Burn Notice TV Show

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When Jeffrey Donovan first auditioned for the role of Michael Westen, a new TV spy, he didn’t go for the intense, Kiefer-Sutherland-on-”24″ sort of thing. Donovan’s take was more laid-back. Sarcastic. Been there, done that.

In an instant “Burn Notice” creator Matt Nix knew he’d found his star.

The last thing Nix wanted was for his hero to be, well … “spy-ish.” He envisioned something un-”Alias,” a non-”24.”

“Those shows [depict] a very dramatic world,” Nix says. “People run around saying” - he adopts a deep, basso acting voice - “‘You don’t understand! We’re up against the hugest organization in the world, and we’re all going to die unless we do this thing in the next 42 minutes!’”

Back to regular Matt: “On ‘Burn Notice,’ we kinda go in the opposite direction.”

Like in the pilot, when Michael is stuck between two thugs in the back of a Mercedes. “You know, Mercedes makes an SUV now,” he says. “Big backseat … surprisingly affordable, too.”

Michael Westen is no James Bond. He’s Stephen Colbert armed with sunglasses, a hot babe sidekick and perhaps some combustible homemade thermite powder, outwitting villains with levity as well as pyrotechnics.

The series, which debuted on the USA Network last summer, was a hit. And Thursday, after nearly a year, “Burn Notice” returns for a second season (at 10 p.m.), as quirky and clever as ever.

The premise remains the same. Michael, a former agent, is stuck in his hometown of Miami, broke and blacklisted. (In spyspeak, a “burn notice” is like a pink slip, but worse.) He’s desperate to figure out who “burned” him and why, but he also needs to pay the rent. So he dabbles in crime-solving, helping folks in need using Special Ops training and assistance from Sam ( Bruce Campbell), a semiretired colleague, and Fiona ( Gabrielle Anwar), a sultry, ruthless IRA operative - and Michael’s ex-girlfriend.

Donovan’s no dummy

Each episode is like “Spying for Dummies,” with Michael explaining how to tail a suspect, use a flash grenade, escape from a house when all exits are blocked. (Bust out the A/C unit, where the wall is weakest and when nobody’s watching.) Nix prides himself on getting the details right, and even has a private intelligence operative on staff.

When Donovan was first cast, he read up on spies and intelligence. “I don’t remember the [book] titles,” Donovan notes. “Or [they] made me forget - by some brainwashing message embedded in the text,” he jokes. “They all spoke about the same thing. How boring and long the waiting is between actual missions. Kind of like sitting on a movie set.”

The show revels in that kind of reality. Michael’s world is shaken, not sugarcoated.

Take Madeline, his manipulative, chain-smoking mother (played by “Cagney & Lacey” vet Sharon Gless). “It’s a little weird to have a spy show with a mom on it,” Nix admits. “But this is a show where all the hard things are easy and the easy things are hard.”

Thug in the doorway? No problem. But a nagging mom? That 007 never had it so tough.

And then there’s the ex.

“I love how outspoken and unrestrained Fiona is,” Anwar says of her character. One minute she’s pushing Michael to rig a bigger bomb - the next, to face his issues. He knows her well enough not to judge her by her slinky attire.

“We were shooting a couple weeks ago, and I had a micro mini on,” Anwar says. “One of the writers said, ‘Do you know you’re gonna be loading and firing a shotgun? [Maybe] you should be wearing jeans.’ And I was like, ‘It’s Fi.’ He nodded and wandered off.”

Hey, the show tweaks convention, but there’s still got to be a sexy gal with a gun. Plus the requisite chases, the cool clothes, the muscle car (a ’70s Dodge Charger).

Bringing his work home

In truth, “Burn” is a spy series moonlighting as a private-eye show - part “Rockford Files,” part “MacGyver.” The MacGyver act doesn’t come naturally, Donovan admits. “I usually pick a project at home, research it on the Internet, tackle the job myself, screw it up, then call in an expert at twice the original cost to fix it.”

But Donovan’s flair for accents has encouraged the writers to create more scenes where Michael goes undercover. Over the hiatus, the actor boned up on dialects - and jujitsu, for good measure. (He already knows aikido and has a black belt in karate.)

“Michael runs around with a gun and there are explosions on the show,” Nix says, “but the reason he defeats the bad guys always has to do with how smart he is.”

It’s the power of the brain over the bullet.

If that doesn’t work, Fiona can always whip out a missile launcher from under her skirt. Now there’s an ex a spy can count on.

Why we love spies

There’s nothing covert about spies these days. They’re in films (”Get Smart,” “Wanted”), on Broadway (”The 39 Steps”) and in new novels, like the latest James Bond novel. On TV the genre has thrived since the 1950s and shows like “Doorway to Danger.” So what explains our fascination?

“Spies in American culture are like real superheroes,” says “Burn Notice” creator Matt Nix. “In a time when anxieties have a lot to do with … how shall I put this … individuals with nefarious plans living sneakily among us, we like the idea of heroes living among us who are supersmart - and can save us.”

Some say we live in a climate of “clandestinity,” notes Wesley Britton in his book “Spy Television.” Corporate bureaucracy makes “outsiders of us all,” he writes. We work in cubicles “under the eyes of security cameras while supervisors … oversee what electronic correspondence comes and goes from our computers.”

Or maybe we just love a good David vs. Goliath tale.

“I don’t know what it all [means],” Robert Vaughn, star of the popular “Man from U.N.C.L.E.” series, admitted to Britton in a 2002 interview. “I know it was good fun for us to do, and good fun for people to see.”

“Your mission, should you choose to accept it…”

Oops, sorry, wrong spy show, but the declaration stands: Your mission is to catch up on Burn Notice by the time season two premieres—Thursday, July 10 at 10 p.m.! (Tip: The Burn Notice season one DVD came out Tuesday.)

I recommend the whole kit and caboodle of Burn Notice without reservation, and if you won’t take my word, then at least listen to dreamy star Jeffrey Donovan, who said, “It’s a summer show, there’s nothing else on, it’s got action, and there are some pretty hot women on the show.” Touché.

Stars Donovan and Bruce Campbell just took the time to chat about the season, and they were as witty and astute as their characters, Michael and Sam. Click in to find out about Tricia Helfer’s incoming character, Carla, and more inside scoop on the series…

Michael’s Old Ladies: There are two ladies in Michael’s life (his mom and his love interest), and they are simultaneously beloved and a pain in the bunda. When asked about the fiery Fiona (Gabrielle Anwar), Donovan said, “That’s a crazy relationship that’s going to have its ups and downs. It’s gonna go left, right and all around.” (Go forward! Go forward!) Jeffrey also said Michael’s relationship with his mom, Madeline (Sharon Gless), will be getting a little more settled this season: “The writers have brought her more into a personal connection with Michael Westen, so I think you’re going to see more of a true mother-son relationship.” Sweet.

Guest-Star Fiesta: Jeffrey spilled a little bit about the mysterious and dangerous Carla (Helfer), “You are actually going to meet Ms. Helfer in the flesh. She’s behind a lot of things that held Michael back, and you realize she’s actually controlling his life. She’s very evil and sexy at the same time.” Bruce: “That’s evexy.” Apparently Tricia was in and out of Burn Notice’s Miami set in a flash. (Cylons are nothing if not efficient.) According to Jeffrey , “She shot all of her stuff in one day. I wish I had her agent.” Jeffrey also revealed that Method Man guests in episode six.

Fermented or Demented? There’s no specific secret behind Michael Westen’s yogurt fetish, but Donovan and Campbell enjoy it as a gag. According to Jeffrey, “It was just something that was written into the script by Matt. For some reason every time I open the fridge, it says, ‘All there is is yogurt.’ And then when Sam joins me, it’s beer. So I’m living on yogurt and beer, and that’s how I stay so thin.” Bruce added, “Some things have been added to the fridge this year—because Sam hangs out there a lot. So pickles have been added, and there may be hard-boiled eggs coming up sometime later.” Oops, should have mentioned: Spoiler alert!

What’s to Come: “I love the second-season scripts,” Jeffrey says. “They’re even better than the first season, and I think the first season was pretty darn good in and of itself. The ratings are not up to me, they’re up to the general public, and if they go up or down we’re still going to do the same thing we did last year, which is make the show we’d watch. And that’s what we’re doing this year again.” Yay!

Courtesy of Kristin at E! Online

From http://tv.ign.com:

July 9, 2008 - Advance Review: Yogurt. Handguns. Sunshine. It’s all back, baby! When we last saw Michael Weston he was driving his friend Sam’s (Bruce Campbell) new Cadillac into the back of a mysterious sixteen wheeler…in hopes of meeting the woman that put the “burn” on him. Where would he wind up? As part of the videogame Spy Hunter? As a new operative for the Foundation for Law and Government? No, but he does wind up smack dab in the middle of an explosive assault on a private plane, and babysitting a captured computer programmer (Patrick Fischler). And if you got any of those previous references…yermanewbestfriend.

All of this opening scene mayhem is courtesy of Carla (Tricia Helfer), Michael’s new adversary. A sinister vixen whose hair smells like fresh lilac after a summer rain. Well, that’s just my guess, since Carla still refuses to meet with Michael one on one. That and it’s TV and I can’t smell things that I’d like to.

Carla, ostensibly the one who “burned” Michael, now plays the role of the puppet master, ordering him to do jobs for her through cell phones and crossword puzzles. She and her shadowy branch of phantom spooks give Michael a bit more motivation than the usual couple grand - threatening physical harm to his friends and family. They’ve already hit the floor running by kidnapping the computer programmer’s wife and daughter in order to get him to steal secret files from a high tech security (ahem, mercenary) firm.

I had spent a bit of time wondering what direction this show might take. Would Michael be still somehow stuck on Miami? Would he still be there to help his local Miamians with their problems? Then, on my conference call with Jeffrey Donovan and Bruce Campbell, who plays Michael’s friend Sam Axe, I got the feeling that they were going to stick with what worked. That’s not to say that the stakes wont be raised in some fashion, but that somehow the status quo would remain intact, and familiarly enjoyable. As Donovan had put it, if Michael figured everything out and then got re-instated as a spy, then the show would have to be called Not Burn Notice.

I am really hoping that Michael’s interactions with his mother get a little more tolerable. The episode was fun, until Madeline Weston (Sharon Gless) calls and continues to nag Michael into one of those classic gritted teeth smiles of his. With not much to do except play a worrisome vulnerability, I’m hoping that we see a more supportive role for Sharon Gless in Season Two. Be it comedic, dramatic or…anything. Just no more worrying. If we’re going to delve back into the old humid battle grounds of last summer, we need to keep it fresh and progressive.

That goes a little bit too for Michael getting stuck with a nervous, emotional bumbling “client.” It’s already well covered territory by now, and I’d hate to see the “burn notice” story arc overshadow the fun of Michael’s good Samaritan asswhooping. The show works best when you’re equally invested in both.

This time around, Michael and Fiona (Gabrielle Anwar) finally get to have their “talk.” You know, the one that got postponed all through Season One. With a better understanding, these two have find a common ground of disappointment - sort of a clarification of both of their psychological needs to sabotage things and flee. It might certainly put the “will they won’t they” murmurs to rest for a while, but that’s not to say feelings might not resurface eventually.

Michael’s ultimate goal is to play the hero. So far, everyone that’s been trying to manipulate him has fallen under the categories of “villainous” or “annoying,” which is able to conveniently feed into his somewhat perverse priorities. Is there a global conspiracy that might endanger millions of lives? Well, no. It’s all still just about Michael Weston, and him wanting all these people to get out of his hair and re-instate him to his old life of solitude and secrets. But we wind up rooting for him anyway because he’s so damn cool.

I have several favorite moments from last season, and one of them was Agent Bly (Alex Carter). First off, his name might have been a nod to The Adventures Brisco County Jr., and second of all he was sent down to Miami to put the screws to Michael and get him to “back off” of his investigations. Michael pwned him in two episodes! I was expecting him to be an annoyance for the rest of the season, but Michael dispatched him with ease, and I was pleasantly surprised. Carla seems to be a larger “end of level boss” form of Bly. Threatening. Secretive. A couple steps ahead. And while Michael seems to be playing along with her, he’s really gathering tiny clues to unveil her true identity and possibly even shatter her entire operation.

The show is still damn fun. Bruce is still a god among men. Miami is still sunny and vivacious. And let me just tell you that the original sentence I wrote there was “This show is fun.” And I looked at it and thought it sucked. It just didn’t capture the essence of this show, so I went back and put the word “damn” in. I get very serious about my fun.

This is an entry-level episode of sorts, which might be good if new people begin watching the show from here on in. And without giving too much away, I can tell you that “Breaking and Entering” is the best Donovan “fake accent” episode yet. Something I like to call “cockstralian.” Which is also the name of my Midnight Oil cover band.

From The South Bend Tribune:

Jeffrey Donovan and Bruce Campbell recently did a conference call with reporters to promote the second season of “Burn Notice,” which returns 10 p.m., Thursday on the USA Network.

Even though I used the best material for a weekly Remote Control column, which appeared in our June 29 print edition, there were a few more quips from the two stars that I wanted to share.

“Burn Notice” centers around Michael Westen, a spy who has been exiled to his hometown of Miami after getting booted from the espionage community for reasons that he’s still trying to figure out.

So here’s an extra dose of Donovan and Campbell just in time for the Season 2 premiere:

Q: Have you used any of the skills in real life that your character Michael Westen has done on the show:

JD: I’m following all my friends now. And boy do I have dirt. Wait until it comes out.

Q: No, seriously.

JD: I live out in the woods of California and there are a lot less rodents there from what I’ve learned from “Burn Notice.” No one can break into my house anymore. And if they do, I’ve put up a sign. It says “I don’t call 911.”

Q: OK, so does any of that spy stuff actually work?

JD: Everything that we do in the show, you actually can make at home. (Creator) Matt (Nix) keeps a couple of ingredients out of the bombs just so no one, you know, blows up little Timmy.

Q: Tricia Helfer of “Battlestar Galactica” has joined the cast this season. What was it like to work with her?

JD: She shot all of her stuff in one day. I wish I had her agent. And, you know, she’s wonderful. She’s beautiful. She’s really smart. If she wasn’t already married, she’s marriage material.

Q: Bruce, your character Sam, Michael’s friend, has almost brought you into the mainstream. If the show gets more popular this season are you afraid of shedding your cult status and becoming a huge star?

BC: Yes, I’m terrified. And as a matter of fact, I have put plans in place to sabotage the show.

Q: So is that why you’re directing, co-producing and starring in the horror film “My Name is Bruce” this fall?

BC: I have to prove to the world that I can memorize more than seven lines of dialogue at a time.

Q: Many people still associate you with Ash, your character from the “Evil Dead” films, what kind of reactions have you received from “Burn Notice” fans about your past work?

BC: It’s kind of hilarious and I think it’s very refreshing to have a guy come up and go ‘Man, I had no idea who that old guy was on “Burn Notice,” you know, until I found out later what you had done.’

Q: I know the WGA strike pushed your schedule back a little. It must be pretty hot these days taping in Miami, how has it rearranged your lives?

JD: I’m wearing a lot more Speedos.

BC: And I’m sweating more. That’s my change. That’s what I’ve changed. I stopped shivering in Oregon and starting sweating in Miami.

Q: Jeffrey, has Matt Nix ever told you anything about the yogurt? It seems that’s all Michael ever eats?

JD: It’s Matt’s crazy, insane mind. And for some reason, every time I open the fridge in the script it said all there is, is yogurt. And then when Sam joins me it’s beer. So all I’m living on is yogurt and beer.

Q: Has Michael forgiven Sam for spying on him for the feds this season?

JD: Well I think when you deal in espionage and covert ops, you’re never truly trusting the other. But with Sam and Michael, Michael doesn’t have really any friends. So I think he depends on Sam and Fiona, and that Sam was put into a difficult position was understandable. And so I think he forgave him and it’s kind of water under the bridge. But I don’t think the complete suspicion, the little suspicion I mean, is completely gone.

BC: Sam is handy for explaining missions and, you know, chewing the fat with Michael and kicking ideas around. And hopefully the loyalty issue is solved now. Sam’s in it to win it.

Q: What can we expect from Gabrielle Anwar’s character, Fiona, this season? More pain?

JD: That’s a crazy relationship that’s going to have its ups and downs. And it’s going to go left, right and all around, and it’ll be exciting. Some of the episodes I actually don’t read until I get on the day just so I can see what crazy thing she’s going to do to me that day.

Q: Is it different for you guys taping this season now that the show is a success? Is there anything you’re doing differently?

JD: We just keep trying to do what we did before it went on air, which was just try to make a show that we’d want to watch and hopefully people do.

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Jeffrey Donovan stars as Michael Weston in the new USA Network original series “Burn Notice,” which premieres Thursday, June 28 at 10pm/9c.

Most recently, Donovan was seen in “Come Early Morning” directed by Joey Lauren Adams and co-starring Ashley Judd. Donovan appeared on the big screen in a memorable cameo in the blockbuster romantic comedy “Hitch” opposite Will Smith. For his performance in the indie film “Sam and Joe,” Donovan was awarded Best Supporting Actor from the Los Angeles Method Festival. Other film credits include Barry Levinson’s “Sleepers,” “Purpose,” “Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2,” and “Bait.” Donovan made his feature film debut in “Throwing Down,” which won the grand prize at the Hamptons International Film Festival.

In 2004, Donovan earned critical acclaim for his starring role as Det. David Creegan in the USA Network Original Series “Touching Evil.” His television credits include HBO’s original film “When Trumpets Fade,” recurring roles on “Crossing Jordan,” “Spin City,” “The Beat,” and “The Pretender,” and notable guest appearances in “Monk,” “CSI: Miami,” “Law & Order” and “Homicide. ”

On stage, Donovan received rave reviews for his performance in the title role of the Wang Center’s 2005 summer production of “Hamlet” in the Boston Common. Donovan appeared on Broadway as ‘Marco’ in the Roundabout Theatre’s Tony Award-winning revival of “A View from the Bridge,” starring Anthony LaPaglia and Allison Janney, and in the Tony-winning production of “An Inspector Calls.” His off-Broadway credits include the hit comedy “Things You Shouldn’t Say Past Midnight” (also recorded for LA Theatre Works), “The Glory of Living” (opposite Oscar winner Anna Paquin and directed by Philip Seymour Hoffman), “Troilus and Cressida,” “Skyscraper,” “Oedipus,” and the Pulitzer Prize runner-up “Freedomland.” Donovan also starred in and produced Mike O’Malley’s “Searching for Certainty” in Los Angeles.

Next up, Donovan stars as ‘Jim Keith’ in the independent film “Believe in Me,” an adaptation of the young-adult novel “Brief Garland” by Harold Keith which also stars Bruce Dern, Samantha Mathis and Heather Matarazzo.

Born and raised in Massachusetts, Donovan attended the University of Massachussetts at Amherst and graduated from New York University’s Graduate Acting Program, where he received an M.F.A.degree.

He currently resides in Los Angeles.