Well, FOX made it official Friday and renewed House and Bones for next season. Not a surprise considering the ratings have skyrocketed for both since American Idol premiered.

http://www.zap2it.com/tv/news/zap-fo...news-headlines

I am absolutely shocked that Bones is lasting this long.

You took the words right out of my keyboard. Granted I only originally watched the pilot (soley for David Boreanaz), but I could not get into the show to save my life

Bones is a good show, the cast chemistry is its strong point.

House's renewal is a no-brainer.

Bone's isn't great, but the characters have a good, unique dynamic from the few episodes I've seen.

House was having a record season without Idol (upwards of 17.5m viewers per week, Fox's highest rated non-Idol show -- NBC has to be kicking themselves), the Idol boost (24 - 28m viewers) was just icing. I love the show.

House struggled a bit at the beginning of the season, but is back at 100% now IMHO. Great show, and a keeper.

Bones has really gotten stronger this season with the addition of Tamara Taylor as Dr. Camille Saroyan (Bones' boss). The show is definitely developed nicely with each passing episode. Glad it will get another season to progress even more!

House was a no-brainer from the pilot screener I got in my Entertainment Weekly in late 2003. I must admit that I do miss the "internal footage" they used to show us when something was going wrong with a patient...

The money for that all got routed into Hugh Laurie's bank account.

I could see him doing Season 1 for 25 - 50k an episode, kind of surprised that raise didn't come in Season 2 when the show had hit its stride (ratings wise)... and it continues to grow.

Even with that salary, Hugh is probably being underpaid considering how much money the show is making. Out of all of the tv shows on tv, Hugh Laurie is more critical to his show than any other actor. Without him there is no show, none at all ! Lost , Heros etc could handle losing any of their main characters and survive.

It's funny to me that two of the biggest shows on TV right now are 1) both medical and 2) both titled after their main character (House and Grey's Anatomy). (And are otherwise, completely unrelated in any way.)

But I agree, as E! put it, those 17.5m+ viewers that tune in each week are there because of him.

I'm not sure I could say that 22 million viewers are tuning in just for Ellen Pompeo.

No brainers for the year..heck Bones is almost beating LOST on that day.

Same here. I'm amazed that this show attracts the viewer numbers it does. Character chemistry goes further than I thought I guess...

The first 5 or 6 episodes of the show were a bit iffy, but it's really developed into a great show IMO.

I'm sure he was pleased with $50,000 an episode. He would have given his right arm (leg?) for that in the Black Adder days, I'd bet.

Target had Bones, season 1 with a price cut of $19.99. I've never seen the show, but I'm going to give it a chance.

You may want to catch it while it's airing now (there's a new one this Wednesday, I think), just to see if you like it and save a completely blind purchase. It's not a serialized show, so you should be able to just jump in and tell if you like it enough to buy the 1st season.

If you do end up buying the DVD's first, be sure to give it some time; it took about half of the 1st season for the show to really gel.

Please see Kiefer Sutherland, 24.