It's a little difficult to tell the good guys from the bad guys on USA's "Burn Notice," and that's one of the things that make the character-driven thriller starring Jeffrey Donovan and Bruce Campbell unique.

In the case of "Burn Notice," which returns to USA with new episodes tonight, it was a case of choosing the right man for the right job.

Donovan plays a spy who is driven in from the cold. Veteran character actor Campbell plays his unkempt cohort, Sam.

"I don't actually know many actors — because I don't go to the movies and I don't watch television," says Donovan. But, "I knew of Bruce.

"Now that I've gotten to know him, I couldn't ask for a better costar.

"And I'm sure actors say that all the time, but they're lying. I know all of them. They're lying. And this is the truth. You can't ask for a better actor coming from his huge career, to come and grace us on this show has been just a blessing for us."

Campbell, a veteran actor from shows like "The Adventures of Briscoe County Jr." and "Jack of All Trades," says he knew "jack diddley" about Donovan.

"The role was offered and I just did some research of who was involved and what their deal was, because in television you're kind of trapped in an airless box, working very closely together with these people. And if the dynamics aren't right it can be a very trying situation."

"And so I just did enough research, to find out a little bit about this Donovan guy. My research, I think ... led me to the right direction and the right decision.

"I chose this show because of its unique nature. And what I also like about it, there's a retro feel to this show. There's a weird 'classic' feel to it. It's a little bit iconic. I like this show. I'm a fan of this show because I like the nature of it. It's not bitter. It's not jaded."

Campbell should know. He's been around the block more times than a school bus, from as far back as his days with director-pal Sam Raimi and the "Evil Dead" movies. Campbell directed many episodes of "Hercules: the Legendary Journeys" in which he played the role of a villain, a character he repeated in "Xena: Warrior Princess."

He thinks episodic television hasn't changed much since his "Briscoe County" days 15 years ago.

"They usually pick seven or eight days that you get to make your movie. You either get a support crew to shoot stunts and carnage and mayhem, or you don't.

"Generally speaking, you're shooting between six and nine pages a day, which is really fast, really aggressive. ... Somebody came across these genius amounts of days to make a TV show, and everyone has stuck with that," he says.

"I've noticed that pretty much two cameras are now standard, whereas episodic I did years ago wasn't always as much as two cameras. But, you know, mechanically it's similar."

Campbell has become a cult favorite among fans and filmmakers alike. A known scene-stealer, his proclivity for snatching the limelight doesn't rattle Donovan.

"Let me set the record straight," says Donovan. "You WANT Bruce Campbell stealing scenes on your show. I mean, you want that ...

"I'm the straight man, and you need someone like Bruce Campbell because he never does it so far that it detracts from the show or the scene, or the characters.

"It's a blessing that Bruce has stolen scenes in the past because it lends him an ability to come in here and do the same thing here. You know, it's awesome."

Two other big TV stars who gave Donovan advice early in his career helped form the pattern he followed from appearances on a soap to "Touching Evil" and now "Burn Notice."

Alison Janney ("Juno," "West Wing") and Anthony LaPaglia ("Without a Trace") co-starred with Donovan in "View From the Bridge" in New York.

"I knew they'd gone in and out of movies," says Donovan. "And I turned to them one day and said, 'Is there any difference?'

They said, 'No. Truth, that's all it is.'

"(After that) it wasn't that hard for me to figure out how to do TV and film."