Burn Notice - What a show.

Excellent show, especially the educational info on how to disable security cameras, hide valuable info in your house, crack locks, make seedy deals and if I am ever chased by a car with a bulletproof windshield (and I am packing heat), I know that I am to shoot at the road and expect an unpleasant ricochet for my pursuer.

 

Did I just see Terry Gilliam as one of the bad guys on this season's premier?

 

I haven't seen it back on in Australia, I hope I didn't miss the opener.

 

We just had the season premiere last night, here in the USA.

 

I've been watching it since day one. It's FABulous. But then again, I think that's obvious (look down....)

 

Kind of excited about the new season.

 

Really liked the season opener. And I agree - it is the best show on TV.

As to the prior season, I really liked the one where Michael was trapped inside the bank that was being robbed - probably the best one of the season. Some of it was a bit far fetched, but what the heck.

 

Had to review the Blu-ray release the other day and while I realize that the show is meant to look grainy and gritty, this has got to be one of the most haphazard transfers I've seen in years. Quality varies from exceptionally good to very poor all within the same episode (one close up of Michael in the second season premiere episode has such muddy contrast and poor detail that it almost looked out of focus).

 

I believe this is shot in Super 16, and on a relatively low budget, so I don't think we can expect great HD images.

Still, a fun show. Drifting a bit, In Plain Sight also on USA looks great in HD, very consistent and well-lit (and dramatically, seems to be hitting its stride with this week's episode - great TV).

The look doesn't distract me from enjoying BN - I can enjoy primatively recorded music if it's a great performance (usually).

 

The new season has still not started in Australia.

 

Really? I was under the impession that it was shot on high def video based on info out there.

 

Some of the imdb episode technical listings like http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1082935/technical show 16mm, and none that I can find show HD. Some posters at AVSforums http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=908119&page=11 think that it's 16.

It looks like Super 16 to me, which is what it is, I'm not making a value judgement. I do see inconsistencies, but we see that in 35mm productions, HD productions (particularly hard to light), etc.

 

Thanks. It looks like they needed to do a bit more post-production work on some episodes or at least to the shots that look unusually bad on the show.

Then again, its hard to improve something that was screwed up during shooting.

Which explains why it looks like "Dog Soldiers" (which was also shot in Super 16).

 

Don't forget - New season starts tonight at 10:00 PM Eastern on USA.

 

Is it available on "On Demand" from Uverse? I feel like I need to start at the beginning.

 

I like this show. It's not the most groundbreaking or original, but it's still good fun.

Thanks for the reminder! I think it is actually the second half of season 3, though, to be precise.

 

Thanks for the reminder.

I noticed they were running several episodes early this morning. Is it an all day marathon?

 

I thought it looked pretty good. There have been some industry stories about how shooting it in such bright light is hard on the actors. As far as not expecting great HD images, do you really think Super 16 isn't up to the task? What I'm getting at is the filters anything goes through to get to someone's TV make me wonder if it's much of a factor at all. I realized after I re-read the previous post, you might be referring to its blu-ray presentation rather than the cable transmission. Just curious.

 

Super 16 can look good, but I believe that the most common factor in deciding to use it is low cost. S16 inherently has a certain graininess and lower tolerance to changing lighting than other acquisition formats, and I think we can all see this in BN, Scrubs, and the few other shows still using it. I can't find a cite on IMDB on its current format - I don't know what the current acquisition or workflow is (not that any of that knowledge is an absolute gurantee of quality).

No, I haven't seen it on Blu Ray.

Digital broadcast can deliver an image to the home that comes very close to the finished product as viewed in the final stages of post production, so I'm not too worried about modern transmission (I have Verizon FiOS).

I recently upgraded my television. Like buying a new pair of speakers, this reveals details both good and bad in many productions, to be kind. I reserve the right to change my opinion after watching a few old epis and the new one on my new set!

 

My wife and I are watching season 2 on Blu-Ray and it is the worst looking Blu-Ray I've seen. It looks like it was sourced from SD material, up-rezed to HD, and then given an HD graphics pass. If they were going for a grainy look, they got it, but it kind of defeats the purpose of shooting in such a lush, colorful setting. Before that, we watched "Pushing Daisies" on Blu-Ray and it looks beautiful.

That being said, I still love this show and can't wait to get into season 3. I don't think it's quite as good as "Psych," but it's very enjoyable and fits in very well with USA's line up.

 

Thanks, Doug,

A very helpful explanation.

 

Don't know about Uverse, but, watch an episode or two before the 10:00 PM. This show is an easy watch - you will catch up fast.

 

fwiw, ron powers the TV crit. for NPR/Fresh Aire (among others) gave it high marks today, mainly for being good solid entertainment, not taking itself too seriously.

dc