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Michael Westen
Created by Matt Nix
 From spy to eye. When the tough get burned, the burned get going...
When spies get fired, they don't get a pinl slip or a form letter from human resources. They get a "burn notice" and became untouchable.
In the USA Networks series Burn Notice, Jeffrey Donovan plays MICHAEL WESTEN, a yogurt-loving former CIA operative who, in the middle of an overseas operation, is burned by the agency. With no funds and and no clue as to why he's suddenly persona non grata in the intelligence community, he hightails it to his hometown of Miami, where he works as an unofficial P.I., drawing on his Special Ops training to use to help those who the police can't or won't help, as a way to fund his ongoing personal investigation.
He is helped and hindered by his once -- and maybe once again -- girlfriend Fiona, a trigger-happy ex-IRA operative played by Gabrielle Anwar. Also on board is his best friend and former partner Sam Axe, a boozy party animal and would-be ladies' man who has also occasionally worked as an informant for the FBI, dispatched to keep an eye on Michael. Sam's played with considerable aplomb by cult film fave Bruce Campbell, while Michael's manipulative mother is played by Sharon "Cagney and Lacey" Gless.
It was probably the best new crime show of the 2007 season and gets a lot of comparisons to Magnum P.I., though I'm more apt to liken it to The Rockford Files. Heady company either way.
UNDER OATH
- "I'm not quite as crazy about the show as Glen is, but I do find this frequently quite entertaining, a bright shiny diversion that offers plenty of fun.. The case-of-the-week shows are infinitely more interesting than the underlying story of Michael's attempts to "unburn" himself, which often come close to sandbagging the whole show, à la Twin Peaks or X-Files. And he's right to liken this to both Magnum and Rockford. Michael's deadbeat, lying brother Nate is certainly (and possibly intentionally?) reminiscent of Rockford's Angel Martin, and there's something of the off-kilter chemistry of Magnum and his crew in the antics of Michael, Sam and Fiona, with Michael's mom playing the Higgins-style straight-man-with-an-agenda role. The show also recalls Miami Vice, not just in the slick but shabby setting, but in it's glib, stylized tone."
-- Kevin Burton Smith
TELEVISION
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- BURN NOTICE
(2007-08, USA Network)
Created by Matt Nix
Created by Matt Nix
Writers: Matt Nix
Directors: Jace Alexander, Sanford Bookstaver, Colin Bucksey, Rod Hardy, Paul Holahan, David Solomon
Executive producers: Mikkel Bondesen, Matt Nix
Co-executive producers: Nick Thiel, Jeff Freilich
Line producer / producer: Terry Miller
Supervising producer Mere Smith, Alfredo Barrios Jr.
Starring Jeffrey Donovan as MICHAEL WESTEN
Also starring Gabrielle Anwar as Fiona
Bruce Campbell as Sam Axe
Seth Peterson as Nate
and Sharon Gless as Madeline Westen (Michael's mom)
- Season One...Buy this DVD set
- "Pilot" (June 28, 2007)
- "Identity" (July 5, 2007)
- "Fight or Flight" (July 12, 2007)
- "Old Friends" (July 19, 2007)
- "Family Business" (July 26, 2007)
- "Unpaid Debts" (August 2, 2007)
- "Broken Rules" (August 9, 2007)
- "Wanted Man" (August 16, 2007)
- "Hard Bargain" (August 23, 2007)
- "False Flag" (September 13, 2007)
- "Dead Drop (Part One)" (September 20, 2007)
- "Loose Ends (Part Two)" (September 20, 2007)
- Season Two...Buy this DVD set
- "Breaking and Entering" (July 10, 2008)
- "Turn and Burn" (July 17, 2008)
- "Trust Me" (July 24, 2008)
- "Comrades" (July 31, 2008)
- "Scatter Point" (August 7, 2008)
- "Bad Blood" (August 14, 2008)
- "Rough Seas" (August 21, 2008)
- "Double Booked" (September 11, 2008)
- "Good Soldier" (September 18, 2008)
- "Do No Harm" (January 22, 2009)
- "Hot Spot" (January 29, 2009)
- "Seek and Destroy" (February 5, 2009)
- "Bad Breaks" (February 12, 2009)
- "Truth & Reconciliation" (February 19, 2009)
- "Sins of Omission" (February 26, 2009)
- "Lesser Evil" (March 5, 2009)
- Season Three...Buy this DVD set
- "Friends and Family" (June 4, 2009)
- "Question & Answer" (June 11, 2009)
- "End Run" (June 18, 2009)
- "Fearless Leader" (June 25, 2009)
- "Signals and Codes" (July 9, 2009)
- "The Hunter" (July 16, 2009)
- "Shot In The Dark" (July 23, 2009)
- "Friends Like These" (July 30, 2009)
- "Long Way Back" (August 6, 2009)
- "A Dark Road" (January 21, 2010)
- " Friendly Fire" (January 28, 2010)
- "Noble Causes" (February 4, 2010)
- "Enemies Closee" (February 11, 2010)
- "Partners in Crime" (February 18, 2010)
- "Good Intentions" (February 25, 2010)
- "Devil You Know" (March 4, 2010)
- Season Four...Buy this DVD set
- "Friends and Enemies" (June 3, 2010)
- "Fast Friends" (June 10, 2010)
- "Made Man" (June 17, 2010)
- "Breach of Faith" (June 24, 2010)
- "Neighborhood Watch" (July 1, 2010)
- "Entry Point" (July 15, 2010)
- "Past & Future Tense" (July 22, 2010)
- "Where There's Smoke" (July 29, 2010)
- "Center of the Storm" (August 5, 2010)
- "Hard Time" (August 12, 2010)
- "Blind Spot" (August 19, 2010)
- "Guilty As Charged" (August 26, 2010)
- "Eyes Open" (November 11, 2010)
- "Hot Property" (November 18, 2010)
- "Brotherly Love" (December 2, 2010)
- "Dead or Alive" (December 9, 2010)
- "Out of the Fire" (December 16, 2010)
- "Last Stand" (December 16, 2010)
- THE FALL OF SAM AXE
(2011,USA Network)
Air date: Thursday, April 14, 2011
Teleplay by Matt Nix
Directed by Jeffrey Donovan
Starring Bruce Campbell as SAM AXE
Also starring Kiele Sanchez, Chandra West
Made for TV movie, serving as a sort of prequel to Burn Notice and starring Bruce Campbell.
NOVELS
RELATED LINKS
Report respectfully submitted by Glen Davis. Additional info by Kevin Burton Smith.
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