This Thursday BONES will go where far too few of our favorite television shows have (gone before): The 100 episode mark. And in honor of this illustrious occasion, we at theTVaddict.com will be pre-emptively popping the [digital] champagne all week long the only way we know how: Interviews with a few of the people who made this momentous occasion possible.
First Up, Emily Deschanel, who was kind enough at the recent Television Critics Association Press Tour event celebrating the show’s milestone episode to explain why she’s happy BONES wasn’t a smash out of the gate, reminisce about her favorite episodes and what fans can expect from Thursday’s big one.
After five seasons of being shuffled around the FOX schedule BONES seems to be a bigger hit that it ever was. Are you surprised that you’re now one of FOX’s biggest hits anchoring Thursday night?
Emily Deschanel: It’s pretty incredible. I’ve done pilots before and none had been picked up so I really didn’t know what you expect. Usually you’re just thinking, “Oh my gosh if we can do a season or two seasons.” And then you have some success and it builds and builds and builds. It’s incredible, it keeps getting better and better. And really I’m so happy we had that kind of success rather than the success that begins huge and leaves you with no where to go but down while everybody’s watching and waiting for any mistake you might make. It’s given us the chance over five years to figure out what the show is, tweak things and figure out what we do best. I wouldn’t have wanted a crazy audience like DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES or GREY’S ANATOMY had from the beginning. I’ve been able to live my life, I haven’t been crazy super famous that I can’t go out of my house and I like all of that. I’m happy this way. They [FOX] shuffled us around and they somehow made it through even stronger.
What do you think the appeal of the show has been?
i’m not the one watching the show but I guess the things that make us unique is the fact that we have so many different elements on our show. We have solving the crime, forensic science which can be fascinating to a lot of people, and the relationship stuff. It’s almost like a romantic comedy set in the world of forensics. A lot of people have told me that it’s the one thing they can watch with my husband, or it’s the one thing I can watch with my wife. One will like the crime and the dead bodies and another person will like the character stuff. Usually you get one or the other on a show and we somehow pack it all in in an hour, or less!
Looking back on the series, which episdoes would you say were the most important in terms of Brennan’s character development?
If you watch the 100th, the pilot, the last episode of the first season and the Circus episode from last year I think you get all the different sides of my character and a nice glimpse of what she’s gone through in her life and who she has become.
Do you have a favorite episode?
I loved the Circus episode where we went undercover last season because I got to be Brennan in a whole new environment and got to see a completely different side of her. I also loved the season finale of the first season. A lot of times I like the season finales because they seem to have a bigger impact. But the fun episodes are usually ones like the Circus, I was going to say the Halloween one, but then it’s always when I’m dressing up in crazy outfits like Wonder Woman. But I like doing those crazy episodes, because you get to see the characters in different situations.
What can you tease about the 100th episode?
I think it’s one of my favorite episodes from BONES over the last five years. It kind of changes things for Booth and Brennan. You know how the season finale changed things in their relationship, this changes things in another way and takes their relationship in an entirely different direction. And I believe it’s very cleverly done. 
You can catch the 100th episode of BONES at 8PM on Thursday April 8th (Wednesday April 7 at 8pm on Global TV in Canada)