LOS ANGELES — Hart Hanson is the hidden face of Bones.
And if he’s looking pretty self-satisfied these days, it’s with good reason. The Mississauga, Ont.-raised creator, executive producer and head writer of Bones is riding herd over one of prime time television’s fastest-growing dramas.
On the 20th Century Fox lot where Bones is filmed, Hanson trades witticisms and barbs with stars Emily Deschanel and David Boreanaz after the day’s shoot.
Bones is about to begin its fifth season, and the darkly comic procedural about seemingly mismatched forensic examiners with a growing attraction for each other is coming off its highest-rated season yet.
Bones was loosely based on the life of forensic anthropologist and crime novelist Kathy Reichs. The show ranked a middling 60th in the U.S. Nielsen ratings when it debuted in 2005, with a shade under nine million viewers.
The following year, it rose to 50th, and the year after that, 47th. Last season, Bones edged close to 10 million viewers, good enough to land it in 33rd place. Bones is defying the TV trend that says indifferent debuts almost invariably result in diminishing returns.
Hanson, who has written for Canadian series Traders, Neon Rider, The Odyssey, Road To Avonlea and Ready or Not, says a TV show’s success depends on its writing. But Bones has also clicked because Boreanaz and Deschanel are not cookie-cutter Hollywood models, and they have genuine rapport off-screen. They like each other. Chemistry is one thing you can’t fake, Hanson says.
“They tease each other all the time,” Hanson explained. “And that proves this thing we do, this thing we have, works. Taken out of context, teasing can be hurtful. We’ve learned to trust each other, implicitly.”
Boreanaz, who won the role because, as Hanson noted at the time, he didn’t fit the Hollywood mould of “pretty boy waifs,” says they respect each other.
“If I’m having a bad day or she’s having a bad day, we can talk about it and get through it and use it in our work. It works for us. It motivates the scene and pushes the scene along, and it also helps us find out something new about each other,” says the actor.
In the season opener, Seeley Booth (Boreanaz) and Temperance Brennan’s (Deschanel) on-again/off-again relationship will become more clear, Hanson says, although he’s not about the reveal details.
Deschanel says that one of the things that appeals to her about Brennan’s character is her innocence.
“She has no idea who Britney Spears is, or anything pop-culture related at all. Which I love.
“It’s as though she filled her brain with entirely useful information that she uses in her day-to-day life, so why would she fill it with anything frivolous like Britney Spears?” Deschanel says.
“But I also love the fact that she has contradictions. Brennan did know, for example, who Stewie was from Family Guy. We all have people in our lives who surprise us, and I think that’s what makes it so human.”
Canwest News Service
on DVD today at 
as well at