Ask Matt: May 7

Question: I don't know if it's just me, but lately ever since Bones has added baby Christine to the show it seems like she is the center of the show's attention now. Like there is never a scene in the show where they have not mentioned her or her name and it irks me because now I'm starting to lose all interest in my favorite show. Also, it seems like we see less of Brennan in the field and more of Sweets in the field instead. I miss Brennan in the field; also, I've noticed I'm seeing less of Cam, and the writers of the show seemed like they have turned her into this ruthless boss now. I miss the old funny, loving Cam. Also, Angela and Hodgins seem like they've lost all the spark in their relationship too, plus I noticed that we see less of them. Also, we see more of the interns doing Brennan's job and Brennan seems like she is more interested in baby Christine then her job. I think the only thing that has not changed on this show is Booth really. Maybe the Moonlighting curse has struck Bones, but it did it very slowly. I think maybe adding in Emily Deschanel's pregnancy was a bad idea after all. I want to watch my show Bones again, not the baby Christine show!! What do you think? Has Bones lost its mojo? — Marie

Matt Roush: A little patience, please. Bones is only several episodes into this new baby phase for Bones and Booth, and if they weren't doting on little Christine and working out this period of adjustment (with recent subplots including Booth's son and Bones' dad), I can only imagine the complaints I'd hear from fans worrying that Bones is becoming as awful a mother as The Killing's Sarah Linden. Given Bones' temperament, how could she be expected to do anything other than obsess on the baby at this point? (Maybe this week's episode, when she and Booth head to Hollywood to observe a movie based on her books and their partnership, will be more to your liking.) The real issue here is how resistant fans of long-running shows can be to change, and adding babies to a successful formula is almost always a perilous proposition, so I'm hardly surprised to see this sort of backlash. Fans tend to want characters like Booth and Bones to act on their obvious attraction to each other, but once they do, they start invoking Moonlighting, which to me is as empty an exercise as shouting "jump the shark" any time you see something you don't like. I've watched a few (but not all) of the episodes since Bones moved to Mondays with the big birth event, and have not noticed a discernible change in the tone and approach of the show. (Which, to be honest, I don't take terribly seriously; this is pure escapism for me, and one of the better shows of its type.) Maybe the baby will turn out to have been a mistake, but it seems to soon to make that judgment.

Source: TV Guide
Tipsters: omelette73,  lysaleelee