TVSquad

I'd like to think that I'm the kind of person that gets in on cool things at the start, you know? There's just something about jumping on the bandwagon that's less attractive than being able to say, "Oh, yes. I was into that from day one." So, while I can proudly declare that I was a charter member of the Mad Men audience, I was late to Burn Notice. I missed the boat on Burn Notice, okay! There, I said it.

Fortunately for me, I've had the chance to catch up. I even got to visit the set. The USA Network rebroadcasts and occasional marathons have helped -- hooray for DVRs -- but I really think it was the Burn Notice Season One DVD set that filled in all the blanks. Reasonably priced and recently released, the set has become one of my favorites, as had the tale of Michael Westen, professional spy who has been inexplicably fired -- burned -- and dumped in Miami. There's a lot to like in this show, and in this DVD set.

Packaging
There are two plastic DVD sleeves that open to reveal four disks, all snuggly packed in the Burn Notice package. There's not a lot of nonsense on the cover, just a killer pic of Jeffrey Donovan and Gabrielle Anwar, as Michael and his ex-lover/invaluable asset Fiona. They're both packing, which alludes to a kind of Mr. & Mrs. Smith vibe. That's a misconception. While I like the photo, a picture including Bruce Campbell as Sam, ex-FBI operative, and Michael's other key asset, would have been a more honest representation of the show.

Inside, the sleeves hold the disks in place -- no sliding around -- and the back of each sleeve offers a nice synopsis of the episodes included therein. There was also an ad sleeve promoting other 20th Century Fox DVDs -- Prison Break, 24, Boston Legal, The Unit, et. al -- plus a book based on Michael Westen's adventures called The FIx by Tod Goldberg. That's coming out from Penguin in August 2008.

Audio/Video
There's excellent audio and video quality across the board in the DVD set. The sound is 5.1 Dolby Surround, and the widescreen is 1.78:1. There are subtitles in English, Spanish and French.

Extras
There are some very nice features in the Burn Notice set, including the original audition footage done by Jeffrey Donovan and Gabrielle Anwar. I'm thinking that Bruce Campbell and Sharon Gless didn't have to audition -- I mean, really, they're so accomplished, would you ask them to do a reading? Too bad, because you just know that a Bruce Campbell audition would be riotous. And, for Sharon, she was fooling around with a funky wig for Madaline. The wig, in fact, is on her head in the pilot -- then gone forever! Matt Nix, creator of Burn Notice, nixed it.

The extras include some very casual -- but enjoyable -- episode commentaries that include all the principals, i.e. Nix, Donovan, Anwar, Campbell and Gless. There's a gag reel, a character montage, and a Girls Gone Burn Notice feature. The latter is clearly there to pump up the Miami/skin factor.

Episodes
The real joy of the DVD set is actually all 11 episodes, starting with one of the best pilots I've seen in a long time. What made it so good is that all the elements of the show were laid out, starting with how Michael got burned and left in Miami, how Fi and Sam figure into his life, why he's stuck in South Florida, the complication with his loving, but annoying mother, and how Michael is going to survive. By the end of the pilot, in a very concise and unforced way, Matt Nix has set it all up perfectly, right down to the yogurt in Michael's industrial loft over a nightclub.

Every episode includes formula elements -- which I think is a good thing in this genre -- like Michael's voiceover information, the tongue-in-cheek titles ("Barry - Money Launderer"), and the transition images that include attractive use of the Florida locale, like those girls in the bikinis (which do nothing for me, but I'm sure are eye-candy to the guys).

Conclusion
Many times you might buy a DVD set to catch up on a show, to fill in a season you've missed. Burn Notice is the kind that you'll watch and more than likely re-watch. It's not gut-wrenching drama but neither is it so light as to be unworthy of your time. It's fun and just filling enought, kind of like a refreshing cup of yogurt -- maybe black cherry.