I’ve been waiting all summer for tomorrow because it marks the start of Burn Notice's second season. I know I seem to be talking about this new show a little too much, but if you’ve caught up on Burn Notice Season 1 then you can definitely understand why! What surprises me is that USA’s breakout hit is not garnering more attention. Part of the problem is all of the craze surrounding AMC’s Mad Men, a show that aired in the same time slot as Burn Notice last summer.
From all of the media coverage, magazine covers and general hype surrounding Mad Men, you’d think it would have easily won its time slot against Burn Notice and have been the highest rated new show of last summer. I bet it would surprise most television fans to learn how far from the truth that is.
In fact, last summer’s battle between two great freshman cable dramas was overwhelmingly won by Burn Notice. While “Burn Notice never received the media blandishments of its time-period competitor, it beat the Madison Avenue drama every week in the ratings, averaging 2.9 million viewers a week to Mad Men's 900,000.” (link) And yet even with considerably higher ratings, all I ever read about is how great Mad Men is and how it's the show of the summer. Let me tell all the critics out there something, if there's one show of the summer debuting this month it's the spy fueled drama based in sunny, sand filled Miami. Besides, if you can't make it to the beach this summer then you can at least watch people living by the beach with Burn Notice. Plus, Burn Notice now stars Battlestar Galactica's Tricia Helfer, try to beat that Mad Men!
On a side note, it appears AMC has already admitted defeat because there won't be a second head to head showdown between these two hour long dramas this summer. AMC has called uncle and decided to air Mad Men’s sophomore season on Sunday nights. I think it's safe to say round two goes to the cast and crew of Burn Notice. Anyway, if you still haven’t watched Burn Notice Season 1 don’t worry, I’m sure tomorrow night’s season premiere will do a fine job catching you up to speed on all of the adventures of Michael Weston and Co. from the previous season. So now you really have no excuse not to tune in to the USA Network on Thursday, July 10th at 10/9C for Burn Notice’s Season 2 premiere and enjoy a little sun, surf and espionage.
