10 Exact Moments That Killed TV Shows

5. Jack Bauer's Own Family Are Terrorists - 24

24 James Cromwell
Fox

Unlike House of Cards, 24 was always ridiculous, but it knew it.

Even so, after 24's fifth season - arguably its best ever - season six well and truly jumped the shark with its intensely offputting revelation that the bad guys were Jack Bauer's (Kiefer Sutherland) own brother, Graem (Paul McCrane), and father, Phillip (James Cromwell).

Making the season's threat so personal for Jack came across hilariously contrived and totally unearned, effectively mutating the show into a garish parody of its prior self-conscious absurdity.

This laid the groundwork for a seventh season where Jack's dead pal Tony Almeida (Carlos Bernard) returned to life and switched allegiances half-a-dozen times, after which the series felt less like a thrilling espionage serial and more a live-action cartoon.

Even with the London-set Live Another Day mini-series proving surprisingly decent, season six had largely sucked all the air out of the room.

Even hardcore 24 fans grew exasperated with the show's try-hard shock value storylines, especially once Jack was forced to take down his own bro and pops (with the help of his teenage nephew, of course).

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Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes). General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.