American Idol might be Fox’s highest rated show, but a strong case could be made that Bones is its real trademark. The former is more of an extended event, whereas the latter is a very stable weekly that’s highly competitive on the always tough Thursday night. When series creator Hart Hanson announced he was looking to spin the program off, early speculation all but guaranteed The Finder a spot on the schedule next season. It turns out the truth isn’t nearly as clear cut.
Fans responded to the recent backdoor pilot with muted optimism, but with only a few slots to fill come September, Fox is considering other ways of delaying the program until a proper timeslot can be found. One of those possible schemes reportedly involves capitalizing on Bones star Emily Deschanel’s pregnancy. While other characters could easily have a baby written in, there’s no way to do it with Temperance Brennan without permanently altering the chemistry between her and partner Seeley Booth. As a result, Deschanel will miss at least a month or two of filming during next season, giving Hart Hanson a convenient window to incorporate Finder storylines into Bones episodes.
According to Deadline, it’s all speculation at this juncture, but the idea is one of several Fox is mulling over. If The Finder doesn’t find a place for itself on the fall schedule, the project likely would be dead, unless the aforementioned idea comes to fruition. It seems unlikely stars Michael Clarke Duncan and Geoff Stults would just put their lives on hold on the off chance time would become available mid-season, but if they had a guaranteed six of seven episodes of work on Bones, they’d stick around and Hart Hanson would have further time to endear the characters to the audience.
It seems like this cross-over would be win-win for all involved, but there’s no telling what type of increased strain the added characters might put on Bones’ budget. Once the network makes its official pick-ups, we should get a clearer picture of what’s happening. Until then, tune into Bones on Fox on Thursday nights. The sniper storyline is winding its way down, and rumor has it he’ll get one of the main characters before all is said and done. Please God let it be Daisy.
