“Bones” has officially been picked up today for an eighth season. I wish I could offer more substantive analysis on the renewal, but honestly, I’ve only seen the show a few times, and I wasn’t a huge fan. I understand there was a huge pregnancy controversy earlier this season (both in the show, and in real life), and that the show ran a split season to the frustration of its fans.

What I do know is that those “Bones” fans are very much about Emily Deschanel, and in my experience, whenever her sister Zooey is mentioned, those “Bones” fans never pass up an opportunity to note that Emily is definitely the hotter sister (old schoolers may also throw their mother, Mary Jo Weir of “Twin Peaks” fame, into the conversation). With the renewal of “Bones,” both sisters will exist on the same network for another season, so this very important debate will continue to rage.

So, who ya got? Zooey or Emily. PLEASE SHOW YOUR WORK.

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After some speculation that it might be saved by striking a deal with Netflix, it now looks like FOX’s pre-historic drama “Terra Nova” is dead and gone. Like, uh … hold on … lemme think of something that’s dead and gone. Hmm. Maybe something, or some creatures, that are well-known for having once existed in large numbers, but have since vanished. I can do this … … nope, I got nothing. Read this blockquote while I keep thinking:

After two weeks of negotiations, Netflix and Terra Nova producer 20th Century Fox TV could not come to terms on a deal to continue the series on the video streaming service. While 20th TV is not throwing in the towel quite yet as it is not releasing the actors, there is no other viable suitor at this time and the chances of keeping the show alive following Fox’s cancellation earlier this month appear minimal. 20th TV has done it before with Family Guy, Futurama and Arrested Development, which were all resurrected years after being cancelled, but given the elaborate sets required by Terra Nova, which takes place 85 million years in the past, that possibility appears unrealistic. [Deadline]

Whales? No, they’re still around. 8-track players? They’re a little more rare, but, I mean, you can still find them somewhere. Come on, DG. THINK! Something that’s no longer in existence, and is gone forever, unless maybe some crazy scientist tries to bring it back on an island that is intended to serve as a tourist attraction but things go horribly awry and whatever it is that was gone starts terrorizing the inhabitants and eats one guy right off a toilet… Wait a minute. That’s it! It was staring me in the face all along. Boy, do I feel stupid.

“Terra Nova” is extinct like the Jurassic Park franchise. (Relevant video below.)

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Awake — “Awake” may be my favorite new network drama of the season. The show comes from Kyle Killen, who was responsible for one of the best pilots in recent memory, “Lone Star,” a show that Fox pulled two years ago after only two episodes despite wide critical acclaim. “Lone Star” was about a guy who led a double life: He was involved with two wives/lives and had to shuttle back and forth between the two. “Awake” plays in the same ballpark. It’s about a detective who was in a tragic car accident in which either his son or his wife died. For reasons that aren’t entirely yet evident, the detective lives in one universe where his wife is still alive, but when he goes to sleep, he wakes up in another universe where his son survived the accident. Neither the detective nor the viewer knows which life is real, and despite seeing a shrink in each universe to deal with the trauma, the detective just as soon continuing living both lives, as it means he gets to continue seeing both his son and wife. On the flip side, he also has to deal with their grieving. Naturally, there’s a procedural component to it, as well: The detective uses clues in one life to help solve murders in another life, and vice versa. Kyle Killen had hoped to avoid being burned by the serialized nature of “Lone Star,” so he installed an episodic element to this show.

“Awake” is a little airless — there’s no humor to speak of — and it hews a little too closely to the procedural formula, but it’s intriguing. I want to know which life is real, if either is. Plus, there’s an ongoing conspiracy surrounding the circumstances of the accident that killed his wife and/or son that has me hooked.

Will It Be Renewed — Ratings have not been stellar; in fact, they’ve been downright dismal. The most recent episode scored a 1.2 in the demo, and only 4.6 million viewers overall. But, it is doing better than “The Firm” did in the time slot and no worse than “Prime Suspect.” I’d say there’s only a 25 percent chance that “Awake” returns, but it will depend on whether NBC develops anything good during pilot season. As it is, “Awake” does as well as anything in that time slot for NBC, so they might be smart to let it have some time to pick up some viewers. The compelling premise should eventually snag a few additional eyes.

On April 22, Fox Mulder and Dana Scully will return to Fox. Not in another crappy “X-Files” movie (seriously, what the hell was that, I Want to Believe?), but for the network’s 25th anniversary special. According to Vulture:

Vulture hears that silver anniversary special producer Don Mischer has booked “The X-Files” stars David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson, along with creator Chris Carter… Mischer has also put together a “Married…with Children” reunion featuring all four core cast members: Ed O’Neill, Katey Sagal, Christina Applegate, and David Faustino. We also hear the network is even planning on honoring some of its shows that didn’t last that long, with “The Tick” star Patrick Warburton slated to get some airtime. (Via)

It must be awkward when David Faustino’s around. Ed O’Neill has “Modern Family,” Katey Sagal is on “Sons of Anarchy” and “Futurama,” and Christina Applegate is the co-star of “Up All Night.” Faustino has the following Wikipedia fact: “Faustino owns a night club in Los Angeles named Balistyx, which is the same name as his rap album.” Other former-Fox stars at the reunion include Shannen Doherty, Jason Priestly, Gabrielle Carteris, and Ian Ziering from “Beverly Hills 90210”, and Calista Flockhart from “Ally McBeal,” with more to be announced.

What shows have been left out of the festivities? Where’s the love for “The Sinbad Show” and “World’s Wildest Police Videos”? If they don’t get at least one cast member from “M.A.N.T.I.S.” to make an appearance, there’s no point in even having a special. (But seriously, “Firefly” reunion or GTFO, Fox.)

On Friday, two days before the show’s second season premiere on Fox, the cast of “Bob’s Burgers,” including Eugene Mirman, Kristen Schaal, and H. Jon Benjamin, appeared at Brooklyn’s Bell House for a live comedy show. The bizarrely endearing animated sitcom, about a family led by Benjamin’s Bob Belcher that works together at a beach-town restaurant, had become one of the funniest shows on TV by the end of its freshman year. It was reminiscent of “The Simpsons” in its early seasons, which is something Fox so badly needs on a night otherwise dominated by bad Seth MacFarlane shows (with the exception of the fantastic “American Dad”), “Napoleon Dynamite,” and, sigh, current-era “Simpsons.” I strongly recommend checking it out.

At the premiere event, the three comedians listed above, as well as other “Bob’s Burgers” regulars, performed stand-up sets, punctuated by Schaal dressing up as an old mattress and Benjamin making someone show a testicle to the audience. Clips from the new season were shown, too, but mostly: BALLS. After the jump, some photos, compliments of Nadia Chaudhury, and commentary.

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