Did The Avatar Storyline On Bones Work For You?

With DVR viewership on the rise and ad viewing down (‘though not as much as originally feared), networks and advertisers are working to find new ways to sell products to viewers. Product placement has been around almost from the dawn of TV, but it’s usually so awkwardly executed that it detracts from the show and draws ire from viewers. Recent experimentation has proven more successful (see Subway and Chuck), but for every good example there are ten clunkers (Ford on Alias, anyone?). So, when FOX announced that Bones would have a storyline featuring Avatar, the upcoming James Cameron film distributed by Twentieth Century Fox, I had my doubts.

Hey, which movie is opening in 2 weeks?

The result? It could have been worse. In the plus column, bringing Joel David Moore back as depressed intern Fisher added a layer of amusement; Moore has a starring role in Avatar. The opening of the storyline worked for me as Fisher offered Sweets and Hodgins tickets he’d won to a screening, citing all friendship as fleeting anyway, so why not share his bounty with these two guys he really had no prior relationship with. After a fairly promising start, however, the scene in Angela’s media room watching the trailer and then geeking out went over like a lead balloon. Hey, I’ve been there. My Lord of the Rings fangirl days may have waned like the Elves’ time in Middle Earth, but I was one of those fans who camped out for midnight showings and Trilogy Tuesday. I can relate to the level of geeky excitement that compels someone to obsess over 60 seconds of trailer footage. But this? This is not that movie for me. Coupled with the actual trailer that ran during the commercial break right before this scene, it was heavy-handed to the point of making me groan. If that was indicative of how the rest of the episode was going to go, it didn’t bode well.

Thank goodness the blatant flogging ended there. Once the actual line holding part of the story got underway, and the Avatar-shilling faded into the background, it was both amusing and revealing. This storyline gave us a chance to watch three characters interact – Fisher, Sweets and Hodgins – who have rarely shared a screen in the past, and see how they handled the challenge of trying to solve a murder at the Jeffersonian while keeping their place in line. The “nerd babe flirting with Sweets” element was a little weird, but it did set up a really nice moment between Sweets and Hodgins when the older, wiser King of the Lab tutored the younger, insecure psychologist in the quality vs. quantity department. The fact that Fisher ended up missing the big premiere was an amusing gag, too.

Final verdict? Aside from the awkward movie pitch disguised as a conversation, and the repurposing of Cam as straight woman in the scheduling farce, I think this product placement worked. We had character development for Sweets and Hodgins, and got to see a fresh dynamic from characters who rarely interact.  Overall, I enjoyed the episode; I give Bones a solid B for execution of that particular product placement.

P.S. In case you didn’t catch it, Avatar opens worldwide on December 18. Also, related to the murder storyline, you can play Punky Pong here.