Burn Notice Season Begins

[flere-imsaho]

Originally Posted by albionmoonlight

The greatest show in the history of television returns Thursday January 21st at 10/9C.

What, they're showing new episodes of Band of Brothers?!?!?!

I freakin love me some Burn Notice.

Just kidding, I do too.

[Bad-example]

USA is showing a marathon all day leading up to the new episode at 10pm.

[tarcone]

Getting closer. One more hout!!!!

[JonInMiddleGA]

USA’s Burn Notice Mid-Season Premiere Draws 5.4 Million Viewers - TV Ratings, Nielsen Ratings, Television Show Ratings | TVbytheNumbers.com
Season Premiere

Per Nielsen ratings data, Burn Notice’s return audience was down 12 percent from its season-to-date average (6.17 million viewers in nine episodes). When compared to the show’s year-ago deliveries, last night’s opener was up 3 percent.

While Burn Notice has always attracted a greater concentration of adults 25-54, the Jan. 21 installment did particularly well among the greener demo, averaging 1.18 million viewers 18-34. That marks an 18 percent increase over the show’s 18-34 draw in the back half of season two.

Among the older demos, Burn Notice was up 4 percent with viewers 18-49 and slipped 3 percent among the 25-54 set.

[Radii]

I rewound the scene with Sam pulling a David Caruso with his sunglasses while impersonating a CSI and watched it about 15 times tonight. Just outstanding!

[Radii]

Originally Posted by Radii

I rewound the scene with Sam pulling a David Caruso with his sunglasses while impersonating a CSI and watched it about 15 times tonight. Just outstanding!

OMG HE DID IT TWICE. So awesome.

[DaddyTorgo]

hehe - it was hilarious

[DanGarion]

Originally Posted by Radii

OMG HE DID IT TWICE. So awesome.

Yeah my wife and I laughed my ass off on that, and we don't even watch CSI: Miami. It was more from seeing Joel McHale doing it on The Soup and knowing it was from that.

[GoldenEagle]

I can't believe there are only two episodes left this season. It is just such a great show.

[hoopsguy]

Seriously, how short are the seasons? I heard "two episodes remaining" at the end last night and tried to figure this out.

6 episodes? 7? Do they do two separate runs over the course of the year?

I had thought they had a few shows rotating over 13-14 week runs (In Plain Sight being appointment TV for me) but this Burn Notice run seems ridiculously quick.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by hoopsguy

Seriously, how short are the seasons? I heard "two episodes remaining" at the end last night and tried to figure this out.
6 episodes? 7? Do they do two separate runs over the course of the year?

16 episodes this season, 8x early season (June-Aug), 8x late season (Jan-Mar)
16 eps last season (9x July-Sept and 7x Jan-Mar)
12 eps first season (June-Sept)

[Radii]

yeah it ends up being pretty confusing since they split up a "season" into two 8 week blocks at different times of the year.

[Radii]

Finally up on youtube.

[Radii]

Originally Posted by brassmonkey32

This show seems like you have to follow it from the beginning in order to understand it.

Basically every episode has two parts going to it, once is the lead characters efforts to find out who burned him(erased him from the spy world essentially) and some followups to a main storyline from there. The other is an A-Team style "helping out random people who are in trouble and seek them out" deal. Watching from the start would certainly help but not as mandatory as it would be in many other shows if you have no means to watch it from the start.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by brassmonkey32

This show seems like you have to follow it from the beginning in order to understand it.

I don't think so. I mean, you need to have a general understanding of how he was screwed over & that getting to the bottom of how/why that happened & whodunnit is his big motivation but most episodes revolve primarily around single episode jobs he's doing with the main plot of the series serving as just a subplot hovering in the background. I believe you could easily watch the majority of episodes & be fine without knowing the ins & outs of the whole big picture storyline.

[DaddyTorgo]

yeah - the ongoing storyline is very much a b-subplot -- makes it very good for syndication.

a lot like "White Collar" that way

[weegeebored]

This 1/2 season has been somewhat disappointing for me. The show is formulaic (like most tv series) but seems extra cookie-cutter lately. To me it feels as if the actors are bored, simply going through the motions.

Or maybe it's just me.

[BishopMVP]

Originally Posted by weegeebored

This 1/2 season has been somewhat disappointing for me. The show is formulaic (like most tv series) but seems extra cookie-cutter lately. To me it feels as if the actors are bored, simply going through the motions.

Or maybe it's just me.

I'm starting to get that feeling too. It's the same basic storyline for the subplot for like the 3rd time - this may be the guy who can tell Mike how to save his job, oh no he has to team up with a bad guy and it alienates the people around him, some new bad guy shows up at the end of the season and Mike is still in Miami.

But then Bruce Campbell starts doing CSI impressions and it is all forgiven. That is probably the greatest thing to happen this past week.

[Blade6119]

Originally Posted by DaddyTorgo

yeah - the ongoing storyline is very much a b-subplot -- makes it very good for syndication.

a lot like "White Collar" that way

The only difference is I like white collar

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by BishopMVP

I'm starting to get that feeling too. It's the same basic storyline for the subplot for like the 3rd time - this may be the guy who can tell Mike how to save his job, oh no he has to team up with a bad guy and it alienates the people around him, some new bad guy shows up at the end of the season and Mike is still in Miami.

this is true - i feel like they really need to make some concrete advancement in the basic subplot by now

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Blade6119

The only difference is I like white collar

And I watch White Collar and wonder why such an incredibly bland show isn't on CBS. It's feels like the most generic thing on USA to me.

And don't get the wrong idea about the CBS crack, I like the CSI's, Cold Case, etc. Procedurals are the only network fare I've watched in several years & have seen pretty much all of them exclusively on cable repeats. But it isn't unfair to say they're formulaic either.

[jeff061]

To me most of the newer stuff on USA is incredibly generic. Like there is a dozen people around a table without a clue throwing spaghetti at a wall. Nothing is inspired.

Seems like they drastically upped the budget on Psych this year though, which is nice. Love that show. Saw the previews when it first came out and I thought it was idiotic(fake psychic, really?), but it's turned into one of my favorites.

[Radii]

At this point the subplot or main storyline or whatever is really just there to generate exciting finales every season. I liken it to How I Met Your Mother... yeah there's a main storyline, and yeah I am interested in what happens to it, but its progression is not integral to the show, and if the main storyline was ever resolved the series would end, so it has to drag on forever, and I'm pretty much fine with that.

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by Radii

At this point the subplot or main storyline or whatever is really just there to generate exciting finales every season. I liken it to How I Met Your Mother... yeah there's a main storyline, and yeah I am interested in what happens to it, but its progression is not integral to the show, and if the main storyline was ever resolved the series would end, so it has to drag on forever, and I'm pretty much fine with that.

not saying it has to be resolved, but some movement on it, having it cause some changes that are noticeable i mean

[BishopMVP]

Originally Posted by jeff061

Seems like they drastically upped the budget on Psych this year though, which is nice. Love that show. Saw the previews when it first came out and I thought it was idiotic(fake psychic, really?), but it's turned into one of my favorites.

The constant digs at The Mentalist are the best thing on USA that doesn't involve Bruce Campbell.

[ISiddiqui]

Originally Posted by BishopMVP

I'm starting to get that feeling too. It's the same basic storyline for the subplot for like the 3rd time - this may be the guy who can tell Mike how to save his job, oh no he has to team up with a bad guy and it alienates the people around him, some new bad guy shows up at the end of the season and Mike is still in Miami.

But then Bruce Campbell starts doing CSI impressions and it is all forgiven. That is probably the greatest thing to happen this past week.

It appears that when you have a show with a set up like that, its hard to get away from it. Unless you radically, and I mean radically, change things up, there is always going to be that big subplot where Michael gets into bed with someone he probably shouldn't to get his Burn Notice taken off.

[albionmoonlight]

The part about the Gilroy plot that, to me, makes it a little less satisfying than the other season plots is that I can't help but continue to agree with Fiona. Michael should just shoot him.

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by albionmoonlight

The part about the Gilroy plot that, to me, makes it a little less satisfying than the other season plots is that I can't help but continue to agree with Fiona. Michael should just shoot him.

yeah

[Blade6119]

Originally Posted by jeff061

To me most of the newer stuff on USA is incredibly generic. Like there is a dozen people around a table without a clue throwing spaghetti at a wall. Nothing is inspired.

Well, sadly or happily depending on your feelings of these type of shows, why should they go original and inventive. By using the same formula with different characters there are able to generate what they view as successful shows to fill up their time-slots. While as a viewer I may understand the desire for originality, why should they take a big risk and break out of this pattern when the pattern is working just fine? Is it likely that a new original show will garner much higher viewership then these shows? Likely not, so i see little incentive for them to do so.

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by ISiddiqui

It appears that when you have a show with a set up like that, its hard to get away from it. Unless you radically, and I mean radically, change things up, there is always going to be that big subplot where Michael gets into bed with someone he probably shouldn't to get his Burn Notice taken off.

disagree. i don't think you have to "radically" change things up to show that there's been some sort of progress on that front. hell...kill a main character - kill michael's brother and have it have some sort of effect on him. or have fiona seriously injured by gilroy and end up "in a hospital" for 6-8 episodes. have them move him out of miami and to somewhere different. there's any number of things they could do in order to show progression in the main underlying storyline without messing up the formula...some of them might even serve to "refresh" the A-storylines.

[ISiddiqui]

They almost had an original plot twist in "White Collar" but that was explained away very quickly... sadly, IMO.

[ISiddiqui]

Originally Posted by DaddyTorgo

disagree. i don't think you have to "radically" change things up to show that there's been some sort of progress on that front. hell...kill a main character - kill michael's brother and have it have some sort of effect on him. or have fiona seriously injured by gilroy and end up "in a hospital" for 6-8 episodes. have them move him out of miami and to somewhere different. there's any number of things they could do in order to show progression in the main underlying storyline without messing up the formula...some of them might even serve to "refresh" the A-storylines.

Having them move from Miami IS radically different. Having Fiona out of action for 6-8 weeks doesn't really change much (they just have to pull off their stuff without Fi and Michael is out for revenge against Gilroy and then next season back to working with someone he shouldn't). Having Michael not care about getting the 'burn notice' removed is also radically different - its a complete change in his character and then you are left with a big gaping hole in the overall background story arc.

[GoldenEagle]

Michael is not really working with Gilroy. He is trying to prevent Gilroy from doing whatever he has planned. This is different from the past, because it was always about Michael getting back in.

[BishopMVP]

Originally Posted by ISiddiqui

They almost had an original plot twist in "White Collar" but that was explained away very quickly... sadly, IMO.

True. That would have been great if they were working against each other on the main subplot while working together for the B-plots.

Originally Posted by albionmoonlight

The part about the Gilroy plot that, to me, makes it a little less satisfying than the other season plots is that I can't help but continue to agree with Fiona. Michael should just shoot him.

Any thoughts on who the prisoner on the plane is going to be? It's been so long between seasons I've forgotten what previous bad guys from Michael's past could show up in US custody overseas.

[ISiddiqui]

Originally Posted by BishopMVP

True. That would have been great if they were working against each other on the main subplot while working together for the B-plots.

... or at the very least having Neal think Peter was working against him.

[Blade6119]

Originally Posted by ISiddiqui

They almost had an original plot twist in "White Collar" but that was explained away very quickly... sadly, IMO.

Well to be honest, im not sure that has been totally resolved. While there is trust, it is a loose one at that. The thing that still sticks out to me is Peter being able to locate and then talk to Kate, and then later deliver a message to her. Yes, while they said all FBI agents have that ring, they never explicitly cleared Peter either. His wife doesn't think he has her, and he said he didn't, but it wouldn't be a hard twist to slide him back into that role. I dont know, the whole evil FBI agent just seems like too simple of an answer to the plot, and unless we havent met the ultimate bad guy yet, it just seems like there aren't a lot of other obvious suspects.

[Pyser]

apologies if this was a repost

[albionmoonlight]

Summer season starts tonight!

[DaddyTorgo]

tonight?

WOO!!

d'oh. NBA finals tonight too.

[CrimsonFox]

Wow it made another season? Awesome!

BTW, That was AWESOME about the Sam CSI sunglasses bits hehehe
Thanks for posting that. I didn't actually like this past season as much as the previous ones. Michael is just becoming more of a jerk and the decisions and indecisions he makes make little sense. The biggest thing is he is so intesne and set on "getting back in", but at the end of season 2 I think when he was in the helicopter with John Mahoney I thought he told them he wanted out and jumped out of the heli. Never figured out what was going on since then.

[CrimsonFox]

BTW, anyone catch the premiere of Matt Nix's new show, "The Good Guys"? It was pretty good. TIm Matheson (who played Larry on Burn Notice) directed the first episode.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Heh, the BN replay is on upstairs, my son is sitting in the living room with his back to the tv, the arms dealer starts talking and without even turning his head my son yells "that's Michael Ironside, that's Sam Fisher".

[JonInMiddleGA]

USA’s ‘Burn Notice’ Prequel Starring Bruce Campbell Is A Go; Jeffrey Donovan To Direct – Deadline.com

[Bad-example]

The sixth season, set to include between 16 and 18 episodes, is set to begin on June 14, 2012

[EagleFan]

I don't get the love for this show. Have started watching it on ION and it seems extremely campy.

The lead character has no personality and his "when you're a spy" crap is like a bad 70's/80's B movie.

Don't get it at all. I will keep watching to see if I am missing something but nope, don't get it.

[Groundhog]

I gave it a shot years ago due to Bruce Campbell being in it, but it also didn't do anything for me.

[albionmoonlight]

I loved it. But I did embrace the camp. The last season, IMO, went way downhill because the show decided to go darker and take itself more seriously. But the early campy seasons I thought were a lot of fun.

[The Jackal]

The quality of the show isn't up there with say, Breaking Bad - more along the lines of a guilty pleasure. But if the main character doesn't do it for you, you probably won't be engaged enough to continue watching. The main plot line and other smaller ones that cross seasons are entertaining, but a ton of the series is Michael putting on disguises/accents/doing Macgyver crap. I always found it entertaining - and yes, Bruce Campbell is the man.

[flere-imsaho]

Yep, it's a guilty pleasure and has been best when not taking itself too seriously.

[EagleFan]

Originally Posted by albionmoonlight

I loved it. But I did embrace the camp. The last season, IMO, went way downhill because the show decided to go darker and take itself more seriously. But the early campy seasons I thought were a lot of fun.

Maybe I'll learn to embrace the camp but don't think I will be able to with the lead character (and his mom).

Though Fiona has her moments. It's weird with her. She's not what I would call hot and there are plenty of times that I wouldn't look twice at her but once in a while there are moments where she makes me do a double take.