Finally, a cop show with an interesting main character.
Burn Notice.
I know all the CSI and L&O shows try to give us interesting characters. But they don’t…well, except for the guy on CSI, what’s his name. No, not the David Caruso character (barf), the lead guy in Vegas.
But I caught the premiere of Burn Notice last night on TBS USA and thought it was really good. The lead character is a spy who’s been put on “burn notice” or some such thing—lost his job. FBI’s tailing him. He doesn’t know why.
It’s entertaining—he gives little tips on things like how to lose a tail, how to shoot someone who’s behind a bulletproof door. He takes simple tools and uses them to take down the bad guys, making it almost MacGyver-esque at times.
But mostly it’s the main character. He’s interesting. He’s likeable (he does nice things for the little guys). He’s unflappable and cool, but not stupid and annoying (like Caruso’s guy).
I hope the rest of the series lives up to the promise of the premiere (which aired commercial-free, by the way). And I hope it doesn’t get cancelled.
Gil Grissom is the lead character of CSI: Las Vegas.
Comment by Proud Daughter of Eve — June 29, 2007 @ 11:30 am
Right. I like him. The rest of the characters are annoying. Oh except for the guy in the lab—he’s my new fave guy on there. The one all the other characters on the show find annoying, which is ironic.
Comment by Susan M — June 29, 2007 @ 11:49 am
It’s actually on USA, and I doubt it gets cancelled anytime soon. USA is building wuite the reputation with Monk, Psych, The 4400, The Dead Zone, and now this. They’re even getting first-run L&O: CI episodes next fall.
Comment by Tim J — June 29, 2007 @ 12:15 pm
Ooops. I meant to verify I had the network right. I’ll update the post.
Comment by Susan M — June 29, 2007 @ 12:31 pm
#2 The actor is Wallace Langham - we remember him from Veronica’s Closet. =)
I don’t know, I kinda like Horatio, with his hands-on-hips stance after he puts on his shades. At least he seems to empathize with the victims - Grissom is just so detached. Law and Order just isn’t the same without Jerry Orbach. *sigh*
I’m looking forward to Burn Notice (or, as my wife misread it on TiVo “Bum Notice”) The main guy was a real tool on Crossing Jordan, and he played a villain on Monk (the astronaut) Should be interesting to see him play a good guy. (Or is he? dum-DUM!)
Also, I recommend the Closer. Kyra Sedgwick is so much fun to watch, and listen to! (”Thenk yew”)
Comment by FHL — June 29, 2007 @ 12:44 pm
We watch The Closer. And CSI. And L&O. All of them. Basically, if it’s a cop show, my husband watches it. We had to put our foot down at CSI Miami- good greif David Carusso is rediculous!! And I’m still stuck on how Gary Sinese ended up in a franchise TV show… what happened??
Haven’t seen Burn Notice yet- but if it’s a cop show, it’s only a matter of time before my husband discovers it.
Comment by tracy m — June 29, 2007 @ 4:47 pm
The Closer is very, very good TV.
Comment by Supergenius — June 29, 2007 @ 5:09 pm
Actually, the Closer is pretty bad, but Kyra Sedgwick is entertaining.
Burn Notice is good TV.
You’re missing out on the best CSI, Tracy, if you’re not watching Miami. The episode where Caruso outran a tidal wave with a wounded woman in his arms? Fantastic!
Comment by Susan M — June 29, 2007 @ 6:20 pm
Susan, I just can’t do it! It’s so bad, it transcends badness- every time he delivers his one-liner and puts his shades one, I want to kick the TV.
It might have been fun to see him outrun a tidal wave, though.
Comment by tracy m — June 29, 2007 @ 6:33 pm
The Wire is full of interesting characters, though I’m not sure if you could really call it a cop show.
Comment by Brian V — June 29, 2007 @ 6:41 pm
Read my review of the pilot of Burn Notice at http://mytvmusings.com/2007/06/29/burn-notice-pilot-review/
Comment by webMistress — June 29, 2007 @ 8:35 pm
Burn Notice Pilot Review…
I wasn’t expecting to like this as much as I did! This fits Donovan much better than did Touching Evil.
It’s a little Alias, a little Psych (but much more substantial), a little Miami Vice: this spy has been left out in the cold, dumped in…
Trackback by My TV Musings — June 29, 2007 @ 8:50 pm
I’ll check it out. There were elements about Touching Evil that were quite good. However overall it didn’t mesh. It wasn’t quite sure what it wanted to be. I think it would have benefitted from a more gritty approach to the issue rather than these implausibly expensive and over-designed meeting rooms for the FBI.
Sounds like this new show is part The Prisoner, part the Bourne movies, and part The Equalizer.
Comment by clark — June 30, 2007 @ 3:59 pm
We Tivo’d it but haven’t watched it yet. It sounds like its right up my alley though.
Comment by jjohnsen — July 2, 2007 @ 11:05 am
It has Bruce “The Jaw” Campbell in it, which means it is good and it will be canceled.
Also, I’m going to predict that they’ll quickly run out of spy tips to share. There are lots of shows that have three or four episodes of interesting tidbits to share and then they become more pedestrian. Law & Order: Criminal Intent was this way. The first several episodes had a gimmick in which they showed more of the criminal’s point of view. That got lost before the halfway point of the first season.
Comment by a random John — July 2, 2007 @ 1:12 pm