Kathy Reichs: Script for Series in her Bones

This week’s episode of Bones is written by the inspiration behind Temperance “Bones” Brennan–Kathy Reichs. The author of 13 Temperance Brennan novels, Reichs is an actual forensic anthropologist and she has a Canadian connection. She has worked the past 20 years at the Laboratoire de sciences judiciaires et de medecine legale for the province of Quebec.
The Chicago-native took questions from reporters on a Fox conference call last week. I wrote about her for The Canadian Press; you can read the full article here.
The episode, “The Witch and the Wardrobe” (starring David Boreanaz and Emily Deschanel, above), airs tonight on Global and Thursday night on Fox. It is her first script for the series, although she’s been on the show before. Executive producer Hart Hanson–who worked on just about every TV show in Canada throughout the ’90s–talked her into appearing in a cameo about a year ago.
While she was initially reluctant to appear on camera, Reichs (right with the Olsen twins) changed her mind when Hanson told her David Duchovny was directing. “It was the first episode Ryan O’Neal [who guests as Brennan’s father] was in so to sit around with David Duchovny and Ryan O’Neal was a lot of fun,” she says. (O’Neal is back again next week.)
As for the whole “should they or shouldn’t they” debate about forensic sleuths “Bones” (Deschanel) and “Booth” (Boreanaz), Reich is firmly on the “shouldn’t” side. “Once you do the deed, you’re done,” she says, referencing such past TV romantic entanglements as those on “The X-Files” and “Moonlighting.” Reich says the chemistry between the two leads was there “right from the day Emily auditioned” and the producers—of which Reich is one—should keep that simmering. Bringing the two leads romantically together, she feels, “speaks to the beginning of the end.”
That’s not something Reichs is anxious to hasten. The Fox series recently passed the 100 episode milestone and has already been renewed for a sixth season. After that, who knows, says Reich. “I’d like to see it go 1000 episodes,” she jokes. The season finale airs May 19 (in Canada) and 20.
Beyond that, Reichs is already thinking ahead. She has written a “Young Tempy” novel called “Virals” which will be out in November. It will follow the adventures of Temperance’s niece, 14-year-old Tori Brennan, and her teen friends. “There is an element of fantasy. They have special abilities,” adds Reichs, “but they’re definitely not vampires.”