JULY 12, 2007
THE EPISODE THAT FELL FROM THE SKY

We had never met Matt Nix when he hired us to write this episode. It was a pretty unlikely scenario. We were shooting hoops (I was winning. – Craig) (In my defense he's very tall and has a "Shaq Ass." – Jason) when we got a call from Matt. He had been asked for 3 "back-up scripts" by the network, which was considering whether or not to pick up the series. Matt needed the scripts fast. He was going to write one, but he needed to find writers who could crank out the other two. Luckily for us, he only really knew one working TV writer, Alfredo Barrios. So Matt asked Alfredo to write one, and to recommend somebody else for the third. We had worked on a couple of writing staffs with Alfredo in the past, and he's a friend, so he told Matt to call us. That's how it started. If Matt had known even one more TV writer, we'd never have gotten to write "Fight or Flight."

When Matt told us the due date for the script we realized we didn't have time to finish our game (Which is too bad. I would have made a comeback. – Jason). We had to go familiarize ourselves with the show, break the story, write an outline, get it approved, and turn in the script in about 10 days. Typically you have a little more time...a lot more time, actually. But when we watched a rough cut of the pilot, we knew we had to take the job. This show was going to be too much fun to turn down.

The next day we drove out to Altadena (954 miles from our homes/civilization) to meet with Matt and Alfredo to discuss the story. They had decided the episode would be about Michael protecting a woman, and they wanted there to be a safe house in it. Other than that, they were very open. A few days and a few pizzas later, the four of us had come up with the beats of the story. By the time we went off to write the script, we had 3 days left. Yikes.

The sad thing is, our first draft was 63 pages. If we had known then that we'd be shooting 51 page scripts, we might have gotten more sleep. But the script came out well, and we were happy to be writing a funny, smart, cool show. Coming up with snappy lines for Michael Westen to say with a gun in his face was a nice change of pace after two years spent writing legal procedurals. Plus, on cable, your characters can let the occasional expletive slip. That's pretty *#$%ing nice too.

When the show got picked up, we were thrilled to be offered a chance to join the Burn Notice writing staff full time. And it meant we'd get to help out with producing "Fight Or Flight."

After some revisions, and some revising, and a few more revisions, we were ready to go to Miami and shoot. The experience was defined by two factors. One good, one bad. First the good: everyone on the cast and crew was really nice and talented and highly motivated to make the best show possible. It's a Miami crew with an inspiring can-do spirit. When you write a Molotov cocktail attack you kind of expect to be told to pare it back. Not on this show.

The only downside: Miami is as humid as a mother. It rains a little every day. You spend a lot of time wrapping all the gear in plastic and then re-setting once the clouds have passed. If Burn Notice was a documentary there would be more voice-overs about how spies in Miami invest in quality raincoats lest the guns in their waistbands start to rust.

The actors on this show are incredible. Jeffrey Donovan IS Michael Westen. Gabrielle Anwar could make Fiona ordering lunch sexy. Every time you see Sharon Gless in a scene you want to write more scenes for Madeline. And good luck writing a line for Sam that Bruce Campbell can't improve. Our guest cast in this episode came to play too. Even the extras...no. We won't go that far. The extras were just extras. Sorry.

A final note - working with Colin Bucksey, who directed this episode, was a great pleasure. Big Buck is not only a huge talent, but a hugely entertaining guy who made us go out and celebrate each successful day of shooting with dinner or drinks or dinner and drinks. (I gained ten pounds on this shoot, but still don't have the mass to box out Craig on the boards. – Jason).

Now that this episode is finally going to air, we're taking a break and we're going to go finish our basketball game. (He's not making a comeback. He's too short and can't drive to his left. – Craig). (We'll see. – Jason)