Recently renewed for its eleventh season, a rare blend of chemistry, comedy and drama has kept Bones on TV since 2005. The work of Kathy Reichs has helped too. After all, it would be pretty tricky to write about forensics without having had some practical experience and she keeps her hand in by producing the show while working as a professor of anthropology at the University of North Carolina. Oh and that brooding vampire from Buffy is in it along with Zooey Deschanel's older sister. With a show of Bones' longevity there's no way a murder storyline isn't going to occasionally stumble into real-life territory and a few episodes have come close to the bone including the ones about the death of a dwarf wrestler, a man who robbed a bank dressed as Father Christmas, and a chicken nugget that contained more meat than expected. As with most popular shows it has spawned a short-lived spin-off. In 2011 The Finder wasn't even the Friends equivalent of Joey as it relied on a new character introduced in season six. Walter was Columbo-like but more eccentric and unpredictable (he also had brain damage) so viewers stayed away in droves, preferring the sexually-charged comfort zone banter between Brennan and Booth instead.
