A brush with death for Bones and Booth

FALLING in love in front of the cameras can lead to heaven, but the TV industry is littered with screen romances that ended in hell.

booth and brennan

FALLING in love in front of the cameras can lead to heaven, but the TV industry is littered with screen romances that ended in hell.

Think Teri Hatcher and Dean Cain on Lois and Clark. Fans were desperate for the characters to resolve their sexual tension. Once they did, our passion for the show fizzled like a wet sparkler.

Same goes for Maddie (Cybill Shepherd) and David (Bruce Willis) on Moonlighting. The show's demise was blamed squarely on the fact they, well, did it.

More recently, Richard Castle (Nathan Fillion) and Kate Beckett (Stana Katic) grappled with lingering sexual tension in crime drama Castle, and Booth and Brennan teased viewers with a will-they-won't-they plotline in Bones.

Emily Deschanel, who plays Temperance Brennan in Bones (David Boreanaz plays Booth), is well aware that resolving sexual tension between TV characters can be a show's kiss of death, but feels there's a reason fans have not tired of the Brennan-Booth dynamic.

"I think one part is that there was no courtship, which can be kind of boring to watch sometimes," she says.

"Now, we're trying to figure out how to raise a child together and balance that with work. We still kind of bicker over different things, but we still have a similar relationship.

"We went from 0 to 60, essentially. So they went from no relationship whatsoever besides platonic, except for their feelings, to a family - essentially living together, raising a child.

"I think that might have something to do with the fact that it hasn't affected our ratings or this show in too many ways; I think that it actually helped, and I have my own pregnancy to thank for that. For a while, I thought I was going to ruin the show because I got pregnant. They didn't think they could hide it. I felt bad that I was affecting the show in a negative way, and now I will say that I affected the show in a positive way." Deschanel gave birth to Henry Lamar Hornsby on September 21. The child's father is Deschanel's partner, David Hornsby.

But is this where the joy will end for Brennan and Booth?

In this week's episode, Brennan and Booth argue over her abilities as a mother. The blow-up is the impetus for one of them being placed in a situation where they are shot. When the character flatlines, there seems no way back.

Deschanel says she reflected on her own experiences as a mother in shooting the episode.

"If I wasn't a mother, and I was playing a character as a mother (it would have been much more difficult). It's certainly an easier thing to do (as a real-life mother).

"Brennan is a different mother than I am, but the minute you become a parent, I think you're going to wonder if you're doing something wrong, and I certainly experience that on a daily basis. It's a big challenge.

"Brennan is going through that in the beginning of this episode. Booth and Brennan have a fight. Brennan believes that Booth is criticising her parenting style, and runs out."

Like Deschanel, Boreanaz says the show prompts him to contemplate his own life and what's important in it.

Boreanaz is the son of TV weatherman Dave Roberts (born David Thomas Boreanaz). He's pleased his father has been enjoying life since retiring in 2009.

"He loves it; he's able to come out here and spend more time with his grandchildren," Boreanaz says. "He deserves time to chill out and not be frantic about snowfall in the tri-state area."

Boreanaz lives with his wife and two children near Calabasas, California.

Outside acting, he and his family have a passion for ice hockey that runs deep.

"One of the best experiences I've had in my life was taking my son Jaden to the Heartland Hockey Camp (in Minnesota) last summer," he says.

"It's a boy's dream - all mud and smells and mosquitoes. But they have a great rink. For nine days, fathers skate with their sons. You live in a dorm with them.

"We're going back, only this year we're getting a treehouse cabin."

Boreanaz's family life hit a rough patch in 2010 when a tabloid revealed that before Rachel Uchitel gained notoriety as one of Tiger Woods' mistresses, she had a steamy affair with Boreanaz.

In a 2011 interview, Boreanaz said that he and his wife, former Playboy Playmate Jaime Bergman, had worked through this "extremely rocky" chapter, and that his marital transgressions became "a bonding experience".

He's hesitant to revisit the topic.

"Sometimes in life you come across options, you make your choices and then you have to deal with the consequences," he says. "I'm a moment-to-moment guy. I'm here now, I'm blessed."

Though exhausted by Bones' punishing production schedule, Boreanaz says scoring the role of Booth has been a godsend.

It was recently announced the show was renewed for a ninth season. That pushes it past 24 and House into a tie with The X-Files as Fox's second-longest-running drama (trailing only Beverly Hills 90210).

"It's a staple of Fox's schedule," Boreanaz says.

"It doesn't do well in awards season, but I think that's because it's impossible to classify."

Boreanaz's lengthy tenure on Bones follows extended runs on two other series, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel.

Good thing he has an iron work ethic.

"I always loved to work, even as a kid," he says. "I spent years at the Lancaster County Farmer's Market. I started in the produce department; I was a short-order cook; I dabbled in meats and eventually settled in nuts."

Additional reporting by David Hiltbrand

Bones, Channel 7, Thursday, 8.30pm