Fox’s Bones concludes its strike-shortened seasontonight, wrapping up the series’ first attempt at a serialized storyline with the unveiling of the skeleton-collecting, cannibalisticGormogon killer and his apprentice. We caught up with exec-producerHart Hanson shortly after it was announced that, in the show’s fourthseason, it would break from it’s Monday-night pairing with House, movingto Wednesdays in the fall and Fridays come January. While he’s hopefulthat the Friday-night placement, meant to help build other shows,won’t happen, and accepted yet another schedule change, Hanson seemedto crave a little stability. ("I would like them to be tossing alltheir effort into making our show a huge hit instead of somethingbetween a huge hit and a cult hit," he said.) Still, Hanson talked tous about the finale and what went into the planning of this season,answering some PopWatch questions along the way. (Sorry, guys, no wordon if/when David Boreanaz’ Booth and Emily Deschanel’s Bones willfinally hook up.) Read Hanson’s (spoiler-free) remarks below, and check back with us tomorrow, after the big reveal, toread more from Hanson on how they decided who the killer would be andwhat it could mean for the show next year.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: When the identities of the Gormogon killer and his apprentice (which we at PopWatch know) are revealed, are you concerned about the fan reaction?
Hart Hanson: I’m counting on it. We’re expecting a violentreaction. When you make a change to a beloved ensemble cast, it’s agood thing and a bad thing. You lose someone but you’ve got to makechanges and keep it alive. The kiss of death is to keep addingcharacters without making room for them because everyone isunderserviced.
Given that you had to rejigger the end of the season, are you happy with the resolution?
I think it works. We’ll find out how it works. Ifthere hadn’t been a strike, we would have had a few more Gormogonstories and it would not have played out exactly the way it did playout but the end result would have been the same. There would have beenpeople gone because of the Gormogon. It just would have played out indifferent ways. Characters could have been killed for example. However,one of the things we’ve found out is that on our show, despite themurder and mayhem, we are fairly funny, and were we to kill people,beloved characters, for example, having our regular characters livewith that would be more difficult than if they didn’t die. So in thatrespect, it worked out just fine for the series.
Why wrap it up now instead of letting it unfurl in the next season?
We wanted to. I think the story wasn’t worth keepingfor an entire other season. You put your finger on one of the bigconversations we had coming back from the strike, which is what do wejettison from this season and put in the next season? For example, wehad some plans for Booth’s personal life and some family. And we justdid not want to shrink it down. We didn’t want to do an attenuatedseason on that story. We let go of another story, the Gravedigger one,which is about a kidnapper [from season 2], that we will probably comeback to in another season although it will have been so long that wehave to reintroduce that storyline. And the Gormogon story we thoughtwe can do this, it gives us a good solid season-ender.
Did you have concerns from the beginning about doinga season-long arc when the writers’ strike was likely to happen andaffect the TV season?
We had a lot of concerns. Not just the strike,although the strike was a huge issue right from the beginning of thethird season. I think we are at our most successful when the serialstories are the character stories. Beats where the characters progressbut basically we solve one crime per episode, so it’s very episodic.For us, a serial story is sort of a reward for our dedicated viewers.Not a way to get new viewers in. It’s nice for the people who’veinvested time in the show to feel like they’re getting an enhancedexperience. That’s sort of what the Gormogon story was designed to be.And we thought, oh, we can do this in one season. When we startedthinking, "What about the strike?" it was more a case of okay, let’scontinue optimistically. Lets not start designing our season dependenton a strike because if it doesn’t happen we’ll be sparse. So we plannedfor a good full season and then adjusted for the difficulties of thestrike instead of the other way around.
In the wake of this season, how much will the often-lauded chemistry between the characters drive the show forward?
I was just talking to David about this the otherday. He constantly agitates for less procedure and more charactermoments. And I keep telling him, in my view, we have to balance thembecause we cannot become a soap opera. We have to solve a crime, aninteresting crime, which gives us the ability to go off on tangents andhave the characters in comic moments. And that’s a constant balancinggame for us and we talk about it all the time. Are we leaning too farone way or another? Yes, I agree with David that the chemistry, andcharacters and comedy are, I think, what keep people coming back formore, but if we get too self-indulgent with that, we will end up withone of the soft shows that loses viewers over time instead of keepingthem coming back. But your guess is as good as mine because it’s anongoing process. Let me know how you think we’re doing.
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As far as I’m concerned BONES is a hit, and i hope FOX is not reshifting with other plans in mind. I just discovered in HULU.Com, i make it a point never to watch FOX DRAMAATIC PROGRAMMING, because of their constant shift changes… but this one is one I follow on my computer all the time.
Bones is one of my favorite shows
I hope they don’t start changing around it’s time slot that is a sure way to loose viewers. I love it on Mondays so sad to hear they are moving it to Wednesdays, lets hope they don’t then move it again to Fridays!
Please don’t ruin the chemistry of the show by having Bones and Booth consumate their relationship. The sexual tension between them is what makes their relationship interesting to watch.
All this time slot shifting just makes me mad. It’s like FOX doesn’t want to give it a chance to become a hit, they just use it as a place filler. That said, I’m very excited for the finale tonight!
Once again the schedulers at FOX rear their ugly heads. The list of shows they doomed to failure by moving their timeslots is too long to list. Why do I have the unsettling feeling that Bones will become the 5th show I love that Fox kills. They can’t help themselves. Hey Fox, theres a reason why CSI, Grey’s, Seinfeld, The Simpsons and a host of other shows were/are popular. THEY STAY ON ONE NIGHT EVERY SEASON!!!
I love that Bones is moving to Wednesdays! Since “Lost” moved to Thursday, there is nothing to look forward to on Wednesday. Who knows what the new season will bring? But I hate the mid-season move to Friday… Are they trying to lose viewers???
So who is the killer going to be?? I can’t picture any of the core cast being cannibal… And I can’t think of who is considered the supporting cast, besides Sweets. That would be pretty funny, I think. What about the FBI prosecutor (can’t think of her name…). Or, the Jeffersonian director from the first season…
Any thoughts?
I absolutely love this show so I hope it doesn’t get lost in all the time slot shuffling. Right now because I watch other shows I usually have to watch it later online, but I always look forward to seeing new episodes. I also love the team of Booth/Bones and so do many others so I doubt they will break the team up. Maybe Booth getting shot with bring the two of them closer together because they realize that the other one could die before they say how they really feel. I am excited to watch tonight and see how the season ends.
Hey EW – how about a little cover love for Bones? We know how much you love the show (I’m talking to you Mandi and Abby) and and hate to see it shuffled around. Spread the word on its awesomeness. Booth and Bones are Fox’s current Mulder and Scully and I recall seeing their faces practically once a month on the cover. Help this “something between a huge hit and a cult hit” become the huge hit it deserves. David Boreanaz’s mug I’m guessing would sell a few magazines
The picture posted is exactly why I love this show.
If it’s Zach, I think I’m gonna die. If it’s…who else could it be? “When you make a change to a beloved ensemble cast…”???
I can’t even…I can’t even imagine who it’s going to be. I’m already mad and I haven’t even seen it…!!!
Bones is SUCH a fantastic show and just gets better with the changes and time. The characterizations are awesome and the leads have a chemistry and love for each other to die for. I can’t imagine this show not just continuing to get bigger and stronger the next couple of seasons.
I just saw the last show for this season and thought it was a great ending. The cast has become a family and the feelings they had for their “lost part of the family”, was very well done. Love this show!!
I love this show, cannot imagine it being canceled, it is very entertaining, i am sad that the season has ended already, I feel like it just came on.
I have to confess I love this show – and the finale was awesome! I can’t wait for Season 4, and I think it’s fantastic that there’s going to be a reintroduction of the Gravedigger (which was a great episode.) I’m a loyal viewer and looking forward to more Bones!
I LOVE “Bones”!! The dedication to complex crimes as well as interesting, warm, funny, loveable, and COMPLEX characters is why I keep coming back. That and – of course – Miss Deschenal and Mr. Boreanez. Both their independent acting abilities (I give David the “Most Improved since Last TV Series” wholeheartedly) and in their awesome non-self-indulgent chemistry!!
I’ll be seeing you Wednesdays!!
Dear Hart,
I love Bones and I think you’re hilarious. I was at the panel at Paley Center a few months ago and really enjoyed it. That being said, I’m glad you’re expected a violent reaction, because after tonight’s ep my reaction is to stop watching the show! Hey, look at that! You didn’t need to make this change to keep the show “alive,” instead you killed it a little yourself. Let’s say manslaughter rather than murder…just poor execution of the plot.
Sorry, and I still think you’re great!
I was really disappointed that what happened in tonights finally. But as Hart said it had to be done… can’t wait how the next season will unfold now!!!
I had a theory about who Gormogon would be when the guy that had been working in Zach’s job was re-introduced during the trial for Brennan’s father. It hinted that Zach’s character would be leaving, although I had thought he would have been the one the funeral was for, not the apprentice. Oh, and that whole funeral thing? That was just cruel. Bones was totally justified in punching him.
Oh, please.
I just watched the episode and I’m appalled.
First: one of the basic laws of writing mysteries is that you don’t ‘unmask’ your criminal mastermind as some clown out of left field that nobody’s ever seen before…unless you want your audience to think you’re a set of incompetent fools.
Second: If you MUST kill off a major character to create buzz for next season (and everybody seems to think they have to, this year), eliminating your best comic talent, from a show that was finally achieving true quality through ensemble chemistry… makes you even more incompetent.
Hart, buddy…you were expecting a “violent reaction” and you want to know “how you’re doing”?
You’re doing really badly. And here’s a reaction for ya: I don’t care what night you’re on, come the fall. I’ll be watching another network, avoiding a television series that could have been one of the best…but is self-destructing out of sheer stupidity.
What a crap ending to a season, and in a just world to a series. I’ve been with the show since it began and for this episode there was no logic, no plot, no believable dialogue (the rambling “first principles exchange sounded like something culled from Silence of the Lambs) and you felt justified in changing almost three years of beautiful characterization for cheap sweeps-week sensationalism. You lost more than your self-respect on this; you’ve lost a lot of loving fans.
My husband and I both turned to each other at the end of the season finale and said “what was that?” Horrible, horrible. Nothing in the show made sense. You take a great and logical character like Zach and make him behave in a way so totally out of character? What idiot made that decision? You just effectively killed off one of the best and most lovable characters on the show for what? I really enjoy David Boreanaz. but I won’t be watching next season.
Hart doesn’t even deserve the violent reaction he’ll get. He’s killed his own show by a choice that is so obviously wrong and stupid, the fact that it was not only suggested, but okayed, and actually followed through on…it’s worse than the obviously wrong and stupid choices Brothers & Sisters made at the end of this season. Did you writers all get together and take a bunch of drugs during the strike? You want to shake things up and essentially kill characters, fine, but at least do it well, eh? This was poorly written and poorly executed. You want to sit there and act like you wrote a good storyline, well next time, write a good storyline. You’re not a good actor, that’s why you’re behind the scenes. I’m done with this show after three seasons and am a big fan of Booth/Bones. Why would anyone have faith in the creative time after tonight? It’s not just the choice, it’s also the poor writing behind it. Hopefully the actors find something else to do, because they deserve much better.
I love Bones, but I wasn’t very happy with the ending. I’m sorry, but I really don’t see why you had to eliminate a character – especially Zack…when they showed him as a student from the beginning & how hard he worked to get the permanent position…I just hate how the most intelligent but “weak” character had to be the one manipulated. I agree with the other posters…to make the most logical person be the one to fall for the Gormogon’s reasoning was utterly ridiculous!! The ending was incredibly sad watching Zack who never seemed to have anyone else on the team to bond with, be the one to be left all alone..it got a gut wrenching response that for me, ended my want to see Bones in the future…oh well, it’s going up against a strong Friday night line up of shows on CBS that I won’t miss to watch Bones…especially not after that ending.
Zack? Really? Sooo, next season the team finds an aging Timmy living in squalor, breeding little Lassies that he trains to kill anyone resembling June Lockhart. Okay, I understand your reasoning on keeping things “fresh”–sort of–but Zack? That’s just depressing.
Now, as for your thoughts on balancing the delightful lighter moments between the characters and “procedure”: Listen to Mr. Boreanaz! Yes, the stories are fascinating, (well,–Zack??) but look at the shows that people buy on DVD to watch over again and again. One of my daughters has the complete Angel series as well as the Buffy series on DVD. She has caused several of her friends to become fans who also buy the series. Another daughter has done the same with Supernatural. The common factor is the depth of caring between the regular characters. Discovering who done it is only interesting once. Watching fine acting, writing, comedy, and friends interacting is always enjoyable to revisit.
Unfortunately, I think it was a HUGE MISTAKE…. He (Addy) had just started to come into his own as a fully involved character which we loved. Given the sound of next season’s schedule, the loss of part of the human and comical pairings, and the issue of wanting to add more “personal” aspects, plus the less of the Gormogonn story…I don’t see a bright future for this show. We were AVID fans to the point where when I mistakenly erased the 1st gormogon story, i was so upset. I would’ve chosen camille soroyan, then sweets…who is becoming a whiny little brat following booth and bones everywhere. The main characters each had a part of a human being, Bones-intelligence and persevering problem-solver, Booth- brawl with a heart, Hodgins- the one who wanted to be normal and the encyclopedia of “particles and soil”, Angela- the soft, cuddly warm-hearted creative person with common sense that filled the gaps of the squints, Zack the innocence with smarts. Others= fluff! BTW, Fri =series killer
Unfortunately, I think it was a HUGE MISTAKE…. He (Addy) had just started to come into his own as a fully involved character which we loved. Given the sound of next season’s schedule, the loss of part of the human and comical pairings, and the issue of wanting to add more “personal” aspects, plus the less of the Gormogonn story…I don’t see a bright future for this show. We were AVID fans to the point where when I mistakenly erased the 1st gormogon story, i was so upset. I would’ve chosen camille soroyan, then sweets…who is becoming a whiny little brat following booth and bones everywhere. The main characters each had a part of a human being, Bones-intelligence and persevering problem-solver, Booth- brawl with a heart, Hodgins- the one who wanted to be normal and the encyclopedia of “particles and soil”, Angela- the soft, cuddly warm-hearted creative person with common sense that filled the gaps of the squints, Zack the innocence with smarts. Others= fluff! BTW, Fri =series killer
THAT SUCKED!! OK, that was F#@?%D ! This show was obviously thrown together last minute. Couldn’t wait to see show even if last epi for season, now looks like last epi from here. TOO BAD-watch seasons 1&2 over-n-over. Don’t know if want 3rd-if there’s enuf to make dvd set. Horrible ending, u finally make a true character out of Zack then take it away. Does seem to be a “FOX” thing, jus like “HOUSE”. Everything made around IDOL which is so fake can’t stand and am tired of so-called ‘reality’ shows. Finally, make something intelligent, funny and interesting- then destroy it with one epi… Never works when u break up ensemble, hint-maybe Zack will wake up from horrible nightmare… Otherwise, ADIOS baby!!!
THAT SUCKED!! OK, that was F#@?%D ! This show was obviously thrown together last minute. Couldn’t wait to see show even if last epi for season, now looks like last epi from here. TOO BAD-watch seasons 1&2 over-n-over. Don’t know if want 3rd-if there’s enuf to make dvd set. Horrible ending, u finally make a true character out of Zack then take it away. Does seem to be a “FOX” thing, jus like “HOUSE”. Everything made around IDOL which is so fake can’t stand and am tired of so-called ‘reality’ shows. Finally, make something intelligent, funny and interesting- then destroy it with one epi… Never works when u break up ensemble, hint-maybe Zack will wake up from horrible nightmare… Otherwise, ADIOS baby!!!
I was surprised that it was Zach, but I think it was the right choice of all the main characters. I love David Boreanaz and that’s why I started watching the show; but, I continue to watch because of the great storylines, both procedural and character-driven. Good job! Keep up the good work.
I loved the end. I know the strike put a major kink in the story. I love the fact they left it open for Zach to make a comeback.
Now I just hope Fox doesn’t kill it. Changing it’s time slot is going to suck.