8-9 PM · FOX · Returns Sept. 25

''The show is a little bit eccentric. And we all like it that way,'' says creator Hart Hanson. Dude, Hart — you think a program which casts a member of ZZ Top as someone's dad is eccentric? Agreed! ''We're introducing in the season opener a serial killer, who'll [be around] most of the season.'' Also, Ryan O'Neal returns as star Emily Deschanel's dad. ''We love Ryan. He's really fun, like having a great big huge movie star on your show.'' And how much longer can the drama (now in its third year) maintain the sexual tension between Deschanel's Bones and David Boreanaz's Booth? ''As long as we can do it without pissing off our audience,'' says Hanson. ''The stock thing to do is put them together and then break 'em up again. And we'd like to be not-stock.'' No worries there.

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