Sexual tension helps carry ‘Bones’
David Boreanaz (“Buffy the Vampire Slayer”) returns to episodic television in “Bones” (8 p.m., Fox), a police procedural drama in the “CSI” mold.
The new series stars Emily Deschanel as Dr. Temperance Brennan, a forensic anthropologist with an uncanny ability to ferret the truth from a pile of skeletons. She’s all brain, a detached scientist seriously out of touch with her own feelings.
Gosh, will she need an “Angel” to reawaken the woman within?
Her uncanny skills earn the attention and respect of hunky FBI Special Agent Seeley Booth (Boreanaz), who takes her on as a partner in spite of the bureau’s doubts about her and its institutional disdain for brainy research types.
In fact, Booth’s bosses dismiss Brennan’s oddball staff as “squints” – nerds who spend their time with microscopes while real cops toil in the fields harvesting evidence.
The tension between the FBI and the misfits of science is supposed to be interesting, but it is not. On the other hand, the sexual tension between Booth and Brennan is laid on with a cement trowel. They’re almost always photographed together in tight close-up, their mouths at a distance not appropriate to anyone not engaged, or about to engage, in some serious smooching.
The writers make the most of Brennan’s socially awkward behavior.
Like Buffy, she’s surrounded by a clique of wisenheimers who make pop-savvy cracks. But Brennan, who has spent her life in books and on lab work, doesn’t understand any of their jokes.
That in itself makes her slightly endearing.
“Bones” emphasizes the visual impact of gadgetry, particularly a holographic device designed to summon the image of the deceased from a handful of dust. The show also makes the most of its Washington, D.C., locale, with impressive use of the city’s architecture and landscape to create a sense of gravitas and grandeur that the story doesn’t always provide.
There appears to be a school of thought in teenage entertainment that teaches that if the cast is good-looking enough, the story doesn’t have to make any sense whatsoever. Evidence of this theory can be found in the spook-tacularly incomprehensible “Supernatural” (9 p.m., WB).
Not to give too much away here, but tonight’s pilot begins and ends with a scene of flaming confusion right out of “The Exorcist.” But as soon as you can say “what the…?” the show settles down to a fairly straightforward tale about two improbably handsome brothers, Sam (Jared Padalecki, “Gilmore Girls”) and Dean Winchester (Jensen Ackles “Smallville”), in search of their missing father, who is himself in search of the mysterious entity that took the boys’ mother away.
This may or may not have something to do with the spectral barbecue depicted in the show’s opening moments. Oh, and there’s something about a phantom hitchhiker, too. Help yourself.
Other highlights
A group of 14 heavies begin a weight-loss program on the second helping of “The Biggest Loser” (8 p.m., NBC).
A visit to death row on the second-season premiere of “House” (9 p.m., Fox).
Lorelai worries about Rory’s decision to leave Yale on the fifth-season opener of “Gilmore Girls” (8 p.m., WB).
Mariah Carey, Destiny’s Child, Diana Ross, Bon Jovi and Carlos Santana are scheduled to perform on “World Music Awards 2005” (9 p.m., ABC).
“Wide Angle” (9 p.m., KSPS) looks at outsourcing.
An antidote linked to the military leaves a deadly trail on “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” (10 p.m., NBC, TV-14).
The documentary “Omar & Pete” on “P.O.V.” (10 p.m., KSPS) looks at two men caught up in Baltimore’s criminal justice system.
Cult choice
Three siblings (Diahann Carroll, Rosalind Cash and Irene Cara) hash out emotional issues in the 1982 drama “Sister, Sister” (5 p.m., Fox Movie Channel). Shouldn’t it be called “Sister, Sister, Sister”?
Series notes
A mission turns deadly for one team member on “NCIS” (8 p.m., CBS) … Dangerous sports on “According to Jim” (8 p.m., ABC, TV-PG) … Maya’s confession on “Girlfriends” (8 p.m., UPN).
Putting family first on “Rodney” (8:30 p.m., ABC) … Mona puts her foot down on “Half & Half” (8:30 p.m., UPN).
Julie Chen hosts “Big Brother 6” (9 p.m., CBS) … The search continues on “R U the Girl” (9 p.m., UPN) … Report-card time on “Tommy Lee Goes to College” (9:30 p.m., NBC) … Competition continues on “Rock Star: INXS” (10 p.m., CBS).