davidboreanaz

Last week, I devoted my first Jane After Dark column to my top five Buffy moments. I was thrilled to read all the responses, both here on TV Squad and at Whedonesque, where the post was picked up. Fans of Buffy the Vampire Slayer are a passionate bunch!

This week, I thought it would be fun to delve into my favorite Buffy hookups. One that didn't make the list but holds a special place in my heart is Giles and Joyce. It was a fleeting moment, but one that was fun and would have made for great storytelling had it continued.

But who to pair Buffy up with -- Spike, Angel or Riley? What about Spike and Drusilla? And while Willow and Tara had a special love affair, there's a lot to be said for Willow and Oz. And what of Xander? Sure, he and Anya had a fun romance, but his hookups with Cordelia and even Faith were intense in their own way.

Oh the choices! Read on for my thoughts, and please add your own in the comments below.

I'm starting a new column here on TV Squad called "Jane After Dark." Some of you know I work the "night shift" here at the Squad, editing and scheduling posts into the wee hours. I'm a big multi-tasker, so I also use those hours to get caught up on all the great shows I've missed along the way.

Over the past year, I've watched some really cool shows, including Six Feet Under, The Sopranos, Moonlight, Weeds, Entourage, Gossip Girl, and many others. So I thought it would be fun to write about my After Dark musings, and I hope you'll chime in with your own thoughts about whatever I'm watching.

I just finished Joss Whedon's magnificent Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and I loved so many things about the show. No one could look as stylish as Buffy as she slayed those vampires. Angel and Spike were both hot in their own way. The love between Willow and Tara was sweet and gentle, but also powerful. And the characters continued to grow and evolve throughout the series. By the last episode, you really felt like you knew these characters and had grown right along with them.

I think I'm getting old. I realized this last season while watching an episode of Kyle XY. Matt Dallas, who plays Kyle himself, and his baby blues weren't doing anything for me. Chris Olivero (Declan) and his hunky jock thing didn't excite me either. I turned to my husband, mildly horrified when it hit me: "Honey, the hottest guy on this show is the dad!"

When my husband shook off his case of the giggles, he gently reminded me that the dad was, actually, closer to my age than the teenage boys. True, but I am so not as old as that dad... but I do think he's hot.

In fact, there have been a lot of hot dads, let's call them DILFs, on TV in recent years. Gives us oldies some eye candy too, I suppose. So, in descending order (yep, you've got to wait until the end for the super-hotties):

Gary Dourdan ... David Hasselhoff ... Michael Landon ... find out where they rank on our list.

Sexy, hotties, beefcake -- call 'em what you will; to us, they're simply the 50 hunkiest men to ever populate primetime TV.

From cowboys and cops to legal eagles and Supermen (we've got two of those), these are the handsome fellas who've made us laugh, cry ... and drool on our remote controls.

But hunkiness is in the eye of the beholder, so peruse our countdown and see if your favorite TV man candy made the list.

(S04E02) I have a, er, bone to pick with some of you. I understand that many of you are unhappy about Zack's fate. I also understand more of you are upset that the season premiere of Bones was less than stellar. But, that's no reason to totally rack up the fourth season as a total failure. It's looking bleak, I know, but a finale and a premiere sometimes don't make a season. All I ask is for you to hold off a bit until you judge this season as a total disaster.

(S04E01) Hullo Guv! Welcome to the fourth series premiere of Bones. It has been a summer of anger and anticipation for most fans of the show. Anger, as many felt creator Hart Hanson bollixed the whole thing up by making Zack Addy a bit potty. Anticipation, because those same fans are curious to see how Hanson and his writers will fill the gap and how the rest of the blokes at the Jeffersonian will adjust. And, of course, there's also the unanswered question as to the state of Bones and Booth's relationship: will they shag or not this season?

None of those questions were answered in this two-hour series premiere, althouth Zack's fate was briefly mentioned. What we did get was a trip to Londontown by Temperance and Seeley (hence, the British slang), and some significant relationship changes amongst the Squints. So, grab a pint, some fish n' chips, and your favorite duck, and let's begin.

A lot of Bones fans were unhappy last season when Zack was revealed to be Gormogon's apprentice. However, thanks to spoilers leaked over the summer, I can tell you we haven't seen the last of him. Want to know if the squints and co. are all back? If Angela and Hodgins will finally marry and be happy ever after? And if Brennan and Booth will truly kiss this season? Answers are coming up!

Beware: Spoilers ahead!

David Boreanaz knows how to work a crowd. The man is honest, funny, and self-deprecating. Oh, and I guess he's good looking (I'm a man's man and really don't look at those things.) That's probably a reason why so many women crowded into the huge Ballroom 20 for the Bones panel -- a panel that I was highly anticipating. Well, it was probably Boreanaz as well as the appearances of Tamara Taylor (Cam), John Francis Daley (Dr. Sweets) and Michaela Conlin that made the audience wait in line for over an hour.

But, it was David who took over the panel for most of the time as they revealed some upcoming facts about season four and took audience questions.

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Okay, I'm a fan of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, but not a normal one. I've read all the comic books for both properties and seen the original movie that launched the phenomenon about three times over the years. And yet, for some reason I've never seen a full episode of either show.

When Buffy first came out, I lived in a city that didn't have The WB. And by the time it was available to me I was already several years behind, and I hate coming into the middle of something. Then, for whatever reason, it has remained on my "to do" list over the years.

So where does that leave me for the Retro Squad Buffy/Angel week? I want to participate, but in a way I'm a newbie to the show. So how about you guys tell me a good episode to immerse myself into the world of the Buffy-verse? In fact, maybe one from each show? I'm hearing from the Squad that 'Hush' is a good candidate.

(S03E14) "I am deceptively strong." Dr. Zach Addy
"I'm... deceived." Dr. Cameron Saroyan

This was a very lighthearted and playful episode, particularly after the gravitas of last week's trial. Not only was it a great send-up of FOX's sister show, American Idol, making light fun of the show and its contestants, but there was also a lot of joking around and funny moments, reminiscent of the best of Bones' first two seasons with the Squint Squad. It was nice to see them back in full force this episode. Simultaneously, there were plenty of clues from the beginning of the episode about what was going to happen. But I'll talk about that in a minute. Can we talk about Eric Millegan first? Did you know that he actually is a cabaret singer, and he has an act in LA, as well as a Broadway history pre-dating the show?

Before the writers strike shut down the set of Bones, the cast and crew completed an episode titled "The Wannabe in the Weeds." If you recall, in mid-December, I told you that former American Idol contestants Brandon Rogers and Ace Young would guest star in this American Idol-themed episode. Finally, months after the episode was completed, we will get to see the two Idol finalist perform both on and off the stage on Bones.

(S03E12) Brennan: "I don't know what that means."
Angela: "Are you serious?"
- When Cam reveals that both seminal fluid and saliva were found in the basketball player's shorts...

Rich Keller asked me to cover Bones tonight. Rich and I have also co-reviewed House. I am a bit late to the Bones parade: I started watching it this winter during the writers' strike. I bought the first two seasons on iTunes, and I was completely hooked. It's now one of my favorite shows. Now that the show comes on at 7pm Central Time, I was happy to have TiVoed the show tonight and that my kids were in bed when I watched it. It was one of the grosser episodes-- or maybe it just seemed that way because of the earlier time slot.

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Admit it: You all want to know what's like to talk to David Boreanaz, AKA, Angel from Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Angel, AKA, Special Agent Seeley Booth from Bones. I'd like to know what it is like to talk to him too, but one of the things about these conference calls is that you are instructed to hit two keys to queue up for your question, and I always hit them, but I never get selected to ask questions.

I do, however, now know what it is like to listen to David Boreanaz talk on the phone, so I guess that's something, right? He sounds just like Booth. Go figure. If you are a longterm fan of Boreanaz, I'd have to guess that either he did the phone call in character as Booth or that Boreanaz is a lot more like the sometimes-abrasive Booth than the brooding and circumspect Angel.

How good are you at spotting someone's true age? There's been a few times I've caught myself wondering how old that actor really is on TV, when they're playing someone my age and look ten years older. Do I really look that good? Then again, I've seen the opposite and thought, "damn, I am an old decrepit fart." In any case, I'll pull up IMDb and usually find myself in shock of how young/old the actor on-screen really is.

The whole actor-to-character age ratio thing got me curious, so I did a little research (with the help of some of the TV Squad team) and made a list of some of the more extreme and well-known (or, maybe to some, not-so-well-known) examples. By the way, we didn't include actors who played flashback scenes of their characters for short periods of time, as there are more of those than we have room for.

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As we reported in our November 11 edition of Spoilers Anonymous, an upcoming episode of FOX's Bones will have an American Idol-theme. Who better than some real Idol contestants to play the guest roles of, wait for it, contestants taking part in a singing competition? That's exactly what the casting crew behind the show thought!

At least two American Idol contestants, one from season 5 and the other from season 6, will guest star in an episode titled "The Wannabe in the Weeds" (as you can guess, the dead character will surely be a contestant and the body will be found in... weeds). The episode, slated to air in March according to some sources, is the last episode of the series completed before production was shut down due to the writers' strike.