TVSquad

Writing a tie-in novel to a popular (and current) TV show can't be an easy thing to do. Some of them are pretty lousy, dashed off to appeal to fans of the show and/or cash in on the show (and let's not even get into fan fiction). The author also has to be careful not to tick off loyal fans who know the show backwards and forwards. What if you get the voice wrong? What if you get character information wrong or change something in the show's world that fans don't buy (and actually ticks them off)? What if you suddenly make the lead character a robot or a leather bondage fanatic?

Luckily none of those things are a problem in the first Burn Notice tie-in novel, The Fix. It's written by Tod Goldberg, author the the novels Fake Liar Cheat, Living Dead Girl, and the short story collection Simplify, and it's his first journey into the world of TV show tie-ins. It's quite good. Fans will be pleased and it works as a separate little adventure as well.

Back in May -- remember that far back -- Isabelle wrote about the fact that David Shore, creator of House, was contemplating a new show. It was a spinoff of House, but not a medical show. It was going to be in the private eye genre.

Newark Star-Ledger columnist Alan Sepinwall (with Dan Feinberg) did an interview with David recently and found out some more information about the spinoff.

"We brought in a character, partway through the year, [actor] Michael Weston as this private investigator House goes to. The spinoff would be less of a spinoff, it would be more us using House to launch it. It would be an independent world. A character out of the House mold, but definitely different."

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.

When the new USA series Burn Notice debuts this Thursday at 10:00 p.m., it will air without commercials. The first episode will be presented in its entirety by DIRECTV, so while you won't be seeing any ads, expected to hear a few allusions to the digital satellite TV service during the first couple episodes.

Burn Notice stars Jeffrey Donovan as a CIA spook who is given his "burn notice," (meaning: he no longer works for the CIA) and uses his skills to help out people in need. The series also stars Bruce Campbell, Gabrielle Anwar and Sharon Gless.

After the premiere of Burn Notice, Donovan's character Michael Westen will appear to thank everyone for watching. In this segment, Westen will be seen de-activating a tracking bug he found in his apartment, and then tossing it into a frying pan.