Hey... This Show is Great! Why Wasn't I Watching It Before? (or The Burn Notice Effect)With all the hype and promo surrounding so many TV series, it all becomes a bit 'meh' for me. Sometimes I avoid shows *because* of the hype (Prison Break, 24 and Lost, anyone?) So now it's mid-season, your favorite shows have been shunted off in favor of another mindless sport telecast or Two and a Half Men, and instead of shutting off the box and doing something constructive, you end up tuning into a series you've never watched before. But wait... hang on... this is actually pretty good! So you watch the following week. Then the next. The next thing you know, you're hooked and dumping your usual fare for this newly discovered show.
This is what I call the "Burn Notice Effect" - shows you start watching a season or more in, discover they're pretty darn good, watch every week and then (most often) glom the other episodes/seasons you missed. Yes, I was bored one night and ended up watching Burn Notice. The yummy, droll Jeffrey Donovan (who looks so totally cool and stylish how on earth could he possibly blend into a crowd?) was the main draw card, but I stayed for the fun storylines, the action and the character chemistry - even though I feel the urge to force-feed Gabrielle Anwar a cheeseburger every time she wears a bikini...
Joss Whedon's Firefly was another BNE – after watching Serenity on DVD, I picked up the canned-after-one-season Firefly for $30. Loved the movie, ADORE the series (and of course, now we need a pikky of gorgeous Nathan Fillion to emphasis my point Other shows with the Burn Notice Effect include Brothers & Sisters, CSI (yeah, I was late on this one!), Law & Order, The Unit, How I Met Your Mother, Life on Mars (the awesome UK version). And I've just finished True Blood, Lie to Me and am currently making my way through Farscape.
So my question for everyone out there - does the Burn Notice Effect apply to you? Which shows? Let me know (and why you keep watching!) and you could win a copy of an Aussie exclusive - Harlequin's Best Love Stories of 2009.
Paula
