Michael Westen may have gotten burned in the spy business, but in the TV business, he’s doing just fine. Burn Notice, the USA series that centers around his character, is doing so well that it’s been picked up for both its fifth and sixth seasons, before the fourth even begins airing.
Jeffrey Donovan stars as Westen, a spy who had been tagged as unreliable or dangerous and is now back in his hometown of Miami. Without access to his cash or previous influences, he’s not able to leave. He works with his ex, a weapons expert, and an old acquaintance who works as a double agent to help figure out how to get him out of this mess. This all puts him back in touch with his mother on a regular basis. Gabrielle Anwar, Bruce Campbell, and Sharon Gless also star, and Coby Bell has signed on for season four.
USA’s president of original programming Jeff Wachtel jokingly told Variety, “Once Saturday Night Live makes fun of you, how can you not commit to extra seasons?” SNL poked fun with a skit having game show contestants being quizzed about their knowledge of Burn Notice.
More importantly, the series has remained a popular part of the cable channel’s original programming. Including the live-plus seven data, Burn Notice averaged 7.1 million viewers last season and 3.3 million of those were in the 18-49 demo.
Wachtel believes the series was set up for success when, during the development process, it was decided to move filming of the series from Newark, New Jersey to Miami to make it brighter and sunnier.
With season four of Burn Notice set to debut on USA on June 3rd, seasons five and six are expected to air over the next couple summers. As of now, season five will be made up of a minimum of 15 installments and season six will have at least 18.
In addition, USA has also acquired the off-cable rights to the series. They’ll begin showing repeats daily starting in October 2011. Additionally, MyNetworkTV will begin showing back to back repeats on Wednesdays this fall.
What do you think? Are you glad to hear that Burn Notice has been renewed for two seasons or, would you prefer USA put its resources into another series?
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Season Six is fantastic! Although the plots of each episode have a predictable resolve, I am nonetheless especially entertained by how the cast and guest actors naturally fit into their character for the plots! I also enjoy how the producers bring previous guest characters back into a new episode to tie in plots from an episode years earlier. Interestingly, it also appears that the guest actors sometimes are doing a better job with their characters than the cast do with theirs. What do you, the other viewers, think about my observations?
this show is awesome
My Goodness i jus wish BN would run like forever i cant get enough of Western, Fi n Sam!! thisz the best of the bestest newz ……….
I like Burn Notice. Coby Bell sucks. I hope he’s fired.
I am thrilled that it was picked up….it is one of the best shows ever and my favorite…it is a riveting unusual show, fascinating characters, and I love when bada$$ Michael Weston does his off screen narrative, telling us how to be spies. Oh and Sam is toally hot, too.
This is FANtastic news! Congrats to Sharon Gless on her Emmy nomination. I’m sure all the show’s fans would like to see more recognition perhaps with, at least, nominations for Jeffery Donovan and Bruce Campbell. Can’t wait until Nov. for the answer to (hopefully) who picked-up the briefcase? I’m hoping it was Simon. Sorry but Coby Bell’s Jesse is too ridgid to team with. It’s hard to think of Jesse as a spy instead of an anylist – unless the two real spies Michael and Simon train him; or at least Sam teaching him, “Hey, smooth is smooth, Baby!”
Hopefully, there will be no tampering with the caracter dynamic of the four core actors, in my opinion, that’s the glue of the show. Keep writing Matt Nix!
I loved this series early on but it started to run into a rut toward the close of season two.
Maybe these early renewals will give them enough time to inject the series with a freshness again (hopefully without altering it too drastically) and bring back others who also noticed that it was hitting the rut into the viewing fold once more.
fantastic show
Awesome news…one of the best written and acted series on television!!
This is great news!
Hooray for Burn Notice. One of the best TV shows I’ve seen in over 50 years of watching television. Way to go USA – keep the great production.
yippy!!! BN is my favorite show from any channel!
Amazing news. The only show that could give BN a run for its money is White Collar but since the following is about the same, I dont think that matters. Major congrats to the cast and crew.
yh, it’s a good thing they are, the shows just too good
Great decision! I’m stunned that we have a network that actually recognizes a quality program. Superb cast. Excellent writing. Congrats to all those involved with extending this outstanding series.
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