Take a little MacGyver, mix in a little James Bond, add a dash of “The Prisoner,” and you’ve got the recipe for a nifty thriller.

Throw in a supporting role for cult movie favorite Bruce Campbell
and some Miami scenery, and I’m there for the rest of the summer.

“Burn Notice,” debuting at 10 tonight on the USA Network, could be a
sleeper hit for the network that claims it is always looking for
“characters.”

Jeffrey Donovan could have researched the life of a spy for his new series, “Burn Notice,” (premiering tonight at 10 on USA Network). But then he might have been burned.

In the series, Donovan’s agent Michael Westen discovers in the middle of a dangerous operation that he has been fired. His bank accounts are frozen. No one will take his calls. It’s as if he doesn’t exist.

“You can’t shadow a real-life Michael Westen because I would be dead right now,” Donovan said in a recent conference call with reporters. “But I was able to get in touch with a government official with no name. And I could have some e-mails with him, and he’s been very helpful.”

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) – Equal parts “MacGyver,”
“Equalizer” and “Alias” (OK, maybe less of “Alias,”), “Burn
Notice” tells of a CIA operative who, for unknown reasons, is
suddenly out in the cold (CIA lingo for dumping someone is
giving them a “burn notice”).

The timing is bad. Michael Westen (Jeffrey Donovan) gets
the word while in Nigeria, just as he is about to deliver a
hefty bribe to a local warlord. Angered, the warlord inflicts
the first of many beatings on Westen, whose recuperative powers
are nearly a match for the cheerleader on “Heroes.”

Most of the time, when a television series tries to go the highly stylized route, it comes off as unoriginal and boring, so it was quite a surprise when USA’s new Burn Notice shone as brightly as it did. Some of the credit goes to the visuals, which owe more than a small debt to the movie Out of Sight, but most of the heavy lifting is done by Jeffrey Donovan, who has finally found a vehicle that suits his dark charm and sharp wit. Donovan stars as Michael Weston, a CIA operative given a “burn notice” (essentially fired) out of the blue and who relocates to Miami to find out why, helping strangers solve mysteries on the side for cash. Think The Rockford Files meets The Fugitive, with a healthy dose of MacGyver thrown in to strong effect. The supporting cast includes Gabrielle Anwar, cult favorite Bruce Campbell and Emmy winner Sharon Gless, all who play well off of Donavon’s intensity. Burn Notice is the best new scripted series of the summer and is a fine addition to the personality-driven mystery series (Monk, Psych) that USA specializes in. Don’t miss the commercial-free premiere of Burn Notice tonight at 10 on USA.

Source: http://www.bostonnow.com

“GUNS make you stupid,” explains Michael Weston. “Bet ter to fight your wars with duct tape. Duct tape makes you smart.”

Michael, the ex-spy hero of USA’s new series “Burn Notice” (which debuts tonight at 9), then attempts to prove his point by scaring off the homicidal drug dealer next door using items from the local hardware store, including a roll of MacGyver’s and Tim Taylor’s favorite all-purpose material. But somewhere in the middle of his eviction notice, Michael has to pull out his gun and fire a few rounds into the drug dealer’s leg.