In the 2001 espionage thriller series, 24, Kiefer Sutherland plays a man in crisis as he seeks to prevent a larger catastrophe. The series was told in real time, with each episode covering an hour of the story. Sutherland plays Jack Bauer, a CTU agent racing against time to stop political crises. The series ran for 9 seasons and made Sutherland a household name, with many lauding his ability to bring the character to life. Two years later, the actor returned to the thriller genre with the ABC political drama, Designated Survivor. He starred as Tom Kirkman, a low-level Cabinet member who is named the designated survivor when the US President and other senior administration officials gather for a State of the Union address that ends in tragedy following a terrorist attack.