AUGUST 2, 2007
UNPAID DEBTS

I'm the old guy on the writing staff. Old enough to have written and produced some of the classic shows of the 80's like Fall Guy and Magnum P.I. When my agent Mickey Berman sent me the pilot for Burn Notice, he described it as a modern day Magnum. I was blown away by the pilot. Matt Nix had reinvented the genre with elements of great 80's shows like Magnum, The Equalizer and MacGyver. I was immediately interested in doing the show. The studio and network were looking for someone who had run a show before since this was Matt's first experience working in television and they thought he might need some guidance. I had run a show (LAX) and had produced Magnum...I was perfect. This would be easy, right? Of course not.

Matt knew exactly what he was looking for and he was going to meet with a lot of writers until he found the right person. But I had an ace in the hole. Like Craig O'Neill and Jason Tracey, I too had worked with Alfredo Barrios: Matt's best friend. The four of us had done a short-lived show called "Just Legal" and I was shocked to discover they actually had a lot of good things to say about me. But Matt wasn't going to go by their word alone. He put me through two grueling interviews where I was asked more questions than a murder suspect and laughed a lot. Matt is a very funny guy on paper and in person. It also became very clear that Matt wasn't going to need much guidance. Experience or not, he had the smarts to run a show. Rumors flew about different people getting the job. My spirits rose, then fell, then rose again when I got the call that I was in. I thought it would be a lot of fun and it has been.

I had read an article about a boat repo-man who was having trouble getting a boat because it was being protected by some heavily armed Thai pirates. I thought that would be cool for Michael, so I pitched the idea to Matt. He liked it and with the help of all the writers we beat out a story in the writer's room. Then the script was written. And now it's a show.

I went to Florida in late May to produce the episode. I was very lucky to get a great director named Paul Holahan. He was organized, decisive, and had a great eye. The show looks beautiful. The guest cast, with Chris Ellis as Virgil, Alex Carter as Agent Bly, Laurence Mason as Andre the Jamaican, and Antoni Corone as corrupt cop Mason, all did a fantastic job. Our stars, Jeffrey Donovan, Bruce Campbell, Gabrielle Anwar, and Sharon Gless were perfect and made my time on the set a blast. And the Donzi speed boat wasn't bad either.