Chattanooga Times Free Press

Hollywood

- By Adam Thomlison TV Media

Q: I've been bingewatch­ing “Bones” lately and really enjoying it.What have the cast been doing since?

A: “Bones” had a lot of people come and go in its 12 years on the air, from 2005 to 2017. But when you're talking about the “the cast,” I assume you're talking about leads Emily Deschanel and David Boreanaz, plus full-time supports Michaela Conlin, T.J. Thyne and Tamara Taylor.

As for what they've been doing, the answer, for everyone but Boreanaz, is the usual one: Trying to find a new home for themselves after getting so comfortabl­e in their old one.

Boreanaz was always going to be the exception — he came in with the strongest background, having spent a decade as a teen-heartthrob vampire in “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.” So it's no surprise that he walked off the “Bones” set and straight into yet another full-time TV gig, on CBS's “SEAL Team.”

Deschanel, on the other hand, seems to just be having fun at the moment. She did a season-long guest turn on the TNT drama “Animal Kingdom,” she recently shot an upcoming indie film called “Continue,” and she did a couple of guest spots on “The Simpsons” and “Drunk History,” two shows that are famously fun to work on.

Of the others, Taylor, who joined “Bones” late as Camille Saroyan, has had the most success so far. She did a five-episode run in the high-profile Netflix series “Altered Carbon” and starred in another Netflix series, “October Faction” (though it was recently canceled).

Thyne and Conlin, on the other hand, have struggled a bit to find a new place. Conlin recently had a six-episode arc in the hit western drama “Yellowston­e,” while Thyne's biggest post-“Bones” gig was a three-episode run earlier this year in the Netflix series “Gentefied.”

Q:What is the“slop”that the “Big Brother” contestant­s have to eat?

A: Punishment and light humiliatio­n have been a staple of reality TV from its earliest days. In a figurative sense, that's what “slop” is. But in the literal sense, it's just oatmeal and nutrient powder.

We know this because CBS actually released the recipe, in case fans wanted to get into the shoes of a struggling “Big Brother” resident.

Slop was introduced midway through the show's history (though only in the Canadian and American versions, which offers all sorts of joke opportunit­ies about food culture). It exists as a punishment, originally for residents who lose a food competitio­n, though it's since become a sort of hovering threat throughout the show.

The official ingredient­s are: water, steel cut oats, unflavored protein powder, and vitamin and mineral powder.

Two things jump out from that list: First, the total absence of flavor, hence it being a punishment. Second, it's pretty nutritiona­lly complete. That's on purpose, since unlucky contestant­s have to eat nothing but this for whole days at a stretch.

Q: I was just rewatching the miniseries “11.22.63,” and I'm wondering who the actor is who played the diner owner. I know I've seen him in things.

A: It's not quite accurate to call Chris Cooper a character actor. Usually when you're watching something and say, “Hey, it's that guy,” you've spotted a character actor — a term reserved for actors who disappear into all sorts of different roles. They don't have a “type,” they fill whatever hole needs filling.

Cooper, on the other hand, is definitely an “it's that guy” sort of actor, in that he's had a great and accomplish­ed career as an Oscar-winning supporting star, but he has firmly developed a type. Cooper is your go-to man if you need a grouch.

Maybe it's his growly voice, or his piercing eyes, but he's made a name for himself as a short-tempered, stern authority figure. He'd been kicking around the business for more than a decade, playing lots of different roles, before having his breakout year in 1999. That year would also somewhat define his type, as he got a lot of accolades for playing two hard fathers, in “October Sky” and “American Beauty.”

His type has led to him playing all sorts of military men, such as in 2000's “The Patriot” and 2005's “Jarhead,” and spy bureaucrat­s in “The Bourne Identity” (2002) and “Breach” (2005).

This isn't to say Cooper doesn't have range, as some of his biggest roles have gone against this type. Most notably, he got his Oscar for playing an eccentric, countercul­tural botanist in 2002's “Adaptation.”

Have a question? Email us at questions@tvtabloid.com. Please include your name and town. Personal replies will not be provided.

 ??  ?? David Boreanaz and Emily Deschanel as seen in “Bones”
David Boreanaz and Emily Deschanel as seen in “Bones”

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