Tuesday, May 16, 2006

Something funny going on with the clock on 24

Somebody's got waaaay to much free time to notice this…  This concerns the TV show 24.

A couple of months ago, I noticed that the 24 clock renders the numeral 1 with a short serif at the top. Here's another screenshot from last Monday's episode, with the serif circled:

24 clock

That serif is a needless typographic flourish. A normal clock wouldn't have a serif there, and in fact it's totally illogical for the 24 clock to have one: None of the other numerals show evidence that the LEDs on top are split in half and can render a serif. The LED bars along the top are always solid when used in the other numerals, and the light that illuminates the top bars in the other numerals is consistent and unbroken.

So I noticed this and it amused me, but I didn't think much of it, because why should the 24 clock have to be logical and believable? Every episode of the show contains a lot of stuff that's illogical and unbelievable.

….Okay, still with me? Then I noticed that these half-width 1's are always kerned artificially close to the numeral (or the colon) to its left:

24 clock2

More on this important story.

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