Well, it’s that time of the year again, folks! Summer is fading, the leaves are starting to change color, the last of the barbecue coals has been extinguished, and you know what that means. The return of fall television. And we here at ScriptPhD.com are committed to previewing the best of science and science-fiction that the boob tube has to offer. From educational, to informational, to just downright fun, over the next two weeks, we will preview our picks of can’t-miss fall shows. While the majority of the season’s lineup is set to debut towards the end of September and beginning of October (coverage of which we’ll bring you next week), this week sees the return of Bones, Fringe and a Jim Henson favorite for the kiddies, Sid the Science Kid. Our exclusive sneak previews, under the jump.

Back to life, back to reality. After a controversial, much talked-about season finale, our favorite forensic anthropologists are back to solve mysteries with a bang in the season premiere entitled “Harbingers in the Fountain.” Leaving off with Booth in a coma and Brennan escaping to a dig in Guatemala, the partners are reunited to solve a mystery of bodies buried beneath a Washington, DC fountain. Booth has recovered enough to be reinstated, but still has lingering after-effects, including a newly-acquired awareness of feelings for his partner. With a hilarious guest-starring turn by Cyndi Lauper as a tarot card psychic who may be harboring a little too much information on both the case and Brennan and Booth’s chemistry, this episode tests the boundaries of science versus the occult. [The ScriptPhD, incidentally, likes a little bit of both!] Oh, yeah, and Brennan and Booth admit their feelings for each other. Kind of. Sort of. Maybe.

Other fun tidbits about the rest of the new season include more of a focus on the squints and their personal lives, deeper exploration into Booth’s family (particularly the relationship with his brother), and a more episodic, less arc-driven format to the season. And for the most pressing issue on fans’ minds? The reality of the fantasy from last season will carry over into this season, according to executive producer Stephen Nathan. “These are two people who should be together but have to deny it in some way for their own survival,” he says. “But they can’t stand when they’re not in each other’s company.” In many ways, last season’s cliffhanger and this season’s resolution will serve as a “reboot” for the star-crossed romance, say the show’s producers. “[Booth] is so convinced they’re perfect for each other,” says star David Boreanaz. He will be forced to court Brennan, who in turn will have to knock down her emotional walls to let him in. All while pursuing some very cool forensic science along the way.

For even more scoop on the upcoming Bones season, read ScriptPhD.com’s exclusive in-depth press room coverage of interviews with star Emily Deschanel and creator Hart Hanson from this summer’s San Diego Comic-Con.

Bones premieres on FOX this Thursday, September 17th, 2009 at 8 PM ET/PT.

One of the more exciting debuts in the world of science-fiction last year was J.J. Abrams’s neuroscience procedural Fringe. Each week, the super-secret Fringe Division of the FBI investigates a series of unnatural, unexplained (often terrifying) occurrences all over the world using “fringe science”. In the shocking season finale, Agent Dunham meets conniving corporate nemesis William Bell in a parallel universe. In the season premiere, “A New Day in the Old Town”, she returns to the real (or is it?) universe in a spectacular accident that renders her temporarily comatose. While Olivia fights for her life, a mysterious shape-shifter is enlisted to kill her and the secrets she saw on the other side. Under the threat of shutdown, the Fringe Division investigates the case with the help of charming newcomer, FBI Junior Assistant Amy Jessup. All of this action culminates in a shocking ending that is sure to get the fans talking. Despite the changes afoot in the Fringe Division, some things never change. As usual, Walter Bishop is gifted with the best deadpan lines of the episode [“I want to see [Olivia’s] face when she eats my pudding”, “Feel his anus–it’s soaking wet”]. “There’s not a point where this can get any weirder, is there?” Olivia asks Peter. Well, the cow gets to don a birthday hat.

The second season promises to pair more exciting sci-fi with a deeper look into the lives of Agent Dunham and father-son duo Peter and Walter Bishop. “This year, the problems Olivia and the Bishops face will worsen and become much more personal,” promise the show’s creators. “[The second season will have] more action, more mystery, romance, comedy and of course, science.” ScriptPhD.com approves!

Want even more info on the upcoming Fringe season and the great neuroscience that awaits them? ScriptPhD.com also interviewed the Fringe cast and creative team at this summer’s San Diego Comic-Con.

This winter, ScriptPhD.com looks forward to giving you an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at how the “fringe” science of Fringe is researched and written into the show as we chat with and follow the show’s brilliant neuroscience advisor Ricardo Gil da Costa. Stay tuned for more details.

Fringe premieres on FOX this Thursday, September 17th, 2009 at 9 PM ET/PT.

There is no single more important issue facing our nation than producing the next generation of mathematicians, scientists and engineers to compete effectively in our knowledge-based global economy. Educational outreach at the youngest ages is an important tool to get kids talking, thinking and excited about science. Among multimedia programs currently available to the school-age set, none is better than The Henson Company’s PBS production Sid the Science Kid. Starring the winsome animated preschooler Sid, the show encourages children to explore basic science concepts and phenomena through question and experimentation. Each block of episodes centers around a central theme. The week of September 14th delves into weather with five all-new episodes: the basic science of weather; the science of rain; the science of cold and chilly weather; wind and finally, an adventure with Sid the Weatherman. Breaking down complex concepts for children using logic, music, colors and appealing sidekicks, Sid the Science Kid is a winning formula of the didactic and the entertaining.

In addition to its pioneering work with Sid, the Henson Company is currently developing 40 episodes of another children’s animated series, “Dinosaur Train”, aimed at teaching preschoolers about concepts of natural sciences and history. Kudos to Henson for this very important work, and ScriptPhD.com highly encourages you watch both programs with your kids to foster their science knowledge and innate curiosity.

New episodes of Sid the Science Kid premiere on PBS this week. Check your local affiliate for schedules.

ScriptPhD.com is honored and thrilled to be working in concert with the Jim Henson Company to bring you behind-the-scenes on-set coverage of the animation wizardry, science and thought that goes into creating effective scientific educational programming aimed at children.

Please come back next week when we round up ScriptPhD.com’s picks of the best of this fall’s science and sci-fi television with Part II of the Fall Science TV Preview.

~*ScriptPhD*~
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Greetings! Day 2 of Comic-Con was a very scaryspecial occasion: Official Star Wars Day. Yes, the personal hygiene was questionable and the light sabers were many, but the ScriptPhD soldiered on to bring you our coverage of as much science entertainment content as you can pack in one website. Today we start by putting the science in science fiction with the special 10th Anniversary Farscape reunion panel, including information about their new DVD box set release and upcoming projects. ABC’s electrifying new science-fiction serial thriller FlashForward provided a world premiere sneak peek of the first 15 minutes of the pilot and a special guest surprised the audience. Our press room coverage from Day 2 includes some phabulous physics with CBS’s Emmy-nominated Big Bang Theory, including a one-on-one interview with Emmy nominee Jim Parsons, who talked to ScriptPhD.com about his journey into science and preparation to play a science geek, and Bones, including interviews with star Emily Deschanel and showrunner Hart Hanson. We also have our daily Comic-Con Costume of the Day and the Light Saber Count Tally. Stay along for the ride with ScriptPhD.com. Click “continue reading” for more!

Farscape: 10th Anniversary Panel
Moderator: Keith R.A. DeCandidio (author of official Farscape Comic)

Panelists: Brian Henson (executive producer/director), Rockne O’Bannon (creator/writer), Ben Browder (John Crichton), and Claudia Black (Aeryn Sun)

Farscape: 10th Anniversary Panel
Moderator: Keith R.A. DeCandidio (author of official Farscape Comic)

Panelists: Brian Henson (executive producer/director), Rockne O’Bannon (creator/writer), Ben Browder (John Crichton), and Claudia Black (Aeryn Sun)

Brian Henson: Thanks for coming everyone. We are primarily here to announce our special 10th Anniversary DVDs being released thanks to the efforts of our new distribution partners. November 17th is the official release date, with lots of new material previously not available. We heard from fans that what is most missed is Farscape: Undressed, and we actually only aired it once. So it’s really nice to make it special and it will be a part of this box set.

Keith R.A. DeCandidio: In fact, you have 29 commentaries on specific episodes. So there’s lots of commentaries and documentaries, 90 minutes of deleted scenes. What about the webisodes though?

Brian Henson: The webisodes are really good creative work. Rockne has been working with Ricky Manning, and they’re going to be great but it’s a tough time to finace things. We’re working on raising money, but we are poised to go on with them as a project and Rockne has been working on the comic books in the meantime.

Rockne O’Bannon: I’ve been honing a suitable story that can be done on the web in 4-5 minute segments, and it’s been tough, because the original was ambitious even for television. We wrestle constantly with a story that we’re excited about.

Brian Henson: What we’re trying to do is approach webisode opportunities from a unique perspective, not necessarily a linear one, not interconnected, but where you get a piece of an important puzzle as you watch each one. That is the initial launch of the next big part of Farscape, and it’s very ambitious. It is the continuing story of Crichton and Aeryn and their son. And if you keep up with the comics, there are characters being introduced in those that will continue into the next chapter as well.

Rockne O’Bannon: First we started the webisodes [as follow-up material] and then the comics came along, and it’s the perfect interstitial material. Comics are definitely an important part of the equation.

Keith R.A. DeCandidio: We’ll start with some web questions first that were sent in. David Leslie asks Ben and Claudia, what was your first reaction to acting with creatures from the Henson creature shop?

Claudia Black: Well, to be honest, we didn’t know what we were getting into. The Henson involvement was exciting. I’ve always been a big fan of muppets, great production value, and I find them interesting.

Ben Browder: I didn’t know what they were going to do. My first audition was at Henson’s old offices, surrounded by Kermit. I just wanted to be with the frog. I didn’t realize it was going to be Rigel.

Brian Henson: Rock and I had been working on this together for four years before production actually started. And there was lots of work involved. The show is very innovative, a sci-fi tone with a new energy, lots naughtier, and pushes the limits beyond what people had previously done on television. When Ben and Claudia joined, we only had drawings of different episode ideas. In a lot of ways, it was psychotically ambitious to have new ideas for each episode [in terms of expense and sustainability]. Rigel and Pilot were the first two puppets built in London, the rest were built in Australia. I was personally always impressed with the Farscape cast. Because they must take it very seriously in order for the idea to work. The characters must be sincere and believe in the world, but with Farscape, because we have a lighter tone, very comedic, particularly with the creatures, you need to treat them with respect. And Ben and Claudia in particular, were taking them seriously and yet having fun with it at the same time!

Rockne O’Bannon: I remember in the early days, it took a few episodes to get comfortable, and once you could touch Rigel, it helped you make the whole thing that much more real.

Ben Browder: And the puppeteers themselves were okay with it. You didn’t WANT to touch Rigel, but you did want to hit him. I remember the first episode I hit him, Season 1, episode 6. And I asked the puppeteer for permission, which he gave, but we didn’t tell the director of the episode, so we filmed the scene and I nail Rigel in the back of the head, he goes down and before they called cut, we hear this “Oh my Goooooooood! Not the puppet!!!!!!” We realized that the puppet cost $1 million to make. I thought I was going to lose my job. You realize the appeal of the puppets pretty quickly when my children walked into the room with me, and engaged in a 30 minute conversation with the puppets. They never realized that Johnny was even there.

Claudia Black: And every year I made the bet that because [the Farscape plan] was so ambitious, we weren’t getting picked up, and every year I was wrong. They were able to create these really emotional scenes with rubber, to get these emotional reactions out of puppets.

Brian Henson: With rubber, leather and latex! No wonder we’re at Comic-Con!

Fan question: What’s your favorite line from anything in the show?

Rockne O’Bannon: Picking a single line is tough. But I am really proud of [the swear word] Frell. I was waiting in the airport at Salt Lake City on my way to Thanksgiving, and writing the scene for episode 9, and needed a curse word. So for me it was the invention of the word Frell.

Claudia Black: Same here! I thought it was a sticker. Every other episode we were like, “Can we use Frell? Can we invent more unique swear words?!”

Ben Browder: My favorite line. “CAN I GET A HELL YEAH?!”

Audience: Hell yeah!

Claudia Black: “Can you help me find a place to seize your soul?” They wanted me to test that character, and I did the line spontaneously when we taped, and watching the reaction on Ben’s face, it was the first time you’ve ever corpsed on set. It was so fantastic!

Brian Henson: For me, it’s like an ocean. How do you pick your favorite drop of water? There was so much Farscape! My favorite part was the romance between Crichton and Aeryn. That relationship and the performances that these guys did was what moved me the deepest. Which is weird because I’m the creature guy. And when Aeryn smacks Rigel’s head was such a surprising moment and always makes me laugh!

Claudia Black: I remember doing a lot of the B stories with Rigel early on and I remember telling Ben, “Hey! You’ve got to get your hands on Rigel, it makes a big difference.” I didn’t realize he was going to be real, and here he comes with an entourage of six people at any given time. So dealing with him and his entourage and pretending that they weren’t there was a challenge.

Brian Henson: What you don’t see is that when there’s a Rigel scene, underneath him is a group of three people, and a rolling chair. So to get to Rigel, you have to make a plan, otherwise you’ll step on people’s faces and fingers. But it is funny. If you were to just zoom out 10 millimiters [they would be there onscreen].

Keith R.A. DeCandidio: Online question from Jonathan Schwest from LA: What was your most formative experience on Farscape, that made you feel like THIS is the reason I took this job?

Claudia Black: Watching that video [retrospective at the beginning of the panel] was it. I cried. I can’t believe what we managed to achieve. I think you had to film it overseas, where the tax incentives were, which means working with Australian crews, which are cheaper. [laughter] But originally, the plan was to block shoot multiple episodes at a time.

Brian Henson: Yes, the original plan was to have an ensemble cast and make simultaneous episodes, but we realized the driving relationship was Chricton and Aeryn.

Claudia Black: I turned around and said to Ben one day, “This is a love story.”

Rockne O’Bannon: For me the feeling really hit home when we were doing the Peacekeeper Wars, the fnal mini-series, when we were doing the birth sequence in the water. I thought, wow, it’s a gunfight, all our characters are gonna die, Aeryn’s having a baby, and Chricton is going to be delivering it, and they’re gonna get married and it’s gonna be…. funny! That’s when I realized, “Wow look at what we’ve done. After four years, it was just the Farscape way. We’ve gotten to a place and a show where we’re really stretching the limits of what we can do.”

Claudia Black: I was grateful for that water birth scene a few years later, when I birthed my first baby, because I did have it in water, and it wasn’t nearly as painful as for Aeryn. I remember thinking, “Huh. I’m tougher than Aeryn.” [laughter]

Ben Browder: My formative moment? My paycheck! First paycheck, I looked at it, and thought, “Ohhhhh the rent! Baby’s gonna eat today!” Why did I take that job, I don’t know. No, all kidding aside, it was near the end of Season 1, it occurred in stages. The first time I worked with Rowan Woods, episode 9 season 1, was a turning point for the series and what we were capable of. And then the two-parter where we introduced Scorpius. All those developments through Season 1, we were able to fail gloriously and succeed in surprising ways. It didn’t happen in a flash, but if you look back at more than one clip, you get very overwhelmed. It’s ten years! It’s still beautiful and well-crafted today!

Rockne O’Bannon: What’s amazing is that the clip reel was of material we’d made only in the first season, and just looking at the scale of what we accomplished just in one season, tribute to all the artists, Aussies who embraced it and threw themselves at it. My formative moment was starting development with Brian in 1993, and looking at shopping it to a network and looking for a network deal. And we both looked at each other like, “How do we do this?” We had four scripts, but the pilot itself was overwhelming.

Brian Henson: Sci-Fi (now SyFy) was terrific. It was their first show that they picked up as an original series, and that was a big risk for them. I know people are upset with them for eventually canceling us, but it was a big deal to even run us for 4 seasons.

Fan question: Would you ever consider a sequel or a spin-off?

Brian Henson: We’ve thought about it, but we’re most excited about continuing the story as is. The Farscape universe is a very rich one, very well developed. We’re excited about launching the next chapter. We’ve discussed a lot of different options, but now we’re most excited about the next chapter. “Puppet Up” is this puppet show that’s rated X, that we do in secret at the Avalon Theatre in Hollywood, to train the puppeteers. We were thinking about a “Puppet Up” mix with Farscape!

Very special fan presentation: Hi, I’m Craig Glendave from the Guiness Book of World Records. This is a book full of psychotically ambitious people. I have one preview copy of our upcoming book for you and your certificate. This is for “Most Visual Effects in a TV Series”. You have seven days to do one episodes, with 40-50 visual effects per show. In one season, you gusy do a motion picture’s worth of effects. Welcome to the Guiness Book!

Keith R.A. DeCandidio: Another web question. If you had a chance to go back in time, what would you change and why?

Claudia Black: Personally, I’d redo the first six episodes, because it was like a teething or a birthing process for me, because everyone was helping me shape the character, and for me, the seminal moment was when I took ownership of the show and I felt like I owned Aeryn. Up until then, I didn’t have a comfort level with Aeryn. I hit my stride by episode seven.

Rockne Obannon: For me, it was in the pilot, seeing the first few shots, and in comes the footage of Ben and he’s wearing like a jet fighter helmet. And we are like, “OK that’s not an astronaut helmet” so we would like to put on something different on him, but it reminded us to write great dialogue for him because he might be hidden by the helmet.

Ben Browder: I wouldn’t change a thing. I’m not smart enough to know what thread to pull, because of what could unravel. Because all the things we did badly, we got better the second time. Like the terrible beards! That was my own beard, by the way, for you online haters saying that it was the worst fake beard you’d ever seen.

Keith R.A. DeCandidio: Any final comments?

Brian Henson: Thank you for coming. You, the fans, are the reason we continued, and kept us alive. We’re still dedicated to Farscape and keeping it going. You guys have been so supportive for really unusual shows, and that keeps television going!

Ben Browder: So we’re all going for drinks afterwards…. Brian is buying, tell your friends!

[ScriptPhD note: I have never watched Farscape. Yes, I am hanging my head in shame, and yes I realize it’s a staple of science fiction television. But though I covered this panel because their material is so appropriate to our site, I must say, the clips and the energy exuded by the panel, clearly conveying their chemistry and camaraderie, made me an instant fan. I plan on going through the box set immediately. Maybe this will help me get over losing Battlestar Galactica]

From one great moment of science fiction past, we moved to the science fiction future, with ABC’s exciting new fall series Flash Forward. Comic-Con featured the first public footage of the first two acts of the pilot and the introduction of a very special cast member.

Flash Forward
Panelists: Brannon Braga (24), Marc Guggenheim (Eli Stone), David Goyer (Batman Begins), Joseph Fiennes (Shakespeare in Love), John Cho (Star Trek), Courtney B. Vance (Law & Order) and Christine Woods (In Plain Sight).

The panel began with an introduction and world premiere of first two acts by executive producers and writers. As a note, ScriptPhD.com is going to be covering and reviewing the entire pilot as part of our fall television preview. Think of this as a tease! But in the meantime, we have a transcript of the panel discussion featuring cast and writers.

Marc Guggenheim: Well, the concept for our show is based on a book entitled Flashforward by Robert J. Sawyer, and I remember my wife came to me and said this would make a great movie, but we subsequently moved into a house, and buried in the boxes a long time after, I found a copy of the paperback and started exploring it again. Then I talked to my friend Brannon. The big thing in the book is that the conscious shift is 21 years in the future, but we chose six months as more interesting. By the end of Season 1 we will have caught up with all the flash forwards. And I know what you’re going to ask. Do we have a plan for after Season 1? We do.

Moderator: And the story is building up to a big date, April 29th.

Marc Guggenheim: Yes, and this event is so big that this will be split up into two days.

Brannon Braga: What you didn’t see yet, is that every man, woman and child has a vision of the futuer six months from now. That’s 6.8 billion potential stories that you can tell! Great syndication package! Because of that, we saw great potential for stories but also something that’s universal.

Courtney B. Vance: I’d like to go all over the world. [laughter]

Marc Guggenheim: That will look like a green screen to you, Courtney. In all reality, we will be going all over the world during the show. Every person is a potential character, and every type of story will be told in the series: funny, sad, romantic, tragic.

David S. Goyer: Every episode will have at least one flash forward that is procedural mingled with our ongoing characters’ flash forwards.

Moderator: There are lots of mysteries embedded going forward. Moving forward, what are the episodes driven by? What’s the right balance of drama and human?

Brannon Braga: Well, Joseph Fiennes’s character has seen some things in his future that drives the investigation [as to why the blackout happened]. That is the overarching story of the series. But we’re also interested in the human drama element. What imprisons people by their visions going forward?

David S. Goyer: If you want the muscular procedural, there is that aspect through Joseph’s character from all these clues he’s dug up six months from now. Every image has already been figured out and they appear briefly on that board that you see flashes of with pieces of the puzzle, if you want to pause your TiVos. Part of it is that we started writing the first half of this, and then second half after WGA strike had eded fourteen months later. So that pause in between gave us time for lots of planning. But there is also tons of human drama involved in the show. If you knew everythng about your life would be different six months from now, would you do everything differently?

Marc Guggenheim: It’s another opportunity to elicit character, which is our mantra in the writers’ room. Even the guns and pyrotechnics are ultimately tied into character drama. Our show’s tone is as wide as its scope.

Moderator: You talked about LOST and it being a big inspiration for you. How did that play a role?

David S. Goyer: Nothing will be the new LOST, but our show ended up at ABC. We wrote a spec script and there were multiple bidders and I was friends with Damon [Lindeloff, writer on Lost], and the bottom line is that LOST was a genre-breaking show: daring, challenging. We figured that if ABC was that courageous with them, they’ll be courageous with us. And we pitched them a fairly excessive plan. We know the shot Season 1 ends on, we know how the season and series ends and they said, “Holy shit!” Literally, that’s what they said. The basic plan is that in order to tell the story we need as little as three seasons, and it could go out to…

Courtney B. Vance: Raw hide… 21 seasons!

David S. Goyer: We had a big plan and we didn’t know if it would work out.

Moderator: This is your first time on TV Joseph. Why did you want to do this?

Joseph Fiennes: I actually came to LA for a meetig on another project, and on the way to the airport I got a phone call and a script [for Flash Forward]. I knew of David’s work, but read the script and thought I had to do it. It was a combination of brilliance and smooth talking that landed me here. It’s been an extraordinary change of events going to TV, but I must say through the scripts and the process behind the series, I think that it’s so much more exciting in many areas than film. Film can be generic and structured, three act arc. You sort of predict what you’re going to get. Here there’s a different shape that is possibly like Raw Hide, going on forever.

David S. Goyer: There’s a cute story from the pilot of Joseph taking out this gun. And we showed him how to shoot a gun, since when we see him in the movies, he is usually on a horse in pantaloons. In the middle of it he did this ridiculous James Bond action role, and he threw that in because he was so excited.

Moderator: John, how’s your summer been?

[audience cheers]

John Cho: Summer’s been good. Had a film called Star Trek, and it feels so good. We went all over the world, it was a real privilege to travel with all those people. I didn’t get to meet everyone while we were filming, so it was a good chance for everyone to get to know each other

Moderator: How challenging is it to bring this to life? When all you have is a flash of the characters’ future and the writers give you little to work with.

Courtney B. Vance: I find it liberating to be in a series that is flashing 21 years in the future, I get residual checks for 21 years. I get the chance to work with these guys as youths and we will grow old together. I look forward to seeing my children go to college. In all seriousness, it’s a great group of people. I have been trying to hook up with another series for a while since Law and Order, so I was exhausted from that trek. My manager told me to go in on Saturday to see the writers of this new show. So I went in and met with them, and it was a life-changing meeting. I’m pleased and proud to be a part of this 21 year saga.

Christine Woods: This is my first series so that’s exciting. But it’s fun to go to work and have it be reactionary. You don’t know what’s going to happen, and sometimes they give you clues, but I think it’s cool to not know what’s next with less to think about.

David S. Goyer: I have a funny story about Christine. She has these three tattoos on her arm, and she auditioned and we loved her but couldn’t ever remember her name. So when we went to cast, I was like, “I want three circles. Where is three circles?” She became Three Circles for a month.

Christine Woods: I actully got more work after the tattoos because people remembered me.

Moderator: Lightning round. David, next Batman fim.

David S. Goyer: We’re still trying to think of the lamest Batman character. We’re BatMusing.

Marc Guggenheim: Green Lantern is happening, we’re filming in Australia. So look for it in January.

Brannon Braga: Loved the new Star Trek movie. And yes, I think we’ll absolutely see another reincarnation of Star Trek on TV again.

Marc Guggenheim: What you guys don’t know is that after Kal Penn joined the White House, John had a choice between doing this show and joining a non-profit for Sarah Palin.

John Cho: Yes, we would have been providing guns for every underprivileged child. [laughter]

Fan question: Some characters don’t have a flash forward.

David S. Goyer: We will be bringing that into the storyline.

Fan question: David, you work a lot in features, are you going to stay invovled with this show?

David S. Goyer: I co-wrote episodes 2 and 3. You know, in the past, I’ve flirted a lot noncommitally with TV, but I love this project so much that I signed a contract for the first season no matter what.

Fan: Has Robert J. Sawyer been involved?

David S. Goyer: He saw the pilot, he loved it, and he’s our science advisor on the show.

Brannon Braga: we planned the show with him before we even started writing, because certain things are different from the novel. But if you see his blog, he’s totally cool with it. We’re starting a new fan resource for the show: www.redpandaresources.com

Fan question: What caused the global blackout?

Marc Guggenheim: Rush Limbaugh farted. It’s a big ass, think about it. We know, we know, we knew before we started the show, but we’re not gonna say.

David S. Goyer: A master plan is important if you’re going to do a heavily serialized show that catches up to a certain date. The audience smells a rat if they think you’re making it up as you go along. We were able to get ABC to hire our writing staff well before we shot [to begin planning everything out], but if you are going to be true to the fans, you have to know where you’re going. Thus, we are able to lay in a lot of easter eggs, and aha moments that connect to seasons later on, well beyond even Season 1.

Fan: You imply that even though people know what their future is, they can’t change it because you’ve planned it out.

David S. Goyer: Part of the fun of the show is subverting expectations. A lot of people think we’re treading water until April 29th, but there’s a lot of game changers that happen early on. So… just watch the show.

After showing some rather funny clips of Sonya Walder (Penny Widmore of LOST) in her Comic-Con costume had she been here, the producers introduced the worst-kept secret in Hollywood… Flash Forward cast member Dominic Monaghan, whose mysterious appearance seemed to be as brief and mysterious as his character. [He did get a standing ovation from the audience, though.]

Dominic Monaghan: My character’s name is Simon and that’s all I know. I don’t know

if I’ll be on LOST again. I’m not really sure if anyone ever dies on that show.

David S. Goyer: We’d planned Dom’s involvement even before we started the pilot and he’s a game changer character that fucks things up a lot.

Fan qestion: Christine, what does your tattoo mean?

Christine Woods: It’s nothing too secret. Just a combination of femininity, presence, it’s my own little power symbol.

ScriptPhD note: ScriptPhD.com spent time in the press room with the cast and production talent of Big Bang Theory and Bones and we were thrilled to be able to ask the actors and writers about the science in both shows.

From the Press Room: The Big Bang Theory

Kaley Cuoco (Penny)

Press question: Did you have to talk to anyone about researching to play the role of Penny for background iformation?

Kaley Cuoco: Originally I was a little nervous that it was going to be blonde next door to two goofballs, which we’ve seen before. But if you’ve seen the show, it’s so not like that at all. Penny, like myself, likes these guys very much and actually wants to be friends with them more than they want to be friends with her. I think they were the mean ones at first. They wanted nothing to do with her. She just annoyed them. So I just love these guys in life and it shows on the show. We love each other.

Futon Critic: Do you feel like you’ve picked up any geekier habits from watching the show and learning about things you’ve never thought about before?

KC: No I refuse to pick up on any of those things. I still want to live my life, OK? I don’t live in the Big Bang Theory, I don’t know anything about physics, and I’m never going to learn anything about physics.

ScriptPhD: I overheard you talking about nerds during your video interview. Do they come up to you on the street and appreciate you and vice versa. What’s your interaction like with them?

KC: I don’t know if they’ve always been geeks and I don’t look at it like that, people seem every age, every looking person, every style of person seems to come out to me. They love the show. They’re just genuine about the show. I really feel like people love the show, love it, love it, or have never seen it. So the fans that come up know everything about it, they want to know more about Penny, they kind of think Penny is real. They’re like, “So what would Penny do tomorrow?” and I’m like, “I don’t know, I don’t have a script in front of me!” They kind of really believe and I don’t really want to take that away from them, but at the same time it’s sweet.

ScriptPhD: How did you get the role? Just curious.

KC: Because I’m awesome! Actually, I auditioned two years ago, didn’t get it. Auditioned again, went to network, didn’t get it. Chuck [the showrunner] told me I was not the girl for the show. And then a year later he rewrote the whole thing and called me and said, “I’m sorry will you come back?” And I was like, “No, I’m busy now.” He sent me the script, and he did rewrite the whole thing and I came in two days later and got the job. It was all an incredible timing thing for me. It wasn’t meant to be a couple of years ago, I don’t think it would have worked the way it works now.

Press question: Do you prefer the comedy to drama?

KC: Yes! I can’t be serious for two seconds. And I love the audience interaction, I love to laugh, I love to make people laugh, I love to be contorted and do silly things. My favorite episode for me personally was when I got to look like a disaster! It’s just been great. They’ve written some great stuff for me, I’m really happy.

Press question: When do you guys start shooting again?

KC: Two weeks from now. Not yet.

ScriptPhD: Are you excited for the Emmys?

KC: I am! I’m so excited for Jim, I’m thrilled for him.

ScriptPhD: Because it’s a lot of validation for the show in a way. Tell me about that. You’re veering into the mainstream, people are watching, you’re getting nominated for Emmys. What’s that been like for you guys?

KC: You know, it’s been a total steady climb. I mean we started out where reviews were bad, people thought the show was recycled, they’d seen it before, they’d done this, done that. They’ve really turned. They love it! And it’s so nice because we’ve worked really hard and our writing has gotten better and better and better. I think our second season was better than our first and that’s rare, so I’m hoping for a really great third season.

How do you feel that this casts light on nerds and your character likes. What type of world is this creating?

KC: It’s called television. Truthfully, I think it has opened the door for everybody. These are people that we don’t know. I mean, these brilliant, brilliant people are very few in the world, and I think it’s amazing that we’re casting a light on them. They’re not nerds. You’re only calling them nerds because they’re smarter than you and you’re jealous.

SPhD: Absolutely! The Fringe writers were just talking about that at their panel yesterday. That their responsibility is just to portray them living their everyday lives. And you do more for science by saying, “Hey these are regular dudes. They go home, they have love interests…”

KC: Yeah, they have a life and they’re briliant and way smarter than any of us.

SPhD: They’re not untouchable.

KC: That’s exactly right. Because I think they are almost more untouchable than the hot girl next door that they think they’re never going to speak to. They’re brilliant and have a lot to give to the world. Little socially awkward, but we can fix that!

Press question: Is there any level of improv to the show?

KC: You know, I have to be honest, the only reason that it seems like there is is because the writing is so good. When a show can seem like it’s just happening, it’s the writing. Everything is happening in the writers’ room. Oh the Emmy nominee over there! Emmy nominee at Table 2.

ScriptPhD: Let’s get some Cristal Champagne please!

KC: Ugh! Pop the champagne. His head is just huge!

SPhD: And if he wins, girlfriend, you’d better just watch out.

KC: I don’t even want to be on the show. [laughter] It really happened overnight. He doesn’t even call me by name anymore.

SPhD: How’s your camaraderie on the set?

KC: Horrible, I hate all of them. [laughter] Now that Jim has this Emmy nomination. He asked for a room outside of the stage so he doesn’t have to talk to these kiddie actors.

SPhD: With green M&M’s

KC: Yes! He doesn’t want to interact with us minions. [laughter] But truthfully, what is sad, is if you look at my iPhone, my Top 5 are the entire cast and that kind of says it all. I don’t talk to anyone else, I don’t know anybody else, I don’t have a life. I just speak to Jim and Simon and Johnny. It’s insane. Oh and Kunal. Sometimes.

SPhD: Or as my one friend in DC calls him, The Hot Indian Guy.

KC: Please don’t tell him that. Because I can’t handle two of them! I won’t deal with the big heads. I mean this Emmy nomination has taken over everything.

SPhD: It was really sweet of CBS to stick with you guys.

KC: Oh my god! You know we did eight episodes Season 1 before the writers’ strike. Eight. And I don’t know how we got back. It was incredible. It says a lot about people watching it, and CBS of course. We’re very lucky.

SPhD: Have you learned some science on the show? Any science?

KC: No. No. People hope I’m going to say yes, but I never do. I’m not going to lie, because then you’re going to say “What did you learn?” and I have nothing to say to you. I’m an actor! What do I care? I don’t need to study the physics. It’s all fake.

Press question: Do you play any games on set?

KC: We do play would you rather? Oh you wouldn’t love it on our set! We ask some narly questions. Would you rather, 20 questions, Jim is always Spock. And now he’s going to be “Who am I: Emmy nominee.” Stop me anytime.

Jim Parsons (Sheldon Cooper)

Press question: Can you talk about the Emmy nomination and what that means for you?

Jim Parsons: It’s not personally important. I will not deny that it is extremely flattering and extremely sweet. That’s the one ting I keep thinking about. It’s like people had to mark my name on the ballot. And that’s where it becomes unfathomable. It’s like somebody sat there at home and said, “I’ll mark Jim Parsons” and that’s like I can’t imagine that happening in a weird way. I don’t mean that self-deprecatingly either, it’s just one of those things that is hard to imagine. It’s only important though in what it aids to keeping the show on the air. Last year, after the first season, we had to pick episodes to submit. It was different this year, but anyway. We were submitting episodes and I asked Chuck Lorre if he had any suggestions and he did and he talked to me, but he said, “Remember throughout this process, there are a lot of people with statues at home who don’t have jobs.” And it’s such a valid point. So that’s what I mean. It’s only important if it brings more viewers to the show. That being said, would I throw an Emmy back in somebody’s face? No, I will run home with it, I will put it on the mantel, whatever it takes. I’ll stab your eyes out with her sharp little wings. Whatever you want.

Press Question: Jim, our website covers science in entertainment so I wanted to ask you a bit about the character you portray. Take me back to when you first got the role and you were like, “OK I’m gonna play this totally geeky physics guy.” First of all, how did you prepare, and secondly, what has been the evolution of this character in terms of what you bring from your craft to really give him a voice and the journey you’ve traveled?

JP: I hear you. When I heard we were picked up, I started watching anything I could. I always had a subscription to the New York Times, I admit I haven’t always paid attention to the Science Times on Tuesdays. I immediately started doing that. I bought a book—it’s called “Physics 101”. This is something the Smithsonian Puts out. I thought, “Well, that sounds smart to get. Why not?” I began watching NOVA. “Tune in to the NOVA! Why not?!” It does not take long, and I’ve said this before but I mean it sincerely, it does not take much research into science of any sort to realize what a specialized brain it takes to really wrap around that. And it did lead me to some dead ends as well. I didn’t get very far into the “Physics 101” book. We talked about Newton, and even there, just—gone! But what it did do for me, and Chuck and Bill talked about this from Day 1, they may be nerds, they may be geeks, but that’s not what we’re talking about necessarily. The biggest thing we’re talking about is that they’re geniuses. So that’s preparatory work. As we’ve gone along, it’s really hard to determine where changes have come into play and who brought what. What came first—the chicken or the egg? I don’t know half the time, you know? I don’t ever literally suggest something: “It might be good if Sheldon did….” But I haven’t done that. And I don’t know what they’ve taken from me, just observing me. Sheldon’s from Texas. I’m sure that came from the fact that I can have a bit of a Southern drawl at times. Especially in rehearsal. But their writing is so fleshed out and there’s so much in there that the only thing that I brought is to tell that story. So whatever I have to do to tell that story—use those words to tell that story, that’s all I feel like I do every week. And with their scripts, it’s been enough to keep that going.

From the Press Room: Bones

Press question: Can you talk about your reaction to the fans’ reaction to the finale?

Hart Hanson: Well the first response, I guess, came on the internet. I always get in trouble when I talk about this stuff. Because the second response were the ratings. They were very good and went up on the half hour. So that’s the real response. And then I do check in to see what fans think. I would say the first blizzard of response was negative, and then there was a lashback of positive response and then I left and let them argue throughout.

Emily Deschanel: Honestly, I just hear about these things so I don’t—I hear from Hart about the reaction. And I think it was somewhat anticipated on a certain level. I mean, I don’t know the exact percentages of how many people hated it, how many people loved it, but we knew that some people would be upset. It was a very different episode. And we were also talking about them getting together and it wasn’t in the real world. But at the same time, our hands are tied. If we get them together in the real world, it’s a tricky thing. They’re not really ready. But we want to give the audience something. You want to see the characters together as a couple and this gives the people an idea of how it would be, even though it’s not really them and it’s in a different world, but it’s from one of their brains or both of their brains, so it’s something. It’s giving a taste.

Hart Hanson: Yeah, here’s a taste of what it would look like for these two to be together. It looked kind of nice! I was thinking, this is a good spin-off. This nice world, it would be nice.

ED: My Grandma was upset. She was like, “I didn’t know they were changing the show and now you own a performance place.” She was confused by the end scene, it was another world, and that we don’t own a performance place.

HH: We are always delighted that there’s a response. Any response is better than no response.

ED: And the strength of the response rather than the direction of it, positive or negative, which is important. They’re obviously passionate about it either way, and that’s what really matters.

HH: It’s great that you guys built an audience that cares so deeply about what happens.

Press question: How much was it a placebo effect that you guys were trying to put in? You’re like OK, you’ve wanted this, you’ve been talking about this for so long, here you can have it, now we can move on.

HH: A bit. I think the first idea was to really make something for our stone fans, who love the show and have been with it a lot. I’ve been told by research that we have an extremely faithful audience. They follow us all over the place. And a good internet presence. All those things that indicate that there’s a strong, opinionated audience. And so my initial idea was to say thank you to them. Here’s something for you: it was full of inside jokes, full of inside references, full of echoes, and insights I hope. And we’re going to carry some of the things that we learned in that alternate world into the real world. It was kind of a bridge thing. So I would say, part of it was a, “Let’s see what it would be like to have Brennan and Booth be in love, be a really strong couple.” One of the debates was whether we had their marriage in trouble in the alternate reality, and we thought that was a bad idea. Let’s see what they look like as a solid, married couple, what everyone wants them to be. And this is what it would look like. So just a glimpse of that.

ED: And you get to see all the other characters that we love or that I love, I don’t know how you guys feel. But some of the squints, the grad students and different characters that come in and out of the show. You seen them in a different light and come in in a different way. And that’s kind of fun for the audience. So there’s so many things going on in the episode besides just us getting together. But that seems to be the thing that people are really opinionated about.

Press question: are you surprised that that would be the thing that bothers people?

ED: I shouldn’t be surprised at all. But you know, people say they want us to get together, but then at the panel today, it almost seemed like more people wanted us not to get together. Maybe people enjoy being angry that we’re not together. I feel like they want them to get together, but they don’t want us to give it to them.

HH: Emily said a brilliant thing. Will Keck, who was our moderator at the panel, asked the audience to clap if they wanted them to get together, and clap if they didn’t. It sounded like the latter group was a little bit louder. It was pretty close. And Emily said, “I think some people voted twice.” And I thought that that made total sense. We’re all like that.

ED: You can be conflicted about it and I think everyone is. This was a way of doing something without it being final. And that’s the kind of dance that we have to do every year.

Press question: So have you made up your mind about where it’s going to go or are you still confused about it?

HH: I do know, I’m not going to tell you. I do know if and when it happens, where it might happen in the season. But, I’ve said this many times, I’m not weaseling. A series is a very organic thing, and I’ve found with Bones, you kind of let the series point in the right direction. We have a very good company of actors, writers, producers, directors and it has its own force to it. And for me to just say, OK, here’s what we’re going to do, is not a good idea. But I know. Can I say it’s penciled in?

ED: He’s very good at adapting. I’m not so good at adapting, but he can do it. There will be different elements that we have to change for an episode, maybe an actor isn’t available or a location, or something has to change. He just writes it and changes it, and just goes with the flow. I’m just so impressed with it. He’s able to just go with it—there’s no grumbling, he just does it.

Press question: Is there anything that surprises you guys when you’re writing or creating the show?

ED: That’s a good question. I’ve been surprised several times. I always get excited by reading the episodes. I like to read the next episode as soon as I can. I get so excited to see what’s going to happen, because I feel I’m on a show where I’m always surprised by what’s going to happen and how my character behaves or reacts. And yet, it always makes sense for the character. I remember being surprised in the circus episode last year by how Brennan gets all carried away by the performance and gets excited to do the performance. I just loved that element, but I’d never predict that for her, to love performing for everyone and the attention from the crowd. Brennan is not someone who gets carried away often, and so to experience that, that was a wonderful surprise for me, and I loved playing that.

HH: Well, that’s a good example of, I was in the editing room, and it was supposed to be Brennan and Booth are joining the circus to come in and wave to the crowd and Emily made me laugh so hard I farted. [laughter] Somehow you had decided that when she was doing her grand gestures to the audience and telling Booth that he should work harder to make the audience like him, she was a little bit clumsy. A little stumble in there, and the actors surprise me constantly. Constantly.

ScriptPhD: This is for both of you, actually. Can you talk about Kathy Reichs’s role in shaping the writing and the science content with her background? And Emily, how much she’s helped you shape the character of Temperance?

HH: Kathy reads every script. She is a very busy novelist and an actual forensic anthropologist. So we don’t always get notes from her, but well over half the scripts, I’ll get notes from her or talk to her on the phone. It’s important to her, and I think it’s crucial to our series, that the science be—I don’t want to say a percentage—but way more accurate than not accurate. Kathy was very concerned, not to besmirch any other forensics show, but that we be more accurate than the other forensic show.

ED: Not to be named.

Press: Just give us their initials. [laughter]

HH: Kesee. Kesee. And, we might have cheated more if we didn’t have Kathy looking over our shoulders. So she keeps us honest in that way. And she is a character, kind of a force. I enjoy talking to her. I don’t know how much you [Emily] have spoken to her since the last couple of seasons.

ED: Well, most of the time I’ve spent with her was in the beginning, because she was there for the pilot, and I got to pick her brain and talk to her about herself and her life and forensic anthropology and different things. And that’s where I got most of it. I think it’s confusing for most people because my character was named after the character in the books, but really we have the rights to her and her life. So my character is supposed to be her, but very loosely based, because my character also writes novels, and is a forensic anthropologist. But from the beginning, we’ve said, this character is loosely based on Kathy, but it’s not exactly Kathy. It’s something we’ve all created. Kathy and Hart and me and all of us working together. But we have a forensic consultant on the show, always there, and being scientifically accurate is very important to us. Sometimes, we make things look fancier than they are, sometimes we compress time, we try to keep everything else as accurate as possible. But that’s basically how much she’s involved right now. It’s hard, because sometimes she’s in Montreal, working as a forensic anthropologist, sometimes North Carolina, and she writes a book a year.

HH: We’re trying to get her to write a script and she always comes up with ideas like, “I think we should go to the pyramids.” It’s like, Kathy. Or she’d be like, “I want to write the cross over with House.” That’s her latest one. It’s like, “Oh Kathy, that’s not going to happen this year.” Because she writes novels she can do whatever she wants, and she doesn’t understand why we can’t go to the moon.

Press: Emily, where do you want the show to go [on location]?

ED: Ahhh, there’s so many places, we’ve talked about a lot of different places.

HH: We came very close this year. The finalists were Monte Carlo, Spain, Madrid and Buenos Aires. We came very close to going to those places.

ED: I’m not complaining about any of those places.

HH: Now, the economy has changed. There’s no money.

ED: We’ve never been to DC! That’s what is amazing to me. They’ve sent other people to do the externals, and second unit photography for the backgrounds and stuff. And there’s even been a double of me walking in DC. I remember a family friend who lives there called me and said, “You’ve come to DC and you didn’t come visit!” And I’m like “I haven’t been to DC since I was a really small child.” And I’ve actually been meaning to go and check out the Smithsonian, but my time off has just been crazy! Anyway, we made it to London, and that’s exciting for me.

Our Day 2 Comic-Con Costume of the Day was a no-brainer, hands down. The instant winner:

However, if you disagree, you can find all of the costumes we chose from, and complete Day 2 picture roundup, on Facebook page. And last, but not least, we were counting light sabers all day from dedicated Star Wars fans, and our final tally came out to: 75. A paltry sum against such dedicated masses with whom the Force was, this I know. But apparently this year, Comic-Con contained all of their Star Wars activities and celebrations to one room. Sadly, I wasn’t in the place to be…

See you later tonight for Day 3 coverage of Comic-Con!