It has been a long time I didn’t talk about TV shows, last time was in June 2008. Since then I had the pleasure (well it is not always such a pleasure…) to watch new shows and I have had some great surprises. Among them is ‘Burn Notice’, a comedy-drama/action show created by Matt Nix. I wasn’t expecting much from this show, nothing more than being entertained for less than an hour. At first I didn’t like the character of Michael Westen (Jeffrey Donovan), a disagreeable ex-spy, neither I liked the character of former IRA operative and Westen’s ex-girlfriend Fiona Glenanne (Gabrielle Anwar). She is alluring (I remember her in ‘Scent of a Woman’ in 1992, when she meets in the restaurant with Al Pacino and his ‘babysitter‘) but she was as disagreeable as Michael was. As for the story, it sounded interesting (I like spy shows) but I felt like the whole thing lacked of ‘charisma’. So I watched the first episodes with one eye only, and episode after episode, I must say things evolved pretty well and I really enjoy watching ‘Burn Notice’ now.
I can’t list this show among my favorite ones (yet), but it is good enough to write something about it, as I did with ‘Dexter and The Shield: bad is good‘, ‘The Big Bang Theory: Am I really that kind of Nerd?‘, ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm: Pretty, pretty, pretty good!‘ and ‘Lost, Battlestar Galactica, Nip/Tuck, House M.D… Addicted!‘. Other characters from the show like Sam Axe (Bruce Campbell), former Navy SEAL and very good friend of Michael Westen, as well as Madeline Westen (Sharon Gless – now she doesn’t ‘stuff‘ anymore unlike in ‘Nip/Tuck’ but she smokes… a lot!), Michael’s mother, are also great and the stories are well written. ‘Burn Notice’ delivers what it is made for, everything moves fast, the characters are original and the location (Miami) is perfect.
Then came ‘Leverage‘. A total disappointment… I know the characters of every new show need time to settle into their more-defined personalities but I didn’t get into it at all. I don’t know if it is the characters (and maybe the choice of the actors) or the story line (pretty much the same as ‘Burn Notice’, they are both spy shows and use the same ‘mechanics’) but I gave it its chance and it didn’t convinced me. I may watch one episode once in a while to pass time but this is it. The positive point is that spy shows are making their come-back, the fabulous area of spy shows being over for decades (remember ‘The Avengers’, ‘Mission: Impossible’, ‘Wild, Wild West’…), it is promising.
Next show I am eager to watch: ‘Sons of Anarchy’, from Kurt Sutter, writer/producer of ‘The Shield’. I really miss this show, I hope SoA is as good as ‘The Shield’ was. I will let you know what I think about it!