Here are four scenes from tonight’s fall premiere of “Burn Notice” called Damned If You Do.

Michael and Fiona head to Puerto Rico to abduct a financial hacker whose software they need for Anson, but the hacker has some dangerous enemies waiting for him in Miami. Meanwhile, Sam and Jesse train Madeline to retrieve sensitive information from the police

The episode guest stars Lauren Stamile, Jere Burns, Ptolemy Slocum and Ian Anthony Dale.

We are knee deep in USA’s “Suits” and we are already officially sucked in. In the overwhelming amount of workplace dramas on our televisions at the moment, “Suits” is proving to be a legal drama with a taste for its own originality and the classic tricks we all love and come back for.

First things first- the theme song. Opening credits are something any show needs. As viewers they become something that marks the show. We hear theme songs and are immediately reminded of the show they are used for, when we watch a show and the opening credits roll and the theme song plays it puts us immediately in the zone for the show. As far as opening credit sequences go, Suits chose a keeper. The song is “Greenback Boogie” by Ima Robot, and it is great.

As far as tricks that break the legal-drama/crime-drama mold, Suits doesn’t use big storyline, fancy woven murder cases, and brutal crimes to draw in viewers’ attention. The cases that the firm takes on have so far been, normal enough to seem real while still being interesting enough for television giving the show a really believable feel.

Last episode, “Dirty Little Secret” involved Mike (Patrick J. Adams) taking on a pro bono case that he wins in a trivia showdown. The case is in housing court and regardless of the drama that it upturns it is a case that any given person can relate to in some way because it is much more day-to-day.

“Suits” also knows what we like. It keeps the originality that we appreciate and adds the good old tricks we all know and love. For starters: bromance. The banter we enjoyed so much in episode one has yet to fall flat, 4 episodes deep. Harvey and Mike’s relationship is classically witty and smart even when it is over something as silly as their clothes or Mike’s bike.

Second drama trick we will never tire of: flirting. Suits has also followed through with the relationship static it promised in Episode one. With Rachel (Meghan Markle) always around to give Mike his push in the right direction, there is definitely, already, obvious chemistry flying between the two. Last episode’s charade as husband and wife was hilarious and definitely the perfect touch.

Harvey (Gabriel Macht) helping out Jessica (Gina Torres) with her ex-husband’s case also added terrific character building and back-story. The two, though both snarky and headstrong, definitely have a feel for each other that makes us a tiny bit curious every time they are talking.

Suits stayed steady, pulling in a 1.3 in the ratings keeping it just behind “Swamp People” and network brother, “Burn Notice” in the 18-49 demographic. Being a freshmen show they are definitely in a good place and we are looking forward to the remainder of the season.

Jeffrey Donovan will direct the upcoming “Burn Notice Movie” starring Bruce Campbell, USA Network said in a statement on Tuesday.

Shooting will begin in January on location in Bogota, Columbia. The two-hour movie will air on USA in the spring.

Donovan is the star of the show, playing Michael Weston, the burned spy.

The prequel, set in late 2005, begins after a faction of Colombian rebels makes trouble for the locally stationed military platoon, with Lieutenant Commander Sam Axe (Campbell) being sent down to advise. As the mission unfolds, Sam begins to uncover the dark secrets of the area, learning the truth about sacrifice, deception, and ultimately what’s worth fighting for.

“Burn Notice” creator Matt Nix will write and executive produce the movie. Donovan and Campbell will also serve as executive producers.

The show is one of the hottest on television and is the number one scripted show on basic cable, averaging 7.3 million total viewers per week.

With anticipated season premiers debuting on rival networks, USA network had its work cut out for it this summer.  However, with its dark horse cult classic "Burn Notice" returning for a fourth season, apparently the network decided to rest on its laurels and let their other original programming fall by the wayside in terms of wit and plot quality.  This is most noticeable with the Season 2 premier of “Royal Pains.”

The season 2 opener starts off by reviewing the mediocrity that took place in season one:

I couldn’t cut it as a doctor for the working class, guess I’ll just have to work for the R.A.H.‘s (Rich As Hell’s) in the Hamptons.  But here’s the kicker…I make HOUSECALLS!!!! Now that’s what I call a twist!  But uh oh, the Millionaire who is completely funding my career doesn’t completely have faith in me! What do I do? Hope I can get enough clients to pay my medical expenses out-of-pocket so I can keep this hoax of a career going! (Question: Who the hell has a 4 million dollar home in the Hamptons, but doesn’t have an HMO?)

In case you’re new to the show, it stars Mark Feuerstein who plays Hank, the main character still questioning his skills as a doctor after he loses a patient. Hank must find a way to support his struggling new "House call MD" business, pay his phenomenally gorgeous Physician’s Assistant, Divya played by Reshma Shetty, and somehow keep his frat boy brother/Chief Financial Officer in check.  Hank’s brother, Evan played by Paulo Costanzo (yeah, the stoner from “Road Trip”) does an adequate job in the series portraying himself as the lovable scam-artist, who can talk his way into anything (except a decent series).

There isn’t a large, cliffhanger form season 1 to resolve, making the premier somewhat lackluster. The biggest unresolved problem is that Hank and Evan‘s Dad has ripped off whatever working capital they had in a shady transaction for an EKG machine. Hard-hitting stuff. The financial blow sends "Evan" into a whirlwind of emotions and naivety, culminating with a reuniting of father and sons at the show’s conclusion.

The episode’s sub-plot is focused around a man who has inherited a mansion from his father, an inventor of innovative products.  The son, Spencer, an infomercial spokesperson, (think: a younger, fatter Ron Popeil) hires Hank as his personal doc.  Spencer experiences a series of curious symptoms but only has them while in the basement of his newly acquired multimillion-dollar estate.

With the first episode under wraps, the acting is promising, but if the writing continues to be a watered down “Burn Notice” knock-off, then I’m sure it will go the way of “White Collar” What’s that? What’dya mean, “White Collar” is still on the air?

Blast took part in a Q&A session with Jeffrey Donovan and Gabrielle Anwar, the stars of the hit USA series “Burn Notice.”

In this week’s season three finale, Michael’s worst fears come to life when a world class terrorist is unleashed on Miami, threatening to detonate a bomb if Michael doesn’t give him what he wants.

Here’s the interview:

REPORTER: Are you surprised at the success of this show? And I know at times, for USA, the show is either competitive with NBC or sometimes even passing it. Are you surprised with the following that it’s gotten over the years?

JEFFREY DONOVAN: Well, I think that all you can hope for is that you make something that people want to watch and then somehow keep integrity while doing that.

And so I think we’re very happy with the ratings definitely. I know we work really hard, so surprised, yes, we’re always surprised when anything succeeds in this day and age.

REPORTER: Can you talk about your characters and just kind of the evolution that we’ve seen in your characters, and are you happy with where you guys have ended up with your characters? And if you’re in charge of everything, where would you like to see them go I guess in the season or in the future?

GABRIELLE ANWAR: I don’t know where we’re going, where are we going, Jeffrey?

JD: Well, I think that, I’ll speak for Gabrielle, I mean I know from talking with all the other cast mates, we’re very happy with where it’s going. But sometimes Matt Nix and all the other writers keep us slightly in the character dark, not because they don’t trust us with the knowledge, but they’re just trying to figure it out as well along the way.

When you’re dealing with espionage and covert affairs, sometimes the secret is more exciting than the knowledge. If we were both in charge, I would love a deeper insight into Michael’s past, that’s for me. I don’t know about Gabrielle, what would you like?

GA: I’m quite happy with Fiona’s enigmatic state of being. I don’t think I need to know more about, I’d love to know more about where you’re from, absolutely, but I quite like not knowing. I don’t like to know who I am.

REPORTER: We read online that in an upcoming episode, Michael will be going somewhere other than Miami and that he won’t be alone. Can you tell us where your characters going and why, as well as who’s going with him?

JD: Well, obviously I can’t. It’s the season finale, and it’s really literally in the last five minutes of the show. It’s a bit of a cliffhanger. Michael’s been stuck in Miami for quite some time, and there’s a couple of psychopaths on his tail, and things come to a hilt. And by the end of the show, Michael is actually transported out of Miami, but I can’t tell you where, but it’s a bit of a cliffhanger.

REPORTER: For both of you, what first drew you to the show and to your characters?

GA: I was drawn to the character, Fiona, I just thought it was so brilliantly written. It was sparingly written, but so insightful. I couldn’t believe that a man had actually written the script, I mean at least her character. When I first met Matt Nix, who created and wrote the script, I actually said to him, you must have a remarkable relationship with your wife, because you have such incredible insight. So that was what intrigued me about playing a character.

When you sign up for a TV show, you don’t know if it’s going to be for a pilot or for the rest of your life, so I wanted to play a character that I enjoyed thoroughly, and there weren’t that many of them out there. So that’s why I clasped onto this script with great hope.

JD: I got hooked on the voiceover, the first page is a voiceover, it says, “You know what it’s like to be a spy?” I love the idea that not only do I get to play a spy, I get to play a burn spy, and on top of that, I can talk to the audience about what it’s like being a spy. I thought I had never seen anything like that on television, so that’s what hooked me.

REPORTER: Can you tell us anything about “Good Intentions?”

JD: It’s difficult, because a lot of it is, The Penultimate Episode and then the finale have a lot of cliffhangers and a lot of reveals.

So without giving too much away, Gilroy, who’s basically a psychopath controlling Michael’s actions, has to deliver a plane that has a secret piece of cargo in it and needs Michael’s help to do it. When that happens, you find out it actually is someone quite dangerous, and Michael unfortunately allows him to escape.

And then the finale is about trying to capture this psychopath that’s loose.

REPORTER: What was it like working with Carlos Bernard in the episode?

GA: Fantastic. He’s such a wonderful man and a fantastic actor, it was an absolute pleasure.

REPORTER: You both obviously had success in film, and a lot of times when that happens, people are less likely to want to do television. What do you like about this particular medium and why do you keep coming back to television? What do you like about this?

JD: I think that, especially with cable, it’s an avenue to be creative. I think why people are drawn more now to cable shows than ever is that they take more risks, they’re creatively pushing the envelope. I think that the networks have to answer to a bigger advertising calling, whereas the smaller cables have lower ceilings that they can bump their heads on. So I think that’s why I keep being drawn back to television, because I think it’s one of the most creative outlets.

And if you think about it, we make 16 one-hour movies a season. You don’t get any opportunity like that in movies. I mean, I can’t say I’ll be able to do 16 movies in the next year, and so that’s how I see it. How about you, Gabrielle?

GA: I like the stability, the continuity of having a lifestyle where I know I can pay my rent at the end of each month. And also I have these children that I am raising and it’s nice for all of us to sort of know that we’re going to be in a specific place for a certain amount of time. I’ve never known that in my career. So I’m really quite grateful at this point that I get to have the sort of double existence and I can rely on both.

REPORTER: Take us a little bit inside Fiona’s mind with regard to Michael’s pursuit of the truth of trying to erase the burn notice. What is her sort of threshold? How long can she wait for him to sort of fulfill this quest that he’s on?

GA: I don’t know. It’s really not up to me is it? I have my own personal threshold and it was at the end of season one.

JD: Wow, wow.

GA: I think it’s going to be a real testament to have patience and adoration of Michael, which I don’t think she would admit either.

REPORTER: We really enjoyed seeing Tim Matheson and you play off each other, and I’m wondering will we see Larry again?

JD: Yes, you will. Larry’s such a pivotal thorn in Michael’s … and that gives my character great ammunition to kind of fight with. He’s a terrific character and Tim’s such a wonderful man and an extraordinary actor. One, we were lucky to get him, and two, he’s actually happy to be on the show and wants to continually come back. He’ll be directing season four’s premiere.

JD: And also, he’ll return as Larry at some point in the season.

REPORTER: And Gabrielle, we love the unspoken communication, you guys say more in glances and looks than what’s delivered on the script, and that’s another wonderful thing about this series. And Gabrielle, we were wondering about you and Madeline, your relationship with each other, and obviously she and Michael are a tribe of two, but we think it’s growing bigger. Can you talk about that?

GA: Yes. I think that these two women have a tremendous amount of respect for one another. And you’re right, there’s so little spoken about what’s really being felt and really being witnessed with that connection to Michael, which I think is pretty accurate to real life, especially with the in-law figures. There’s so much that’s not spoken out loud, and yet there are so many physical undertones and it’s very apparent, and that’s thanks to Sharon. I mean, her performance is so beautifully nuanced and I find it terribly inspiring. She’s a wonderful woman and actress.

REPORTER: Who would be your dream guest stars you’d like to see appear on the show?

GA: Steve McQueen.

JD: Yes, he’s dead.

GA: He is?

JD: Gosh, you don’t read the papers.

GA: I didn’t realize it had to be somebody who could actually appear on the show, but I would say Steve McQueen.

JD: I would love Angelina Jolie.

REPORTER: Do you think there might be perhaps any other USA network show crossovers in the future or would you like to see that happen?

JD: I actually would like to do a crossover somehow with White Collar, I think that the show tonally is similar to ours. I don’t know how that would work, but I would like to see that. I don’t think we would work with any other show. I think Psych and Royal Pains doesn’t figure into our tone.

Blast took part in a conference call with “Burn Notice” star Sharon Gless and guest star Tyne Daly. We’re probably too young to remember here at Blast, BUT these two television ladies worked together in the 80s on a little show called “Cagney & Lacey,” where they played a couple of detectives.

REPORTER: It’s great to hear the two of you together. How did you all feel about the prospect of re-teaming?

Sharon Gless: I’ve been trying to talk Tyne into coming and doing our show. Tyne said she’ll do it if she could play a mute. But Matt Nix said I’m not paying Tyne Daly to not hear that voice of hers so.

REPORTER: Had you all tried to work together in the past few years?

Sharon Gless: I did Tyne’s show, the Judging Amy.

Tyne Daly: Sharon came when we were in trouble because of – my colleague had died, Richard Crenna, and we didn’t quite – we were thrown into a very unpleasant situation. Sharon came and pinch hit and was lovely on our show.

And so I figured to do this Burn Notice, you know, turn about is fair play.

Sharon Gless: Yeah. We’ve been doing it a long time. You know, so, yeah, we developed something on Cagney & Lacey. And I find it very easy and wonderful working with Tyne when she was with us. People got so – when we were in the makeup trailer we’re sitting just chatting and laughing before we begin and that isn’t sort of the tone of our makeup trailer so everybody was going boy I wish that we did that more.

REPORTER: What kind of a vibe did you get from Burn Notice when you went to work on the show?

Tyne Daly: That Sharon was safe and sound, that they love her there. They admire her there. They – and I, you know, I threatened everybody if they weren’t treating her right that I would lean on them, you know. But it seems to be a good working place.

I don’t know that we’ll ever replicate the kind of work we did in our primes, you know. We had the advantage of – let’s see, an opportunity to do something that hadn’t been done on TV before. But I figure, you know, the two of us are continuing to do what we do. And if we do it with some kind of class I’m grateful for that.

Sharon Gless: I’ll tell you what happened — When Tyne walked in – we always walked in together – over that set the likes of which I’ve never seen. I said to the crew, I said, I didn’t get this kind of respect when I walked in. But the two of us together – I was fascinated because I know my crew. They were just so, so respectful wanting to watch us work together.

Tyne Daly: And we felt like, you know, it’s kind of like bicycle riding – this is Tyne – you know, with Sharon we just fall into a rhythm and it was nice and easy. It was really fun. We had only what three or four scenes but the – it felt like a very great tennis match.

REPORTER: When you – going back in time do you guys remember when you first started working together. Tyne, what did you learn from Sharon? And Sharon, what did you learn from Tyne? We’ll start with Tyne.

Tyne Daly: That laughing – that laughing is important in a situation. When you’re working really hard laughing is important to do as much as humanly possible. We laughed – I think we laughed everyday. And there were some tense days too but we laughed anyway. That’s what I learned from Sharon.

Sharon Gless: Thank you Tyne. Thank you. I think the more tense – the more tense the situation became the more we started laughing.

Tyne Daly: There’s hysterical laughing too, there’s nervous laughing, that’s right.

Sharon Gless: When I first started the show I learned generosity towards another actor. I’d never seen anything like that. Tyne was so generous in welcoming me to the show. I was her third Cagney. She liked the last one she worked with. And made me feel like I was welcome and it was my home now. And she was just wonderful.

And I try to do that when we have guests who are nervous, you know, I always remember how generous she was to me so.

REPORTER: Can you give us some insight about what’s going to happen in this particular episode too from your perspective – from your character’s?

Sharon Gless: It’s very, very unusual the situations that they put me in with Tyne. They had me go undercover. They had to have me go undercover because they were busy. And – their characters were busy. So we sent (mom) in and the person that I went to deal with was Tyne Daly.

REPORTER: Tyne, are you interested in doing like a regular TV gig and if Tina (her character in “Burn Notice”) was offered up as a regular gig would you take it?

Tyne Daly: Well at the moment I don’t have time. I’m doing the Caberet, I actually open tonight in San Francisco and then New York and LA and wherever else it is unintelligible. Yeah so I’m doing my Caberet and after that I’m obliged to play in Washington.

When I finished Judging Amy I was ready to take some time to be in a kind of theater where you’re in the same room as your audience. So, you know, musical theater, legitimate theater, cabaret all have to do with being with your audience at the same time and not being on film.

When I tire of this we’ll see if anybody wants to ever take my picture again. That’s in 10 years time.

REPORTER: Ooutside of working together once in a while since Cagney & Lacey are you in touch? Do you guys see each other, you know, socially?

Sharon Gless: Whenever we can. We live in different cities but we’re very, very close. Tyne, oh never mind, that’s right. Yeah, we…

Tyne Daly: Yeah, right now we’re both in San Francisco. Sharon is opening a play. I’m opening at the Raz Room and our schedules are exactly the same so we’re going to be able to maybe have a, you know, a glass of wine and a hamburger together. But we’re not going to be able to see each other’s shows which is too bad.

Sharon Gless: I know.

Tyne Daly: Staying busy is great. The drawback is you don’t have a lot of leisure time. But I am always grateful to Cagney & Lacey because I got my friend Sharon out of it. You know, she’s a real friend and a friend for life. And that doesn’t always happen in our business. It’s really pretty rare.

REPORTER: Well in what ways do both of you see how women on TV today are benefiting from the ground you paved on Cagney & Lacey?

Tyne Daly: Sharon?

Sharon Gless: Yeah. Shoot, I knew you were going to say that. How are women benefiting today was your question?

REPORTER: Yeah, from the ground you paved on Cagney & Lacey.

Sharon Gless: There are some wonderful shows on starring really, really wonderful women. It’s mostly motion picture stars that – who would never touch television who now are flying to it who are playing strong women – the leads. There’s no one – there’s never been a format like Cagney & Lacey again where it was two sharing it.

But I was just told that there is some producer now who’s going to try and do a show like Cagney & Lacey. I hope we had some impact, I mean, there’s some wonderful women on the air now in strong roles.

Tyne Daly: Well, you know, television serves very briefly in its own time as far as I’m concerned. So we hit a very lucky time when we could reflect – because I don’t think television leads, I think it reflects. We could reflect some of the influences that were happening in the society.

Women come up to me and say how grateful they were that they spent time with their moms watching TV or that, you know, they were encouraged to be professionals because of the images that they saw on – saw us do.

We served (then), whether or not that thing would be of use in the 21st Century I don’t know. We’re onto third-wave feminism and a whole bunch of stuff that I’m – don’t understand completely. But I do think we did good service in our time. And I can stay proud of that.

Sharon Gless: While we were on the air – this is Sharon – (unintelligible) got lots of mail from young girls saying we’re going to join the force.

Tyne Daly: Oh God.

Sharon Gless: And I always wanted to say are you crazy, you could get killed. But now it’s been 20 years later and I’ve met so many of them who are now have put in their 20 and they’re retiring.

REPORTER: Well what do you – what do you each appreciate about each other now that you, you know, that you couldn’t during the height of Cagney & Lacey?

Tyne Daly: …we’ve been pretty good at appreciating each other.

Sharon Gless: Yeah. I still appreciate Tyne’s talent and I appreciate her friendship.

Tyne Daly: I am encouraged that Sharon keeps finding new things to do and new ways to be, you know, of service as an actor and so I can too. If I get blue and I get bummed I think well, you know, Gless has gone to London and done a play and she’s developing a new plan thing. And so I…

Sharon Gless: If Gless can do it…

Tyne Daly: Really but, you know, I wanted to be a long distance runner, you know, when I started out. And Sharon is being one and I’m being one in a profession where usually, you know, you do your sprint and then it’s over…

Sharon Gless: Yeah.

Tyne Daly: …especially for women in some way. Women don’t tend to last in this business. They think their shelf life is much shorter than the guy’s. So I’m encouraged by Miss Gless.

Sharon Gless: Thank you my friend and I you.

REPORTER: What are the differences you’ve seen in your opportunities since Cagney & Lacey? — Differences as in the culture changing, roles available for women.

Sharon Gless: I’m not equipped to discuss the culture but there are better parts now for women than there were when we were television. I think that’s why we got the acclaim we did. And while we were on the air no other woman ever won the Emmy. And it’s because we had the material.

But I think Cagney & Lacey certainly had impact. And it’s probably one of the reasons why there’s so many good women’s roles today. There were not at that time.

Tyne Daly: I think though on another level, you know, you make your own opportunities, you make your own opportunities, you find them. There are places to go and serve as an actor and be, you know, entertaining or amusing or interesting if you’re willing to find them.

If you think there’s only one place to do it like it has to be Broadway or it has to be Hollywood then you limit yourself. I’m enjoying at this point well after my prime, you know, being able to go and be an actor or a singer or whatever I’m doing in different places.

I think actors limit themselves to a specific location and that’s the only allowable success. Does that make any sense?

So if you accept limitations then, yeah, you’ll be limited. If you don’t accept limitations then the horizon is pretty vast.

REPORTER:: We know you’re both doing a lot of theater these days, Sharon, you’re doing the Round Heeled Woman in San Francisco and Tyne, you have your play right now in addition to all the past Broadway stuff you’ve done. We’re just wondering if you could describe the process a little bit especially about starting a new show, Sharon, with the Round Heeled Woman.

Sharon Gless: Oh the process. This has gone on – I bought this – the option on this book about nine years ago. It’s gone through many lives and now it’s actually happening here in San Francisco. But it’s been a long time coming, long, long, long. And I’m nervous.

But I don’t know really how to describe the process it just took time and patience and finding the right people to do it; I can’t do it alone, you know, so…

REPORTER: Do you guys give each other advice about your respective shows?

Sharon Gless: Well I fit Tyne in the script and she applauded my courage.

Tyne Daly: I think – this is Tyne talking – I think we’ve been pretty good supporters of each other, you know, since Cagney & Lacey. I’m interested in Sharon’s work and what she’s doing and trying to follow it and she in mine. Right now we’re both in San Francisco and yet our schedules are so much the same that I’m not going to get to see her play and she’s not to get to come over and see the Cabaret which is too bad. But…

Sharon Gless: Yeah.

Tyne Daly: …but I think we don’t hesitate to, you know, tell each other our opinions. And you can’t get straight opinions out of a lot of people in this business. So I think in some ways I rely on Sharon to give me the straight story. You know, she came to New York to see my – me try this Cabaret thing at Feinstein’s in New York and was not only a supporter and a booster but also, you know, somebody who told me the straight story about what she liked and what she didn’t.

Sharon Gless: She was fabulous.

REPORTER: Would you guys ever consider doing…

Sharon Gless: And I loved her shoes.

REPORTER: …a play together?

Tyne Daly: I guess – are you the best fashionista lady? I never spent so much money on shoes in my whole life and I….

I’m now working this Cabaret all over the country to work off the shoes because….

Sharon Gless: Absolutely, I would.

Tyne Daly: Sure we actually…there’s a time, yeah.

Sharon Gless: We actually were approached by a company in London to do a project that just turned – time wise it didn’t work out for either of us but.

Tyne Daly: There’ll be a time. I think there’ll be a time to say if the gods subscribe. You know, years ago, I mean, years ago we were approached to do some production somewhere of Arsenic and Old Lace. And we both kind of got, you know, a little huffy and said we’re too – but in another 10 years, Shar – Arsenic and Old Lace might be right up our street.

It’s nice to know it’s over there in case we need it when we get…

Sharon Gless: Yeah.

Tyne Daly: …when we get well into our 70s. Sure…

Sharon Gless: But in the interim I’d love her to come back – in the interim I’d lover her to come back to Burn Notice. They loved her.

Tyne Daly: I had a good time. I had a good time.

Blast took part in a conference call with Bruce Campbell and Sharon Gless of the USA Network hit series “Burn Notice.” Here’s the best of the conversation:

Question: Bruce, I know that you played in Xena and Hercules as sort of a rogue who helped out the good guys as well. And Sharon, obviously you played Cagney, a bad-ass cop and she also knew her way around bad guys. So I was curious how these roles and others may have helped to cultivate the characters that you play on Burn Notice.

Sharon Gless: Well, the only bad guys I have to find my way around are Jeffrey and Bruce. I mean, my job on the show is the mother from hell. I don’t get involved in the heavy stuff like they do.

Bruce Campbell: Sharon, your character is scarier than some of the bad guys. … I’ve always enjoyed playing a little left of center characters. Otherwise I’d be on a soap opera, you know. What’s attractive to me was that these are real characters. These are characters who drink and smoke and make mistakes and have foibles in love and try to fix their mother’s garbage disposal. That’s what’s attractive to me. That’s what got me into this show and knowing that I’m with four, three other kind of seasoned adult actors. That’s always attractive when you know you’re going to be working with people that it’s going to be worth showing up for.

SG: It’s true.

BC: It’s made a big difference. And this show, I can’t speak for Sharon, but this show came out of nowhere.

SG: Yes.

BC: The things that I plan never happen. Things that I don’t plan do.

SG: Exactly. That’s how I thought. I think that when Bruce and I first “" we were interviewed together. Do you remember that, in Pasadena or somewhere?

BC: Yes.

SG: And I was actually sitting in the fat farm and this script arrived and I was sitting all alone in my room and it made me laugh out loud and I was all by myself. And I thought, this is funny. This is fun, I like this. It had substance to it, too.

BC: It probably didn’t hurt that you live in Miami, too.

SG: I forgot about that, but I didn’t tell them that during the interview.

BC: Exactly.

SG: I wanted to live in a hotel like you guys. And then when it sold, I had to “Ëœfess up.

Question: What sorts of methods and what type of influences do you use to kind of inform your characters and your portrayal of each of your characters? Like what do you draw upon to, in your characterization of Sam and of Madeline?

SG: Well, my husband said, when he read the script, chain smoking half the time. And he said, how lucky are you, they’re paying you to smoke. So he said, wow, you do all the things with the cigarette. I said, “Well, yeah, I already knew how to do that.” What do I draw on? I’ve never actually had children, myself, but I just connected with Jeffrey’s character and every week it’s different and as the show goes along, Madeline, my character, first she’s totally in the dark and very needy and very sort of just all sort of emotional things that are unattractive. And as time went on, Matt Nix said, “Sharon, she’s smarter than what I was writing.” And he gave me one clue, he said, “Remember, he gets his smarts from her.” I said, “Oh, okay.” So I just took that information and it gave me and my character a little more confidence. But I don’t know, how do you prepare for playing someone who’s manipulative? Is it built in? I don’t know.

BC: When you’re in show business, you know lots of manipulating people.

SG: Yes, that’s true. But I try to do the manipulation with humor. Hopefully, that’s how it’s coming across.

Question: Why doesn’t Sam Axe’s personality match the normal ex-military stereotypes? He seems really upbeat compared to how most shows depict characters that have been in serious military situations.

BC: I think my character is actually more accurate. I think I run into some of these guys. My first wife remarried a police officer, and I’ll tell you these guys like having a good time when they’re not working. They don’t sit around mopey dope, they sit around and crack gallows humor, lots of gallows humor, dark humor. Frankly, I think they’re happy that they’re alive most of these guys after going through all of this and they have a good joie de vivre that the average executive might not have. So I should think Sam is very indicative of the real guys, you know guys who are my age who have mustered out in their 50′s. Believe me, most of them are drinking beer and sitting around a pool cracking jokes about the old days.

SG: In my experience in having done Cagney & Lacey many years ago, we had technical advisers on the set and we had detectives and police. Not exactly in the role that Bruce is playing, but these guys who see so much really do have a very macabre sense of humor. And I do think that’s how they stay sane.

Question: Bruce, is there a beer or cocktail that Sam has yet to meet and enjoy and if there is, what is it and why haven’t they met yet? And Sharon, Madeline seems to go with the flow a bit more nowadays with Michael’s past. Will she eventually come around to just trusting him blindly or will curiosity get the best of her and she’ll find out on her own where her son has been for the past ten years?

BC: Go ahead, Sharon.

SG: I think Madeline is slowly figuring it out. I don’t think, to this day, she really understands the full impact of what it is he really does. But she knows he helps people. That’s how she phrases it. That’s how she lives with it. And yes, she is getting more informed. I think there are moments where she does trust him. She has to, she is, despite what you see, she loves him. It’s her boy. But I think there’s always a bit of doubt because he’s never completely forthcoming. So what she finds out she sort of finds out on her own. He’s a little vague when he explains things, enough to calm her down or to get her to help in an indirect way.

BC: And with regard to Sam’s question, I don’t think there is a cocktail that he has not found yet. I think Sam has been making them up, he knows so many of them. But you know, the one thing I want to point out is you never see him drunk. You know, a lot of people go, oh Sam’s an alcoholic. Hey, he’s a guy who likes to drink like a lot of Americans. So that truly is “" you find sometimes we pick our battles. If I’ve got a morning meeting with the feds, Sam will have a cup of coffee. He’s not a complete party boy.

SG: Bruce and I are still trying to get Matt Nix to write us a . . .

BC: He promised us season two, he promised that we would get drunk together.

SG: I know, he lied. When Sam babysits with Maddie, wouldn’t it be a fun thing to sit there and get loaded and not talk about anything that has to do with the work.

BC: Exactly.

Question: … aside from you two getting drunk together, how do you want to see Sam and Madeline’s relationship evolve in season four. And for either one of you if Michael did re-establish his link to the espionage community, what would happen to Sam and Fiona?

SG: Well, I think Sam and Maddie have kind of a really cool relationship. We were given a chance to live together. That helps. I didn’t tell you this, Bruce, that I really miss the fact that you moved out.

BC: I know.

SG: Yes. But that gives you a chance to come back. How do I see the relationship evolving? I see it as all good. I see that it can get rougher, it can get more tender, and I think there’s a myriad of things that can come out of a relationship with two people who do respect each other and who both love this one man, this boy, my boy and his friend.

BC: And you know the one thing I should say, too. I can’t speak for other actors, but I don’t really probe the writers, I honestly don’t. I haven’t bugged them in three years about what’s coming up with Sam. Whether he’s going to have a home or a girlfriend. I like to sit back, just like the audience, and let it happen. I get excited reading the next script, because I don’t really know what they have planned. The season finale, I couldn’t tell you sitting here right now what’s going to happen. Not because I’m lying or that I’m not supposed to, I don’t know because I haven’t asked, I don’t want to know. So you know…

SG: I’m the same way. I never ask about what’s going to happen with my character.

BC: No, because . . . as we’ve seen, they’re good writers so you know, get out of their face. We don’t like them in our face, I don’t get in their face.

Question: Burn Notice has been renewed for a fourth season, and as we all know, the show is extremely successful. How many seasons do think this show will have and do you both plan to stay on the show through to the very end?

BC: Go ahead, Sharon. Let’s see where we get.

SG: I don’t know. I mean the show — it used to be in the old days when you signed a contract, it was for seven years. But in this day and age, I don’t know. I do think it has some longevity.

BC: Come on, Sharon, pick a number, pick a number.

SG: Okay, seven.

BC: I’m going eight.

SG: Okay, baby, I’m sticking with you.

BC: l The reason I say that is because Monk went eight and we’re outpacing Monk in the ratings. And so we’re kind of the new tent pole for USA, and I think we’re going to be around for the long haul and mentally, I have to say, I’m not looking over my shoulder. I’m fully prepared to ride this show to the bitter end because it’s – why, what am I looking for? Actors always seem like they’re looking for a better gig. This time I can’t, there is no better gig. This is a good gig, and I’m happy to ride it until it ends.

SG:Yes, me too. I want to stay. My husband, who is a producer, used to tease me and he’d say, “You know, I wouldn’t give these people any trouble.” Because he said, “How I would open the next episode is this rainy morning and everybody’s just standing in this rain under umbrellas and we pan down. Is that a tear on our hero’s face? You pan down and the tombstone says, Madeline.”

BC: Season finale or a season opener. Exactly.

SG:Yes, right. So I’m just playing myself and I hope they let me stay the whole time.

BC: Yes, gee, Sharon, do you think they’ll let you?

SG: Well, you know, you never know. They may want to move somewhere. But knowing Madeline, she’d pack too.

BC: Yes, she probably would.

SG: Yes.

Question: do you think the show is staying on track or do you think they’re starting to maybe branch out in new directions with the show?

SG: I never know where they’re going to go with the show. I’m always surprised every time I open up the script and see what they’re doing. I don’t know if there’s a track. I think sort of the beauty of the show is that it constantly surprises. I mean the track would be for Michael and the end for Michael to find the man who burned him, or the woman. …

BC: I think the show is ultimately like other successful shows, it’s a hybrid of putting on that old shoe every Thursday. You want that comfortable shoe, you want to hang with Fiona, Michael and Mom. And you know, see what adventures they’re going to get into every week. Yet, at the same time, you know, season two is the evil woman Carla. So she’s gone now, so there is a constant progression. This season his problems have gotten worse, so and who knows what’s going to happen, but I think they will always try and do both. Give you familiar aspects and an ever-changing show.

Question: When this season started out, Madeline’s parting shot or comment to everybody was that the three that Fi and Michael and Sam all had to be working together and watch each other’s back. … And to me that was a very telling statement that basically, it was open season on all of them, and including Madeline. Now the question is because Michael’s getting close to thinking about really rejoining whatever company it is that he worked for and going to work back into what he was doing as a spy, that leaves everybody else kind of hanging and wondering what’s the — obviously Fi’s not happy about it, but what’s Sam’s character feeling about it and what will Madeline do if that’s what her son goes off and does?

SG: I don’t know what Madeline would do. I do remember the line that you were speaking of when I said to take care of each other. I think she sees him now as a unit. I mean I don’t think Madeline likes to think of them ever being separated. I think she sees the value in what they do for each and how they protect each other. And I don’t know if she considers herself part of those three people. I think she has to stand back and watch and know that they’re smart enough but pardon me, shit can happen, so “¦

BC: And I think from Sam’s point of view, it’s different than the other ones because Fiona doesn’t have the patriotism. She actually doesn’t understand that he liked doing what he did for the sake of his country. So Sam agrees with that. Sam was in the same boat, and I think he’d be happy for Mike to get back in, even though it looks like it’s borderline not worth it based on what he has to go through and I think Sam is a little bit of a canary in the coal mine. He doesn’t like it when Mike puts himself into very dangerous situations with really sleazy people in order to try and do this and in the episode we’re shooting right now that comes to a head where Sam refuses to help him because he’s doing stuff that is too questionable. So Michael’s going to get in pretty deep. We’ll see how deep he gets in. And if he winds up going back in, I think Sam would miss him because I think Sam has enjoyed getting back to work instead of just drinking and hanging out with rich Miami women. I think he’s enjoyed tailing people and pulling up some of the old skills again. It kind of gets the cobwebs out, gives him a reason to get out of bed.

SG: Also, if Michael went away again like he did before, and didn’t contact me like he did before, I think Madeline would have more reason to be concerned because I think she knows now. I think Michael knows now that she does worry. They’ve had enough confrontations now that should he disappear again, I think there’s tremendous cause for “¦

BC: But you know what, he may actually call you now.

SG: That’s what I’m thinking. If he doesn’t I think there would be cause for alarm.

BC: Right, that’s right.

Question: what is the difference between working on both network and/or syndicated so to speak, free over the air television as opposed to being on a basic cable satellite fiber-optic, for lack of a better expression, television show that’s as successful as Burn Notice from both experiences?

SG: Bruce?

BC: Well, I think, here’s what I would say. With regard to the difference between network and television, network you have a lot more chefs. We would having people crawling up our behinds much more often about scripts, about performance, about hair, makeup, what you look like. There’s a lot more micromanaging because there’s more at stake. The funny thing is, on cable, you’re a little more left alone. You’re only doing between 11 and 16 episodes a year, not 22 or 26 or more. I’m sure Sharon had to do more per season on Cagney and Lacey, but my experience has just been more oversight in the network side. But the funny thing is on the cable side on any given night, Burn Notice is the number one show on television in that slot for our demographic. So ironically, it’s a cable show that’s actually beating the networks. And you’re not really supposed to do that, so I think we’ve confused our parent company, NBC, by outperforming one of their network shows with one of their cable shows. I think . . . .

SG: I think we’re beating all the cables, too, aren’t we?

BC: We’re beating everything on cable and also Sharon, we’re beating the network broadcasts in certain demographics. We’re actually the number one show on television at that time for those demographics.

SG:I love that.

BC: Yes, it’s cool.

SG: My experience “" the difference between working on network and working on cable is that you’re allowed to say things. You’re a lot freer on cable than you are on network.

BC: On network, they probably wouldn’t want you to smoke.

SG: No, I’m sure.

BC: Unless you were a bad guy.

SG: Yes, and then I mean USA’s a little more alert about what comes out of your mouth because we have a demographic of age 10 to age 80. But like working on Showtime, on Queer as Folk, I mean the things that were allowed to come out of my mouth. I was stunned. I enjoyed it, but having worked on network most of my life, you have much more freedom on cable.

Question: Have there been things that you’ve kind of ad-libbed or done specific to your acting approach that have shown up in later episodes that you were happy with or…

BC: Yes, I feel that at the beginning, you speak how the writers write and after a while they write how you speak. So I think there tends to be a line up there, an adjustment to every good writer knows what that particular actor does well and what they don’t do well. And I think over time they’ll go, “Madeline’s really great at this or that.” And they’ll write that sort of stuff. Or, “Sam’s really fun with interrogations. Let’s write that more of those.” Or with the dramatic thing they might not see as many of those come up.

SG: And where I think we eventually are becoming what my husband used to call custodians of our own character. And I mean I don’t screw around with the dialogue too much and sometimes I’ll add stuff just because I think it’s funny. I’m amusing myself. And every once in a while, Oh my God, they kept it in. And that tickles me, but I try to stick to what they write and then you know, you sort of add little stuff just to open it up a little.

BC: And I think generally, Sharon, neither of us really get up in the morning wishing we could come and sit and ad lib, but some things do occur to you on the moment.

SG: Yes, exactly. And sometimes they stay in and sometimes they don’t.

BC: Right, exactly.

As the second season of the breakthrough USA Network action drama “Burn Notice” drew to a close, Michael Weston, the former spy who was fired or “burned” came face to face with the people who ruined his career in an underhanded effort to recruit him to their own operation, and he told them to get lost.

So they did, and now Michael is on his own, with no shadow agency to keep him off the radar from cops and about a dozen countries he pissed off over the years.

Season three starts off with something a little different “" Michael is being chased by the cops, which is not much of a surprise. But rather than fight his way out by blowing something up, he surrenders and gets thrown in jail until an old friend, Harlan, from the special forces days shows up and uses a lawyer buddy to bail him out.

Now we’re really in familiar ground: Harlan needs help. He has a Venezuelan girlfriend “" family farm stolen “" father in jail “" gangster in Miami. Michael is back on the job, and “Burn Notice” gets right back in stride with the back-story-client-back-story plot we see in most episodes.

But not everything is as it seems. There’s betrayal, twists and turns, and Michael learns that with no spy agency to protect him he’s truly on his own.

At the end of the episode, Michael’s mom, Madeline, offers some sage-like advice by telling Michael, Fiona and Sam Axe that the three of them need to stick together, and the stage is set for more adventure this season.

“Burn Notice” has grown in popularity, and at the base of its fandom is a rabid group of diehards who follow every one of Michael’s yogurt cups and all the familiar phrases like “it’s not personal” and “el jefe.” Season three is full of promise for both existing fans and newbies who want to see what all the hype is about.