'Notice:' Time To Get Burned Again

After "Mad Men," my favorite show of last summer was "Burn Notice," about a former spy who is "burned," i.e. fired by his agency.

Broke, but with an unusual skill set, Michael Westen (Jeffrey Donovan) finds himself working as private eye, helping the helpless and trying to find out why he was burned.

He enlists his ex-girlfriend Fiona (Gabrielle Anwar), a former IRA gunrunner, and another ex-spy Sam (Bruce Campbell) to help him on his cases. He must also deal with his neurotic mother (Sharon Gless).

At the end of last season, Michael was close to finding out why he was burned, but his informant is killed at the last moment.

Season 2 opens tonight (USA, 10 p.m.) with Michael under the control of a mysterious handler (Tricia Helfer), who directs him to help a computer software engineer steal data from a private defense contractor. Next week's episode sees Michael trying to bring down a drug runner while attending therapy with his mom.

"Burn Notice" works on several levels, most notably the interaction among the main characters. Donavan and Anwar have great chemistry in their on-again, off-again relationship, and who makes a better sidekick than Campbell?

In addition, the series has a lot of fun with the spy genre, as Michael takes the time to explain to viewers how spies handle various situations. True fans who watch every episode will likely be able to pull their own stings and outwit security measures if they take careful notes during each show.

It took a while for "Burn Notice" to return thanks to the WGA strike, but good things have come to those of us who waited. And for those who missed Season 1, it's actually a series that's pretty easy to get into.

THURSDAY'S BEST BETS: NBC cuts down the "Last Comic Standing" (NBC, 8 p.m.) to the final 12 with three hours of standup.

The new reality series "Greatest American Dog" (CBS, 8 p.m.) debuts tonight. My dog, Riley, would have won had he not died a couple of years ago. After a "CSI" rerun, there's a new "Swingtown" at 10 p.m.

ABC follows a rerun of "Grey's Anatomy" with the real-life "Hopkins," (ABC, 10 p.m.) in which there are no McDreamys but real-life docs at work.

Finally, TBS airs new episodes of "Bill Engvall" and "My Boys," beginning at 9 p.m.

'My Boys' Returns

When "My Boys" (TBS, 9:30 p.m.) first came out, it was hailed as a kind of "Sex & The City" for men. It revolves around PJ (Jordana Spiro), a sports writer who has a group of platonic male friends whom she relates to better as "one of the guys."

But, if anything, I think it actually has a broader appeal than "SATC." For one thing, it seems to have an equal appeal among the men and women I know.

For example, here's the female perspective, courtesy of my colleague, Jennifer Burk:

"It is very easy to relate to PJ. In many ways, she is the average young woman - confident in most facets of her life but a little unsure and timid when it comes to being with guys romantically. Her boys are like my boys: mostly sweet, at times vulgar and sometimes jerks. I think every woman sees a little bit of herself in PJ."

(It should be noted that Jennifer is the lone female among our home game of poker players, so she shares a similar perspective as to that of PJ, as well as PJ's eternal patience with male oddball behavior.)

I think the show's strength - in addition to the interplay of the cast - is that PJ's appeal to men is the same reason she can't seem to land one. She's too much like one of the guys. The irony is, a good-looking, sharp woman who enjoys sports, poker and beer would be the dream girl for many guys.

But PJ often fails at relationships because she often tries to switch to "girl mode" - and she's terrible at it. She has no interest in the "girl things" that the "SATC" women speak of ad nauseum, like fashion or fashion mags or whatever. This is often to the chagrin of her lone girlfiend, Stephanie (Kellee Stewart), who'd easily fit in with the "SATC" ladies should they ever expand their roster.

That underlying concept of PJ's dating ineptness plays into tonight's season premiere. We left her on an airplane bound for Italy for a romantic holiday with a guy. The problem is, most of the season showed PJ with three choices, and we don't know which guy she picked, until now. (I won't spoil things, except to say there's a twist).

Of course, PJ being PJ, she still doesn't know how to approach things even after the choice is made. As she tells Steph, "I'll let Italy do the work for me."

Ultimately, the strength of "My Boys" lays within the relationship of the gang, PJ's group of male friends who show her the ultimate respect by simply being themselves around her, knowing they can't possibly offend her despite their juvenile male antics.

The 'B' storyline involves the gang getting booted from their regular bar when one of them crosses the line and has a one-night stand with a waitress.

Next week's episode is a little better, with the gang all together, and collectively failing at the dating game. Plus, PJ's brother Andy (the scene-stealing Jim Gaffigan) doesn't see the downside until it's too late when he hires the world's hottest nanny.

It's ironic, but in trying to emulate "SATC," the "My Boys" producers have done a much better job of creating a comedy that everyone of either gender can relate to, since "SATC" often digressed into male-bashing and esoteric fashion quips that, for me at least, made it unwatchable.

And "My Boys" has done the viewer the service of not going to the other extreme and doing an all-male version like ABC's horried "Big Shots," which proved equally offensive to both men and women alike.

If you haven't done so yet, check out "My Boys." It's a gang you'll enjoy hanging out with.

THURSDAY'S BEST BETS: "My Boys" follows the second season premiere of "The Bill Engvall Show" (TBS, 9 p.m.)

A new "Swingtown" (CBS, 10 p.m.) airs, following the new, updated "Password" at 8 p.m. and a "CSI" rerun at 9 p.m.

NBC gives us a 90-minute "Last Comic Standing" at 8:30 p.m., followed by a new installment of the horror anthology series "Fear Itself" at 10 p.m., with Eric Roberts as a private investigator whose past catches up with him.

If you forgot what Ang Lee did to "The Hulk" before the new movie premieres this weekend, you can check it out tonight (Sci-Fi, 9 p.m.)

Finally, Game 4 of the NBA finals (ABC, 9 p.m.) tips off tonight.

Report Cards '08, Bonus: Cable

With 6,000 networks now available, I'm not giving every one of them a grade, especially since I don't watch them all.

But here are a few highlights:

FX: "The Shield" is coming off a typically terrific season, but this is the network that also renewed the likes of "Dirt." In addition, "Rescue Me" and "It's Always Sunny..." had inconsistent years. Grade: C+

AMC: The Jay Bruce of networks, in that this was the first year AMC produced original TV programming, and had a hit every time. Both of AMC's shows, "Mad Men" and "Breaking Bad" should be on every critic's Top 10 list and will make noise come Emmy time. Grade: A+

USA: I've found both "Monk" and "Psych" to have become tiresome, but the network deserves points for the very clever "Burn Notice," which returns next month, and the solid "In Plain Sight." The experiment of moving "Law & Order: CI" over to USA for the first-run episodes seems to have translated well. Grade: B

Bravo: Bravo has gone from arts programming to reality heaven, but the transition has been a good one with the likes of "Top Chef" and "Project Runway," which Bravo is about to lose to Lifetime. Grade: B-

Sci-Fi: "Battlestar Galactica" is still the network's flagship (but really, guys, do we have to wait SO long between seasons?) and Mary McDonnell would have sewn up an Emmy after last week's episode if the Emmy voters ever watched. "Eureka" has turned out to be a sleeper, but "Dresden Files" fizzled despite showing some promise, as did "Painkiller Jane" and "Flash Gordon." Grade: C

BBC America: The king of the cult hits, with the likes of "Robin Hood," "Life on Mars" and "Torchwood," plus the fantastic miniseries "Jekyll," no network out there may provide more pure fun programming. Grade: A-

Lifetime: It's quietly putting together a solid roster of programming, led by "Army Wives," and grabbing "Project Runway" will be a big boost next season. Grade: B

TBS: It's starting to find a niche with "The Bill Engvall Show," "My Boys" and a few other sitcoms. Grade: B-

TNT: "The Closer" is still one of cable's highest-rated and critically acclaimed shows, but "Saving Grace" and "Heartland" didn't work out so well. Grade: C+

MTV: You know, back when I was young, this network actually played music. Now it litters the airwaves with the likes of "Tila Tequila." Grade: F

And, for Pay TV:

HBO: This is the network that once gave us the likes of "Larry Sanders" and "The Sopranos." While "Curb Your Enthusiasm" and "Entourage" turned in solid years, "Tell Me You Love Me" and "John From Cincinnati" didn't pan out. But the TV movie "Recount" deserves Emmy consideration. Grade: C-

Showtime: With "The Tudors" and "Dexter," Showtime has surpassed HBO creatively, and "Weeds" and "Californication" still draw good numbers. Grade: B

MONDAY'S BEST BETS: Well, "The Mole" (ABC, 10 p.m.) has produced one of the most irritating contestants in the history of reality programming after just one episode. That the woman doctor's behavior earned her immunity ultimately hopefully means her karmic payback will be that much the sweeter. It follows a new "Bachelorette."

It must be cross-promotions week: CBS airs a rerun of "Bill Engvall" at 8 p.m., teasing the season 2 premiere Thursday on TBS. Meanwhile, Lou Forrigno makes an appearance on "American Gladiators" (NBC, 8 p.m.) just before the movie premiere of "The Incredible Hulk" this weekend.

The documentary "Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired" (HBO, 9 p.m.) earned a lot of kudos on the independent film circuit and may be worth checking out.