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June 27, 2007
What to Watch: Coming Up on Cable
Hey Paula, Schmaula — Seth Arenstein recommends Thursday's premiere of Burn Notice on USA over Abdul's new reality series on Bravo.
Tube Stake: Programming Reviews by Seth Arenstein
BURN NOTICE: USA's hot new spy series.
• THURSDAY, JUNE 28
Burn Notice, series premiere, 10pm ET, USA Network.
This new series has eluded the publicity blitz afforded other USA shows, like The Starter Wife — which concludes its run in the hour before Burn Notice premieres — and Monk and Psych, which both return July 13. That’s probably because it lacks big name talent. Too bad, because Burn Notice is every bit as good as USA's other originals. In fact, we think it’s better.
Burn Notice is a spy drama with wit, a combination that’s rare these days. It also includes some top-flight writing and deft work by Jeffrey Donovan as Michael Westen, a foreign-based spook who’s suddenly been dropped from the U.S. team. In the business, we are told, Westen has been burned. That dubious privilege means Westen is a wanted man (by his former enemies). Add to that he’s had his assets frozen and essentially become a non-person as far the U.S. government is concerned.
Ah, but our hero is a wit. And now he's been forced to live by his wits, along with his Special Ops training. Fortunately he does well with these tools when it comes to defeating bad guys. On the other hand, he’s overmatched by his kvetch of a mother, played with proper angst and dyspepsia by Sharon Gless. He's also kept on his toes by Gabrielle Anwar, who plays Fiona, a former flame who just happens to be fluent in the ways of spying, having been an IRA operative.
A major plus in this series is the voiceover narration by Donovan, who tells us exactly what his character is thinking and how he’s going to defeat his foes. Oh, and did we mention every interstitial in the pilot features the sounds and the comely sights of Westen’s current location, Miami Beach?
And a bonus: the series' premiere tonight, which feels like a James Bond movie, will be enhanced because it is commercial-free, sponsored by DirecTV.
Hey Paula, series premiere, Bravo, 10pm ET.
Once upon a time you were nobody in America if you didn’t have an 800 number. After that you had to have written a book about yourself. Later a Website or two were de rigueur. Now you must have a reality show. It doesn’t matter if your life isn’t particularly interesting. Actually, the more outlandish your life is the better, which, let’s face it, is why we watch celeb reality shows.
Paula Abdul’s name and recent fame as a judge on American Idol should be enough to draw ratings for a while. The series certainly should satisfy fans’ Idol fix, with its backstage look at Abdul, who emerges as pretty much the way you’ve seen her on the circuit. She’s pleasant, pretty and energetic. Bravo is among cable’s best when it comes to celeb reality series, and it’s done a good job taking viewers into Paula’s world of hairdressers, stylists, publicists and other entourage members.
The down side is that beyond Idol, Ms. Abdul, fair or not, is today a B-list celeb without, it seems, much of a personal life. During tonight’s pilot Abdul admits she is finding it difficult to get her calls returned about projects she’s “worked her ass off” to get off the ground. Later she notes she’s attending the Grammys but hasn’t had a hit record in 20 years. [Let’s credit Ms Abdul for her candidness. We can imagine many celebs refusing to allow such footage to be shown.]
Without the benefit of hit projects to discuss, whacky kids, unstable parents or a lurid love affair or two, it’s hard to sustain a celeb reality series. Paula tells us “I’m like everybody else.” She’s right. But will that endear her to viewers? Another question: Will scenes of Paula racing to catch planes, playing with her dog, trying on new dresses, changing her hairstyle and makeup and hawking her inexpensive costume jewelry on QVC be enough to keep viewers coming back?
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