Conversations Emily Deschanel and David Boreanaz of BONES

Q&A with Emily Deschanel and David Boreanaz. Moderated by Sandra Gonzalez, Entertainment Weekly.

BONES, a darkly amusing procedural, is inspired by real-life forensic anthropologist and novelist Kathy Reichs.

DR. TEMPERANCE BRENNAN (Emily Deschanel) is a highly skilled forensic anthropologist who works at the Jeffersonian Institute in Washington, D.C., and writes novels on the side. When the standard methods of identifying a body are useless (ie. the remains are so badly decomposed, burned or destroyed), law enforcement calls on Brennan for her uncanny ability to read clues left behind in the victim's bones.

While most people can't handle Brennan's intelligence, her drive for the truth or the way she flings herself headlong into every investigation, SPECIAL AGENT SEELEY BOOTH (David Boreanaz) of the FBI's Homicide Investigations Unit is an exception. A former Army sniper, Booth mistrusts science and scientists -- the "squints," as he calls them -- who pore over the physical evidence of a crime. But even he cannot deny that the combination of his people-smarts and Brennan's scientific acumen makes them a formidable duo, both professionally and personally.

Aside from Booth, Brennan is most comfortable with her equally brilliant colleagues at the Jeffersonian's Medico-Legal Lab. ANGELA MONTENEGRO (Michaela Conlin), an artist who specializes in reconstructing facial features and crime scenes, is Brennan's earthy and bawdy best friend. Angela is married to and has a son with DR. JACK HODGINS (TJ Thyne), a conspiracy theorist and expert on insects, spores and minerals, who is affectionately known as "the slime and bug guy." DR. CAMILLE "CAM" SAROYAN (Tamara Taylor), the street-smart and centered coroner, must wrangle all the geniuses under her purview. Lending his professional expertise to Brennan and Booth is DR. LANCE SWEETS (John Francis Daley), a sharp, young FBI psychologist who is equally adept at profiling murderers and providing impromptu therapy to his co-workers.