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.

(S02E02) "Who's the puta now?" Me after Sophia revealed herself to Raul.

As I watch Michael have his meeting with Carla, I can't help but wonder what I would do in his situation. On the one hand, like Michael, I would really be obsessed with finding out who burned me and why. When you've been a spy as long as he has, it's impossible to let that kind of thing go.

On the other hand, Carla seems to be a good number of steps ahead of Michael at all times, so maybe the best thing to do is just follow her instructions and play by her rules until she finally comes across with the information. It's got to be damn frustrating to be outsmarted by her every time.

I'm going to share my Emmy thoughts, but there's so much to digest, I figured I'd space it out a bit. If you missed the announcement, check out Bob's live blog.

First thought: Why do I feel like I did when the Daytime Emmy nominations were announced? Oh yeah, because all these nominations are predictable! Where's the surprises, where's the nominations from out of left field? These nominations lack the element of shock, at least to me. Here's my thoughts, plus I dug through the whole list and found some other interesting items...

Part James Bond, part Jason Bourne, all Jeffrey Donovan. That's the recipe for the coolest spy on TV today, Michael Westen on Burn Notice. Meeting Jeffrey Donovan recently, I was impressed with not only his charm, good looks and dedication to his craft, but also his determination to shoulder the responsibility and reward of his very own primetime series.

Nobody's handed anything to Jeffrey Donovan. He's been at it for a while, doing notable turns in CSI: Miami and Monk, playing recurring characters in The Pretender and Touching Evil, and practically stealing Hitch from Kevin James and Will Smith by playing a nasty S.O.B.

Like his alter ego, Jeffrey Donovan is a very cool customer. He never lets you see him sweat, even when he's got ever right to in the glare of the spotlight, the heat of the Miami sun, and the hardball questions of the media roundtable he was facing. Okay, we weren't all throwing hardballs, but as this Q&A shows, Jeffrey D. can handle himself in any and all situations.

On my recent visit to the set of Burn Notice, I had the pleasure of meeting the cast, including the irrepressible Bruce Campbell, the plucky Gabrielle Anwar, and the fascinating star of the show, Jeffrey Donovan. They were all wonderful and I was thrilled to participate in a round-table interview with them. However, when I had the chance to shake the hand of Sharon Gless, the Emmy-winning actress who starred in Cagney & Lacey, The Trials of Rosie O'Neill and played amazing characters on Queer as Folk and Nip/Tuck, I have to confess -- I gushed. I couldn't help it. She's Sharon Gless!

I discovered that as brilliant as she is a performer, Sharon Gless is also a class act with the media. She talked about another Cagney & Lacey, Tyne Daly, acting, playing villains, Kim Cattrall and much more. Read on and you'll see -- as I did -- why you'd gush to if you were face-to-face with Sharon Gless.

Miami in June is hot. Very hot. On the set of Burn Notice, however, everything is cool. In fact, when I arrive at the Coconut Grove studios where the USA spy drama is shot, I find myself smack dab in the middle of a full-fledged film studio.

The old convention center, where I remember going to an indoor flea market in the late 1970s, has been completely transformed. There are trailers, production offices, standing sets, all geared up and working to bring Burn Notice back for season two.

On USA's spy-action-comedy series Burn Notice, there are great actors all around. Recently, I had the chance to spend a day on the set of Burn Notice (more on that next week!), and share in round-table interviews with the stars of the show.

Here's one of those wonderful actors, the irreverent and brilliant Bruce Campbell. As Sam, Jeffrey's old friend -- and sometime nemesis -- from the spy wars, Campbell is having a ball filming in South Florida and stealing scenes like nobody's business. Oh, and he smells good, just like Old Spice.

Q: What is the character of Sam about?

Bruce Campbell: He's about 50. No, he's like the other characters in the show, damaged goods, which is why I like him.

Kim Cattrall is hot. Hot as in busy as well as in looking good. She's also smart, funny, observant and remarkably candid. Recently, I spoke with her for TV Squad about the success of the Sex & the City movie, her new HBO project Sensitive Skin, and a whole lot of other things, including Star Trek, aging, Universal TV in the 1970s and more.

Allison Waldman: When Sex & the City ended, you didn't want to do the movie. Now it's done and it's a huge success.

Kim Cattrall: It's extraordinary. I look back four years ago when this was a runaway idea, I just did not feel ready to do it. We had reached such a high point, I wasn't sure I had anything else to say. I also had incredible personal challenges. My marriage was coming apart, also, my dad was diagnosed with dementia. I really needed a time out.

AW: How did the movie come back around?

KC: Michael Patrick King called and said, 'I'm writing something and I think you're going to love it. ...I think you were right to say no when you did because of whatever reasons you had.' See, I had never been public about my reasons I felt that it was nobody's business.

USA Network continues its foray into original programming, this time around with Burn Notice. The new drama stars Jeffrey Donovan (Touching Evil) as a CIA operative who was recently given his pink slip, or Burn Notice in spy lingo. Once he is let go he uses his Special Ops skills to help others who, for some reason or another, cannot go to the police.

Actors recently added to the cast are Gabrielle Anwar (The Librarian: Return to King Solomon's Mines), Bruce Campbell (The Adventures of Brisco County Jr., Evil Dead), and Sharon Gless (Queer as Folk, Cagney & Lacey). Production on the show will begin next week. No word at this time when it will premiere on USA.