Dear folks in charge of Burn Notice —
I’m a huge fan of your show. I can’t begin to tell you how stoked I am that the new season has begun, and the show is just as good as it’s always been. Jeffery Donovan is in top form, Bruce Campbell is as witty and sharp as ever, and Gabrielle Anwar had lunch in one of the last two episodes that I think included a cheeseburger. Things are great! There’s just one teeny, tiny little thing that’s bugging the hell out of me this season so far: your overuse of the clever subtitles.
In the first season, the typical subtitle would simply indicate when Michael landed a new client. At first, it wasn’t clever at all — there’s the client, here’s a subtitle telling you he/she is the client. Then you got cute with the subtitles and would indicate someone as being a client the moment they changed status from something else to “The Client.” Maybe the person would be introduced as “Mike’s Old Friend” and then, when a big problem was revealed, the scene would freeze on the person and we’d get a subtitle “The Client.”
Later, the subtitles went a step further. We started to get subtitles akin to “The Guy They’re Looking For” and others that gave us a chuckle. When not overused, they were something I’d actually look forward to seeing. What would they do next time? Lately, though, these clever subtitles have become so commonplace on the show that they’re getting tiring and unsurprising. And, I’ve gotta say, they’re getting eye-rollingly annoying.
Guys, please take it easy with the character subtitles. I know you’re all better than this. Pick one to use per episode at most, and run with that. Don’t throw us two or even three for every episode — it’s just not as funny or unexpected anymore. It’s starting to come across as a lame parlor trick rather than that little bit of spice that gave the show a bit of humor, reminding us that there was still some not-so-serious fun to be had with this show.
Other than that, keep up the stellar writing. I’m always looking forward to more!
Keith
The Fan
Clacked by Keith McDuffee 
on Jul 21, 2009 @ 11:00 EST5EDT
I have to disagree. I have found this season’s subtitles to be very entertaining and have enjoyed them.
They fit right in with the voiceovers.
I agree completely, the subtitles fit the show perfectly. Anybody who can stand the voiceovers should really love the subtitles.
By the way I stopped watching the show because of the voiceovers so…
;-)
I disagree, too. The subtitles add another layer of humor to the show, and they do fit in with Michael’s sardonic wit.
*POST AUTHOR*
My point is there’s such a thing as overdoing it. Just this season they’ve been doing it way too often already.
I also disagree…the subtitles still make me crack up, especially when they’re not expected. “(Probably Not an Alien)” is the best example of that, and makes me smile just typing it!
As long as I keep laughing when they do it, I am still in favor of it.
I disagree too. The alien subtitle was perfect.
I’ll be the fifth out of five to disagree, maybe you are the one who is trying a little too hard to be clever.
I’m with you Keith. After two episodes, I bailed on even looking at the damn things. They used to be clever. Now, the gag has been way overplayed. It’s like watching a comic do the same routine over and over. We get it! Sorry, I like my comedy with a side of subtlety.
Yep, I agree. I have been a champion of them in the past, and this season it was a little funny in the first episode when they stepped them up, but they waaaayyyy overdid it. They need a lesson from Bays and Thomas, who know exactly how far to take a joke without overdoing it, yet are able to bleed every bit of funny from it. BN’s subtitles just found a spot with just about every SNL skit.
While I still find the subtitles amusing most of the time, I must agree that they’ve felt overused this season.
I must disagree, however, on HIMYM not beating tired old jokes into the ground. I’m about 50-50 on picking the show up again next season.
I agree totally. They’re not funny anymore. Too repetitive to be entertaining.
Its definitely a funny bit that is, at the very least, tip-toeing, and at the most well past, that line of “too much.”
I actually missed last week’s episode, so I didn’t feel the overkill. But you can certainly have too much of a good thing.
Disagree. The subtitles are funny & part of the charm of the show.
The subtitles still make me laugh, so I’m okay with them.
I agree that they ought to be annoying, but they still make me laugh. What was the one last week? “SORRY EXCUSE FOR A HUMAN BEING”? That was great.
I like the subtitles; they’re basically unique to this program and give it an individual style. I’d compare the request to get rid of them to asking ‘Boston Legal’ to give up breaking the fourth wall. It wouldn’t feel like the show if they did.
I find them funny, and besides – they only last, what? Two seconds? You can tell when they’re about to happen, so blink if you don’t want to see them that much.