WHY YOU MIGHT LIKE IT: To describe Burn Notice as a "sexy thriller" would be an understatement—but what else can you say when former supermodel Tricia Helfer used to play the bad guy? The Miami-set show blends genres like suspense and action with themes like government corruption and lost identity. It's hard to look away, especially when star Jeffrey Donovan looks so damn good in those sunglasses.

WHY YOU MIGHT HATE IT: If you're an action-suspense purist, you might find Burn Notice's sun-soaked scenery and characters more glamorous than gritty. Burn Notice is no 24, and Michael Westen (Donovan) is no Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland), either.

GET CAUGHT UP: Michael Westen used to be a covert operative for the US Government—until he got burned. Translation: Westen was dismissed from his position of power, erased from the system with no ability to contact anyone, and dumped in his hometown of Miami with his bank accounts frozen. In Season 1, Westen enlisted the help of his crazy ex-girlfriend Fiona (Gabrielle Anwar) and best friend Sam (Bruce Campbell) to help him reassemble his life and investigate why he got burned in the first place. In Season 2, Westen met Carla (Helfer), an agent with an ulterior motive who leads him on a cat-and-mouse chase for more information about his burn notice. At the start of Season 3, Westen felt pressure from Detective Michelle Paxson (Moon Bloodgood) of the Miami police department, who'd been assigned to keep him under constant surveillance. In August's midseason finale, Westen was forced to kill a major contact in the covert-op world in order to save Fiona's life. Just another day at the office, eh?