Jeffrey Donovan Fans

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.

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From Kristin at E! Online:

OK, here’s the deal people: You have to watch Burn Notice tonight on USA Network at 10 p.m. I don’t usually lean too hard on you with TV recommendations, because believe me, I don’t want to watch homework either, but the thing with Burn Notice is that you are going to love it.

I’ve been recommending Burn Notice to people since it premiered last season, and I am proud to say that I have a perfect record of, “Oh my gosh, thank you for telling me about Burn Notice! It’s so great.” And it really is just that: great. Burn Notice is funny, smart, fast-paced and just freaking cool—this is not homework, this is a free pass to the carnival. Go ride the tilt-a-wheel! Seriously! You probably won’t throw up at all!

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From Entertainment Weekly:

What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you think about USA’s Burn Notice? That “Sun. Surf. Espionage.” tagline? Or maybe vanilla ice cream?

Apparently, USA’s publicity department would say the latter, because—unable to bring New York to Miami, or get us regular Joes into the CIA game—they promoted the show’s season 2 premiere by parking a blue Mister Softee truck outside our Broadway office yesterday afternoon. We loved the free vanilla on a hot hot day, but couldn’t help wondering, doesn’t Michael (Jeffrey Donovan) prefer yogurt? And where, for the love of Brisco County, is Sam? Then again, the promotion is only one-third as wacky/random as that time Matthew McConaughey drove across country in an Airstream trailer advertising Sahara.

(P.S. Be sure to check out my own Burn Notice mini-TV Watch on Friday mornings here at PopWatch, starting this week and all summer long. And if you want to read in true Burn Notice-style, peruse it over a breakfast of Strawberry Dannon).

(P.P.S. If you’re a Burn Notice newbie, read Gillian Flynn’s season one review by clicking here; and come back to EW.com on Thursday morning, where you’ll find my BN “Cheat Sheet” gallery!)

Thank goodness we have each other.

Last week we all collectively lamented how reality TV dominates the television schedule during the summer. I don’t know about you but I kind of found it therapeutic to know so many TV viewers out there shared my reality TV pain.

As with any genre, there’s good reality TV (I can’t wait for Project Runway to return next week), bad reality TV (Big Brother is back for a 10th season Sunday. Repeat after me - I promise not to get sucked in. I promise not to get sucked in. We need to support each other on this one.) and ugly reality TV (honestly do you understand that people actually loan out their own children for the series The Baby Borrowers. It defies comprehension.) And ugly reality TV seems to run rampant during the dog days of summer. It’s a pretty awful TV landscape out there.

Thankfully, this week we have three new scripted shows to celebrate (okay one is only available online but we’ll take what we can get this month, don’t you think).

A look at the -hooray!- non-reality TV coming your way:

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By Ian Spelling for UGO

Burn Notice is one of those super-cool shows with a modest, but loyal fan base. The USA Network series will kick off its second season on July 10, and everyone involved hopes that, based on its critics’ darling status, USA’s amped-up promotional campaign and on good, old-fashioned fan-to-fan word of mouth, Burn Notice will attract a wider audience in year two. For those unfamiliar with the slickly shot show, it stars hottie (or so my wife insists) Jeffrey Donovan as Michael Westen, a discredited cover-ops agent who’s forced to cool his heels in Miami, his hometown, trapped there with no money, no job, no link to his handler, and always under surveillance.

So, while trying figure out who screwed him over - or more accurately stated, burned him - and why, the ever-resourceful Westen keeps busy as a spy for hire and a private investigator. Among those in Westen’s circle are his ex-girlfriend Fiona (Gabrielle Anwar), once an IRA operative; longtime pal Sam (Bruce Campbell), a sleazy, fun-loving womanizer and former operative; and Madeline (Sharon Gless), Westen’s chain-smoking, tough-love, hypochondriac momma. The amiable Donovan and the quip-happy Campbell recently took to the phone for a conference call. UGO was on the line and joined in the fun. Here’s some of what went down:

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