Posted Feb 5th 2010 12:45AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: OpEd, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free, Burn Notice
(S03E12) Does Michael Weston work and play well with others? Umm, not really. He prefers being at the controls and calling the shots. Have you noticed that with Fiona and Sam, Michael is usually the de facto lead? And remember how he disliked working for Carla? Hence this relationship with Gilroy is problematic to say the least. This week was an example of just how difficult it's likely to be.
Continue reading Review: 'Burn Notice' - 'Noble Causes'
Posted Jan 29th 2010 2:05AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: OpEd, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free, Burn Notice
(S03E11) For a nice change of pace,
Burn Notice played up the local color. Lots of Little Dominica (not Little Havana) and action, including multiple explosions, a little face-forward repelling and a new somewhat mystical character for Michael to play. No Southern boy this week. No tank tops or muscle shirts. Nope. Michael was looking like Mr. Applegate, the devil in the musical
Damn Yankees.
Continue reading Review: Burn Notice - Friendly Fire
Posted Jan 22nd 2010 3:00AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: OpEd, Celebrities, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free, Burn Notice
(S03E10) "People get hurt and things get complicated no matter what you do." - Fiona
Welcome back,
Burn Notice. We've missed you. The story picked up a day or two after the resolution of the Strickler thing, with Fiona still on the mend and Michael more than a little miffed by the missed opportunity to get back in the spy game. And if sore feelings and healing wounds weren't painful enough, there's a new threat for Michael.
Continue reading Review: Burn Notice - A Dark Road (mid-season premiere)
Posted Jan 20th 2010 10:00AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: TV Royalty, Interviews, Celebrities, Reality-Free, Burn Notice
Back in 2008, I was lucky enough to get to visit the set of
Burn Notice and interview Sharon Gless. At that time, Sharon said that she was trying to get her co-star from
Cagney & Lacey -- and good friend -- Tyne Daly to guest on
Burn Notice, but Tyne was only interested if she could play her part sans words. "Tyne said, 'I'll do it, but I want to play her as a mute.' Only Tyne Daly! And believe me, she'll steal the show. Matt said he wants to use her -- but not as a mute!"
Tomorrow night,
Tyne Daly and Sharon Gless will be reunited on TV in an episode of Burn Notice called "The Dark Road." Tyne Daly will not be playing a mute. In fact, according to Sharon, "It's very, very unusual the situations that they put me in with Tyne. They had me go undercover." It sounds like a fun way to kick off the second half of season three. And hopefully, Tyne Daly will get to watch it. You see, in a recent conference call with the two stars, Ms. Daly and Ms. Gless talked about working together again and more.
Continue reading Burn Notice reunites Cagney & Lacey stars Tyne Daly & Sharon Gless
Posted Dec 25th 2009 2:08PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: OpEd, CSI, Video, Awards, Emmys, Reality-Free, Burn Notice
Have you received all your Christmas gifts? Would you like one more? Okay, here it is, when
Burn Notice returns for the winter season on January 21, the first episode will include guest star Tyne Daly. That's right, Tyne will be reuniting with her
Cagney & Lacey co-star
Sharon Gless. This is will be the first of seven new
Burn Notices till next summer.
There's another
Cagney & Lacey story in the news.
CSI creator Anthony Zuiker wants to revive the show for CBS. For those who don't recall,
Cagney & Lacey was the top female cop drama of the 1980's -- actually of all time. It was a serious police drama, unlike something jiggly like
Charlie's Angels or safe and pedestrian like
Police Woman.
Continue reading Cagney and Lacey reunite on first Burn Notice of 2010
Posted Dec 20th 2009 9:24AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Food/Home/DIY, Industry, Programming, OpEd, Lost, Celebrities, 30 Rock, Friday Night Lights, Ratings, NCIS, TV Squad Lists, Emmys, Breaking Bad, Mad Men, Burn Notice, The Big Bang Theory, Parks and Recreation, Nurse Jackie, Glee, Community, Cougar Town, Modern Family
What a year! Once we got over the WGA strike, the networks kicked it into high gear and got busy making TV. Except for NBC. Even
Jeff Zucker has admitted that NBCU has failed to respond to the need for new programming.
Fortunately, the other channels have been busy and there's been a lot of great television... and some that's just plain awful. But I'm a half-glass full kind of person and I have good feelings about 2009. However,
since I don't want to repeat my list from last year, I'll just mention that I could put these 2008 best choices --
Breaking Bad, Friday Night Lights, NCIS, The Big Bang Theory and
Mad Men -- on my list again. But I'm going to go for an all new list and, thankfully, I had plenty of 'bests' to choose from.
Best
1. Glee. If there was ever a show that was made just for my personal taste, this is probably it. I love the singing and dancing. I get the characters. It even tickles me that I had just as much angst with bullies in high school as these kids. Every episode hasn't been perfect, but it's perfectly fine that they keep striving.
Continue reading Best and Worst TV of 2009: Allison's list
Posted Nov 22nd 2009 4:03PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, Programming, OpEd, The Closer, Friday Night Lights, Breaking Bad, Reality-Free, Mad Men, Burn Notice, Glee
Thanksgiving is coming and for many of us it's time to eat, drink and watch football. It's also a time to reflect on the things you're grateful for and since TV Squad is all about television, here's what I'm grateful for this holiday season, with regard to the tube.
Mad Men season finale
There was really nothing as satisfying in the entire year for me. Matt Weiner promised a game-changing episode and he delivered it with a whopper of a wrap up. Actually, nothing was really wrapped; it was more like the cards have been dealt and we're still waiting to see how the hands are played.
Continue reading What Allison is thankful for
Posted Sep 10th 2009 10:03AM by Danny Gallagher
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Other Sci-Fi/Supernatural Shows, Celebrities, Reality-Free, Burn Notice
Some have made the argument that actor Ted McGinley is the patron saint of all things television. I mean, sure Teddy-M.C. has a wide and varied career and holds the power to destroy entire series with his very presence.
Well Mr. McGinley, I've met Bruce Campbell (once, almost, it's a long story). I know Bruce Campbell (not really, but
Bob probably knows him better than I do). And you, sir, are no Bruce Campbell.
And just to prove it, let me pose a question: has anyone ever held a "Ted McGinley Watch" in his television honor? I didn't think so. Writer and blogger John Sellers has revived the annual TV tradition on his popular
True/Slant blog.
Continue reading Groovy! John Sellers brings Bruce Campbell Watch back from the dead
Posted Aug 29th 2009 1:30PM by Mike Moody
Filed under: Other Sci-Fi/Supernatural Shows, Industry, Celebrities, Casting, Reality-Free, Burn Notice
Summer Glau isn't the only
Terminator alum heading to a high-profile show next season. The cool and creepy Garrett Dillahunt has
landed a role on USA's Burn Notice. Dillahunt will play Simon, Michael's super smart new client, when the show returns in the winter.
It's unclear whether this is a guest stint or a recurring role, but chances are good that Dillahunt will be sticking around for a while. The actor has made memorable guest stints on
Life,
CSI,
and
Law & Order: SVU, and critics praised his recent big screen performance in
The Last House on the Left.
Continue reading Terminator's Garret Dillahunt lands role on Burn Notice
Posted Aug 28th 2009 11:29AM by John Scott Lewinski
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Reality-Free, Burn Notice
If a show is good enough to get nominated for an Emmy, why not watch it for hours on end while you forget forever what the sun looks like?
USA Networks has announced that it's reaching around and patting itself enthusiastically on the back for its Emmy nomination collection with a marathon event of
Monk,
House and
Law & Order: SVU. The chain of would-be red carpet winners runs Friday, September 4 through Sunday, September 6 and includes the episodes of each show up for awards.
Monk is all USA's baby and garnered 16 total Emmy nominations including seven nominations and three wins for Tony Shalhoub (Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series).
House is Fox and
SVU is shared with NBC. But it's one big happy Emmy family for USA.
Continue reading USA gives itself props with Emmy-nominated show marathon
Posted Aug 28th 2009 9:29AM by John Scott Lewinski
Filed under: Ratings, Reality-Free, Burn Notice
Lost in all the news of the
major networks' summer decline and the struggles of the pay channels and the ongoing soap operas of the endless reality shows is the news that
Burn Notice is very quietly becoming a major ratings player on cable.
What originally looked like a silly, self-referential genre show tucked in after wrestling on the USA Network,
Burn Notice is one of the biggest hits on cable. It doesn't get the critical love of
Mad Men, but it has a lot of fans.
According to a USA press release, the show's August airings are burning down nine million viewers at a pop -- making it the period's most watch scripted episodic on cable.
It's now USA's most-watched original series ever with 9.1 million viewers during August episodes -- the first time a USA original series has broken the nine million viewers benchmark.
Continue reading Burn Notice quietly catches fire in the ratings
Posted Aug 27th 2009 9:02AM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, OpEd, Reality-Free, Burn Notice
What an interesting summer for television. In general, the claim that
television viewing reached an all-time high this summer doesn't really surprise me. After all, we're in what the media tells us is the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression. That means more people out of work and less money for everybody.
People out of work and unable to find work are going to be bored, so they're going to watch television. People with less money are going to stay home more often, so they're going to watch television. That part makes sense to me. The part that is a little surprising, but only a little, is that all of that record viewing went to the cable networks and not the big four.
There was not a single break-out summer success story on ABC, CBS, NBC or FOX. Every single show they put on the air either crashed and burned, or barely stayed afloat. But the story is so very different on cable. Week after week we got new stories about original series breaking records on almost every network.
Continue reading TV just had its most-watched summer ever while the big four struggled
Posted Aug 26th 2009 10:00AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, OpEd, CSI, House, Law and Order, Lost, TV Squad Lists, Reality-Free, Burn Notice, The Mentalist
The fine art of interrogation may seem lost thanks to suspects lawyering up and the Miranda warning. Whatever happened to the days when a snarling cop could throw a perp against a brick wall to get him to squeal? Or a sly questioner could finagle a confession by laying on a guilt trip? Still, there are some very clever, brilliant interrogators plying their trade on these days. In fact, when you look at these eight interrogators, you'll probably agree that they know just how to get to the truth. Here are the eight top interrogators on TV today:
8. Captain James Brass, CSIBrass is the most "old school" of all these interrogators. He's like Andy Sipowicz from
NYPD Blue, only without the violence. Brass talks to suspects with a modicum of respect, but a healthy cynicism. He's seen it all and knows the truth is in there somewhere. He asks questions and waits for them to trip themselves up. When they do, he has them write it down. Despite the laconic attitude, Brass has the brass to get the job done.
Continue reading Eight of TV's toughest interrogators
Posted Aug 10th 2009 3:02PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Industry, Ratings, Reality-Free, Burn Notice
A lot of times, the news about ratings isn't good. Or not good enough, so shows that you care about have to hope for the kindness of TV executives to give that show more time to improve or find a new time slot or something ... just to survive. That's why it's such a pleasure that
Burn Notice did great in the ratings for the summer season finale last Thursday. According to the numbers, 7.6 million total viewers were glued to the set, the most eyeballs for any scripted TV shows that night.
Continue reading Great news for Burn Notice
Posted Aug 8th 2009 10:02AM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Celebrities, Reality-Free, Burn Notice
This is pretty neat because it's not one of the characters he plays, it's a doll of Campbell himself. Yeah, it's officially from
My Name is Bruce, but he played himself in that movie. I guess with that shirt it could pass for
Burn Notice's Sam, though I've always thought he's playing a version of himself there, too.
It comes with accessories and a cool box, too.
[via
Toy Whimsy]
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