Burn Notice (TV series)
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| Burn Notice | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Genre | Comedy-drama |
| Created by | Matt Nix |
| Starring | Jeffrey Donovan Gabrielle Anwar Bruce Campbell Sharon Gless |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 12 (List of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) |
Matt Nix Mikkel Bondesen Jeff Freilich |
| Producer(s) | Michael J. Wilson |
| Location(s) | Miami, Florida, USA |
| Running time | approx. 43 minutes |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | USA Network |
| Original run | June 28, 2007 – present |
| External links | |
| Official website | |
| IMDb profile | |
| TV.com summary | |
Burn Notice is an American television comedy-drama series created for the USA Network. Season 2 will premiere on Thursday, July 10, 2008[1]
Contents |
[edit] Premise
The title refers to the burn notices issued by intelligence agencies to discredit or announce the dismissal of agents or sources who are considered to have become unreliable. The television series is a first-person narrative (including frequent stream of consciousness voice-overs providing nuggets of esoteric exposition) from the viewpoint of covert-operations agent Michael Westen, played by Jeffrey Donovan.
After fleeing a Nigerian operation blown apart by the sudden and unexplained non-cooperation of his U.S. contact, Westen finds himself in his hometown[2] of Miami, Florida, USA, attended to by his ex-girlfriend but abandoned by all his normal intelligence contacts, under continuous surveillance, and his personal assets frozen. Extraordinary efforts to reach his U.S. government handler eventually yield only a grudging admission that someone powerful wants him "on ice" in Miami; if he leaves the city he will "heat up fast", i.e., he will be hunted down and taken into custody, whereas by staying there he can remain relatively free. Consumed by the desire to find out why he's been burned, and by whom, he goes to work as an unlicensed private investigator and freelance spy for anyone in town who can pay him any money in order to fund his personal investigation into his own situation as a blacklisted agent.
[edit] Characters
Jeffrey Donovan plays Michael Westen, the central character. He is a covert operative who has been "burned", i.e., tagged as an unreliable/dangerous agent. He has two black belts (or as he put it in one episode "thirty years of karate") and is "rated with anything that fires a bullet or holds an edge". He frequently improvises electronic devices from commonly available commercial equipment such as radios and cell phones. He believes that his unhappy childhood, largely at the hands of an abusive father, helped make him into a natural covert operative, but he is not grateful for it. Now reduced to taking small investigative jobs to survive, Michael is doggedly determined to discover who issued the burn notice.
Gabrielle Anwar plays Fiona Glenanne, a former IRA operative and Westen's ex-girlfriend. In the pilot episode, she spoke with a pronounced Irish accent, which she changes to an American accent from the second episode onward. Fiona is both a complement to Michael and his match in many ways, both intellectually and tactically. Series creator Matt Nix has said about Michael and Fiona's relationship: [3]
| “ | The thing about the relationship with Fiona is…They are two people who really don't have anybody else that they can be with. Anybody else is going to be afraid of what Michael does, and it sort of turns her on, and anybody else for Michael is going to be uninteresting. He is attracted to her, but part of what we explore over the first season is that they really are attracted with each other, and yet there is a reason they broke up. She is an incredibly chaotic person who just thrives on disorder…Violence is foreplay for her. | ” |
Bruce Campbell plays Sam Axe, an aging semi-retired intelligence operative and former Navy SEAL. He spends most of his time sleeping with rich, older Miami women in exchange for food and shelter. Sam and Westen are old buddies; Sam is also Westen's last, tenuous contact in the official spy community. Sam presents himself as "the guy who knows a guy." It is revealed in the pilot that he is also an FBI informant, reporting on Westen under duress. Knowing this, Westen is able to pass false information to the FBI through Sam, who is glad to become Michael's double agent.
Sharon Gless plays Madeline Westen, Michael's mother. She is a chain-smoker and a hypochondriac. Although seemingly hard-hearted, she is family-oriented and shows her full support to her sons in times of need. Until recently, she has had only infrequent communication with her adult son, who does not relish her company. Despite this, her appeals for help are Michael's one great weakness, and have the ability to persuade Michael to do as she wishes.
[edit] Episodes
[edit] Awards
The "Pilot" episode by Matt Nix won a 2008 Edgar Allan Poe Award, honoring the best in mystery, in the category Best Television Episode Teleplay.[4]
[edit] DVD release
Burn Notice Season One is scheduled to be released on DVD June 17, 2008.[5] The four-disc set will include cast/crew commentary on every episode.[5]
[edit] References
- ^ UPFRONT & CENTER: USA Network Unveils ‘Character’ Lineup - 3/26/2008 7:30:00 PM - Broadcasting & Cable
- ^ On TV: 'Burn Notice' amply fills the fun void on TV this summer
- ^ Print - Burn<, Baby, Burn: Creator Matt Nix Puts Us on Notice
- ^ Mystery Writers of America Announces the 2008 Edgar Award Winners (2008-05-01). Retrieved on 2009-05-02.
- ^ a b Lambert, David (2008-03-06). Burn Notice - Press Release, Package Art for Season 1 DVDs. TVShowsonDVD.com. Retrieved on 2008-03-26.
[edit] External links
- Official site
- Burn Notice at the Internet Movie Database
- Variety.com report that Burn Notice has been greenlit.
- Burn Notice review at Variety.com
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