Very cute reference. I caught it and laughed for a minute. Guess Fox had no problem with it? Possibly a nod to us whedon-verse obsessed other than "he who must not be named."

Also, did you know that T.J. Thyne who plays Hodgins (the bug guy) was an extra in 3 episodes of Angel's 5th season? Episodes 1, 5 and 12. Says he played a W&H employee.

[ edited by tgilders on 2005-12-14 07:19 ]

tgilders | December 14, 09:15 CET

That was cute. It was only 3 minutes in. The rest of the episode was pretty obvious and heavy-handed with the "Christmas message", and some of the acting was cringe-worthy (not from Boreanaz, he was fine). When the grand-daughter said "You know I can't afford college" at the end, I just groaned. There were a couple lines I thought were great (including the Firefly reference), but other than that I wasn't impressed. I usually roll my eyes at sappy Christmas shows anyway (not Amends though, magic snow included).

electricspacegirl | December 14, 09:30 CET

Of course we had to rewind it again and again on the DVR so all the kids that came in late one by one could hear it. What a great Christmas episode.
Did we all catch Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top as Angela's father? That was cool. And it kind of explains alot about Angela's character.

Anna von Ovonov | December 14, 09:32 CET

ESG - I also thought that about the granddaughter saying that too and knew exactly what was coming next. But, I did enjoy most of the episode and I'm an emotional person anyway so I teared up a couple of times (heck, I cry during some McDonald's commercials if they're sappy enough - remember the one with the brother taking his sister when she's little and then they flash to her being a teenager with her friends and she passes him some fries - that nearly did me in!).

And I totally loved seeing who Angela's father was and had to quickly explain it to my kids!! Also cracked up at the Firefly reference and love when shows do that. Alias seems to be throwing in something weekly - I think Sydney was talking to a Rupert or a Giles last week.

Firefly Flanatic | December 14, 09:53 CET

And yes, getting a chance to see DB without his pants on is definitely a plus!! I totally loved him in this episode!!

Firefly Flanatic | December 14, 09:55 CET

I think this news is better-placed (and has been posted) in the Bones thread on our discussion page. Additionally, links to fairly static sites that don't actually feature the newsworthy part of the story are not encouraged.

SoddingNancyTribe | December 14, 09:59 CET

Ditto on ESG's sentiment, the christmas message was a little much.

Still some amusement though, DB was fantastic, and his character is the only one that touched me emotionally. Plus, so entertaining when he got high.

nna_funk | December 14, 11:46 CET

I think someone suggested that Sydney name her baby "Rupert".

batmarlowe | December 14, 12:59 CET

Seeing as it's nearly Christmas, I've changed the link to an appropriate page at TV.com where hopefully that info will appear in the relevant trivia section.

But as SoddingNancyTribe said links to fairly static sites are not encouraged here and more than often will be deleted.

Simon | December 14, 13:18 CET

I spoke briefly to Tim yesterday - Craig Silverstein (who worked as The Inside's co-executive producer) is now working on Bones, so it's possible this is where the reference came from. Any idea who wrote last nights episode?

One of the unaired 'The Inside' episodes has a shout out to Serenity. Adam Baldwin's character says he went to see a space western movie, and says it was great.

gossi | December 14, 14:20 CET

Bones tends to have a lot of verse faces or potential shout-outs. The last episode (before last night) guest starred the guy that played Forrest on Buffy and the repeat episode next week has Nicki Woods as a delivery person the lab guys are fighting for the attention of. Not to mention the story of David's casting by the creator, so I think the guy might be a verse fan.

RavenU | December 14, 16:15 CET

Plus Hogkins was in Conviction on Ats. He might have been in LOTP too, I'll have to check on that.

lynnie | December 14, 17:27 CET

Last night was the first episode of "Bones" I've watched. The Firefly reference was great - -but I didn't tape it and my kids missed it. It's obviously a shout-out to Whedon fans. The writers know where most of their viewers are coming from.

Nebula1400 | December 14, 17:48 CET

If they really wanted to go for the knee-slapper, the line could have been "You ask it to take out the TRASH, it watches reruns of Firefly."
The line was unexpected and gave me the warm fuzzies--much more successfully than the episode itself did.

Ooh, I almost forgot: when DB’s character is starting to feel some ‘side-effects’ from the anti-fungal drug, he says "You know what? I never realized how pretty all this shiny stuff is." Little bit o’ Firefly, little bit o’ Spin the Bottle. Okay, I’ll be quiet now.

[ edited by bloodflowers on 2005-12-14 17:14 ]

bloodflowers | December 14, 18:44 CET

Good one, bloodflowers!

electricspacegirl | December 14, 19:40 CET

Lynnie - 'Hogkins' T J Thyne was in LOTP - check out the W&H party conga. You can see him quite clearly.

ETA :

RavenU thanks for the identity of the delivery gal from 'Bones' - I saw her and it was bugging me all the way through where I'd seen her before :)

[ edited by The Do That Girl on 2005-12-14 17:50 ]

The Do That Girl | December 14, 19:47 CET

"The writers know where most of their viewers are coming from."

I don't know if that's true. More likely they would make an Angel reference in that case, rather than a Firefly reference. I took it as the more up to date Star Trek thing. Years ago it'd would have been ST, now it's FF.

Can't wait to see this episode. I just love DB and he does goofy and cute so well and this sounds goofy and cute. Of course him in his boxers might be ever so slightly appealing too. ;0)

TDTG Cheers for confirming that. I thought he was in more than one episode.

lynnie | December 14, 20:08 CET

I taped the episode, which I'll watch on the weekend. Nice to hear about the Firefly mention.

Silent Night | December 14, 20:30 CET

'Hogkins' T J Thyne was in LOTP - check out the W&H party conga. You can see him quite clearly.

He also has a line towards the end of the episode, as he's leaving W&H.

palehorse | December 14, 20:33 CET

Gossi asked:


Gossi - The writer of last night's episode was Hart Hanson, who created the series. He's also worked on Judging Amy, Joan of Arcadia, and others.

Znachki | December 14, 20:36 CET

I've been watching Bones regularly and enjoying it. I think I've only missed one. When I heard that line about Firefly, I raised my fist and howled. That is the second Firefly reference I've heard from a TV show... Family Guy had one in their first episode back from cancellation.

Bones is fun and the actors are really growing into their characters. The show is an anthropological procedural with crime and legal elements which makes it somewhat unique for it's genre. The writing and acting are supporting the premise well and just getting better with each passing week. The set-up for and execution of the ZZ Top zinger was perfect.

Hjermsted | December 14, 22:29 CET

You know, ESG, I respectfully disagree. I thought the message of the episode was kind of refreshing. The idea of Christmas as a time of spiritual renewal - not necessarily in the religious sense, but certainly on a personal front - was, in my opinion, very fresh and well-executed. I liked the way it was written, turning the notion of gift-giving on its head and giving some meaning to a tradition that is, let's face it, generally inane, wasteful and overblown. I agree that the granddaughter's line about being unable to afford college was a little on the lame side, but I think the episode had its heart in the right place. I also think that the leads and supporting cast are really growing into their roles. I also LOVED the quarantined family visits. They were really, really cute and explored the characters' different family dynamics in a very interesting way. In my opinion, this was the best episode yet.

binkaboo | December 14, 23:34 CET

I'd like to see Mandy Patinkin guest. I thought he was amazing in 'Dead Like Me' and I've wanted to see him and David on screen together ever since.

Simon | December 14, 23:34 CET

Well, I, for one, am glad this was posted here as there are only 3 sites I check regularly and I would have missed it on some discussion thread. This is the site I check most frequently as it usually has the best news.

I loved the reference to Firefly, also. I also love this show. I started watching it for DB (duh!) and enjoy crime shows anyway. But this one is now my favorite, pushing NCIS to #2. And the reason those two are my favorites is because they have so much humor and such good rapport between the characters.

By the way, I noticed that Firefly returns to SciFi this Friday night. Now if Buffy and Angel would just come on again in the afternoons! Yes, of course, I have them all on DVD, but I want everyone to have the chance to see them.

TexLuvsAngel | December 14, 23:54 CET

There is a great blog by Peggy Archer (Not real name) who works on many movies and shows and in this one talks about the set for Bones being huge but only having two access points which makes working in it very difficult. The whole blog is a good read.

zz9 | December 15, 00:04 CET

And to have that Firfefly shoutout to happen right after the Flan and before the big release of Serenity just seems to make this one shiny Holiday Season afterall.

RavenU | December 15, 00:18 CET

Thanks Bartmalowe - that is what happened on Alias with the "Rupert" name.

Firefly Flanatic | December 15, 01:15 CET