Cool Casting: Coby Bell Joins ‘Burn Notice’
Spy Show Just Got Even Better
Just when you thought one of television’s hottest shows couldn’t get any hotter, the casting folks go and hire one of TV’s hottest actors. According to The Hollywood Reporter, talented The Game and Third Watch alum Coby Bell has landed a regular role on USA Network’s deservedly popular action dramedy Burn Notice.
Bell will play one Jesse Garcia, a counterintelligence expert with plenty of attitude to spare and a knack for posing as different people, sort of like the show’s main character Michael Weston (Jeffrey Donovan). Also in step with Michael is Jesse’s love of bringing bad guys down, not to mention an equally complicated past that resulted in him being burned by persons unknown, Michael-style.
Burn Notice ended its third season last week on March 4, so the recent fantastic casting development goes into effect when the series launches its fourth season this summer.
I’ve loved watching Bell on the small screen during his stretches on Third Watch and The Game, two shows that were both canceled prematurely by their respective networks. Good for him that he’s now appearing on a series that has a strong fan base and lots of support from its home network. Can’t wait for Burn Notice‘s Bell era to begin.
Burn Notice wrapped its third season on March 4, 2010
Coby Bell/The Game photo courtesy of The CW
Burn Notice wrapped its THIRD season on March 4th, 2010, not its second. And as hunky as Coby Bell may be, let’s not hope BN isn’t shooting itself in the foot by reducing Jeffrey Donovan’s hours and adding a carbon copy spy story to fill in the gaps. Bell’s talent notwithstanding, fans want Michael Weston, not someone new. Most of us find this news VERY disconcerting. Why not bring Nate back, include Maddie more often and beef up some of the other semi-regulars’ appearances? Lots of ways to get JD some relief without taking away from the original story/characters.
The writers – who I think are a pretty talented bunch of people – will have to bring their best game to this season if this isn’t when BN tanks.
Thanks for pointing out my numerical errors, Colleen. That happens when you spend a lot of time thinking about TV shows in terms of seasons and ratings and time slots and so on. Thankfully, it’s no biggie.
As for “shooting itself in the foot,” I’m not prepared to take this casting news in a negative light yet. Bell and Donovan are both excellent actors, Burn Notice is a terrific series, and the show runners have proved they know what they’re doing by this point.
I have faith in them and Burn Notice‘s continuing success. If a decline does happen, I’ll get concerned about it when it becomes apparent.