Fox is releasing Avatar, so Bones on Fox makes marketing sense (although it sure ages a program in syndication). But the funny insider thing was that one of the three waiting to get into the film (Joel Moore) is in Avatar!

We used to watch Bones while eating breakfast on Sunday mornings. My wife could take it anymore.

I'm always eating something while watching Bones and I never get remotely sick..

I was hitting the floor laughing with the body in the beer thingy when the eye popped out.

We've seen it all before but the image of meat so tender it falls off the Bone(s) certainly stood out last night...in a deep fried way. I think the giblets would have looked more grayish and shrunk up after cooking for so long. Looked pretty fresh to me...hmmm...getting hungry.

We've seen it all before but the image of meat so tender it falls off the Bone(s) certainly stood out last night...in a deep fried way. I think the giblets would have looked more grayish and shrunk up after cooking for so long. Looked pretty fresh to me...hmmm...getting hungry.

Now that's just wrong!:p

We've seen it all before but the image of meat so tender it falls off the Bone(s) certainly stood out last night...in a deep fried way. I think the giblets would have looked more grayish and shrunk up after cooking for so long. Looked pretty fresh to me...hmmm...getting hungry.

I thought Booth killed Gormagon :eek:

Walt

Fox is releasing Avatar, so Bones on Fox makes marketing sense (although it sure ages a program in syndication). But the funny insider thing was that one of the three waiting to get into the film (Joel Moore) is in Avatar!

Which is why it would have been more amusing if he WASN'T interested in the film!

Heck, they should have really had fun with it and showed one of that actors scenes from Avatar, then have Hodges and whatshisname pester him for details about the shoot.

We used to watch Bones while eating breakfast on Sunday mornings. My wife could take it anymore. The first rule of watching Bones is never eat anything during the first five minutes.

Why do I always forget the first rule of watching Bones? :( :p

I loved this episode. I sometimes take for granted what a great job they do on Bones. They weaved every core character into the Kennedy assassination. If Bones the series were water, then this episode would be distilled water - the essence of the people who are Brennan, Booth, Cam, Sweets, Hodgins and Angela. It explored and grew every important relationship, and it was hilarious. For me, this was as good as Bones has ever been - and that's awfully good.

It occurs to me, too, that this was probably an episode designed to save money - a bottle episode, but without any clips from previous shows. There was very little location shooting. They used the lab for the vast majority of the shots. As such, they were able to concentrate all their energies on the story and the interpersonal relationships. Actors get a chance to do some of their best work under conditions like this. And they did.

I loved this episode. I sometimes take for granted what a great job they do on Bones. They weaved every core character into the Kennedy assassination. If Bones the series were water, then this episode would be distilled water - the essence of the people who are Brennan, Booth, Cam, Sweets, Hodgins and Angela. It explored and grew every important relationship, and it was hilarious. For me, this was as good as Bones has ever been - and that's awfully good.

It occurs to me, too, that this was probably an episode designed to save money - a bottle episode, but without any clips from previous shows. There was very little location shooting. They used the lab for the vast majority of the shots. As such, they were able to concentrate all their energies on the story and the interpersonal relationships. Actors get a chance to do some of their best work under conditions like this. And they did.

I agree. Going off the previews I was wary due to the JFK angle but that really just served as the foundation for the rest of the episode which had a lot of great interpersonal stuff.

I'm reminded of a previous episode in which they're trapped inside the lab. It was a Christmas ep, I think from the first season. Zach cuts into a bone, releasing what may be a pathogen. In the confined quarters, they learn a lot more about one another in a short time. The supporting characters have always been very strong.

Just watched the new Bones (4-1-10), and now I want to know what's on page 187.
I'm old, but I ain't dead (yet).

Walt

This show (once my favorite) is dying from writers' neglect.

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

'nuff said..

It was a wonderful story until the very end, c'mon "working together" is all they get and that's it? I had high hopes but nope.

Mr. Producer/Director David Boreanaz, nice job until the last 2 mins of the episode.. (if I were you I'll do more kissing scenes with Emily as I possibly could LOL)

So explain to me how Brennan "cannot change" she was clearly "changing" right there, she never cried (I think this the second time in the whole series she cried)

I still like the show, but it's definitely lost some steam. ED and her sister are a tad bottom heavy. Emily, moreso than Zoey because her upper body is quite slender. If you go back to S2, you'll notice that she had probably starved herself into the best shape possible. At that point, she was definitely hot. Now, she's a pretty face, a little to broad in the chin to be beautiful, but close...and she's got wonderful eyes, but my Hollywood standards, soft all over (meaning not fit). All that said, the chemistry from early on has cooled off somewhat and the actors, seem more like old friends than potential lovers.

Zach has porked up big time since he last appeared on the show.

Zach has porked up big time since he last appeared on the show.

Obviously the presence of Angela had a positive effect on the males in the lab. :)

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

'nuff said..

It was a wonderful story until the very end, c'mon "working together" is all they get and that's it? I had high hopes but nope.

Mr. Producer/Director David Boreanaz, nice job until the last 2 mins of the episode.. (if I were you I'll do more kissing scenes with Emily as I possibly could LOL)

So explain to me how Brennan "cannot change" she was clearly "changing" right there, she never cried (I think this the second time in the whole series she cried)

I don't think this is the end for them (as lovers), the show has been renewed. :)

Walt

Epic..

Robert Englund, making "Krueger" Voice, then the Movie Trailer, and the case about some "sharp knife" killer.. all came together nicely..

Bones and Booth slow dancing.. nice.

So.. I didn't get what Angela was doing, is he going to choose one of the guys? none?

It was a wonderful story until the very end, c'mon "working together" is all they get and that's it? I had high hopes but nope.

So explain to me how Brennan "cannot change" she was clearly "changing" right there, she never cried (I think this the second time in the whole series she cried)

They are trying to avoid the "moonlighting syndrome" where a show dies after the main characters hook up. So yes, the sexual tension will continue, and they will ultimately hook up in the season finally of the final season (whenever that is).

This may have been asked before,
does anyone know why TNT will not air the show in HD?
I get the show in local syndication in HD.
Does TNT not have access to the same HD episdoes?

Yes I hate that too. In fact I wrote to TNT and told them that I enjoy the show and would gladly watch it if it were in HD, since it's not I won't. Never got a response. Never watch in on TNT.

They are trying to avoid the "moonlighting syndrome" where a show dies after the main characters hook up. So yes, the sexual tension will continue, and they will ultimately hook up in the season finally of the final season (whenever that is).

They clearly love each other so it's inevitable but I think they could make it work now vs. waiting until the final season. She is so analytical and literal that they could continue his coaching to make her more of an emotional person. He's been chipping away at that for several seasons.

Yes I hate that too. In fact I wrote to TNT and told them that I enjoy the show and would gladly watch it if it were in HD, since it's not I won't. Never got a response. Never watch in on TNT.

Ditto for me. I emailed them about the HD and do not bother to watch it at all. I'd rather watch SD than the way it is. This stretching of an HD show from day one was a major disappointment. It's funny they can show L&O and ER from 10 and 12 years ago in HD, but a modern show like Bones, they can't. They lost me completely and I would probably watch it a lot.

I still like the show, but it's definitely lost some steam. ED and her sister are a tad bottom heavy. Emily, moreso than Zoey because her upper body is quite slender. If you go back to S2, you'll notice that she had probably starved herself into the best shape possible. At that point, she was definitely hot. Now, she's a pretty face, a little to broad in the chin to be beautiful, but close...and she's got wonderful eyes, but my Hollywood standards, soft all over (meaning not fit). All that said, the chemistry from early on has cooled off somewhat and the actors, seem more like old friends than potential lovers.


I gotta disagree, she was scary thin in S2. She's probably passed the point of happy medium now, but that's tv +15 pounds on someone who's probably like 130.

Loved tonight's episode, 'The Science Dude'. Laughed nearly all the way through this one.

Loved tonight's episode, 'The Science Dude'. Laughed nearly all the way through this one.

And I felt the opposite...he was talking to these scientists as if they were 8 year olds. Everytime he came on I hit the mute button. I couldn't stand the guy.


Doug

C'mon, he slipped in the crank-yankers puking shtick!...that was fun, right? ;)

I swear, it must be a tough life just looking cute like that all'o'the time!...all with her perfect bangs and such. She even looks cute dressed in a skeleton suit + tutu + big cartoon hands! I mean, how often do you get to see something like that? :D

I gotta disagree, she was scary thin in S2. She's probably passed the point of happy medium now, but that's tv +15 pounds on someone who's probably like 130.

She looks well-nourished, imo!...a refreshing change from that starved hollowed cheeks look. ;) When she wore the skeleton outfit, the distortion of the ribcage stripes gave her a righteous Katy Perry impact. ;) ;)

She looks better this season for sure, more toned, darker hair and leaner. She doesn't have an athelete's body, it's not perfect, they always shroud her lower hips and upper thighs if possible, but she's still a beautiful woman.

I had to laugh when she came out in the costume with the tutu and
Mickey Mouse hands.
For me, an enjoyable episode.

Walt

Loved the episode. I always admired David Allen Grier. Every since I saw him on In Living Color back in the 80's, he has impressed me with his ability to make the most inane dialog funny. The many ways he made me smile with his "Amazing" was just funny. And the big build up to the big reveal at the end was great. We were all set up to expect a great children's moment with him and Temperance. They didn't disappoint.

I'm glad Bones tries to throw some humor into each show set around all the gory dead bodies. It keeps the show from being grim. The producers do not do an all out comedy show to often. But Grier's appearance came just in time for me. :D

Thoroughly enjoyable episode.
Camille - "Bring merriment to your experiment. I just made that one up myself". (Oh, and in that white dress with the black trim. Nice!)
The ending where Temperance is playing to the kids was a side of her that was refreshing to see.

Is it just me, or does the addition of Katheryn Winnick make "Bones" one of the most "eye-candy friendly" series on TV? Lucky Seeley...

Definitely, and she's a very good actress to boot, saw her in a role on House awhile back and she was outstanding, one of the best House episodes ever.

Definitely, and she's a very good actress to boot, saw her in a role on House awhile back and she was outstanding, one of the best House episodes ever.

Yes it was, I remember that one, she held her own with House, which is a rarity on that show. Just checked the schedule, that episode('One Day, One Room') is on Universal HD this Tuesday at 8:00pm and 11:00pm(ET). That also explains why she looked familiar, she did make an impression on me from that House ep.

Thanks, I'll have to set a recording for that one. In my opinion it's one of the top 5 House episodes.

Definitely, and she's a very good actress to boot, saw her in a role on House awhile back and she was outstanding, one of the best House episodes ever.

That is actually the only other place I've seen her... but she was memorable enough that I immediately recognized her when I saw her on Bones.

They are under-utilizing her on Bones, though... especially compared to that episode of House.

That is actually the only other place I've seen her... but she was memorable enough that I immediately recognized her when I saw her on Bones.

They are under-utilizing her on Bones, though... especially compared to that episode of House.

I read somewhere that Fox is considering her and "Seeley" for a spinoff of Bones.

Well she was a lot on screen last episode.. poor thing got shot in the leg!

Awww! Bones saved her life because Booth was going to be very sad? Awww.

Just wanted to note that TNT is finally broadcasting episodes in HD.
Tonight's episode is from 10/7/2010.

Emily Deschanel is pregnant.

Sure seemed like a spinoff episode last night...sort of an interesting premise too.

Sure seemed like a spinoff episode last night...sort of an interesting premise too.

I stopped about 20 minutes in to check on that. I couldn't understand a Bones episode in which the regulars take a back seat to the guests. Sure enough, it was a pilot. Don't know how well it did, but I'd watch.

Yep, a vet with brain damage, who suffers from paranoia, but with an uncanny ability to "find" things, coupled with a strong supporting cast...Michael Clark Duncan, "legal advisor" and a chick, (whose name I remembered last night, but have forgotten today) bartender/chopper pilot. Actually, it was more interesting than most recent Bones formulaic eps. Looks to be in a similar vein to Bones...might work.

Yep, a vet with brain damage, who suffers from paranoia, but with an uncanny ability to "find" things, coupled with a strong supporting cast...Michael Clark Duncan, "legal advisor" and a chick, (whose name I remembered last night, but have forgotten today) bartender/chopper pilot. Actually, it was more interesting than most recent Bones formulaic eps. Looks to be in a similar vein to Bones...might work.

Saffron Burrows.

When's the animated episode coming? :p

When's the animated episode coming? :p

They already did it - when Booth (suffering from a brain tumor) sees the baby from Family Guy. I didn't like it there, either. :D

Saffron Burrows.That is the one :D.

I don't know whether the proposed spinoff with the brain damaged vet, the beautiful bartender, and the tough lawyer has legs or not but I loved what I saw. Saffron Burrows has been a favorite of mine since her Boston Legal days and I like MIchael Clarke Duncan, who played the tough guy lawyer, too. I had never seen the pretty boy beefcake fellow who played the vet but thought he had a nice comedy talent. Anyway, this week's show was a nice change of pace.

The credits said that the character(s) for the pilot were derived from a series of books called "The Locator" with which I am not familiar.

I enjoyed the pilot and would watch the series.

I didn't care for it.

I actually like the actors and actress involved... but nothing in that made me tempted in the slightest to watch that show if it becomes a series.

I hate forced spinoffs anyway... when they take an episode of a show and suddenly bring in new characters... I much prefer spinoffs when they involve characters that have been a bigger part of the show before.

Anyway... in this case, the premise and plot just didn't do anything for me... so I would ignore this if it becomes a real series.

I didn't care for it.

I actually like the actors and actress involved... but nothing in that made me tempted in the slightest to watch that show if it becomes a series.

I hate forced spinoffs anyway... when they take an episode of a show and suddenly bring in new characters... I much prefer spinoffs when they involve characters that have been a bigger part of the show before.

Anyway... in this case, the premise and plot just didn't do anything for me... so I would ignore this if it becomes a real series.

Same here. My wife and I thought it was so bad we stopped watching halfway through. No way I'm watching that show.

I didn't care for it.

I actually like the actors and actress involved... but nothing in that made me tempted in the slightest to watch that show if it becomes a series.

I hate forced spinoffs anyway... when they take an episode of a show and suddenly bring in new characters... I much prefer spinoffs when they involve characters that have been a bigger part of the show before.

Anyway... in this case, the premise and plot just didn't do anything for me... so I would ignore this if it becomes a real series.

I'm not sure I'd watch it either. I enjoyed the show last night and if there were Bones crossovers on a regular basis, I might watch it more. On it's own not sure I'd really watch it.

The same can be said for Bones (and House too). If they were new shows I'm not sure I'd be watching them, I've been watching them since the beginning and they're like old friends and I continue to tune in, but I doubt very seriously I'd pick them up if they were brand new shows.

...I like MIchael Clarke Duncan, who played the tough guy lawyer, too...

Was the word lawyer used. All I recall was "legal adviser". I took that to mean he was there to keep things from going off the rails and for occasional muscle.

Was the word lawyer used. All I recall was "legal adviser". I took that to mean he was there to keep things from going off the rails and for occasional muscle.
Yeah, "legal advisor" was the term used, so it's entirely possible that I overestimated his academic achievements.:)

Yeah, "legal advisor" was the term used, so it's entirely possible that I overestimated his academic achievements.:)

I got the impression that he was some kind of liason or handler for the FBI or CIA or something that was assigned to keep an eye on him and keep him from going off the rails.

TV Notes
'Bones' renewed for seventh season
By James Hibberd, EW.com's 'Inside TV' Blog - May 3rd, 2011

David Boreanaz tweeted moments ago that Fox’s Bones has been picked up for a seventh season.

“OT! Orange and Black craziness! Oh, Season 7 is GO for Bones,” he tweeted.

Fox could not immediately confirm, but we’re confident that he’s right.

http://insidetv.ew.com/2011/05/03/boreanaz-bones-renewed/

I got the impression that he was some kind of liason or handler for the FBI or CIA or something that was assigned to keep an eye on him and keep him from going off the rails.

I'm thinking he's there to help the finder guy keep from getting himself in too much trouble (and provide some muscle, as needed), since his "brain filter" is off (or very thin) due to the brain damage he received from his war injuries. It reminds me a bit of Monk, where the problems he has provides the engine for his skills (Monk was super observant but also OCD, and the finder guy has the ability to see connections and make big intuitive leaps but at the cost of paranoia and saying whatever is on his mind).

Cliff

That's very good. I didn't catch the similarities with Monk until you said it, but you're right. There are a lot of parallels, as you pointed out.

Mmm I wonder what they prepared for season finale? last year was the Booth loves Bones and they parting ways, he went back to the army she went on some archaeology thingy..

All points to Angela's baby, if it's going to be blind or not, but I don't see much on our B&B for the finale..

TNT is currently showing season one in HD. For a long time the early seasons had been airing 4:3 squished to 16:9.

Looks like Fox picked up the spin off "The Finder" for the fall. I'm glad I enjoyed it.

Farewell Vincent....

So what really happened on Booth's bed with Bones? they just went to sleep hugging eac other?

Critic's Notes
In Praise of Bones
By Willa Paskin, New York Magazine's 'Vulture' Blog - May 13th, 2011

Bones is not a cool show. This may sound like a counterproductive way to begin a piece claiming to praise it, but it's not: Bones's greatness lies in its lack of cool. Bones is a medical procedural that's been on Fox for six years, moved time slots regularly, and performed solidly in all of them. Bones is the kind of show that Ben Affleck and Matt Damon have taken to using as a punchline. Bones is the kind of show that is almost identical week in and week out: Every episode will have a really gross body; every episode will have someone using technology in a way that would require five months of data gathering in the real world, but only takes three seconds on TV; every episode will have Booth and Brennan flirting, but not nearly as much as you would like. This consistency is not its failing, it is its strength. Unlike some shows that were cool, and no longer are — Grey's Anatomy, and probably pretty soon Glee — Bones has never been anything but what Bones sets out to be: perfectly middlebrow entertainment.

If Bones is the kind of show that is largely ignored by the critical establishment because it is neither particularly original nor creative, it still performs an under-appreciated but essential service: to be entertaining without being stupid, to be soothing without being boring, predictable without being unsatisfying. In short, to be a comfort, both comfortable and comforting. Bones is a show about quirky people who do a strange job while talking about how weird their feelings are, and it all adds up to something supremely, lovably regular.

Last [Thursday] night's episode was a "big" episode for Bones. That means there was a murder, and a body, and lots of technology, but the body in question belonged to someone we knew — a recurring cast member who works in the lab as an intern — and the flirting, well, the flirting may have finally led to something more. After the death of the intern, our heroine Brennan — the genius forensic anthropologist with an undiagnosed case of Aspergers — climbed into bed with Booth, the more emotionally aware FBI agent with whom she has been having TV's longest running will-they-won't-they affair. Brennan cried, Booth comforted her, and the camera faded to black. The next morning, Brennan told her best friend Angela that she had gotten into bed with Booth. After saying "Hallelujah," Angela asked what had happened next. Brennan smiled big and the camera ... cut away. There were twenty minutes left in the episode, but no further discussion. All the looks — lots of smiles from Angela, between Brennan and Booth — suggest that something went down, but the audience won't know until next week's finale.

Though we know better than to expect that the two actually hooked up (obviously, we hope they hooked up), it's exactly Bones's uncoolness that make us think Booth and Brennan could get together without ruining the series. This is a show with a strict format: Find the body, ID the body, interview a suspect, suspect the wrong suspect, find the right suspect, who was usually the first unsuspicious person they talked to at the crime scene, all inter-cut with Booth and Brennan bantering about how she's an emotional robot. If Booth and Brennan get together, none of this goes away: The structure of the show will save it from becoming too much about the relationship, and if you thought Brennan's feelings were weird before, imagine her trying to be someone's girlfriend.

But whether Booth and Brennan do the deed or not, Bones will keep chugging along, doing what it does, no fuss no muss. This reliability may help explain why Bones beat an original episode of Grey's Anatomy in the ratings for the first time ever last [Thursday] night, and was just this [Friday] morning ID'd as one of the most "social shows" on television by TV Guide (in a list that basically just makes the observation that the most watched shows on TV are also the most discussed, even if your personal Twitter feed is dominated by talk of NBC's Thursday night line up.) Bones may not be cool, but not all good things are.

http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2011/05/in_praise_of_bones.html

Well, since Bones is preggers, maybe there will be a real baby bump shown next season and a real birth of a B/B baby after getting knocked up last Thursday. That would be refreshing rather than have the star try to hide it (which looks like it's already happening), then taking a hiatus. They could film the real birth :D.

Well, since Bones is preggers, maybe there will be a real baby bump shown next season and a real birth of a B/B baby after getting knocked up last Thursday. That would be refreshing rather than have the star try to hide it (which looks like it's already happening), then taking a hiatus. They could film the real birth :D.
On the other hand, there's such a thing as too much information.:) Just kidding!

Looks like Fox picked up the spin off "The Finder" for the fall. I'm glad I enjoyed it.

Ditto - looks good!:)

I thought they'd write in the pregnancy. Too difficult to hide it when everybody knows about it.

Walt

I think there is a 50/50 chance that the baby will come to term. Unless the kid was with the nanny 24/7 it would sure throw a crimp in the crime fighting.

A totally forgettable fun episode. For a finale, Angela had her baby, for an encore, Bones drops her bomb. An interesting way to handle the Bone/Booth hookup...totally underplayed and somewhat under the radar...then bam "Booth, you've got some motivated swimmers". It will be refreshing, not having them trying to hide it. I wonder if she's due before next season starts shooting.

I protest! I wanted to see the "baby making act with Bones".. hehehe..

Ya know, I noticed that when she was in that outfit when her and Booth were imitating the stereotypical bowlers, Bones' boobs looked extra large.

That's what stuck out the most for me last night. :D

Bones' boobs looked extra large.You know she's pregnant in real-life (http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20478138,00.html), right?

...Bones' boobs...

:D

THAT's the spinoff show they should be working on! It's a big f'ing deal! :)

That reminds me.. Hornsby not a super stud or something, regular looking guy IMO.. If she ended up with David, perhaps..

Kinda glad they are writing the pregnancy to the series..

Just finished a summer marathon of every single episode via Netflix on Demand and a week free promo of Hulu Plus got me the most recent season. Great show. I'm laughing at all the posts at the start of this thread saying its going to get cancelled early. Whooops.

Kinda wish they did more killer-arcs like Gravedigger, but her final scene was my least favorite of the entire show (exploding heads are not my thing). My favorite episodes tended to be the ones where Booth and Bones went on a road trip.

Whew, this thread went to the "old" part ...

I wonder why it's premiering until November?

I need to know how Emily looks pregnant.. probably way better than Jenna Fischer..

Playoffs

I wonder if she's due before next season starts shooting.

When's the next season start?

November, and it's splitting the season with a spinoff show of sorts to accomodate her pregnancy in real life. They showed a preview for the new season during X Factor last night. She wasn't pregnant in the preview, but was experiencing hormonal changes.

Well she just had her kid last week...a son. I assume they have a few eps in the can because I believe the first 6 eps will feature her preggers.

Well she just had her kid last week...a son. I assume they have a few eps in the can because I believe the first 6 eps will feature her preggers.

I've seen a lot of shows where the actress was pregnant so they incorporated it into the show... and began filming while she was pregnant... BUT then she gives birth before the plot gets to that point... so they then have to film her with a pregnancy-suit on for the duration.

So... she starts out actually pregnant, but has to pretend to be pregnant a few more episodes to finish the build to the story of the on-screen pregnancy.

It's weird... but since it is rare that the pregnancies in real life follow the shooting schedule, they do what they need to do :)

I've seen a lot of shows where the actress was pregnant so they incorporated it into the show... and began filming while she was pregnant... BUT then she gives birth before the plot gets to that point... so they then have to film her with a pregnancy-suit on for the duration.

So... she starts out actually pregnant, but has to pretend to be pregnant a few more episodes to finish the build to the story of the on-screen pregnancy.

It's weird... but since it is rare that the pregnancies in real life follow the shooting schedule, they do what they need to do :)

In Plain Sight most recently.

Whatever happened to that spinn-off series about the guy who could find stuff? Is it still being planned for mid-season replacement, or maybe next year, or was it never given the green-light? Does anyone know?

The Finder (http://www.thefutoncritic.com/showatch/finder/) is slated for a midseason appearance on Fox. My understanding is that Bones and The Finder will share a spot on the schedule, with each getting 13 episodes. (Bones will have a short season to accommodate Emily Deschanel's pregnancy/maternity leave.)

Thanks. I have not heard anything about The Finder in so long, I thought it possible that the project had been abandoned.

Finder wasn't shelved, but I do remember reading that they re-cast the female lead.

Q&A
Bones Creator Hart Hanson on the Show’s New Season, Booth and Brennan’s Future Make-Outs
By Willa Paskin, New York Magazine's 'Vulture' Blog - November 3rd, 2011

Bones returns for its seventh season tonight, and some things have changed! After six years as TV's most high-profile will-they-won't-they couple, Booth (David Boreanaz) and Brennan (Emily Deschanel) finally slept together (off-camera) in last season's penultimate episode, and then, in the finale, announced they were going to have a baby. Tonight's premiere picks up a few months after the finale left off, and to prepare for it, we spoke with Bones creator Hart Hanson about the upcoming season, Moonlighting, how the slightly Asperger's-y Brennan will deal with a child, and whether we'll actually get to see them have sex sometime.

I read a number of interviews you and [executive producer] Stephen Nathan did at the time of the finale, and it seemed like you wanted to jump ahead in time basically because you didn't want to show Booth and Brennan be gushy and in brand-new love onscreen.
Well, well, it wasn't so much the gushy. I have been thinking, What is the Moonlighting curse? and there are a thousand different theories. Mine is that when there's a couple that has, you know, unresolved sexual tension and then you resolve it and the only thing that looks different is they walk around arm-in-arm and they call each other by pet names and are squishy, then you just want to kill them. I think it was Stephen Nathan who said, "You really don't want to have dinner with a couple who have recently fallen in love because, ugh." And I do agree with that. And so it's that on Bones we got to replace that unresolved sexual tension with something else that is unresolved, which is how do they deal with having a child together? And I think that was a great and grand gift to us as we go into our seventh season.

One of the things about will-they-won't-they couples is ... you really just want to see them make out.
Yes, and actually watch.

Right. And I think people often think, Oh, I'll want to watch these people make out forever. I'll want to watch six episodes of that. And then, of course, they don't. They get bored. So you guys did a sort of clever, if frustrating thing: Booth and Brennan are now together, but we have barely seen them make out. Yes, they are in a relationship, but there is still this thing you have not shown us, which is them having sex. There's still that carrot.
No pun intended.

Was that on purpose?
It was on purpose. The world always gets to judge if you did something correctly or not. Certainly I know people have been hard on us on the Internet for exactly what you said. People want to see them in bed having sex. And I have a couple responses to that. One is that this is a network TV show. What exactly do you think you're gonna see? You're going to see them drop out of frame and music come up that, you know, "boom chicka wow" music. Um, and so if it's the sex that people wanted to see — and believe me, I'm really not prudey — what we can show is very unsatisfying. If it's romance, that suggests the sex, ehhh, we're not done there yet. We're not done. The next time we get a whack at it — again, no pun intended — is ... well, it takes a while after the baby is born for the magic, the sexual magic, to come back into their lives. We'll deal with that. If we do this correctly, by the time we're done with Bones, people will have seen everything they want to see from Dave and Emily. You know, my mantra is not a unique and revolutionary mantra. It's "you got to give an audience what they want and expect in a way they don't expect." And that's what we endeavor to do at all times.

So does that mean when you guys were filming last year, and you cut away from the scene where they are in bed together and the audience doesn't see anything happen, but it's later revealed they had sex, that you guys had discussed it, and been like, "We don't want to show people this."
Of course we had planned right from the beginning of the season — of season six — to have them go to bed under these circumstances. And then we gave ourselves a pickle. Again, no pun intended. There's gonna be a lot of phallic imagery in this conversation! There's a way to do it that we rejected essentially, which is to show Brennan and Booth getting into Booth's bed because she's heartbroken over losing Vincent Nigel-Murray. And then that turning into something else, which would be very filmic and everything, but we thought it took away from the force of that story. Then the only shock would've been that she was pregnant. And it was just more fun to us to hold that information and then say, "Oh, here's what you missed and, by the way, tune in for season seven." To see if you missed everything you think you've missed.

So you had decided at beginning of this season that they were going to get together?
Yes. It's hilarious because this started coming up, I would say, in the second half of season one. "When are they gonna get together?" And the answer is, as late as we can do it without losing viewers, and you try and guess when that is. And I was certain, and Stephen certainly agreed with me, that it should be by the end of season six. It's time.

So at the beginning of filming season six you were like, "It's gotta be this one, we can tell."
Well, to be really accurate, there's the end of the season, you take a breath, sometimes you get a week off, and in that week off, I would mull and think about, Well, what are we going to do? What is the effect? and come in with a bunch of ideas. Then you talk to your writers' room about it, talk to the other executive producers. And then you have to go to the studio and then the network. And everybody has a vested interest, so it's about finding out, what do they think? And we have differed in those conversations starting about season five.

With the network?
Well, with people in every part. There were writers who thought, "Okay, now it's time. We can't hold back." Or the network would say, "No, not yet." And in the end, I can say that I got my way by hook or by crook. My biggest conundrum was whether or not to do it in season five. By the time we decided not to do it in season five, it was definitely going to be in season six.

Was the network really hesitant because they're scared of this Moonlighting thing?
No, I don't know if anyone's scared of that. I don't think that's the motivator. It's literally everyone talks about what would be best. I never got that kind of feedback, even from scheduling or anything, "Oh, well this will **** it up. People will stop watching." It was like, "What will be best? What do you replace it with?" And we had a bunch of ideas on, like, what do you replace the sexual tension with? The unresolved sexual tension. And then the minute Emily whispers in my ear, quite early, God bless her, that she was pregnant, it went "Okay, I know what replaces the unresolved sexual tension. It's unresolved 'how do we deal with this baby?'"

What were some other possibilities?
Well, they were all things that just made me wince. One was that they simply fell in love, got married, and started it being a Mr. and Mrs. Smith or a Nick and Nora. The one I hated, that I fought against all the time, was that they get together, they break apart, something happens. All those soap opera things that keep people apart happened. And I just thought, That's the death of us. We did those things with Hodgins and Angela and that was dandy for those characters, but for Booth and Brennan after all these years, I always thought, If these two don't get together, and stay together and be happy, then we've really, really betrayed the audience because they belong together. We had a list of things like this for going into season seven, none of which delighted us. It was the lesser of evils and then this little gift came in the form of Henry Lamar Hornsby, Emily's child, that said, "Okay, I know what to do." It took a little persuading, but right away in my mind, it just went, "Oh, this is gonna work great!"

So they’re staying together forever. You don’t have plans to break them up?
Well, here’s — I’m always nervous about spoiling things because I want people to tune in to see the answer to that question. Let me say this, there’s not gonna be any false barriers. The question now is, “How together are they going to be over this baby?” You know, will they live together? Will they discuss marriage? All those things come into the equation. A line I like very much in the first episode is when Booth says, “I’m not gonna ask you this time.” I mean, this guy keeps asking women to marry him and they keep saying “No.” He asked three women in a row to marry him, they’ve all said “no.” He’s finally learned. And he is going to wait for Brennan to propose and how long will that be? Would it ever happen? That becomes the question of our show. In the meantime, they are together trying to decide how to raise this child and that gives us a lot of story.

Especially for Brennan. I imagine her character is going to change quite a bit having a baby.
Yes. Her essential desire to live in a rational, explicable world, she retains that. And Booth lives in a world full of mysteries and spirituality and emotion, and Brennan tries to find the cause and effect. But I think that if you introduce a baby to a couple like that, that the person who thinks that there is logical cause and effect in everything is the one who is going to face the biggest change, so she has to deal with all that. Booth’s been through it before and he’s already there. He’s a good dad. A lot of this season will be about how is Brennan going to be a good mother. A lot of people have said, “Well, are you gonna have her not bond with the baby?” No. We’re not doing that. She looks into her baby’s face and loves that baby. But she has a bigger distance to go than Booth for that to make sense to her. I think we have a lot of fun this season just hearing Brennan’s explanations for why she is feeling certain ways or dealing with things in a certain way with a baby. One thing initially, there’s the idea of day care. Can you imagine being the person who has to care for Brennan’s baby? I’ll tell you one little spoiler that I haven’t mentioned which is: She’s a scientist and she may want to see the baby’s stools to know how it's doing.

Are you nervous about how it’s gonna be received?
Do you mean am I worried that we’ll get a huge drop in audience or something like that? I’m not nervous about that ... maybe that is what I’m nervous about now that I say it. I’m really hoping that our audience agrees, but I’m uncharacteristically confident that they will. I’m really not the most positive human being when it comes to things like that. I always think, Well, the audience is gonna judge. We do our best and the audience is gonna judge. But let me say this, I’ll be really disappointed if this doesn’t work, if the audience does not like this, because then I’m just flat-out wrong.

Worse than that, you’ll have given credence to another 30 years of the idea that you can’t do this on TV, get a couple together.
Yes! Wouldn’t that be awful? I never thought of that, but it would be wonderful to have someone say, “Well, Bones avoided the Moonlighting curse.”

BONES
Thursdays at 9 p.m. on Fox

http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2011/11/hart_hanson.html

So Bones is transitioning into a pure chick show now? I just want to know if I'm wasting my time by keeping this on my DVR list.

It looks like the spin off is happening in January and it will be called "The Finder". Next week's Bones is replaying the episode from last season the "The Finder" will be based off of.

I've watched all the episodes and really like the series. No complaints. But, here is a question. Since Bones has had a baby, and Booth and she are now together, what has happened to Parker--Booth's son? He had been shown/spoken of (occasionally) in earlier episodes. It now "feels" like he never existed. He is not even slightly referred to. Did I miss something in an episode that would explain his disappearance? Any comments?

Remember series was on Hiatus for a looong time.. maybe to wait for Emily to recover from her child birth..

I Wonder if that baby is hers or just another "actress"

Did I miss something in an episode that would explain his disappearance? Any comments?He simply doesn't fit in the ever recurring (overly so) weekly story arc. I never watched the show until I saw it on Netflix where I caught all of the previous seasons. It wasn't great by any means although I found it enjoyable. This is the first season I have recorded the show and so far I'm not overly impressed. I do think being able to stream one episode after another tends to give a show a serious advantage so I'm guessing that is some of my disappointment.

However the other day I noticed a local station was airing episode two of season one so I recorded it just to see how it would compare. Wow it was immensely more enjoyable. The story arc was fast paced but not nearly as predictable and the character dynamics was much more alive and interesting.

For me this season is far too predictable and virtually every event in the story such as when they will interview someone in the FBI office is like clock work. After so many seasons I guess it's bound to become stale but I think it goes beyond being an old married couple. The show has never dug very deep but it would nice if they turned off auto-pilot and when somewhere interesting... anywhere. :)

Topics merged.

I've watched all the episodes and really like the series. No complaints. But, here is a question. Since Bones has had a baby, and Booth and she are now together, what has happened to Parker--Booth's son? He had been shown/spoken of (occasionally) in earlier episodes. It now "feels" like he never existed. He is not even slightly referred to. Did I miss something in an episode that would explain his disappearance? Any comments?

Have to admit... I've been thinking the same thing myself.

Booth is a strong family man and they always made a good showing of him being a good father. I know he shares custody with Parker's mother... but it seems very odd that Parker's name doesn't even come up in any of the discussions before or after the birth of the new daughter.

It's one thing if they can't get the kid on the show for real-life actor reasons... but it seems like they need to address this in-show or it will seem very weird for Booth to suddenly stop talking about Parker. He used to talk about him all the time even when the kid was not in an episode.

(...) it will seem very weird for Booth to suddenly stop talking about Parker. He used to talk about him all the time even when the kid was not in an episode.Booth just always wanted a girl. Now that he has one, he can stop pretending that he cared about the boy.

Yea, wife and I were just talking about that yesterday...where is Parker? As stated above, can totally understand if the actor that played him isn't available but just a single line like "Parker is super excited to have a sister and can't wait to come visit this summer when school is out" or something. It's very odd to ignore him like he never existed.

Here is a thought about how to clear up the "Parker" absence--

At the beginning of a new episode, a horribly disfigured body is found. After the usual brainstorm with Bones and the squints, it is discovered, without a doubt, that the body is Parker. Of course, Booth would go into shock after the finding. After much reflection, Booth would finally come back to reality. Then, with the help of Bones and the team, the killer would be found by Booth and he would attempt the arrest (restraining the urge to kill the suspect). At the arrest, the suspect manages to break free and is ready to off Booth. At that point, Bones enters and kills the suspect. What do you think? Would it make a good episode? Any comments?

Here is a thought about how to clear up the "Parker" absence--

At the beginning of a new episode, a horribly disfigured body is found. After the usual brainstorm with Bones and the squints, it is discovered, without a doubt, that the body is Parker. Of course, Booth would go into shock after the finding. After much reflection, Booth would finally come back to reality. Then, with the help of Bones and the team, the killer would be found by Booth and he would attempt the arrest (restraining the urge to kill the suspect). At the arrest, the suspect manages to break free and is ready to off Booth. At that point, Bones enters and kills the suspect. What do you think? Would it make a good episode? Any comments?That's sick!!! :eek::mad:

I've been wondering about Parker all season too, so I finally Googled it.

He's been in England and will be returning in next weeks episode 10, "The Warrior in the Wuss,"

Bones is usually okay with science, but the 'nearly-published' paper by the intern was way off.

1- When we saw the list of papers, they were nearly all single-author papers. Pretty rare in any field.

2- When a paper is accepted in a journal, it doesn't get bumped off for another paper. Paper are published in the order they are accepted, then typeset, then proofed.

3- They made it sound like he'd be a big shot after he published one paper, like his career would be made. Doesn't work that way. You have to publish a lot to get that sort of status.

Ah well.

Interesting what they did with Parker tonight...

They in-show kind of proved what we theorized in a way... in that, Booth didn't know his son well enough not to trust what was going on. Apparently Booth had no communication with his son during all that fictional time away.. and didn't know his son well enough to believe his son might have had other reasons than secretly hating his sister for acting weird.

The fact that they didn't put any Booth thinking about Parker into episodes for such a long time means it wasn't just a slip of the writing, but that fictional Booth really didn't have any communication with fictional Parker.

Personally... I kind of liked that aspect. Because just dropping Parker back in and all being well would have seemed like a cheat... but they gave a nod to the absence by showing Booth wasn't able to trust his son for better motives, and assumed the worst as the show went on even though we've never seen a hint of Parker being bad at all previously.

I Wonder if that baby is [Emily']s or just another "actress"Although Emily isn't the baby (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm4978559/)'s mother, the mother is an actress: Ashleigh Kizer (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1572587/), who played Dolly (a prostitute) on Deadwood...

I'm sorry to say that "domesticated Bones" is not working for me. The stories seem flat, and I just don't find myself emotionally invested. Contrast this with the on-going relationship between Carter and Blake on Eureka, where a similar "pairing" of the leads is working quite well.