'Bones' Midseason Finale Moves to January to Plug 'Finder' Premiere

Keeping up with this season's unorthodox airing schedule, Fox announced Monday that the midseason finale of Bones has been pushed from Dec. 15 to Jan. 12.

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"The Crack in the Code," the last episode produced before star Emily Deschanel went on maternity leave, will now bow the same night as The Finder.

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The network seems to be banking on the episode, which introduces a new recurring villain to the series, offering a strong lead-in for the Geoff Stults spin-off about a man with the ability to locate almost anything.

This seventh season of Bones will air six episodes before it officially goes on hiatus until spring 2012. Upon its return, showrunner Hart Hanson says the series will either complete its 13-episode order or air a slightly super-sized 17-episode season.

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Bones went back into production last week following Deschanel's return from the Sept. birth of her first child.

The Finder's backdoor pilot, which aired as an April 2011 episode of Bones, will now encore Thursday, Dec. 15.