The Egon Factor: Why I Love the Squints
This was published today on the Blog-Off on Searching Bones. And remember to support the Actor's Fund!
While the rapport between Brennan and Booth are the main focus of "Bones," I came to an amazing realization a while back on why I actually prefer the squints. And it all came down to "Ghostbusters."
"Ghostbusters" and "Ghostbusters 2" have been my favorite movies, hands down, since I was about nine years old. That was when "Ghostbusters 2" was released, and it was one of the first movies I remember seeing in the theater and not being too young to appreciate. While most of the jokes went over my head, I developed an instant crush on one 'buster: Egon Spengler (Harold Ramis). Go ahead. Laugh. But I have always loved Egon. The glasses. The high hair. And the intellect. Rowr.
Fast forward to 2008 - holy crow, almost 20 years later???? - and I am infatuated with "Bones." I can't put my finger on precisely why. Temperence Brennan was a superbly written female lead. The Bones and Booth relationship was that of a screwball comedy. But something about Zack Addy and Jack Hodgins got me just a bit more than the hunky, snarky Booth.
I realized soon enough that it was because I was watching the respective reincarnations of Egon Spengler and Peter Venkman. Surely you see it, too: Egon and Zack are the logical, rational types with the million-dollar vernaculars and the infinite intellect. Venkman and Hodgins are also both supremely intelligent, with double doctorates, but unlike Egon and Zack know exactly how to use their brains to win over ladies. Egon was probably just like Zack in his younger days, socially awkward, but with a bunch of secret admirers who tried to send signals and failed to get past the Wall of Smart. Venkman and Hodgins, on the other hand, knew how to budget their smarts and instead used their positions and intelligence for what Egon and Zack would consider unproductive purposes.
But it's unnecessary to go into a deep character study (though I probably could, and could also probably charge a couple of Benjamins for an awesome term paper). Bottom line, you can easily hear lines spoken by Egon and Venkman coming out of Zack and Hodgins. Such as:
EGON: I'm terrified beyond the capacity for rational thought.
VENKMAN: Nimble little minx, isn't she?
EGON: Sumerian, not Babylonian.
VENKMAN: Yeah, big difference.
VENKMAN: Why worry? Each of us is wearing an unlicensed nuclear accelerator on his back.
EGON: I feel like the floor of a taxi cab.
VENKMAN: ...This reminds me of the time you tried to drill a hole through your head. Remember that?
EGON: That would have worked if you hadn't stopped me.
EGON: I think they're more interested in my epididymis.
VENKMAN: We came, we saw, we kicked its ass!
EGON: We had part of a Slinky. But I straightened it.
[In response to Ray Stanz: "You think there's a connection between this Vigo character and the... slime?"]
EGON: Is the atomic weight of cobalt 58.9?
I think the "Bones" writers must be 'busters fans too. Or maybe I just like both waaaay too much. Unfortunately, I can't figure out who Ray Stanz (Dan Aykroyd) could have been, though maybe he was the happy medium between Zack and Hodgins. But imagine my utter glee when the fourth Ghostbuster, Ernie Hudson started showing up as defense attorney David Barron on "Bones"! Not only was it exciting to see a Ghostbuster on my favorite show, but I officially had, sort of, one degree of separation:
Yup. Doesn't get much better than that. If "Bones" can get Aykroyd on the show somehow, I will be in nerd heaven.
While the rapport between Brennan and Booth are the main focus of "Bones," I came to an amazing realization a while back on why I actually prefer the squints. And it all came down to "Ghostbusters."
"Ghostbusters" and "Ghostbusters 2" have been my favorite movies, hands down, since I was about nine years old. That was when "Ghostbusters 2" was released, and it was one of the first movies I remember seeing in the theater and not being too young to appreciate. While most of the jokes went over my head, I developed an instant crush on one 'buster: Egon Spengler (Harold Ramis). Go ahead. Laugh. But I have always loved Egon. The glasses. The high hair. And the intellect. Rowr.
Fast forward to 2008 - holy crow, almost 20 years later???? - and I am infatuated with "Bones." I can't put my finger on precisely why. Temperence Brennan was a superbly written female lead. The Bones and Booth relationship was that of a screwball comedy. But something about Zack Addy and Jack Hodgins got me just a bit more than the hunky, snarky Booth.
I realized soon enough that it was because I was watching the respective reincarnations of Egon Spengler and Peter Venkman. Surely you see it, too: Egon and Zack are the logical, rational types with the million-dollar vernaculars and the infinite intellect. Venkman and Hodgins are also both supremely intelligent, with double doctorates, but unlike Egon and Zack know exactly how to use their brains to win over ladies. Egon was probably just like Zack in his younger days, socially awkward, but with a bunch of secret admirers who tried to send signals and failed to get past the Wall of Smart. Venkman and Hodgins, on the other hand, knew how to budget their smarts and instead used their positions and intelligence for what Egon and Zack would consider unproductive purposes.
But it's unnecessary to go into a deep character study (though I probably could, and could also probably charge a couple of Benjamins for an awesome term paper). Bottom line, you can easily hear lines spoken by Egon and Venkman coming out of Zack and Hodgins. Such as:
EGON: I'm terrified beyond the capacity for rational thought.
VENKMAN: Nimble little minx, isn't she?
EGON: Sumerian, not Babylonian.
VENKMAN: Yeah, big difference.
VENKMAN: Why worry? Each of us is wearing an unlicensed nuclear accelerator on his back.
EGON: I feel like the floor of a taxi cab.
VENKMAN: ...This reminds me of the time you tried to drill a hole through your head. Remember that?
EGON: That would have worked if you hadn't stopped me.
EGON: I think they're more interested in my epididymis.
VENKMAN: We came, we saw, we kicked its ass!
EGON: We had part of a Slinky. But I straightened it.
[In response to Ray Stanz: "You think there's a connection between this Vigo character and the... slime?"]
EGON: Is the atomic weight of cobalt 58.9?
I think the "Bones" writers must be 'busters fans too. Or maybe I just like both waaaay too much. Unfortunately, I can't figure out who Ray Stanz (Dan Aykroyd) could have been, though maybe he was the happy medium between Zack and Hodgins. But imagine my utter glee when the fourth Ghostbuster, Ernie Hudson started showing up as defense attorney David Barron on "Bones"! Not only was it exciting to see a Ghostbuster on my favorite show, but I officially had, sort of, one degree of separation:
Yup. Doesn't get much better than that. If "Bones" can get Aykroyd on the show somehow, I will be in nerd heaven.
Labels: actor's fund, bill murray, bones, egon spengler, eric millegan, ghostbusters, harold ramis, peter venkman, searching bones, tj thyne
posted by Jamie at
11:15 AM
2 Comments:
I love that you made a little 4x4 flashcard to help us visualise the point you were making. :D
I wouldn't have understood without it!
Chris
That's awesome! I have seen both Ghostbuster movies more times than I can remember. There are some striking similarities between the 'Busters and the Squints, which I had never thought about before. Well done!
P.S. I've always thought Peter was pretty cool myself. :)
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