House and Bones

Season premiere and series premiere. House was, as always, spectacular. Setting aside the superb acting of Hugh Laurie, not to mention LL Cool J, the script, as usual, was excellent: well-written, well-structured. Although the subject is quite different, House scripts remind me of Whedon's perfect set-up and pay-off. They also prove that popular television can have layers (according to my thesis, viewers will give it layers even if it doesn't have them). House's "grief" list worked on so many levels: for Cameron, for Foreman, for House, for the prisoner. Yet, thankfully, without being spelled out. Show don't tell! Show don't tell!

House is one of those shows that I think improved over its first season. Not that the early Houses weren't good, but the pace, Laurie's sense of the main character, the scripts, with their interwoven themes, evened out over 22 episodes. The shows feel more solid, and the individual episodes hang together nearly without flaw.

Bones is, unfortunately, competing with about a billion other cop/forensic shows. And that isn't counting cable T.V. It has a good premise. David Boreanaz plays the same character he played on Angel and Buffy, except this guy can walk around in sunlight. He plays the gruff guy with a heart who will defend/protect the (shorter, slighter) heroine, who also happens to be good at martial arts and have a chip on her shoulder. Well, well, well. I think the characterization is deliberate. At the very end of the episode, Brennan asks the FBI man (David Boreanaz), "So, what, you think there's some kind of cosmic balance sheet out there?" Now, if that isn't deliberate . . .

It could last. The writing is okay. The scoobies are fun. It's in with a chance.

CATEGORY: T.V.