They actually called it "No Bones About It".....
I went to the “Bones” Q&A---sorry, the “No Bones About It” ::rolls eyes:: Q&A at the Palely Center for Media. The first time I saw “Bones” was at the Paley’s fall preview in 2005 (IIRC, they also screened “Kitchen Confidential” and “Reunion” that year) and I thought it was an okay show, not great. I didn’t think it would last. So it felt good to attend this event.
The event was sold out so I called the center beforehand asking if they sold tickets the night of in case a space became available. When I got there, one of the coordinators was dubious that I’d get in (there are only 100 seats in their main theater. I had the option of seeing it in a viewing room for the same price, but if I was going to pay, I wanted to be in the same room as the cast). As I was waiting, I watched John Francis Daley and Tamara do press. When John came out to go to the Green Room, people stood by watching and you can tell they wanted to say/do something. So a fan said, “Since no one else will…” She asked for his autograph and he signed, so others came over to take pictures. The Center’s handlers came to take him to the Green Room and he bumped into Eric in the hall (there’s a real narrow hall leading to the Green Room/Viewing Room and it’s lined with Al Hirschfield paintings. I guess John went to hug Eric because John ended up knocking a painting down. He looked so embarrassed. It was an actual “Sweets” moment.
No deep questions about the show or the cast were asked or answered. No new plot details were given. And still it was a fantastic panel. That cast enjoys each other immensely. It was like watching a bunch of kids in class when they have a substitute teacher: prone to fits of laughter and mischief in their eyes. They’re in good company because producer Stephen Nathan is the same way and Hart Hanson, the show’s creator, is a riot in a befuddled, yet whip smart way.
It was moderated by Ray Richmond of Hollywood Reporter. Attendees: Hart Hanson, Stephen Nathan, Emily Deschanel, David Boreanaz, Michaela Conlin, Eric Millegan, Tamara Taylor and John Francis Daley. T.J Thyne did not attend due to illness/migraine. The mod couldn’t remember which, but did say it was for a good reason after joking that T.J wasn’t there because he was filming a commercial (T.J is in some commercial airing now) Following the Q&A they screened next week’s episode.
The mod did an introduction referencing a review he gave of the show when it began and then he mentioned how glad he was that no one dances on this show (a point he brings up again in the discussion. Are there procedurals out there with dancing characters? I didn’t understand his reference) except when they’re doing a flirtatious dance. He says, “I don’t know how I feel about that” and the room went still because you just know everyone’s thinking, “Hey! That’s what we want”.
Mod (approximation of the question): Hart, what was the origin of the show? Did having other procedurals like CSI on the air make it easier to get “Bones” made?
Hart: I had an overall deal with 20th (Century Fox)---I was initially working on a legal show, but that deal went bad. It ended up with me owing FOX a pilot. FOX had an option on the property (Bones) and Barry Josephson contacted me and wanted me to do the show I wasn’t interested in doing a forensics show. I thought they'’ fire me instantly and get someone else who could make another CSI.
(he goes on to say how due to tone the show is so unlike other procedurals and that their “strengths are our weakness”. He says David Boreanaz asks why they aren’t doing as well in ratings and Hart feels that Bones is “too different, crazy and not bland enough to be number one”)
Mod: Does the character of “Bones” take after Kathy Reich’s (the author) life?
Hart: Not at all. (he talks about how they do go to her about some things and she gives them suggestions.) I read somewhere, I think it was “Popular Mechanics” that we’re one of the most factual of the forensics shows.
(That gets the cast laughing)
Stephen: “Popular Mechanics?” Didn’t that stop publishing in the 1950s?
Emily: “Popular Science”. We are very accurate.
David: Oh, I’m really accurate with these belt buckles.
Emily: They didn’t say we were “FBI accurate”.
(Then they start talking over each other on why or why not the show is accurate. It was very much a Booth and Brennan moment)
Hart: I get to live with this every day.
David: She starts it…I just partake in it.
Emily: You definitely push my buttons.
Mod: Stephen, how did you go from playing Jesus in “Godspell” to writing?
Stephen: It’s very similar.
David: You were an actor? (laughing)
Stephen: Yes!
David: That is wild!
Stephen: It was when they were still making “Popular Mechanics”
David: That’s insane. (David is still incredulous over this)
Stephen: Did we just meet?
David: It’s like my whole world view is opening up.
Stephen: I’ll sing for you (earlier he talked about how his singing in his office drives Hart insane)
David: You can walk on water!
Stephen: Which is why you should listen to me when I give you notes.
Mod: David, is it nice to have people to say “Hey, Booth!” now instead of “Hey, Angel!”?
David: I embrace all acknowledgment. Sometimes it’s “Hey, asshole, get out the way”. Occasionally when I’m in the mall---I don’t go to the mall that much-but I get “Hey, Angel”. At Dunkin’ Donuts I get “Agent Booth”.
Mod: Emily, how interested were you in forensic anthropology when you got the show?
Emily: I have a degree in forensics (she says it without any change in tone that I think for a minute people thought she was telling the truth). I love forensics documentaries. Like “Forensics File” and “New Detectives”.
(she talked about how she had to stop watching the shows)
Emily: It freaks me out what people do to one another. I would have nightmares. David and I talked about this. It takes its toll (dealing with death everyday on the show). (Some of the cases on the show) are inspired by real stories. These terrible types of murders happen all the time, all over the world. I’ve become immune to it, callous. Now I don’t care anymore. (very tongue-in-cheek)
Stephen: The remains (they use on the show) are so realistic.
Emily: Yeah.
David: What?! It’s just goop.
Stephen: I don’t think they look bad. Those remains are actors who didn’t get the job.
David: I’ve seen writers on that table.
Stephen: The writers are the skeletons with the coffee cup still in their hands.
Mod: Tamara, you joined the cast in the second season. Did they haze you?
Tamara: No, no smearing poop on my trailer door. My first day was hard; I had all my hardest scenes that day.
Emily: She got the job the night before she had to come to set. She had so much dialogue.
Eric: We were already shooting the episode.
Stephen: This show is very thought-out.
Mod: So John, “Freaks and Geeks”….
John: No, this is “Bones”.
David: I thought it was “Angel”.
(The mod asks this stupid non-question about Judd Apatow should’ve been asking him to be in his films instead of Seth Rogen. Does he hate Seth? Does Seth have a restraining order against him? And John responded along the line of, “Yes, he does, but not because of that.”)
Mod: Eric, Zack went off to Iraq, does he come back?
Eric: He is back. I’ve tried to get the scoop from the writers about what happened to Zack while he was there and I asked Stephen, “So what happened?” and he said, “Zack went to Iraq and now he’s back.”
(Hart tells that they did have a story about Zack’s time in Iraq but because of the writers strike they didn’t do it. And the storyline was inspired by Eric’s brother who has to return to Iraq.
Mod: He volunteered to go back?
Eric: He didn’t volunteer, but he’s going back. He’s a psychiatrist.
Hart: How odd is it that the Millegan family would produce a psychiatrist. If you knew the Millegan family it’ s not a surprise.
Mod: Michaela, what is it like working with these people?
Michaela: It’s great. I’ve done shows that I’m sure people have never heard of and they didn’t last and to think that we’re here…David’s son is six…
Emily: Almost six.
Michaela: …That we’ve been doing this for so long is amazing. We work 16 hours days and we’re laughing 80% of the time.
Mod: 16 hours? But the show is only an hour long.
Hart: We shot 16 episodes.
Mod: Speaking of dysfunctional, what was it like working with Ryan O’Neal? (the mod made himself look like a total fool because he addressed this to David saying that Ryan played his father. Wouldn’t you fact check that? If you know that Ryan was a guest star, wouldn’t you also know who he played?)
Emily: I loved working with him. He’s a great resource for stories. He’s professional, always brings his A game. He puts all of his passion in his work. He’s a relaxed guy.
Mod: That runs counter to what the tabloids tell us.
Hart: He was working with us during that last story (IIRC this was when Ryan’s daughter-in-law accused him of beating her up) and you guys, the paparazzi were following him. We finished his last scene and he walked outside and there you guys were and he said, “C’mon, let’s go back to Malibu!”
David: The last time he was on the Fox lot was when he did “Peyton Place” and he would tell us stories about Frank Sinatra and Mia Farrow. He has that twinkle in the eye that you see in actors (who love what they’re doing. He just goes on and just praises Ryan) He’s been a gift. (He stops finally and pretends to break down in tears)
Hart: We really love Ryan.
(The Mod tries to backtrack and say that he wasn’t trying to infer anything about his character, even though you know he was.)
Mod: I’m sure he’s a great guy.
Stephen: Ryan tried to shoot me.
Mod: What was it like during the writers strike and what about the possibility of the actors going on strike?
Hart: I think actors make enough money and if they spend it wisely, you should be able to make it through (a strike). That’s not the case with a lot of writers and beneath the line workers. We were able to get a couple of shows posted without our involvement (while they were on strike), but the cast were very supportive. They were out there on the line with us. I gotta say, getting the show back up on its feet after this strike is as tough as it was during the first season.
Eric: It feels like we never left.
Stephen: Yeah, you’re looking for scripts and there are none.
Hart: About the actors strike…I’m in complete and utter denial. It’s not going to happen.
John: Oh, it’s happening!
Hart: If it does, we have to support them like they supported us. It was really touching.
Eric: I turned down an appearance on “The View”…which I’ve worked my whole life to get!
David: I was watching Led Zeppelin. I called Hart on the picket line.
Hart: Everyone made a sacrifice. David texted me from the concert, “What’s the thing with the bow?” “Robert Plant sings really high”.
(Mod asks a question about the cannibal storyline and if it has been in the works since the show’s inception. Then Hart says something about it being a chance to have teeth on bones/eating bones)
Hart: Did I just make an oral sex joke? I’m sorry and there’s a kid here.
Emily: You shouldn’t draw attention to it.
Mod: It’s like the Janet Jackson Super Bowl incident where everyone was disgusted but they would slow it down and play it back for weeks.
(the moderator suggests a storyline about Booth and Brennan getting married and having seven children. David shifts uncomfortably a’la Booth when presented with the prospect of marriage)
David (to Emily): How many children do you want to have?
Emily: Brennan doesn’t want children. She doesn’t have good material instincts.
Eric: “Material”?
Emily: Maternal instincts.
David: It’s a need. (and David and Em embark on this debate about Brennan and motherhood and why she should/shouldn't do it) We can’t produce milk, you women have ducts. It’s a beautiful child and it comes down. I think it’ll be great.
(Hart mentions in an upcoming episode they have to take care of a child)
David: We have a child in an episode and she…
Emily: It grew on Brennan.
David: If it grows on you that means you want a baby! (To the others) Back me up on this! We have to go to work on this.
Stephen (to the audience): If you want to go get something to eat-----
Hart: As I said, our strengths are our weaknesses.
(The mod asks if at this point the cast can sit back and not worry about the state of the show (ratings. Renewals)
Hart: There was an article, I think I read it in Mediaweek that there are three shows in the last eight years that continue to grow (ratings wise) “America’s Funniest Home Videos”, us and “House”. When the fans followed us around, to Friday nights, to different times, we knew we had legs. We’re a tough, mighty show.
(Hart goes on to say how FOX never tells them how they are doing. He only found out they were getting to make additional episodes is when a friend of his who works in another area of FOX told him. So he feels that he’ll not call Kevin Reilly because if he does he’s afraid he’ll get bad news)
Stephen: It’s like we’re in the bowels of the ship, shoveling coals and everyone else is partying upstairs.
Mod: At least you’re not a dancing show (the cast starts tossing out times where a character has danced)
Hart: We’re a dancing show.
Mod: Maybe you can do a crossover show in a bit of synergy with “American Idol”.
Hart: We’ve had “American Idol” stars on our show.
Stephen: Ace was dreamy.
Mod: Do you have any spoilers? Secrets that’ll ruin the show (meaning ruining upcoming eppys for viewers)
Hart: We’re full of things to ruin the show.
(They go to the audience for questions)
Q (from the little kid): How do you get the skeletons? Are they real?
Hart: There are laws that prevent us from using real skeletons. They’re made by these guys---the Yeagher brothers and they look like nice guys, but they make them and it’s horrible. And they ask horrible questions like, “Do you want them to be burned and crusted?” “Do you want the liver to show?”
David: They get paid a lot of money to do that.
Emily: Maybe you want to do that.
Q: Do you get notes from the network asking you to tone down the gore?
Stephen: We had an episode with a decomposing body in a tub. You couldn’t see anything just a tub of goo and a top of a head and the note was “Oh, no you can’t do that!” And I said, “But you can’t see anything.” And they said, “But I can imagine it” How can I cut what you imagine?? We try to make the audience imagine more than what they actually see. Sometimes we compromise. Instead of showing a scene for 4 seconds, we do it in 2.
Hart: Stephen is so good. He can-is anyone from Standards and Practices here? He can argue with these people for hours until they drop dead. He’s always hollering about “24”. ‘They shoot people in the faces’
Stephen: ‘Jack Bauer is shooting people in the leg!’
Hart: Stephen’s yelling, ‘Fascists! Fascists!’
(I missed the beginning of the question, but I think the guy asked if Zack was the cannibal or killer)
Eric: Are you kidding me? He drives a motorcycle, I can’t even drive.
David: I think it’s Booth’s evil, twisted brother who we haven’t met yet.
Q:Michaela and Emily, the dynamics between your characters is so cute and funny. Are you close in real life?
Emily and Michaela: Thank you.
Michaela: The pilot was this first time we met. And we were going for a fitting and it’s a TV show so they want to dress you scantily, and Emily turns to me…I don’t think we knew each other more than ten minutes, she asked me to let her know if her rear end was hanging out. That’s when I knew we’d be friends.
Emily: I consider her a close friend. I’m happy to do this show with great people. It’s nice to do those scenes together. I enjoy them.
David: When we rehearse they’re always (makes yapping gestures with his fingers). I think Booth should get a mani-pedi with them. I embrace it fully. I want to have a baby with all of them. My job’s great!
Q) I have a multi-layered question (and they actually let him ask all three). Do you visit the “Boneyard”?
Hart: Yes.
Eric: I have.
David: What’s the Boneyard?
(the guy explains it’s the FOX Bones message board)
Hart (to David): You know, the internet.
Emily: I thought he meant the actual thing.
(David pretends to write it down on his hand)
Eric: I posted there once because I didn’t like what was being said. (mimics typing angrily) ‘That’s not right!’ But only once.
Stephen: It’s easy to know it was Eric. He’s RedGlasses346 (Eric had on red glasses like Sally Jessy Raphael)
(the guy continues with his question and remarks about David intimating that he wanted to not be in every episode and that he gave fans a heart attack and that if he did leave there’d be fans who’d stop watching)
David: That’s kind of you. The show is a collective unified group. We wouldn’t be here without everyone here. We have a relationship that we honor and love. The show is not about one individual.
Hart: David’s directing an episode and he said, “Please, don’t write me out of any scenes”, but he did want to be written down. So if you don’t see Booth in a scene as much it’s because David is prepping the next episode.
(the guy ask his final question about the Flyers, David’s favorite hockey team)
Emily: It’s a good day if the Flyers win. Not if they don’t win, which won’t happen, but if it does, it won’t be a very good day.
(The mod announces that we’re out of time and that they’re going to screen an episode)
Hart: How did it go? Did it go all right?
(everyone applauds. Hart begins his introduction to the episode. He pulls out a sheet of paper from his pocket. David tries to snatch it from him. He even walks over to Hart and tries to grab it from him)
Hart: David knows that if I try to speak without a script it just devolves.
(now Emily tries to snatch it from him)
Hart: I was asked to give a toast at Barry Josephson’s wedding)
David: Why would you bring that up?
Hart: And someone said afterwards, “It says toast, not roast”.
(he begins a really heartfelt introduction talking about how they do visit the boards, ‘But not David’, and how it’s a ‘weird, little show that appeals to a certain population’. At one point he says “United States of America” and then says, “You can tell I’m not an American because American’s don’t say “United States of America”.
Emily: He’s Canadian.
And continues on about how the cast and (gesturing to Emily and David) ‘What happens between them is why you tune in, at least that’s what I think”. He says that the S3 DVD will feature the steamier version of the mistletoe kiss.
David puts his arm around Emily, plays with her hair. )
David: That was quite a day.
(He pulls his chair closer to her and takes her chin in his hand and she looks as flustered as she did on the outtake of her preparing for that kiss with David)
Mod: Is this the introduction? (because this has now gone into five or six minutes and he hasn’t referenced the episode at all. He finally talks about the episode and because it’s a spoiler I won’t write it here. This led Emily, David and Eric to discuss what was going on behind the scenes of the episode. Hart is scanning the audience to thank some writers and David has taken to mimic him.)
Stephen (to Hart): Now that you’re warmed up and relax, you can do it again.
(Hart collapses in his chair and that’s when the panel ended)
The cast began to leave so more than half the crowd went to the lobby to take pictures and get autographs. David darted out pretty quickly, but the others hung around a bit. I took pictures, I listened as Hart expressed his surprise at people wanting his autograph (“No one wants writer’s autographs). Then as I was taking the last photos of Michaela, I went to delete a bad picture to make room because I don’t have an actual memory card, just the small default memory on the camera. I mistakenly hit a button that deletes ALL THE PICTURES IN MEMORY. I turned off the camera hoping it would stop it. I turned it back on and I saw that there were 26 images left. I took that to mean I had only deleted a few of the images on my camera. No. I had room for 26 images because the memory was empty. I deleted everything on my camera. Thankfully I had uploaded most, if not all, of the pictures that were on my camera. Which is the only good thing to come out of all of this because those were my Paley pics.
Only picture I managed to get after the mass deletion.
Exactly Tamara. Exactly.
The event was sold out so I called the center beforehand asking if they sold tickets the night of in case a space became available. When I got there, one of the coordinators was dubious that I’d get in (there are only 100 seats in their main theater. I had the option of seeing it in a viewing room for the same price, but if I was going to pay, I wanted to be in the same room as the cast). As I was waiting, I watched John Francis Daley and Tamara do press. When John came out to go to the Green Room, people stood by watching and you can tell they wanted to say/do something. So a fan said, “Since no one else will…” She asked for his autograph and he signed, so others came over to take pictures. The Center’s handlers came to take him to the Green Room and he bumped into Eric in the hall (there’s a real narrow hall leading to the Green Room/Viewing Room and it’s lined with Al Hirschfield paintings. I guess John went to hug Eric because John ended up knocking a painting down. He looked so embarrassed. It was an actual “Sweets” moment.
No deep questions about the show or the cast were asked or answered. No new plot details were given. And still it was a fantastic panel. That cast enjoys each other immensely. It was like watching a bunch of kids in class when they have a substitute teacher: prone to fits of laughter and mischief in their eyes. They’re in good company because producer Stephen Nathan is the same way and Hart Hanson, the show’s creator, is a riot in a befuddled, yet whip smart way.
It was moderated by Ray Richmond of Hollywood Reporter. Attendees: Hart Hanson, Stephen Nathan, Emily Deschanel, David Boreanaz, Michaela Conlin, Eric Millegan, Tamara Taylor and John Francis Daley. T.J Thyne did not attend due to illness/migraine. The mod couldn’t remember which, but did say it was for a good reason after joking that T.J wasn’t there because he was filming a commercial (T.J is in some commercial airing now) Following the Q&A they screened next week’s episode.
The mod did an introduction referencing a review he gave of the show when it began and then he mentioned how glad he was that no one dances on this show (a point he brings up again in the discussion. Are there procedurals out there with dancing characters? I didn’t understand his reference) except when they’re doing a flirtatious dance. He says, “I don’t know how I feel about that” and the room went still because you just know everyone’s thinking, “Hey! That’s what we want”.
Mod (approximation of the question): Hart, what was the origin of the show? Did having other procedurals like CSI on the air make it easier to get “Bones” made?
Hart: I had an overall deal with 20th (Century Fox)---I was initially working on a legal show, but that deal went bad. It ended up with me owing FOX a pilot. FOX had an option on the property (Bones) and Barry Josephson contacted me and wanted me to do the show I wasn’t interested in doing a forensics show. I thought they'’ fire me instantly and get someone else who could make another CSI.
(he goes on to say how due to tone the show is so unlike other procedurals and that their “strengths are our weakness”. He says David Boreanaz asks why they aren’t doing as well in ratings and Hart feels that Bones is “too different, crazy and not bland enough to be number one”)
Mod: Does the character of “Bones” take after Kathy Reich’s (the author) life?
Hart: Not at all. (he talks about how they do go to her about some things and she gives them suggestions.) I read somewhere, I think it was “Popular Mechanics” that we’re one of the most factual of the forensics shows.
(That gets the cast laughing)
Stephen: “Popular Mechanics?” Didn’t that stop publishing in the 1950s?
Emily: “Popular Science”. We are very accurate.
David: Oh, I’m really accurate with these belt buckles.
Emily: They didn’t say we were “FBI accurate”.
(Then they start talking over each other on why or why not the show is accurate. It was very much a Booth and Brennan moment)
Hart: I get to live with this every day.
David: She starts it…I just partake in it.
Emily: You definitely push my buttons.
Mod: Stephen, how did you go from playing Jesus in “Godspell” to writing?
Stephen: It’s very similar.
David: You were an actor? (laughing)
Stephen: Yes!
David: That is wild!
Stephen: It was when they were still making “Popular Mechanics”
David: That’s insane. (David is still incredulous over this)
Stephen: Did we just meet?
David: It’s like my whole world view is opening up.
Stephen: I’ll sing for you (earlier he talked about how his singing in his office drives Hart insane)
David: You can walk on water!
Stephen: Which is why you should listen to me when I give you notes.
Mod: David, is it nice to have people to say “Hey, Booth!” now instead of “Hey, Angel!”?
David: I embrace all acknowledgment. Sometimes it’s “Hey, asshole, get out the way”. Occasionally when I’m in the mall---I don’t go to the mall that much-but I get “Hey, Angel”. At Dunkin’ Donuts I get “Agent Booth”.
Mod: Emily, how interested were you in forensic anthropology when you got the show?
Emily: I have a degree in forensics (she says it without any change in tone that I think for a minute people thought she was telling the truth). I love forensics documentaries. Like “Forensics File” and “New Detectives”.
(she talked about how she had to stop watching the shows)
Emily: It freaks me out what people do to one another. I would have nightmares. David and I talked about this. It takes its toll (dealing with death everyday on the show). (Some of the cases on the show) are inspired by real stories. These terrible types of murders happen all the time, all over the world. I’ve become immune to it, callous. Now I don’t care anymore. (very tongue-in-cheek)
Stephen: The remains (they use on the show) are so realistic.
Emily: Yeah.
David: What?! It’s just goop.
Stephen: I don’t think they look bad. Those remains are actors who didn’t get the job.
David: I’ve seen writers on that table.
Stephen: The writers are the skeletons with the coffee cup still in their hands.
Mod: Tamara, you joined the cast in the second season. Did they haze you?
Tamara: No, no smearing poop on my trailer door. My first day was hard; I had all my hardest scenes that day.
Emily: She got the job the night before she had to come to set. She had so much dialogue.
Eric: We were already shooting the episode.
Stephen: This show is very thought-out.
Mod: So John, “Freaks and Geeks”….
John: No, this is “Bones”.
David: I thought it was “Angel”.
(The mod asks this stupid non-question about Judd Apatow should’ve been asking him to be in his films instead of Seth Rogen. Does he hate Seth? Does Seth have a restraining order against him? And John responded along the line of, “Yes, he does, but not because of that.”)
Mod: Eric, Zack went off to Iraq, does he come back?
Eric: He is back. I’ve tried to get the scoop from the writers about what happened to Zack while he was there and I asked Stephen, “So what happened?” and he said, “Zack went to Iraq and now he’s back.”
(Hart tells that they did have a story about Zack’s time in Iraq but because of the writers strike they didn’t do it. And the storyline was inspired by Eric’s brother who has to return to Iraq.
Mod: He volunteered to go back?
Eric: He didn’t volunteer, but he’s going back. He’s a psychiatrist.
Hart: How odd is it that the Millegan family would produce a psychiatrist. If you knew the Millegan family it’ s not a surprise.
Mod: Michaela, what is it like working with these people?
Michaela: It’s great. I’ve done shows that I’m sure people have never heard of and they didn’t last and to think that we’re here…David’s son is six…
Emily: Almost six.
Michaela: …That we’ve been doing this for so long is amazing. We work 16 hours days and we’re laughing 80% of the time.
Mod: 16 hours? But the show is only an hour long.
Hart: We shot 16 episodes.
Mod: Speaking of dysfunctional, what was it like working with Ryan O’Neal? (the mod made himself look like a total fool because he addressed this to David saying that Ryan played his father. Wouldn’t you fact check that? If you know that Ryan was a guest star, wouldn’t you also know who he played?)
Emily: I loved working with him. He’s a great resource for stories. He’s professional, always brings his A game. He puts all of his passion in his work. He’s a relaxed guy.
Mod: That runs counter to what the tabloids tell us.
Hart: He was working with us during that last story (IIRC this was when Ryan’s daughter-in-law accused him of beating her up) and you guys, the paparazzi were following him. We finished his last scene and he walked outside and there you guys were and he said, “C’mon, let’s go back to Malibu!”
David: The last time he was on the Fox lot was when he did “Peyton Place” and he would tell us stories about Frank Sinatra and Mia Farrow. He has that twinkle in the eye that you see in actors (who love what they’re doing. He just goes on and just praises Ryan) He’s been a gift. (He stops finally and pretends to break down in tears)
Hart: We really love Ryan.
(The Mod tries to backtrack and say that he wasn’t trying to infer anything about his character, even though you know he was.)
Mod: I’m sure he’s a great guy.
Stephen: Ryan tried to shoot me.
Mod: What was it like during the writers strike and what about the possibility of the actors going on strike?
Hart: I think actors make enough money and if they spend it wisely, you should be able to make it through (a strike). That’s not the case with a lot of writers and beneath the line workers. We were able to get a couple of shows posted without our involvement (while they were on strike), but the cast were very supportive. They were out there on the line with us. I gotta say, getting the show back up on its feet after this strike is as tough as it was during the first season.
Eric: It feels like we never left.
Stephen: Yeah, you’re looking for scripts and there are none.
Hart: About the actors strike…I’m in complete and utter denial. It’s not going to happen.
John: Oh, it’s happening!
Hart: If it does, we have to support them like they supported us. It was really touching.
Eric: I turned down an appearance on “The View”…which I’ve worked my whole life to get!
David: I was watching Led Zeppelin. I called Hart on the picket line.
Hart: Everyone made a sacrifice. David texted me from the concert, “What’s the thing with the bow?” “Robert Plant sings really high”.
(Mod asks a question about the cannibal storyline and if it has been in the works since the show’s inception. Then Hart says something about it being a chance to have teeth on bones/eating bones)
Hart: Did I just make an oral sex joke? I’m sorry and there’s a kid here.
Emily: You shouldn’t draw attention to it.
Mod: It’s like the Janet Jackson Super Bowl incident where everyone was disgusted but they would slow it down and play it back for weeks.
(the moderator suggests a storyline about Booth and Brennan getting married and having seven children. David shifts uncomfortably a’la Booth when presented with the prospect of marriage)
David (to Emily): How many children do you want to have?
Emily: Brennan doesn’t want children. She doesn’t have good material instincts.
Eric: “Material”?
Emily: Maternal instincts.
David: It’s a need. (and David and Em embark on this debate about Brennan and motherhood and why she should/shouldn't do it) We can’t produce milk, you women have ducts. It’s a beautiful child and it comes down. I think it’ll be great.
(Hart mentions in an upcoming episode they have to take care of a child)
David: We have a child in an episode and she…
Emily: It grew on Brennan.
David: If it grows on you that means you want a baby! (To the others) Back me up on this! We have to go to work on this.
Stephen (to the audience): If you want to go get something to eat-----
Hart: As I said, our strengths are our weaknesses.
(The mod asks if at this point the cast can sit back and not worry about the state of the show (ratings. Renewals)
Hart: There was an article, I think I read it in Mediaweek that there are three shows in the last eight years that continue to grow (ratings wise) “America’s Funniest Home Videos”, us and “House”. When the fans followed us around, to Friday nights, to different times, we knew we had legs. We’re a tough, mighty show.
(Hart goes on to say how FOX never tells them how they are doing. He only found out they were getting to make additional episodes is when a friend of his who works in another area of FOX told him. So he feels that he’ll not call Kevin Reilly because if he does he’s afraid he’ll get bad news)
Stephen: It’s like we’re in the bowels of the ship, shoveling coals and everyone else is partying upstairs.
Mod: At least you’re not a dancing show (the cast starts tossing out times where a character has danced)
Hart: We’re a dancing show.
Mod: Maybe you can do a crossover show in a bit of synergy with “American Idol”.
Hart: We’ve had “American Idol” stars on our show.
Stephen: Ace was dreamy.
Mod: Do you have any spoilers? Secrets that’ll ruin the show (meaning ruining upcoming eppys for viewers)
Hart: We’re full of things to ruin the show.
(They go to the audience for questions)
Q (from the little kid): How do you get the skeletons? Are they real?
Hart: There are laws that prevent us from using real skeletons. They’re made by these guys---the Yeagher brothers and they look like nice guys, but they make them and it’s horrible. And they ask horrible questions like, “Do you want them to be burned and crusted?” “Do you want the liver to show?”
David: They get paid a lot of money to do that.
Emily: Maybe you want to do that.
Q: Do you get notes from the network asking you to tone down the gore?
Stephen: We had an episode with a decomposing body in a tub. You couldn’t see anything just a tub of goo and a top of a head and the note was “Oh, no you can’t do that!” And I said, “But you can’t see anything.” And they said, “But I can imagine it” How can I cut what you imagine?? We try to make the audience imagine more than what they actually see. Sometimes we compromise. Instead of showing a scene for 4 seconds, we do it in 2.
Hart: Stephen is so good. He can-is anyone from Standards and Practices here? He can argue with these people for hours until they drop dead. He’s always hollering about “24”. ‘They shoot people in the faces’
Stephen: ‘Jack Bauer is shooting people in the leg!’
Hart: Stephen’s yelling, ‘Fascists! Fascists!’
(I missed the beginning of the question, but I think the guy asked if Zack was the cannibal or killer)
Eric: Are you kidding me? He drives a motorcycle, I can’t even drive.
David: I think it’s Booth’s evil, twisted brother who we haven’t met yet.
Q:Michaela and Emily, the dynamics between your characters is so cute and funny. Are you close in real life?
Emily and Michaela: Thank you.
Michaela: The pilot was this first time we met. And we were going for a fitting and it’s a TV show so they want to dress you scantily, and Emily turns to me…I don’t think we knew each other more than ten minutes, she asked me to let her know if her rear end was hanging out. That’s when I knew we’d be friends.
Emily: I consider her a close friend. I’m happy to do this show with great people. It’s nice to do those scenes together. I enjoy them.
David: When we rehearse they’re always (makes yapping gestures with his fingers). I think Booth should get a mani-pedi with them. I embrace it fully. I want to have a baby with all of them. My job’s great!
Q) I have a multi-layered question (and they actually let him ask all three). Do you visit the “Boneyard”?
Hart: Yes.
Eric: I have.
David: What’s the Boneyard?
(the guy explains it’s the FOX Bones message board)
Hart (to David): You know, the internet.
Emily: I thought he meant the actual thing.
(David pretends to write it down on his hand)
Eric: I posted there once because I didn’t like what was being said. (mimics typing angrily) ‘That’s not right!’ But only once.
Stephen: It’s easy to know it was Eric. He’s RedGlasses346 (Eric had on red glasses like Sally Jessy Raphael)
(the guy continues with his question and remarks about David intimating that he wanted to not be in every episode and that he gave fans a heart attack and that if he did leave there’d be fans who’d stop watching)
David: That’s kind of you. The show is a collective unified group. We wouldn’t be here without everyone here. We have a relationship that we honor and love. The show is not about one individual.
Hart: David’s directing an episode and he said, “Please, don’t write me out of any scenes”, but he did want to be written down. So if you don’t see Booth in a scene as much it’s because David is prepping the next episode.
(the guy ask his final question about the Flyers, David’s favorite hockey team)
Emily: It’s a good day if the Flyers win. Not if they don’t win, which won’t happen, but if it does, it won’t be a very good day.
(The mod announces that we’re out of time and that they’re going to screen an episode)
Hart: How did it go? Did it go all right?
(everyone applauds. Hart begins his introduction to the episode. He pulls out a sheet of paper from his pocket. David tries to snatch it from him. He even walks over to Hart and tries to grab it from him)
Hart: David knows that if I try to speak without a script it just devolves.
(now Emily tries to snatch it from him)
Hart: I was asked to give a toast at Barry Josephson’s wedding)
David: Why would you bring that up?
Hart: And someone said afterwards, “It says toast, not roast”.
(he begins a really heartfelt introduction talking about how they do visit the boards, ‘But not David’, and how it’s a ‘weird, little show that appeals to a certain population’. At one point he says “United States of America” and then says, “You can tell I’m not an American because American’s don’t say “United States of America”.
Emily: He’s Canadian.
And continues on about how the cast and (gesturing to Emily and David) ‘What happens between them is why you tune in, at least that’s what I think”. He says that the S3 DVD will feature the steamier version of the mistletoe kiss.
David puts his arm around Emily, plays with her hair. )
David: That was quite a day.
(He pulls his chair closer to her and takes her chin in his hand and she looks as flustered as she did on the outtake of her preparing for that kiss with David)
Mod: Is this the introduction? (because this has now gone into five or six minutes and he hasn’t referenced the episode at all. He finally talks about the episode and because it’s a spoiler I won’t write it here. This led Emily, David and Eric to discuss what was going on behind the scenes of the episode. Hart is scanning the audience to thank some writers and David has taken to mimic him.)
Stephen (to Hart): Now that you’re warmed up and relax, you can do it again.
(Hart collapses in his chair and that’s when the panel ended)
The cast began to leave so more than half the crowd went to the lobby to take pictures and get autographs. David darted out pretty quickly, but the others hung around a bit. I took pictures, I listened as Hart expressed his surprise at people wanting his autograph (“No one wants writer’s autographs). Then as I was taking the last photos of Michaela, I went to delete a bad picture to make room because I don’t have an actual memory card, just the small default memory on the camera. I mistakenly hit a button that deletes ALL THE PICTURES IN MEMORY. I turned off the camera hoping it would stop it. I turned it back on and I saw that there were 26 images left. I took that to mean I had only deleted a few of the images on my camera. No. I had room for 26 images because the memory was empty. I deleted everything on my camera. Thankfully I had uploaded most, if not all, of the pictures that were on my camera. Which is the only good thing to come out of all of this because those were my Paley pics.
Only picture I managed to get after the mass deletion.
Exactly Tamara. Exactly.
