Forensic show 'Bones' a real rib tickler

Dr Temperance Brennan (Emily Deschanel, far right) unlocks skeletons' secrets in the new crime-science series Bones.

Temperance Brennan rebuilds dead bodies from the bones up. She's the one the FBI calls when a body is so badly decomposed, burned or destroyed that the only way to identify it is from the skeleton. What a job.

Emily Deschanel, plays the part of Brennan in Bones, a new TV series inspired by the life and work of forensic anthropologist and novelist, Kathy Reichs.

Deschanel's mum, for one, was thrilled when her daughter got the job because she had read all of the best-selling author's books.

And the actress, who lived in New Zealand for a time during the filming of horror movie, Boogeyman, was pretty happy about getting the gory role, too.

"I've always liked shows about how they solve crimes with just the hair, or something, that's left after a murder."

But (excuse the pun) the way Brennan solves crimes is a little closer to the bone.

For example, during the first episode she stays up all night reassembling the smashed skull of a murdered woman.

"There have definitely been some episodes that have been horrifying. I had to do one scene where I wore a human hand glove," she says. "I took someone's hand, rehydrated it, peeled off the skin, and then put it on my hand. I wanted to vomit.

"Even though I knew it was fake, it was a severed hand with skin that was very realistic. So you do have to have a hardened constitution.

"But my character disconnects from the fact that these are human beings when she's examining them because she wouldn't do her job very well if she didn't do that."

Bones is gruesome - the episodes are based on Reichs' experiences.

But while the show is not flippant about death, there is also a lighter side to forensic anthropology.

She is affectionately nicknamed "Bones" by FBI Special Agent Seeley Booth (played by Buffy and Angel star David Boreanaz), with whom she teams up on cases.

And often the skeletons take a back seat so Booth and Brennan can flirt.

"I describe our show as something like Moonlighting meets CSI and The X-Files, because the relationship between Brennan and Booth is such an interesting one," Deschanel laughs.

"The show is an interesting kind of balance of genres. I didn't know if all those things could be balanced - the witty repartee, the will-they or won't-they get it on and the crime forensics thing.

"Then there's the holographic computer that recreates somebody's face, and the main character kicks arse too, so there are bits of action.

"I didn't know if we could balance it all, but we did, pretty successfully."

But does the world need another forensics-cum-crime show when we already have SVU, CSI: Miami, CSI: New York, and Law & Order, among many others?

"I think it is a totally different show," she says. "I think it has aspects of those other shows and will appeal to people who enjoy shows like that. But in tone it's a completely different show.

"Bones is about interesting, quirky characters going out to solve a crime, and along the way it's almost like the crime-solving is a nice undercurrent that goes on throughout the show. Really, you're watching a character drama."

To research the role she decided not to go to a morgue because, "I worked with an actor on another show and he went to a morgue and wished he hadn't done it".

Instead she watched forensic documentaries - "I had some kind of weird, morbid fascination with them" - and read text books, as well as some of Reichs' work.

But she couldn't bring herself to read one of her books.

"The one with the line, 'I put the dead baby in the bag ... ' I couldn't read that one.

"There are certain things, like an episode where a child is killed, that don't make me ill. That just makes me sad. I had a hard time doing that one," Deschanel says.

"Part of the show is shock value, and they want to shock.

"Forensics is a fascinating thing. I think one reason people have a fascination is because it is pretty gross. It's on the fringe of what we talk about in our lives.

"It is taboo. It's gruesomely fascinating but it can take it's toll and you don't want to become too hardened as an actor, or as a viewer." 
Grim roles

Once upon a time there was only one guy on television regularly hacking up the dead to see what killed them. That was the late 70s/early 80s Quincy M.E. starring Jack Klugman. In those days, you didn't actually see the corpses but Dr Quincy's autopsy dictation gave viewers a clear picture. Now, every crime show worth its formaldehyde has someone back at the slab-lab getting a few minutes of screen-time every episode while hovering over a cadaver.

A recap of the crop of bone saw-wielding supporting stars of the forensic science fiction era ...

Robert David Hall plays the bearded Chief Medical Examiner Dr Al Robbins in CSI. Those crutches he uses aren't props - Hall is a double amputee after he lost his legs below the knee in a car accident. Hall's role grew after being hired for a few scenes on the first shows. "Me being an actor who's just knocked his head against the wall for years, I thought, 'Oh, this is nice. I'm getting a little recurring part on this show that'll probably never last'." He's also a rare white man in what, on screen, seems a job dominated by African-Americans.

Khandi Alexander plays CSI: Miami's glamorous Dr Alexx Woods, who has the habit of calmly chatting to her deceased clients. Having once been an ER regular guest star, Alexander was also once a dancer and choreographer for Whitney Houston.

Hill Harper plays CSI: New York's reclusive coroner Dr Sheldon Hawkes, a former surgeon who walked away from the operating table after the traumatic loss of two patients.

Tamara Tunie plays Special Victims Unit's Dr Melinda Warner doing a double-shift with her starring role in American soap As The World Turns.