Bones
Fox
Wednesday 8 p.m./7 CT

In the era of multiple CSIs, it might seem easy to dismiss Bones as just another forensic crime knock-off. But although the female lead is a renowned anthropologist who uses scientific analysis to solve murders, this FOX series actually owes more to the detective shows of the 1980s than the current crop of television whodunits.

True, Bones bears the influence of CSI producer Jerry Bruckheimer, from a "hip" opening credit sequence — replete with a Crystal Method techno theme — to the use of systematic conclusions deduced from nothing more than handfuls of dirt and (sorry, but it's true) bones. But the current crop of crime dramas' reliance on forensics and science as their primary focus, often at the expense of character development and the incidental humor of every day life, differentiate them significantly from FOX's underdog.

The detective series of the '80s — from Magnum PI to Remington Steele to Hart To Hart — were more about the characters involved in the crime-solving than the actual crimes that needed to be solved. Although the programs were light-hearted in nature and simplistic in terms of their plotlines, the shows displayed more depth than today's procedurals precisely because of the characters involved: the lives they lead were fully developed and even seemed like lives real people (albeit handsome and glamorous ones) might live. If there was one detective series in the '80s that epitomized this kind of focus, it was Moonlighting. And, in many ways, Bones is an amalgamation of the new CSI-forensics trend and the old guard Moonlighting-style character-based procedural drama.

For instance, the chemistry and underlying sexual tension between the show's two central characters — FBI Agent Seeley Booth (David Boreanaz) and Dr. Temperance Brennan (Emily Deschanel) — is not peripheral to the program. The conflict between the two characters is the central relationship upon which the series is developed. In addition, in Bones, this central relationship is between two characters that are actually sympathetic. Fans root not just for crimes to be solved, but for these two characters, working in tandem, to solve them.

The intelligent dialogue in Bones also owes something to Moonlighting and its ilk. Ever heard a quip like "I know things that would curdle your blood, including a formula that literally curdles blood," in CSI: Las Vegas? No. You wouldn't. And neither would you hear a confession like that given by "brilliant young assistant" Zach Addy (Eric Millegan) when he's confronted about reading comic books: "The conflict is representative of the Darwinian struggle between avians and mammals for dominance," he explains in regards to a Looney Tunes story — to which his tough-guy interlocutor replies, "Based on Bugs giving Daffy Duck a cigar made out of dynamite?" (If it weren't for their filing cabinets, it'd be safe to assume CSI characters couldn't read at all.)

Although Bones doesn't always offer the rapid-fire dialogue that kept Moonlighting captivating, the constant bickering between Brennan and Booth often feels like that between the older show's David Addison and Maddie Hayes — especially when the majority of that verbal wrangling happens within the confines of an automobile (another entertaining Moonlighting trademark). What's more is that Booth and Brennan actually serve as an updated study of the differences between males and females in the socially complex (and often sexist) world of crime-fighting. Dr. Temperance Brennan isn't cold, she's cerebral. And where one might expect the male to be less sympathetic, Special Agent Seeley Booth is actually the caring and understanding one. "I'm not a heart person," Brennan tells the masculine Booth in the pilot episode, "You're the heart person. I'm a brain person." A serious, season-long study of human interaction? Bruckheimer would never sign off on such a thing.

Another difference between Bones and today's forensic crime milieu is the predominance of, well, happiness — especially in endings of the episodes. Where an episode of CSI leaves one with the feeling that "evil" exists no matter what we do about it, Bones makes the case that there is also "good." Granted, truly happy endings are rare when it comes to murder investigations, but the victims depicted in Bones often find some sort of redemption at the end — even if it simply means their families learn what really happened to them. It isn't just Special Agent Seeley Booth that has a heart, but the whole series.

In the first season's Christmas episode, "The Man In the Fallout Shelter," the entire forensics team is quarantined in the lab due to a deadly virus. In a montage, their friends and families are given the chance to meet with them behind sealed glass doors on Christmas Eve. Even here, Bones strays from the usual crime procedural course. When Angela's father (Michaela Conlin) appears — and she'd warned before that "people might recognize him" — the unmistakable beard of ZZ Top lead guitarist Billy Gibbons is visible. Such a combination of poignant and humorous makes Bones a better bet than the rest of the crime show bunch.

"These bones you bring me," Brennan tells Booth in Season One, "I give them a face. I say their names out loud. I return them to their loved ones. And you arrest the bad guy. I like that."

So do we, Brennan. So do we.

— Anthony Letizia (anthonyletizia at hotmail dot com)