Bones (TV series)


Bones

Bones title card
Genre Police procedural
Drama
Created by Hart Hanson
Starring Emily Deschanel
David Boreanaz
Michaela Conlin
Tamara Taylor
T. J. Thyne
John Francis Daley
Opening theme Composed and performed by The Crystal Method
Country of origin  USA
Language(s) English
No. of seasons 4
No. of episodes 84 (List of episodes)
Production
Location(s) Los Angeles, CA
Washington, D.C.
Running time approx. 43 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel FOX
Picture format 480i (SDTV)
720p (HDTV)
Original run September 13, 2005 – present
External links
Official website

Bones is an American drama television series that premiered on the Fox Network on September 13, 2005. The show is based on forensics and police procedurals in which each episode focuses on an FBI case file concerning the mystery behind human remains brought by FBI Special Agent Seeley Booth to the forensic anthropology team of Dr. Temperance "Bones" Brennan. Emily Deschanel stars in the title role, opposite David Boreanaz as Special Agent Seeley Booth. The rest of the cast includes Michaela Conlin, T. J. Thyne, Tamara Taylor and John Francis Daley.

The series, created by Hart Hanson, is very loosely based on the life[1] of forensic anthropologist Kathy Reichs, who is a producer on the show. Its title character, Dr. Temperance "Bones" Brennan is named after the protagonist of Reichs' crime novel series. Bones is a joint production by Josephson Entertainment, Far Field Productions and 20th Century Fox Television.[2]

The fourth season premiered on September 3, 2008 on Fox. In the UK, it aired on Sky1 on Thursdays, starting on September 25.[3] The show was picked up for two more seasons, with the fifth season set to premiere September 17, 2009 on Fox.[4][5]

Contents

Series overview

Main article: List of Bones episodes

The show begins in the year 2005, and tells the story of a series of case files, solved weekly, by an unlikely alliance between Dr. Temperance "Bones" Brennan's forensic anthropology team at the Jeffersonian Institution (a thinly veiled allusion to the Smithsonian Institution) and FBI Special Agent Seeley Booth. By examining the human remains of the murder victims, Dr. Brennan and her team provide scientific expertise and an outsider's perspective to the world of criminal investigation to the FBI. In addition to the murder cases featured in each episode, the series explores the backgrounds and relationships of the major characters including the developing friendship and possibly romantic relationship between Brennan and Booth.

Cast and characters

Main article: List of Bones characters
Bones cast. From left: Tamara Taylor, David Boreanaz, Michaela Conlin, John Francis Daley.
  • Emily Deschanel as Dr. Temperance "Bones" Brennan (seasons 1–present, main) – is a forensic anthropologist working at the renowned Jeffersonian Institute in Washington, D.C., as well as a best-selling crime novelist. Her intellectual brilliance enables her to do groundbreaking work, but her lack of social skills provides most of the show's lighthearted humor.
  • David Boreanaz as Seeley Booth (seasons 1–present, main) – Brennan aids FBI Special Agent Booth in his investigations involving human remains that cannot be identified without Brennan's skills in forensic anthropology. In contrast to the other main characters, Booth has limited knowledge of science and is often used to provide a layman's translation of the scientific jargon-filled dialogue. He also provides the dichotomy between science and emotion, as in one episode when Bones comments to Cam, "He (Booth) can read people like you read lab charts or I read x-rays." Booth is known for his ability to guess people's motives or "posit a scenario" something that is a constant frustration and struggle to Brennan. He is a former US Army Rangers sniper with at least 50 confirmed kills, and has an intense dislike of clowns.
  • Michaela Conlin as Angela 'Pearly Gates' Montenegro (Seasons 1–present, main) – A forensic artist at the Jeffersonian Institute and is Dr. Brennan's best friend. Angela is Dr. Brennan's team specialist in crainiofacial reconstruction and can generate holograms using her 3-dimensional graphics program (The Angelator) to simulate various scenarios of a crime. She is open, friendly and caring, and constantly tries to draw Dr. Brennan out of the lab.
  • Eric Millegan as Zack Addy (Seasons 1–3 main, Seasons 4–present recurring) - Is introduced as Dr. Brennan's graduate student and assistant at the Jeffersonian Institute at the start of the series. In the second season, he receives his doctorate in Forensic Anthropology and mechanical engineering and becomes a professional forensic anthropologist. Zack is closer to the stereotypical geek than anyone else on the team. Although well-meaning, helpful and friendly, when a situation calls for social interaction or intuition, he is often lost. During the course of events leading up to the death of Howard Epps, Zack was nearly killed after he unwittingly triggered a pressure sensor tied to a bomb affixed to the headless body of Caroline Epps. He is extremely intelligent, in episode 11 it is said that his IQ is significantly above 163 (which is already a genius level). He is also Hodgins' best friend, and lives in the upper part of Hodgins' garage.
  • T. J. Thyne as Jack Hodgins (Season 1–present, main) - An entomologist and is also an expert on spores and minerals, but conspiracy theories are his hobby. He is one of the more normal persons in the group, and helps teach Zack how to be socially normal. His family is extremely wealthy and Hodgins wishes for his current occupation to remain concealed from his family as he fears they will prevent him from pursuing his career.
  • Jonathan Adams as Daniel Goodman (Season 1, main) - A former archaeologist turned administrator, who is also the director of the Jeffersonian Institute. He is a loving husband and father to a pair of five-year-old twin girls. His way of working leads Hodgins to think of him as subjective and long winded, and lacking the qualities of a pure scientist, although the antagonism between the two develops into a friendly rivalry as the series progresses. He has not made any appearances beyond the first season. As of Episode 23 "The Titan on the Tracks" Dr. Goodman is said to be on a sabbatical.
  • Tamara Taylor as Camille Saroyan (Seasons 2–present, main) - Is the Head of the Forensic Division at Jeffersonian Institute. She was introduced in the first episode of the second season after being hired by Dr. Goodman while Dr. Brennan was on vacation. She was born in The Bronx and was a coroner in New York before taking up the position at the Jeffersonian. At the beginning of the second season, she and Dr. Brennan have an uneasy working relationship due to her being Dr. Brennan's superior and their different work styles. Dr. Saroyan had a romantic relationship with Booth prior to her joining the Jeffersonian.
  • John Francis Daley as Dr. Lance Sweets (Seasons 3–present, main) - A psychologist assigned to Booth and Brennan after the FBI feels the conflict between them may be affecting their working relationship. The character made his first appearance in the third season premiere and his portrayer, John Francis Daley, became a main cast member from the ninth episode, "The Santa in the Slush", onwards.

Production

Conception

The concept of Bones was developed during the latter part of the pitching season of 2004 when 20th Century Fox approached series creator Hart Hanson with an idea for a forensics show. Hanson was asked to meet with executive producer Barry Josephson, who had purchased the rights to produce a documentary on the forensic anthropologist and author Kathy Reichs. Although Hanson was reluctant about being involved in making a police procedural, he signed on and wrote the pilot episode after having an intensive meeting with Josephson about the show.[6] As the show is based on the works of Reichs, the writers constantly involve her in the process of producing the episodes' storylines.

In order to make Bones a unique crime drama in the midst of the multiple procedural dramas that already populated network television like the Law & Order and CSI franchises, Hanson decided to infuse the show with as much dark humor and character development as possible.[7] Another element conceived for the show was the "Angelator", a holographic projector whose use is to replace flashbacks that are often used by other procedural shows. In addition to their expositional purposes, the holographic images, which are created by visual effects, brought a unique visual style to the show that the producers were looking for.[8]

Cast and cast changes

David Boreanaz was the first actor to be cast in Bones. Series creator Hart Hanson described the actors who had auditioned for the role of Seeley Booth as "pretty boy waifs" and immediately responded when the head of the studio, Dana Walden, suggested Boreanaz for the role.[1] Boreanaz was offered the role but was unenthusiastic about getting involved after a difficult meeting with executive producers Barry Josephson and Hart Hanson, even though he thought the script was well written. However, after the producers contacted him again to convince him to accept the role, Boreanaz agreed to sign on and was cast as Seeley Booth.[8][9]

Emily Deschanel auditioned for the role of Temperance Brennan close to the production start date of the series pilot, during which time another actress was nearly cast in the role.[1] After the filming of Glory Road was completed, producer Jerry Bruckheimer told Deschanel about the role and sent her to Bones' executive producer Barry Josephson to audition for it.[10] Deschanel impressed Hanson at her audition, where she showed the character's assertiveness by stepping forward towards Boreanaz after he moved towards her, to which Hanson remarked that "90% of actors would take a step back".[11] She was subsequently cast in the role.

In Season 4, Eric Millegan (who played Zack Addy) has been replaced by a succession of lab assistants. One — Scott Starett (played by Michael Badalucco, formerly of The Practice )— is much older than the typical grad student.[12] Marisa Coughlan guest-starred in a few midseason episodes as FBI agent Payton Perotta, who was brought to the Jeffersonian as a temporary substitute for Booth when he was incapacitated.[13]

Filming

Most of Bones is filmed in Los Angeles, California, despite the fact that the show is mainly set in Washington, D.C., where the fictional Jeffersonian Institution is located. The interiors of the Jeffersonian Institution were specially built on a large soundstage at the 20th Century Fox lot in Century City, Los Angeles, California.[14] The 4th season premiere (a special two part episode) was filmed on location in London, United Kingdom.

Opening title sequence

The title sequence of Bones is usually shown near the beginning of the episode. Accompanied by the show's theme music, composed and performed by The Crystal Method, the sequence provides the credits of the show. Each episode usually begins with a cold open, which sets up the plot of the episode and can last from three to ten minutes before the title sequence is shown. The title sequence varies from season to season. The first season's title sequence mostly consists of scenes from the first five episodes of the series while the second season's title sequence is made up of scenes from the first season and early episodes of the second. The opening credits in the title sequence include the regular cast members of the respective seasons.

Music

The soundtrack album titled Bones Original Television Soundtrack, produced by Maria Alonte McCoy and Billy Gottlieb, was released in 2008.[15] It contains 13 songs recorded by popular artists for the show.

Broadcast and release

Syndication response

The following seasonal rankings are based on average total viewers per episode as recorded by Nielsen Media Research. The recording period begins in late September (the start of the U.S. network television season) and ends in late May.

Season Broadcast period Timeslot Ranking Viewers (in millions)
1 2005–2006 Tuesday 8:00 pm ET (2005)
Wednesday 8:00 pm ET (2006)		 #60 8.9
2 2006–2007 Wednesday 8:00 pm ET #50 9.4
3 2007–2008 Tuesday 8:00 pm ET (2007)
Monday 8:00 pm ET (2008)		 #47 8.9
4 2008-2009 Wednesday 8:00 pm ET (2008)
Thursday 8:00 pm ET (2009)		 #33[16] 9.6
5 2009-2010 Thursday 8:00 pm ET N/A N/A
6 2010-2011 TBC N/A N/A

The series premiere of Bones attracted an average of 10.8 million viewers with 6.7% household share and 11% household rating. It was the highest number of viewers Fox has received for a primetime Thursday-night drama series premiere since 24 premiered in 2001. Bones finished first among the 18 to 49 years old demographic and in total viewers in its Thursday 8:00 pm ET timeslot.[17] New York described the show as "the best drama of the new network season" and a "sexed-up variation of all the CSIs".[18] Regarding the show's procedural structure, Entertainment Weekly notes that Bones has a "pretty standard Crossing Jordan/CSI-style framework" but holds up because of the chemistry between the two lead characters; "that old Sam-and-Diane, Maddie-and-David, Mulder-and-Scully opposites-attract stuff never feels standard when it's done right."[19]

Following the broadcast of the series' third episode, Fox ordered a full season of Bones.[20] It was renewed for a second season after its strong performance in ratings in the timeslot following American Idol and on its own without the American Idol's lead-in audience.[21] Overall, the first season of Bones ranked 60th in viewership among prime-time shows and 53rd among the 18 to 49 year old demographic, with a seasonal average of 8.9 million viewers.[22]

The second season premiere attracted 8.61 million viewers in its Wednesday 8:00 pm timeslot, finishing second among the 18 to 49 years old demographic and first in total viewership with 6.7% household rating and 11% household share.[23] As a lead-in for American Idol, the second season finale of Bones obtained 10.88 million viewers with 3.5% household rating and 11% household share. It tied first in viewership among the 18 to 49 years old demographic with The Price Is Right Million Dollar Spectacular on CBS.[24] In the 2006-07 television season, Bones improved its ranking to 50th place in viewership among prime-time shows with 9.4 million viewers and was ranked 51st among the 18 to 49 year old demographic.[25]

International syndication

Bones premiered on September 13, 2005 on the Fox network and was broadcast weekly in the Tuesday 8:00 pm ET timeslot before it was moved to the Wednesday 8:00 pm ET timeslot in 2006. The first season finished on May 17, 2006 with a total of 22 episodes. The second season premiered on the Fox network on August 30, 2006 and retained its Wednesday 8:00 pm ET timeslot. The final second season episode was aired on May 16, 2007, ending the original run of the second season with 21 episodes. One episode, "Player Under Pressure", was left unaired, which was originally scheduled to be broadcast as the second season's 19th episode but was pulled by the Fox network in the United States after the Virginia Tech massacre. The plot involved the discovery of the human remains of a college athlete,[26] and eventually aired on April 21, 2008. The third season of the series premiered on September 25, 2007 in its original premiere timeslot, Tuesday 8:00 pm ET. The show went on hiatus on November 27, 2007 and returned on April 14, 2008 in the Monday 8:00 pm ET timeslot.[27]

Season four premiered September 3, 2008 in the United States on Fox with a two-hour episode that was filmed on location in London.[28]

Originally scheduled to return from hiatus on January 15, 2009, Bones instead resumed one week later due to a new installment being preempted by President Bush's farewell address. As a result, two new episodes, "Double Trouble in the Panhandle" and "Fire in the Ice," were aired back-to-back on January 22, 2009. The show currently is shown on Thursday nights at 8:00 pm ET in the United States. Bones recently completed its 4th season and will be returning to Fox in the Fall. Reruns can also be seen weekday evenings on TNT.

Home video releases

This section requires expansion.

Online distribution

Fox has released free episodes of Bones and several other primetime series online for viewing on Hulu and its MySpace website, which is owned by the same parent company, News Corporation, that owns Fox. This began on October 3, 2006 but access is restricted to residents from the United States only.[29] Bones is also available for free-of-cost viewing at Hulu as well as their official website via Fox On Demand, while Canadian viewers may watch recent episodes for free on the GlobalTV website.

Impact

Critical response

Similarly, USA Today comments that compared to other crime shows, the show "is built on a more traditional and solid foundation: the strength of its characters" and "what sets Tuesday's Bones premiere apart from the procedural pack are stars Emily Deschanel and David Boreanaz, as the season's most appealing new crime fighters."[30] On the other hand, Media Life Magazine says that while Bones has "an amazingly clever notion, brilliant even", its "execution doesn't match the conception" and based on its first episode, the show "fails to evolve into a gripping series. In fact, it quickly becomes so derivative of so much else on television — especially, strangely, X-Files — that one might even call it bone-headed."[31]

Other media

Aside from the television broadcast of Bones, its characters and concepts have also been produced in print, on the internet and in short videos for mobile phones.

Currently, there are two print books related to the series, one a novel and the other an official guide. Buried Deep (ISBN 1-4165-2461-4), written by Max Allan Collins, was published by Pocket Star on February 28, 2006. The book is based on the characters in the television series rather than the characters created by Kathy Reichs, who had inspired the concept of Bones. Its plot focuses on Dr. Temperance Brennan and Special Agent Seeley Booth's investigation into the skeletal remains left on the steps of a federal building and its connection with a Chicago mob family. Bones: The Official Companion: Seasons 1 & 2 (ISBN 1-8457-6539-7) is written by Paul Ruditis and published by Titan Books, released on October 16, 2007. The book includes cast and crew interviews, episode guides and a background detail on real-life forensics.[32]

Fox has made extensive use of the internet to promote Bones. Prior to the broadcast of the second season episode "The Glowing Bones in the Old Stone House", profiles of the characters involved in the episode were put up on their own MySpace web page. The blog entries of the characters were created to give insight into the potential suspects to be featured in the episode. In the episode, Brennan and her team uses clues from these web pages, which the viewers can also access.[33]

A spin-off series consisting of 26 two-minute episodes, called Bones: Skeleton Crew, was produced by Fox and launched through a partnership with Sprint Nextel in conjunction with MasterCard's sponsorship. It was released to Sprint TV subscribers in November 2006 and released on the official website of Bones on December 4, 2006. The episodes do not feature the show's main cast; its plot revolves around three Jeffersonian Institute lab technicians who use their skills to solve a mystery.[34][35]

Bonus content was posted by Fox on Bones' official site during the third season, which include short videos featuring Booth and Brennan waiting to see Dr. Sweets.

References

  1. ^ a b c Goldman, Eric, "Digging Up Secrets With the Cast of Bones", IGN, May 31, 2007. Retrieved on June 4, 2007.
  2. ^ "Fox Broadcasting Company: Bones". http://www.fox.com/bones/showinfo/. Retrieved on 2006-07-08. 
  3. ^ "Tube Talk Presents... The P.L.P.". http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv/tubetalk/plp/. Retrieved on 2008-09-22. 
  4. ^ http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/showtracker/2009/05/fox-shows-bones-two-years-of-love.html
  5. ^ http://uk.tv.ign.com/articles/983/983820p1.html
  6. ^ Kristine, Diane, Q&A: Bones Creator Hart Hanson, Blogcritics, January 17, 2006. Retrieved on May 16, 2007.
  7. ^ Kristine, Diane, "Challenging the Crime Genre: An Interview with Bones Creator Hart Hanson", Blogcritics, January 18, 2006. Retrieved on May 16, 2007.
  8. ^ a b Epstein, Daniel Robert, "Hart Hanson of Bones", UGO.com, September 13, 2005. Retrieved on June 4, 2007.
  9. ^ David Boreanaz Makes No 'Bones' About His New Series, Entertainment Tonight, August 3, 2005. Retrieved on June 4, 2007.[dead link]
  10. ^ Bray, Tony, "Emily Deschanel: An August 2006 Interview", TVNow, August 2006. Retrieved on June 4, 2007.
  11. ^ David, Anna (2006), "The Lovely Bones", TV Guide, January 23–29 edition, p. 39.
  12. ^ Bones Picks "Jimmy Berluti" for Rotation, TV Guide, June 18, 2008. Retrieved on October 13, 2008.
  13. ^ Bones Exclusive: Will this Lady Fed Get the Best of Booth?" TV Guide. October 20, 2008. Retrieved on October 24, 2008.
  14. ^ Goldman, Eric, On the Set of Bones with Emily Deschanel and David Boreanaz, IGN, August 29, 2006. Retrieved on May 16, 2007.
  15. ^ CD liner notes: Bones Original Television Soundtrack
  16. ^ http://www.abcmedianet.com/web/dnr/dispDNR.aspx?id=032409_05
  17. ^ Berman, Marc, "National Ratings in Primetime - Week of September 12, 2005", Mediaweek.com, September 21, 2005. Retrieved on May 20, 2007.
  18. ^ Leonard, John, "Bodies in Motion", New York, December 12, 2005. Retrieved on June 27, 2007.
  19. ^ Flynn, Gillian, "Bones", Entertainment Weekly, September 9, 2005. Retrieved on June 27, 2007.
  20. ^ Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox orders full seasons of the hit series 'Bones' and 'The War at Home', The Futon Critic, October 12, 2005. Retrieved on June 27, 2007.
  21. ^ Sullivan, Brian Ford, "Fox to keep 'Bones', The WB's 'What I Like About You' to end", The Futon Critic, March 24, 2006. Retrieved on June 27, 2007.
  22. ^ "2005-06 primetime wrap: Series programming results", The Hollywood Reporter, May 26, 2006. Retrieved on May 20, 2007.
  23. ^ Berman, Marc, "Primetime Wednesday Ratings", Mediaweek.com, September 7, 2006. Retrieved on May 20, 2007.
  24. ^ Kissell, Rick, "'Idol' cleans up, viewers find 'Lost'", Variety, May 17, 2007. Retrieved on May 20, 2007.
  25. ^ 2006-07 primetime wrap: Series programming results, The Hollywood Reporter, May 25, 2007. Retrieved on May 27, 2007.
  26. ^ "FOX Pulls 'Bones' Episode After Tragedy"
  27. ^ "episode "House's" record-setting post-super bowl episode "frozen" to encore friday, February 15". Futon Critic. 2008-02-05. http://www.thefutoncritic.com/news.aspx?id=20080205fox01. Retrieved on 2008-02-15. 
  28. ^ "FOX ANNOUNCES FALL PREMIERE DATES FOR THE 2008-2009 SEASON". the futon critic. 2008-06-05. http://www.thefutoncritic.com/news.aspx?id=20080605fox01. Retrieved on 2008-06-07. 
  29. ^ IGN TV, Free Episodes Available For Download, IGN, October 3, 2006. Retrieved on June 27, 2007.
  30. ^ Bianco, Robert, "The stars flesh out 'Bones'", USA Today, September 12, 2005. Retrieved on June 27, 2007.
  31. ^ Rosen, Steven, "'Bones,' from the heap of tired ideas", Media Life Magazine, September 13, 2005. Retrieved on June 27, 2007.
  32. ^ Bones: The Official Companion: Seasons 1 & 2, Amazon.com. Retrieved on June 27, 2007.
  33. ^ Krause, Staci, "Bones Crosses Over Into Life", IGN, April 4, 2007. Retrieved on June 27, 2007.
  34. ^ Shields, Mike, "Fox to Launch Bones Mobisodes", Media Week, November 15, 2006. Retrieved on June 27, 2007.
  35. ^ Scott, Andrew, "MasterCard Places Brand in Fox Mobisodes", PROMO Xtra, November 16, 2006. Retrieved on June 27, 2007.

External links

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