Bones, season 4 (1 Viewer)

[mattCR]

I have a short list of shows I really enjoy every week. This show has some of the best cast chemistry of any show on TV.

It's easily, by far and away, the best procedural type show on TV.

 

[Nick Martin]

Thursdays at 8pm while Ugly Betty is on?

DAMN that sucks.

 

[Rhett_Y]

A little late to this thread, but the scene with cold play, cold play, cold play had me laughing pretty hard. That was a great scene.

So far both me and the wife are enjoying this season. Especially last weeks episode!

 

[KevinGress]

Fridays would have been worse for me as a lot of my TV watching comes from Friday nights. I just wish FOX would figure out a spot for it and then keep it there. This constant moving around gives me the idea that FOX wants to get rid of it.

And I agree with mattCR, very few shows have the chemistry that BONES has, and that's why I enjoy watching it over and over, unlike many shows.

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

If Fox wanted to get rid of it, they'd get rid of it. They're the network, they make the decision. It isn't like they have to justify it to some third party. Generally speaking a network will move a show that is doing well to a different night that isn't, in the hope of bringing its audience along and goosing the ratings of the rest of the shows on that night. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

Regards,

Joe

 

[Jason Seaver]

Eh, it's just the nature of Fox's schedule - 24 and American Idol premiering in January works very well for them, but it does necessitate moving other things around. I think some of the other schedule changes for Bones actually speak well of the show's growing strength - it's no longer a rookie/sophomore show that needs to be protected by being paired with House, but a bona fide hit on its own that can lead off the most lucrative night on the schedule.

And, for what it's worth, I think Thursday at 8pm is where it will wind up for the duration - I think it probably should have been there last year, but it's a good fit: There's no other crime in that slot, it appeals to a broad audience, and it has proven its ability to start a night.

 

[JediFonger]

no comment on the latest ep?

did we know that the psychiatrist was going out with the annoyingly chatty chic from before? i can't remember now.

 

[Nick Martin]

They met in her first episode.

 

[KevinGress]

And at the end of the episode, he asked her out over the phone - which I thought was the case, but had forgotten.

As far as moving the show around - I do know that in the past it was a tactic used by networks to deal with shows that had a decent, but not great following and wanted to get rid of it- keep moving it and people wouldn't know it was on, then quit watching. I'll concede that it's probably a lot less relevant today with DVRs and their ability to record new episodes no matter when on.

Can someone report on how well the show is doing? I just read an article today about NCIS on how it's become a top 5 show and it's because it's character driven. Given that's exactly what Bones is, I'd love to hear that Bones is slowly moving up the Nielsen ratings into the top 20 or so.

 

[Jason Seaver]

I tend to doubt that, when the opposite motivation is just as plausible - the show has a decent, but not great following and the network was trying to find the spot where it could step up. If a network wants to get rid of a show, there's no need to do much more than stop showing it.

 

[Nick Martin]

Stop showing it and replace it with reruns of whatever Fox reality poison they have lying around.

 

[Patrick Sun]

Ratings for Bones - since they were recently pre-empted by the baseball playoffs and World Series in October, the last 2 weeks of ratings, Bones came in 21st and 20th place for last week in September and first week in October. But Bones does win its timeslots on Wednesdays.

 

[mattCR]

Top20 (or around there) isn't bad at all in a bunched up world with tons of cable offerings, etc. I'm sure Fox is pretty content with that.

 

[Patrick Sun]

For just a second, I thought of "Breaking Bad" based on the opening.

The Bones/Booth stuff was a little heartbreaking, delving deeper into Booth's family and the ties that bind.

 

[KevinGress]

I thought it was great - showing that Bones isn't just some CSI-light type of show. The Booths' storyline was deep and thoughtful.

Loved the whole episode - Booth being all Jack Ryan/"white hat", Brennan thinking he sabotages his success, and realizing later it's for more important reasons, and Booth's reaction to the idea that Brennan might think he's a loser. And Cam, knowing both Booths, being there for Seely.

I think this has vaulted into my top 5 episodes.

And if Bones is, indeed, a top 20 show, or close to it, then it should be around for awhile!

 

[Robert Floto]

I liked Bones running back into the shot and pushing Jared off the barstool. That was unexpected.

 

[JediFonger]

that was a surprisingly dramatic episode for a seriez not really bent on exploring the dramatic side =P. this episode and the one where booth had to rescue bones&hodge buried underneath are awesome episodes.

speaking of which, have they completely dropped the toothfairy serial killer storyline? shouldn't he be coming back to stalking them or is it a one of a kind ep and that's it?

 

[Stan]

I'm still surprised networks put so much effort into when to schedule things. Ever since VCRs came out, I've rarely watched a show when it was broadcast.

I don't really care when a show is broadcast, 90% of the time I watch it later, when it fits my schedule. Most one hour shows now can be viewed in around 40 minutes, when you cut out the commercials, credits, etc. A lot of cable shows also fill time with "coming up after the break" then repeat the previous minute or so after the ads, so you can cut even more time out.

With Comcast, they have a lot of CBS shows "On Demand". There are also other channels I've bumped into that show repeats of the current episode of Heroes, House and others.

Anyhow, I think Bones has the quality and fan base that it can survive being bounced around the schedule.

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

That's because you are looking at this from the perspective of a TV viewer, and not a network programmer.

There is a widespread misconception that the networks are in the business of delivering entertainment to the public. They aren't. They are in the business of delivering eyeballs to advertisers. TV networks don't sell TV shows, and they don't sell the products whose ads they carry. They sell you and me. That's how the business model works.

Although in recent years there has been some effort to "score" time-shifted viewing for ratings purposes, the advertisers know perfectly well that most of the time most of us are skipping their ads. So for the network there is effectively no difference (in terms of revenue) between your watching one of their shows on a VCR or DVR and your not watching it at all. With few exceptions TV networks don't share directly in reruns, foreign sales or home video sales of TV shows, even when the producing studio is a corporate sibling. They make their money based on the rates their ratings let them charge advertisers, and those ratings are based on live viewership. The advertisers only want to pay for people who actually see their ads.

So of course scheduling and ratings are critical. The days of advertising-supported "free" TV may well be numbered, in part because so many of us time shift our way through the schedule and skip those "annoying" commercials that pay for the whole thing.

Regards,

Joe

 

[KevinGress]

Thought I'd mention it here, but season 3 is out on DVD today!