A New Obsession

I am aware that I have a bit of a reputation. Namely, that I don’t like anything. And that’s probably pretty fair. I don’t like things, I obsessively adore them. Star Wars, rabbits, The Offspring… everything I like, I take to the extreme. I had every line from the original Star Wars trilogy memorized… literally. I actually sat in front of the VHS tapes with a tape recorder and a microphone to record the audio to listen to in the car on long trips. Instead of enjoying one pet rabbit, I have six, and we’ve had at least twenty through our house as foster rabbits. When the new Offspring CD came out, I listened to it nonstop for about a week, including three times in one sitting.

What am I admitting to being all kinds of crazy? I feel I have to do what I can to spread the word about my new favorite thing ever: the USA network TV show Burn Notice.

I stumbled upon the show while Steve was away at a work function. I wanted to watch TV but there was absolutely nothing on. I scrolled through the satellite options, using that wonderful little “info” button, and saw that Bruce Campbell was in the show. If you don’t know who Bruce Campbell is, I’m not sure I can explain it to you. He’s a self-confessed B-movie (and television) actor who is just… awesome. So I had to check the show out. And I adored it.

Steve and I recorded and watched re-runs of the entire second season in a little over a week to prepare for the impending third season and are currently catching up on season one via Netflix. Luckily Steve likes the show almost as much as I do. Under “genre” on imdb.com it is described as comedy/crime/drama/mystery/thriller. Basically, nearly all the genres you can have.

It’s an episodic show in that each episode finds Michael Weston, a fired (or “burned”) spy stranded in Miami, taking odd jobs helping people out with their problems with the local criminal element. The show also has an overriding plot line of Michael trying to find out who burned him and why. He is accompanied in this by old retired Navy Seal buddy Sam Axe (played by the marvelous Bruce Campbell) and his love interest Fiona, a former IRA operative that he met on assignment in Ireland.

The cast is wonderful. They add complexity to characters that could have come across very flat if played less skillfully. We’ve found, as with other USA original shows Monk and Psych, the scripts have a wonderful light quality and the show is genuinely amusing. Steve would say I just like it because Jeffrey Donovan (who plays Michael) is a very attractive man… which it true… but it’s still a great show on its own. Explosions, espionage, humor. What more could you want?

And, now, I promise I’m done ranting about it. I just had to get my plug in, just in case anyone out there is as bored as I am and needs something great to watch on TV.