BONES: Stephen Nathan on Saying Goodbye to the Show (For Now)

As BONES’ tenth season comes to an end, characters could be making some major life-changing decisions.

Whether those changes come to fruition or not, the team will have to deal with a significant challenge in Thursday’s season finale: a case brings (the still-dead) Pelant back into the team’s life.

And while BONES will return for an 11th season this fall, its long-time showrunner, Stephen Nathan, is stepping down. (BONES writers Jonathan Collier and Michael Peterson will run season 11.)

When Nathan’s exit was announced, Fox shared that in the immediate future, he would be working on other projects, but he planned on returning “later” in season 11. Nathan — who has worked on the Fox drama since the first season — echoed that sentiment to me during a recent interview sharing, “It’s time to take a step back, get a little bit of perspective, do some other things, and then come back a little refreshed, hopefully.”

But with his (temporary) goodbye looming, I asked Nathan how he felt about leaving the series, for now, and what about the experience has meant the most to him/what he was most proud of. His answers are below, and speak (beautifully) to what the show has meant to him throughout the years. (And be sure to check back here after the BONES finale for a post-mortem with Nathan about what went down)…

It’s a very bittersweet experience; I could stay with the show forever. [Laughs] And I fully expect to come back in some form or another, [but] a full-on decade is a long time. It’s time to take a step back, get a little bit of perspective, do some other things, and then come back a little refreshed, hopefully.

And also, it’ll be great for the show to have some new blood. [They’ll] see things in a different way, which is always good. Jon and Michael are terrific. They’re going to do a spectacular job, I have no doubt.

But it’s difficult to leave, even temporarily, this group, which has been a close and loved family for ten years. It’s a bittersweet experience. There’s more I want to do, but I assume that’s always the case. That’s what it’s like for me [right now].

I’ll miss the actors. The crew. I’ll miss the characters…I’ve been there every episode. Before this, I don’t think I had been on a show longer than three years, which I always thought was my limit. But there was something kind of special about BONES — the show, and the collection of people who produced it, and then the life it had, and my connection to that life. It’s very, very rare, and very, very special.

I look back at the process, and the experience of the show. To me, the greatest thing was being able to be involved in the emotional life of these characters and see them grow and change as I was hopefully growing and definitely changing. [Laughs] Because the characters become a reflection of you, in a way, as you’re writing the show. And you are changed by the characters. It’s a real symbiotic experience.

It is true, when you see them in a particular situation and you write through that, you’re learning stuff about yourself. If you explore those things honestly, there’s a certain honesty that’s transmitted to the audience, that’s shared with the audience. That’s the most gratifying. Those scenes that, personally, I’ve been able to write, that hopefully touch people. That either make them laugh or show a certain absurdity to life. Or that show a sweetness or difficulty in life. Those scenes were always the most satisfying to me.

And also, there were some times we got to do political episodes. I don’t mean government[-related], but episodes that touched on issues that were very important to us. And hopefully we could do them in a way that allowed people to see many sides of an issue.

[On] BONES…the black and white issues are never interesting. And BONES is a very, very gray show. We didn’t have, on a weekly basis, a bad guy and a good guy. We always had people who were caught in terrible situations where they made bad choices. And we would frequently feel terrible for a killer, or rejoice over someone being killed. It was unpredictable in that way. Because I think that’s what life is. We tried to reflect that. And when that worked? That was the most satisfying.

Whether it’s making someone laugh or someone cry or make them see the world in a way they had never seen it before: that’s all anybody can ask for in this business.

–

BONES’ season finale airs tonight at 8 PM on Fox.

Related:

BONES Post-Mortem: Michaela Conlin on Angela’s Real Name, the Emotional Brennan-Angela Scene
BONES: Michaela Conlin Teases Angela’s Decision in ‘The Life in the Light’
BONES Season 10 Finale Photos: ‘The End in the End’
BONES Renewed: Fox Orders Season 11 with New Showrunners

Follow @GiveMeMyRemote and @marisaroffman on Twitter for the latest TV news. Connect with other TV fans on GIVE ME MY REMOTE’s official Facebook page.

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• BONES: Michaela Conlin Teases Angela’s Decision in ‘The Life in the Light’
• BONES: ‘The Woman in the Whirlpool’
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BONES: The Cast and Producers Share Memories From Their First Days on the Set

BONES’ 200th episode is airing this Thursday, and as Fox Television Group Chairman and CEO Gary Newman pointed out during an on-set celebration, it’s one of only a few Fox shows to reach that incredible milestone.

To celebrate how far Team BONES has come, I asked the cast and producers for their first memories of working on the series. Check out what BONES creator Hart Hanson, executive producer Stephen Nathan, as well as stars David Boreanaz (Booth), Emily Deschanel (Brennan), Michaela Conlin (Angela), TJ Thyne (Hodgins), Tamara Taylor (Cam), John Boyd (Aubrey), Carla Gallo (Daisy), Eugene Byrd (Clark), Michael Grant Terry (Wendell), Pej Vahdat (Arastoo), Laura Spencer (Jessica), Ignacio Serricchio (Fuentes), and Cyndi Lauper (Avalon) had to share…

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The BONES Cast and Producers Tease Episode 200

BONES is telling a different kind of story for its 200th episode — sure, a body is discovered, but the episode is set in Hollywood in the 1950s, and Brennan is a cop, while Booth is a jewel thief.

And since the hour is bringing back a lot of familiar faces, I asked BONES executive producers Stephen Nathan and Jonathan Collier, as well as stars David Boreanaz (Booth), Emily Deschanel (Brennan), Michaela Conlin (Angela), TJ Thyne (Hodgins), Tamara Taylor (Cam), John Boyd (Aubrey), Carla Gallo (Daisy), Eugene Byrd (Clark), Michael Grant Terry (Wendell), Pej Vahdat (Arastoo), Laura Spencer (Jessica), and Ignacio Serricchio (Fuentes) for their best teases about the hour…

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BONES’ 200th Episode Celebration: Watch Part of the Speeches Given!

BONES celebrated the filming of its 200^th episode last Friday on one of the show’s most recognizable sets (the Jeffersonian lab), and addition to the cake (shaped like a skeleton, naturally), there were speeches given by Fox Television Group Chairman and CEO Gary Newman, BONES bosses Hart Hanson and Stephen Nathan, and series stars Emily Deschanel (Brennan) and David Boreanaz (Booth).

Check out some (excerpts) of the speeches that were given on Friday…

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BONES 200th Episode Celebration: Check Out Photos!

The cast and crew of BONES celebrated the filming of their 200th episode with an on-set celebration on Friday. There to pay tribute to the Fox drama’s run so far were the series stars, executive producers, a number of guest stars (including many of the squinterns, plus Cyndi Lauper and Ryan O’Neal), the writers, and a good portion of the crew.

Check out some photos from the festivities…

BONES airs Thursdays at 8 PM on Fox.

Related:

BONES: Fox Teases Episode 200, ‘The 200th in the 10th’
BONES: ‘The Puzzler in the Pit’ Photos — Daisy Gives Birth!
BONES: ‘The Money Maker on the Merry-Go-Round’ Photos

Follow @GiveMeMyRemote and @marisaroffman on Twitter for the latest TV news. Connect with other TV fans on GIVE ME MY REMOTE’s official Facebook page.

And be the first to see our exclusive videos by subscribing to our YouTube channel at youtube.com/givememyremotetv

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• BONES: ‘The Money Maker on the Merry-Go-Round’ Photos

SHOWRUNNERS: Des Doyle and Ryan Patrick McGuffey Preview Their Look Inside the World of Showrunning

SHOWRUNNERS — the first documentary shining the spotlight on the men and women responsible for putting our favorite television series on the air (and having them run as smoothly as possible) — is finally out today, and it promises to be a film any television fan will enjoy.

With SHOWRUNNERS, not only will fans get exclusive interviews with showrunners like Joss Whedon, J.J. Abrams, Damon Lindelof, Bill Prady, Jane Espenson, but they’ll get glimpses into writing rooms, panels the showrunners participate in to promote their shows, a day in the life following one showrunner, and other access die-hard TV fans could have only dreamed about before now.

I spoke with SHOWRUNNERS director Des Doyle and co-producer Ryan Patrick McGuffey about the process to get the film made, what their challenges were, how this experience changed how they viewed their favorite shows, and more…

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BONES: Stephen Nathan on the Next Big Bad, Max’s Secrets, and More

Hey, BONES fans! Knowing that the season 10 premiere sent major shock waves throughout the fandom, BONES boss Stephen Nathan provided additional insights and answers to some lingering questions, and what Sweets’ death might mean for Booth and Brennan, and beyond.

Read on for what he told reporters on a conference call about this, as well as what’s coming up for the rest of the season. (Note: some minor spoilers for this week’s episode “The Lance to the Heart.”)

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BONES Season 10 Premiere Post-Mortem: Stephen Nathan on the Huge Events in ‘The Conspiracy in the Corpse’

[This post contains massive, massive, massive spoilers for the BONES season 10 premiere, “The Conspiracy in the Corpse.” Please do not read this until you’ve seen the episode.]

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BONES: David Boreanaz and Emily Deschanel on Episode 200, the New FBI Agent Hanging Around, and More

With less than one week until BONES returns, series stars Emily Deschanel (Brennan) and David Boreanaz (Booth) hopped on a conference call with reporters to tease what’s in store for the show’s tenth season.

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BONES’ Stephen Nathan and Jonathan Collier Tease Episode 200: It’s Like an Amusement Park Ride

BONES’ 200th episode is practically around the corner — the tenth season premiere marks hour 191 for the Fox drama — and while BONES executive producers Stephen Nathan and Jonathan Collier would only tease that it would be a “totally unique episode” the last time we talked, the duo were willing to give up a few more details at the Fox Eco-Casino party on Monday night.

“The 200th…will be a little bit like an amusement park ride,” Nathan teased. “It’s not going to be anything people have seen before; it’s not a science-fiction-y, alternate-universe thing. It’s more of a story. We’re using Booth and Brennan to tell another version of their story.”

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BONES: Stephen Nathan Offers a Few More Season 10 Teases

In case you missed the memo, BONES boss Stephen Nathan is a very, very good tease.

After the season 9 finale, Nathan gave a great (and lengthy) preview about what was in store when season 10 kicked off. And then when I spoke with him (and executive producer Jonathan Collier) a few weeks ago at the Fox TCA party, he was able to tease nearly half a season worth of cases.

So, when it came time to chat with Nathan again before the BONES Comic-Con panel, it should be no surprise he was able to drop a few more juicy teases about what’s in store for the upcoming season, including whether a real-life pregnancy would find its way on to the show…

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BONES at Comic-Con: Photos from the Panel and Fan Signing

BONES hit up Comic-Con on Friday, and the cast and producers participated in a panel, and fan events to promote the series.

Take a look at some photos from the festivities…

Related:

BONES Season 10 Comic-Con Teaser: Watch it Now!
BONES at Comic-Con: Live-Blog
BONES: David Boreanaz Offers a Little Tease About Booth’s Mental State in Season 10
BONES’ Stephen Nathan and Jonathan Collier Tease Season 10: Episode 200, the Conspiracy, ‘Big’ Lifestyle Changes, and More

Follow @GiveMeMyRemote and @marisaroffman on Twitter for the latest TV news. Connect with other TV fans on GIVE ME MY REMOTE’s official Facebook page.

And be the first to see our exclusive videos by subscribing to our YouTube channel at youtube.com/givememyremotetv

BONES at Comic-Con: Live-Blog

BONES is back at Comic-Con to promote its upcoming 10th season, and I’ll be live-blogging the festivities when they start around 12:30 PM PT.

Here’s the official panel description, and then check back around the panel’s start time for live updates!

“Fan-favorite actors David Boreanaz and Emily Deschanel and executive producer Stephen Nathan share secrets from the set, upcoming twists and turns, and what’s in store for Booth and Brennan as Bones enters its milestone tenth season. ”

Read more

BONES’ Stephen Nathan and Jonathan Collier Tease Season 10: Episode 200, the Conspiracy, ‘Big’ Lifestyle Changes, and More

When BONES’ ninth season concluded in May, executive producer Stephen Nathan pointed out, “We’ve never quite been in a situation that has affected these characters this much by external forces.” And when the show returns in September, Booth will be in jail, and Brennan and the rest of the Jeffersonian gang will be struggling to right the wrong of his arrest.

Now that production has officially started on BONES’ tenth season, I sat down with Nathan and executive producer Jonathan Collier to find out what they could tease about what’s to come…

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In Case You Missed It…THE VOICE, SLEEPY HOLLOW, BROOKLYN NINE-NINE, and More

Were you too busy the past two weeks to keep up with everything that happened in TV news? Give Me My Remote‘s got you covered! We’re catching you up on anything exciting you might have missed here at GMMR!

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• THE VOICE: Josh Kaufman, Usher, Carson Daly, and Mark Burnett on Team Usher’s Win
• THE VOICE: Adam Levine, Blake Shelton, Christina Grimmie, and Jake Worthington on the Season 6 Finale
• Which 2014-2015 Television Trailers Are You Rewatching?
• BROOKLYN NINE-NINE Boss Dan Goor Teases Season 2
• SLEEPY HOLLOW: Should Jenny Survive? Lyndie Greenwood Weighs In!
• 2014 TCA Awards Nominations Announced
• Which Newly Canceled Shows Are You Going to Miss the Most?
• THE FLASH Season 1 Tease: Greg Berlanti Confirms John Wesley Shipp’s Role
• 2014 Critics’ Choice Television Awards Nominations
• ROGUE: Cole Hauser on Season 2 and What Drew Him to the DirecTV Series
• ROGUE: Thandie Newton on Exploring Grace’s Journey Post-Grief
• UNDATEABLE: Chris D’Elia and Brent Morin On Their New NBC Comedy
• GMMR TV Awards: Nominate Your Favorites Now!
• The SLEEPY HOLLOW Cast and Producers Share Their Favorite Shocking Season 1 Moments
• BROOKLYN NINE-NINE: Andy Samberg, Stephanie Beatriz, and Dan Goor on the Move to Sundays

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• RECKLESS: Watch a New Teaser Trailer
• GANG RELATED: Watch a 4-Minute Preview

This week in pictures:

• UNDER THE DOME Season 2 Premiere Photo: First Look
• EXTANT: Behind-the-Scene Photo of Halle Berry and Steven Spielberg
• 24: LIVE ANOTHER DAY and GANG RELATED: Check Out Some Behind-the-Scenes Pictures!
• 24: LIVE ANOTHER DAY, ENLISTED, and GANG RELATED: Check Out Some Behind-the-Scenes Pictures!

This week in videos:

• ALMOST HUMAN: Fox Releases a Video Thanking Fans for the Memories
• THE ELLEN DEGENERES SHOW: tWitch, Allison Holker, Fik-Shun, and More Former SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE Contestants Perform for Ellen

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• Fox Sets Alternative Comedy Production Deal with Jonathan Stern and Keith Quinn
• SLEEPY HOLLOW: Neil Jackson — AKA Headless/Abraham — to Recur in Season 2
• MASTERS OF SEX Books SMASH Star Christian Borle
• SUPERNATURAL Promotes Mark Sheppard to Series Regular
• SLEEPY HOLLOW Recruits HELLCATS’ Matt Barr
• SLEEPY HOLLOW Nabs a HOUSE OF CARDS Star for Season 2 Arc
• DAREDEVIL: Charlie Cox to Headline New Netflix Series
• Fox Boss Kevin Reilly Stepping Down

This week in recaps and discussions:

• BONES Season 9 Finale Recap: ‘The Recluse in the Recliner’

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