From Casey Gillis :

Donovan continues to shine as one of television’s best leading men, especially when he’s doling out his espionage tips and tactics in deadpan voiceovers. And give a raise to whoever cast Campbell as his wisecracking sidekick; that guy never fails to crack me up.

Michael Weston, the MacGyver-esque former spy at the center of USA’s “Burn Notice,” is back tonight with a whole new bag of tricks.

I just can’t say enough great things about this series, which was one of last summer’s best.

And as Michael and company return for a second season tonight at 10 p.m., the show is as good as ever.

In case you didn’t heed my many recommendations to watch the show last year, here’s the deal: Michael (played by the beyond-hot Jeffrey Donovan) is a former spy searching for answers as to why he was black-listed, what those in-the-know call being “burned.”

From Zap2it.com:

Burn Notice is back, and all is right with the world. Well, not for Michael’s world — he’s consigned to being the ass-kicking errand boy for some mysterious voice on the phone, but it’s right in my world, because Michael’s discomfiture is loads of fun to watch.

Hello, Michael. We need you to eliminate some spoilers.

When last we saw our reluctant antihero, he drove into a semi parked on a bridge between tiny islands of the Florida Keys. And that’s still where he is when we pick back up, and he’s bored out of his mind. Fortunately, some big bangs (first spectacular explosions of the season! Whoo!) notify him that the wait is over. Smoky-voice chick (“Call me Carla”) tells Michael he needs to return something to them — a guy named Jimmy, who was supposed to steal some data for the Powers that Be. Then he tried to escape. That didn’t go over well with Carla and her organization — the kidnapped his family and demand that Michael help Jimmy carry out his task. First order of business: Escape the cops that are responding to the 911 call Jimmy placed before he was nabbed. This leads the first car chase of the season! Wheee!

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.

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!

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:

By TIM GOODMAN
SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE

Though “Mad Men” got all the hype last summer — and $25 million in advertising will ensure that the same thing happens again this year — a rival cable series actually performed significantly better in the ratings and has become a cult hit. Unfortunately, entering its second season, USA’s “Burn Notice” is still the little show that people haven’t heard of. It’s not on magazine covers or buses or billboards. It’s got the ratings, but not exactly the raves.

Word of mouth, and increasing acclaim, is changing that, though.

“Burn Notice,” which starts Thursday (and won’t compete head to head with “Mad Men”), is the rare show that gets its tone right from the start and then runs with it. This is no easy feat on basic cable, a niche in the TV universe that often finds itself in a struggle to be better and different than network television (without the same money), and to be nearly as good and nearly as different as pay-cable channels (without nearly the same money).