 2006). ["'Simpsons'Honcho: 'Let's Keep Doing It'"](https://web.archive.org/web/20071016115828/http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2006Sep08/0,4670,TVSimpsonsat18,00.html). *[Fox News](/source/Fox_News)*. [Associated Press](/source/Associated_Press). Archived from [the original](http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2006Sep08/0,4670,TVSimpsonsat18,00.html) on October 16, 2007. Retrieved September 8, 2006.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Ferrante_2-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Ferrante_2-1) [Ferrante, Anthony C.](/source/Anthony_C._Ferrante) (May 8, 2007). ["Exclusive: 'THE SIMPSONS' AL JEAN CELEBRATES 400 EPISODES (AND A '24' PARODY) AND THEY STILL HAVEN'T RUN OUT OF IDEAS"](https://web.archive.org/web/20070927225026/http://www.ifmagazine.com/feature.asp?article=2083). *iF Magazine*. Archived from [the original](http://www.ifmagazine.com/feature.asp?article=2083) on September 27, 2007. Retrieved June 14, 2007.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-ign_3-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-ign_3-1) Canning, Robert; Goldman, Eric; Iverson, Dan; Zoromski, Brian (July 7, 2010). ["The Simpsons: 20 Seasons, 20 Episodes"](https://www.ign.com/articles/2010/01/08/the-simpsons-20-seasons-20-episodes). *[IGN](/source/IGN)*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20070302212129/http://tv.ign.com/articles/731/731095p1.html) from the original on March 2, 2007. Retrieved August 10, 2024.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** Canning, Robert (June 14, 2007). ["The Simpsons: Season 18 Review"](https://web.archive.org/web/20070622003447/http://uk.tv.ign.com/articles/796/796072p1.html). *[IGN](/source/IGN)*. Archived from [the original](http://uk.tv.ign.com/articles/796/796072p1.html) on June 22, 2007. Retrieved June 15, 2007.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Crerar_5-0)** Crerar, Simon (July 5, 2007). ["The 33 funniest Simpsons cameos ever"](https://web.archive.org/web/20091005132549/http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/film/article2021776.ece). *[The Times](/source/The_Times)*. Archived from [the original](http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/film/article2021776.ece) on October 5, 2009. Retrieved August 9, 2010.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Dee_6-0)** Dee, Johnny (January 13, 2012). ["The Simpsons at 500: what are your favourite episodes?"](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2012/jan/13/simpsons-500-favourite-episodes?newsfeed=true). *[The Guardian](/source/The_Guardian)*. Retrieved January 14, 2012.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** Sim, Bernardo (September 22, 2019). ["The Simpsons: The Best Episode In Every Season, Ranked"](https://screenrant.com/the-simpsons-best-episodes-ranked/). *[Screen Rant](/source/Screen_Rant)*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20230517013436/https://screenrant.com/the-simpsons-best-episodes-ranked/) from the original on May 17, 2023. Retrieved September 22, 2019.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** Debruge, Peter (February 8, 2008). ["'Ratatouille' nearly sweeps Annies"](https://variety.com/2008/digital/news/ratatouille-nearly-sweeps-annies-1117980588/). *[Variety](/source/Variety_(magazine))*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20140227141204/http://variety.com/2008/digital/news/ratatouille-nearly-sweeps-annies-1117980588/) from the original on February 27, 2014. Retrieved August 10, 2024.

## External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to ***["24 Minutes"](https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Simpsons/Season_18#24_Minutes)***.

- [The Simpsons portal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:The_Simpsons)

- ["24 Minutes"](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0907538/) at [IMDb](/source/IMDb_(identifier))

v t e The Simpsons episodes Seasons 1–20 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Season 21–present 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 Season 18 "The Mook, the Chef, the Wife and Her Homer" "Jazzy and the Pussycats" "Please Homer, Don't Hammer 'Em" "Treehouse of Horror XVII" "G.I. (Annoyed Grunt)" "Moe'N'a Lisa" "Ice Cream of Margie (with the Light Blue Hair)" "The Haw-Hawed Couple" "Kill Gil, Volumes I & II" "The Wife Aquatic" "Revenge Is a Dish Best Served Three Times" "Little Big Girl" "Springfield Up" "Yokel Chords" "Rome-Old and Juli-Eh" "Homerazzi" "Marge Gamer" "The Boys of Bummer" "Crook and Ladder" "Stop, or My Dog Will Shoot!" "24 Minutes" "You Kent Always Say What You Want" See also Treehouse of Horror list The Simpsons episode guides "The Simpsons Guy" Category

v t e 24 Episodes Season 1 "12:00 a.m. – 1:00 a.m." Season 2 Season 3 Season 4 Season 5 "Day 5: 7:00 a.m. – 8:00 a.m." Season 6 Redemption Season 7 Season 8 Live Another Day Legacy Merchandise Conspiracy The Game The Soundtrack Characters Tony Almeida Jack Bauer Kim Bauer Charles Logan Martha Logan Curtis Manning Chloe O'Brian David Palmer Allison Taylor Renee Walker Other Critical reaction Awards and nominations Media Indian remake Japanese remake "Don't Wanna Think About You" Operation Hell Gate "The Snuke" "24 Minutes" Category

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [24 Minutes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/24_Minutes) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/24_Minutes?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.