TV with MeeVee

Fox Announces 2008-09 Season Plans

Fox wants you to feel their electricity. No, really. "“Broadcast television needs a jolt. We feel it’s our responsibility, as the No. 1 network for the last four seasons, to provide that electricity,” Fox Broadcasting Entertainment Chairman Peter Liguori says in remarks  prepared for his upfront presentation to advertisers in New York today.

The schedule announced this morning puts the most focus on dramas from J.J. Abrams ("Lost") and Joss Whedon ("Buffy the Vampire Slayer"). The network is not exactly reinventing the wheel, but they are putting something besides repeats on Friday night. And the bloated "American Idol" results show gets cuts back to a half hour in '09.

Fox executives on a conference call with reporters this morning admit that, like the other networks, Fox has fewer new shows due to the writers strike's disruption of the development cycle. Of course, when you're the most-watched network among total viewers as well as viewers 18-49 ...no worries mon. And they say they actually have shows in development now for all the way to the start of 2010.

Two new series debut in the fall:

"Fringe" (above), a thriller from Abrams, stars newcomer Anna Torv, Joshua Jackson and John Noble as allies thrown together to investigate weirdness emanating from a mysterious Boston plane crash. Think "Lost" meets "The X-Files." It will air behind "House" on Tuesday nights in the fall.

"Do Not Disturb" is a comedy with Jerry O'Connell as a manager at an upscale New York hotel; Jason Bateman of "Arrested Development" will direct some episodes.

The "24" prequel also airs in November, as we reported earlier this morning. One Fox exec on the call just termed it "a really cool piece of standalone business."

Coming after the first of the year - along with "24" and "American Idol" - are four more new series, including another giving-it-away reality show, called "Secret Millionaire."

The year's most anticipated drama is Whedon's "Dollhouse" (right). Eliza Dushku, who enlivened the final seasons of "Buffy," stars as one of an underground group who have their personalities "wiped" and replaced with new ones in order to better carry out their secret missions.

In the spring we'll see two comedies, the unlikely "Family Guy" spinoff "Cleveland" and the animated "Sit Down, Shut Up," from "Arrested Development" creator Mitchell Hurwitz. That's about a group of less-than-dedicated teachers, with Bateman leading the voice cast.

Tidbits from the conference call:

Someone just asked the execs how they decided whether to give "Fringe" or "Dollhouse" the fall launch. Entertainment President Kevin Reilly - I think it was him, anyway - said it was "a high-class problem to have." Whedon had seven scripts written from the get-go, but Abrams finished pilot production sooner. Whdeon welcomed the extra time, the execs said.

Morning "Hillary, Girlfriend, It's Over" Links

• Speaking of cute but not especially talented dudes on "American Idol," as we have been for the last couple of days, Ace Young is going to get whacked on "Bones" next week. Another "Idol" runnerup who I don't even remember - Brandon Rogers? Really? - is also on the ep, which focuses on a barroom singing contest. But just to be nice I'll run a pic of Emily Deschanel from the ep instead. (TV Squad)
• The cops made it official against departing "CSI" star Gary Dourdan y'day. (TMZ)
• Who can afford to maintain an "Extreme Makeover" home?? (Philly.com)
• Bruce Boxleitner joins "Heroes." That ought to get younger viewers excited. Uh, not. (TV Guide)
• Dating show for the mentally disabled? Eeek. (TMZ)
• Sutton-at-Hone councilors in Kent can eat my shorts. (UK Daily Record)
• "Ugly Betty" crew members losing their jobs as the show moves to Taxbreakistan New York are bitter that California hasn't done more to keep productions. (Deadline Hollywood Daily)

I Missed "Bones" Last Night

I missed "Bones" last night because I was out at some movie about some reality TV star. (Jay McCarroll himself called me a loser. I guess that's only fair, because it was when I lost a door prize raffle by one digit, and some other jerk got to shake Jay's hand and go home with awesome prizes. On the plus side, Jay noticed me, even if it was just to call me a loser.)

Point being, I didn't see "Bones" last night. I watched it this morning online. Because that's how losers roll.

"Bones" Airs Episode Delayed By Virginia Tech Shooting

TV is never slow to jump on real-life crime and tragedy for cop-show plot fodder. Writers for shows like "CSI" and especially "Law & Order" seem to start typing almost while the gunfire still echoes. However...when life imitates art TV is usually quick to step back. In April 2007, Fox postponed an episode of "Bones" about a college murder that was scheduled to air just two days after the Virginia Tech massacre. Now - weirdly close to the anniversary - Fox is finally putting the episode on the air tonight at 8.

"The Player Under Pressure" has Bones and Booth investigating the death of a college basketball star whose body is found crushed under the folding bleachers in the college gym. Doesn't sound close to the Virginia Tech shootings by a disturbed student who then took his own life...but of course on TV no death is as simply as it initially seems.

Buddy TV tipped me off to the scheduling - I'd completely forgotten the backstory of this episode - and also notes that Fox apparently has decided not to re-edit the episode for continuity, so the Angela-Hudgins relationship will be out of sequence.

Pictured: From left, David Greenman, Emily Deschanel and David Boreanaz.

The Shrink From "Bones"

John Francis Daley, known to me as Sweets, the shrink from "Bones," got his big break on "Freaks & Geeks" - and he still looks like he could play a high schooler, even though he's now 22. Here's a little more about him:

Afternoon Linkage

• Ausiello gives you a full rundown on which shows are on the bubble for renewal. And hey, Boreanaz was right, "Bones" isn't even on the list. (TV Guide)
• Kristy Lee Cook got engaged in the "American Idol" contestant lodgings a while back but didn't tell anyone until after getting voted off last night. Her boyfriend proposed in the sauna. Now, I know she's 24 and everything, but it does make me wonder about what goes on there... (E! Online)
• Louis CK rises from TV's graveyard to make another sitcom. (TV Squad)
• More on the "Desperate Housewives" time warp. (Buddy TV)

"Bones" Has Some Great Lessons For Lovers, Murderers, And Park Rangers

Lovers: "Bones" says you should never get into a hot spring if you can't see the bottom, and definitely should not make out in a mud-filled hot spring where you can't see the bottom, and the mud might be hiding a defleshed skeleton.

Murderers: Don't dump a body in the sort of mud-pit where people go to make out.

Park Rangers: When a cop says they need all the mud from a mud-pit, they need all the mud.

David Boreanaz Talks "Bones," Part II

Fan favorite David Boreanaz will be forever TV legend as Buffy's vampire love Angel, both in "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and the spinoff "Angel." Now he's FBI agent Seely Booth, bantering with Emily Deschanel's forensic anthropologist Temperance "Bones" Brennan on Fox's "Bones." After a layoff since November, "Bones" returns to Fox tonight in yet another timeslot - Mondays at 8 - and Boreanaz got on the phone with a few reporters Friday afternoon to talk about it. Here's more from the interview, starting with the otherwise easygoing Boreanaz getting amusingly snippy about whether "Bones" is "on the bubble" for renewal...

(Read part one of the interview.)

Question: I'm going to ask about show being in yet another time slot...and with "Bones" being mentioned by some people as a bubble show, is that something that worries the cast and crew, that people won't be able to follow anymore?
Boreanaz: I'm sorry, are you saying that our show is on the bubble?
Question: I'm not, but I've read a few things-
Boreanaz: Where'd you read that?
Question: I don't remember-
Boreanaz: Well you can't say something. If you're saying our show is on the bubble, I'd love to know the source of that one. You can't just say to me the show's on the bubble and you say you don't know where it came from.
Question: I read a lot of different sources.
Boreanaz: Well that's a pretty big source to say to an actor on a show, or for me to say your column is being canceled and you ask me where I read that and I say I read a lot of things. I don't get that question. But to answer your question, I don't think our show is on the bubble. It's a very successful show, we're a different show, we're a cult show, a show that prides itself on relationships and we've proven that if we're on Tuesday or Wednesday or even Monday our fans will follow us...

David Boreanaz Talks "Bones," Part I

Fan favorite David Boreanaz will be forever TV legend as Buffy's vampire love Angel, both in "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and the spinoff "Angel." Now he's FBI agent Seely Booth, bantering with Emily Deschanel's forensic anthropologist Temperance "Bones" Brennan on Fox's "Bones." The show is not as beloved as "Buffy" - what is? - but Boreanaz remains a fan fave. Booth is brave, flirty and fun.

After a layoff since November, "Bones" returns to Fox next week in yet another timeslot - Mondays at 8 - and Boreanaz got on the phone with a few reporters Friday afternoon to talk about it. We'll post more from the interview on Monday.

Question: What is your thought about (Booth and Bones) getting together?
Answer: I think they already are. I don't think they neccessarily were ever apart. The functuion of the relationship really is the function of the show in a lot of ways. These two characters drive these plotlines, they drive these shows. (The writers) put them in circumstances they wouldn't neccessarily think they'd be in, and it drives them together or pulls them apart. The kiss, for example, on (the Christmas show), it was a dare, and they both knew it was coming, and it brought them closer. It won't affect them greatly, but they know that kiss happened...they will start putting themselves in those situations (but) we're not going to go to a place where its completely the whole time. We'll be teasing and flirting with the audience and I don't think that's a problem at all.

The Appeal Of "Bones"

It took me a long time to understand why people bothered to watch "Bones." It's not really a great show. It's not terrible or anything, but it's pretty derivative. You can trace its lineage back through "CSI" and "Law And Order" and the mystery novels it's loosely based on. Nothing special.

But I keep forgetting it's got David Boreanaz as Agent Seely, and that he's basically the small-screen version of George Clooney: Mature, affable, adorable, manly, soulful. 

Watching Seely solve a crime or struggle manfully with his violent past is like wrapping yourself in a blanket on a cold winter night. He's got an emotional depth that a lot of regular guys either never achieve, or hide because it's a sign of weakness.

"Bones" returns from strike-induced hiatus on April 14th. The lead-off episode features the remains of a motorcycle racer found buried in hot mud in a national park. And more importantly, it features David Boreanaz.

"House," "Bones" And Other Fox Series Back In Business

Dr. House will once again be insulting the deathly ill. Why do we love him so.

Booth and Brennan will be flirting inappropriately over the grotesque remains of innocent crime victims. And Peter Griffin will be back sobbing into his beer at the Drunken Clam.

Fox has announced resumed production and post-strike premiere dates for a bunch of shows. Among those that will be back on the set is "24," which will finish up production on its seventh season, even though it won't return until Jan. 2009.

"Bones" will be back with new shows April 14, while "House" follows two weeks later. The much-ballyhooed Julianna Margulies courtroom series "Canterbury's Law" finally sees the air March 10. The complete press release with all the details is after the jump.

Bones and Booth Make With The Liplock, Finally

Of course, they have mistletoe for cover, so if the writer's strike ever gets solved they can yank us around with the old will-they, won't-they for a few more episodes. But fans of "Bones" who've been waiting with increasing impatience for the flirty twosome to finally start knocking boots should find a lot to like in Tuesday's episode on Fox, called "The Santa In The Slush." Note the way she has Booth by the lapels there. Emily Deschanel's Temperance "Bones" Brennan also visits daddyo Ryan O'Neal in the slam in the episode, which centers on the murder of a streetcorner Santa whose real name was Kris Kringle. Yes, you will need your insulin shot before this episode. But still, how long have we been waiting for some physical contact here? Long enough.

"Bones" Has A Star-Spangled Halloween

It looks more and more like those crazy kids on "Bones" are finally going to do it, I'd guess around February sweeps. On tonight's Halloween episode, the case of a maniacal serial killer who subjects his teenaged victims to their worst fears plays like an afterthought to the costumed banter and romantic hintings of Booth and Brennan.  (SPOILERS FOLLOW.)

It seems just right that David Boreanaz's FBI Agent Seely Booth costumes himself as a nerdy "squint" - he's been a little overfocused on this crew of forensic lab rats ever since Brennan joined their ranks. But I was a little taken aback by the sight of Emily Deschanel's cooly rational Dr. Temperance Brennan stuffed into that little red, white and blue Wonder Woman costume. Not that it wasn't, um, lovely. Halloween just doesn't seem like Brennan's kind of holiday - she'd be more likely to show up for work in her regular "squint" duds and ask some obtuse question about the modern purpose of this pagan ritual. (I have no such doubts about Cam in the cat suit. Vroom!)

Someone says that it's Brennan's favorite costume and she wears it every year - maybe someone can go back and check for previous Halloween eps and drop me an email. Anyway, if you can ever stop staring at her, um, outfit, you may notice that she and Booth spend a lot more time looking at each other than the case, while whatever crime-solving realism this show once possessed has gone out the window. They catch a serial killer in a deadly shootout in which Booth is wounded, yet when they return to the lab, they're both still in costume and talking about making it to the party. Um, that was quick. "Bones" has always played fast and loose with such things, even by the flexible standards of television procedurals. But it's the show's third season, and Fox is still waiting for it to be as big a success as it ought to be. Pairing it with "House" and playing up the romance no doubt seems like the way to go. They even end up talking about whether they're on a date or not.

Halloween Specials: "Grey's Anatomy," "Bones," "Simpsons," More!

"Grey's Anatomy" had its Halloween special last week, and BuzzSugar has the talk about it.

"Big Bang Theory" is celebrating Halloween tonight, and you can find out more at Seriously OMG.

"Bones" is up for a Halloween special tomorrow night, and TubeTalk is all over that one.

On Sunday, "The Simpsons" will have "Treehouse Of Horror XVIII" and Wikipedia has the best details I've found so far: Parodies of "Mr. And Mrs. Smith" and "E.T." and a story about Flanders punishing the town's kids for their naughtiness.

Oddly, the "Family Guy" episode also involves a bit of "Mr. And Mrs. Smith" parody, although it's not a Halloween special. It is, however, the 100th episode, "Stewie Kills Lois," in which Stewie actually makes a serious attempt on his mother's life. Yeah, matricide is always hilarious.

Jumping Their "Bones"

Most of the Tuesday-night-on-Fox talk centers around "House" auditioning new and presumably temporary sidekicks, including Kal Penn and Olivia Wilde. But the most significant development is the move of "Bones" from Wednesdays to the "House" lead-in slot at 8. This is a show that's done kinda OK in two seasons and better pop this time around or begin a slow fade. And I'm rooting for poppage, because while it's no "House," it's a pretty entertaining show. The producers clearly have a strategy in mind, too, bringing the two lead characters closer and closer to a long-overdue horizontal mambo, hinted at again in Tuesday's episode.

Even though "Bones" is supposed to be a procedural, "Will They Or Won't They" has long been the unspoken subtitle. Emily Deschanel's Dr. Temperance Brennan is a forensic anthropologist with a highly logical mind that tends to confuse those who only notice how hot-looking she is; David Boreanaz's Seeley Booth is a surprisingly traditional guy more at home in the world of feelings and hunches. They bicker and banter as their contrasting skills allow them to solve gruesome homicides on a weekly basis; at this point, even the other characters on the show are, like, get a room.

Bonus Afternoon Links Festival

• An interview with Michaela Conlin (right), who plays Angela on "Bones." (Buddy TV)
• Love "Mad Men" on AMC. Brilliant. Deep. My favorite new show of the year, so far. Only two eps left this season. But at least we'll be getting the max out of the Oct. 18 season finale. (TV Squad)
• The three funniest words ever written about Victoria Beckham. (Glitterati)
• Spoilers for tonight's "House." (BuzzSugar)
• Proof that us reviewers know what we're talking about: "Journeyman" ratings are down. Proof that we don't: "Chuck" and "Heroes" are also sagging. (Televisionista)
• Proof that the jury's still out: "Cavemen's" fate will likely be revealed tonight, when its second episode airs. last week's big numbers reflected poorly on all of us critics, who HATED the show. But they may also have reflected a big curiosity tune-in. (Buddy TV)

Fall TV Night-By-Night: Tuesday

Tuesday's prime-time lineup features the most doomed hour of television this fall and a tough choice for viewers at 9 o'clock.

Many, me included, think ABC has lost its mind in opening this night with the new sitcoms "Cavemen" and "Carpoolers." "Cavemen," spun off from the Geico insurance ads, is a) bad b) controversial c) really bad or d) all of the above. As you may have guessed, the correct answer is (d). The producers say they're trying to satirize prejudice, but for some viewers at least, they're enacting it. "Carpoolers," on the other hand, is just bad. Some critics predict "Cavemen" will be the first show canceled this fall, although you can perhaps wonder if sheer curiosity might bring enough of an early tune-in to earn it a reprieve. ABC isn't rolling out these two until Oct. 2. Otherwise, the network is sitting pretty with returning shows "Dancing With The Stars" and "Boston Legal," both due Sept. 25.

CBS stands pat for its more traditional viewers with "NCIS" and "The Unit" followed by the new Jimmy Smits drama "Cane," all on Sept. 25 The latter show, about a large Cuban American sugar-cane dynasty in Florida, is more soap opera than action thriller, but still, this looks like a solid if unsurprising evening of television. And there's a lot of word of mouth on "Cane," thanks mainly to Smits and some young eye candy.

"Bones" Replaces "New Amsterdam" on Fall Sked

Maybe there's a curse on immortal-detective shows this season. Maybe it's some kind of David Boreanaz/"Angel" mojo.

CBS' "Moonlight," about a vampire private eye, has been playing musical showrunners for weeks now, most recently shedding former "Angel" honcho David Greenwalt in favor of former "Millennium" honcho Chip Johannessen. Several supporting roles have been recast too, reportedly. And now Fox's "New Amsterdam," about an immortal detective in New York City, has been pushed back to midseason, as Fox handed over its time slot to Boreanaz and "Bones" in a schedule reshuffle.

"Bones," starring Boreanaz as an FBI agent and Emily Deschanel as a forensic anthropologist, will now air on Tuesdays at 8, right before the ratings juggernaut and critical favorite "House." The summer sort-of -hit/"Singing Bee" clone "Don't Forget The Lyrics" will take the Thursday 9 p.m. slot, while Gordon Ramsay's "Kitchen Nightmares" will move from that slot to the old "Bones" time period, Wednesdays at 9 p.m.

It's all part of Fox's attempt to strengthen its fall schedule, which has generally languished in recent years while the network got all its ratings punch with the arrival of "American Idol" and "24" in January. Some mild erosion for those shows - including a drubbing from fans and critics for this season of "24" - suggest Fox is smart to concentrate on building a season-long strategy instead of abandoning the fall to the baseball playoffs and repeats as in the past. After all, no one lives forever.

"Bones" and Booth: True Love Waits. Plus, Pony Play.

Sunday's press tour session for Fox's "Bones" went all Sam-and-Diane on us, as many questions focused on the nearly subliminal romantic attraction between Emily Deschanel's scientist Temperance "Bones" Brennan and David Boreanaz's FBI Agent Seely Booth.

Question: Can you talk about the romance angle with your characters for this season, if the two of you are paired or if there's other-
Deschanel: What romance?
Boreanaz: There's no romance.
Deschanel: What are you talking about?

OK, they were just kidding, but it took a while to get a serious answer...