The early 2000s saw an explosion of forensic-based procedural crime dramas, but Bones lasted
longer than most.
The series was focused on a team of forensic anthropologists working at the Jeffersonian
Institute who lent their skills to the FBI to take on mysterious bodies, serial killers,
and more.
With a cast helmed by Emily Deschanel as Dr. Temperance Brennan and David Boreanaz as FBI
Agent Seeley Booth, the show ran for 12 seasons as the longest-running drama in Fox history.
Even if you’ve seen every episode, the show might still have a few mysteries to offer.
Here are the things you might not know about Bones.
High turnover at the Jeffersonian
Any show that runs for 12 seasons is going to change up its cast a little bit, but on
Bones, characters really knew how to make an exit.
The third season was capped off with the shocking reveal that fan-favorite character Zack Addy
was secretly the apprentice of a cannibalistic serial killer that Brennan and Booth had been
hunting all year.
One character’s departure from the show, however, had more to do with real life than
the story unfolding at the Jeffersonian.
FBI psychologist Lance Sweets, played by John Francis Daley for seven years, was killed
off in the season 10 premiere as the victim of a conspiracy surrounding Agent Booth.
The real-life reason?
When he isn’t acting, Daley has a prolific career as a screenwriter with writing partner
Jonathan Goldstein, producing the scripts for plenty of movies, including Spider-Man:
Homecoming.
In 2014, they signed on to write and direct the remake of National Lampoon's Vacation.
Daley needed four months off for the project, and rather than sending Sweets on a long vacation,
the show’s writers decided it would be simpler to just kill him off.
Legal trouble behind the camera
It might not be as dramatic as digging up a dead body or tracking down a serial killer,
but Bones had its share of legal trouble behind the scenes, too.
In 2015, executive producer Barry Josephson sued Fox for withholding profits from a number
of people including stars Emily Deschanel and David Boreanaz.
The suit claimed they were owed as much as 24 million dollars, accrued from airing the
show in Europe, online streaming, and product placement deals.
Despite the suit, Fox still renewed the show for its 11th and 12th seasons, while the case
went into arbitration.
The real forensic expert: Kathy Reichs
In the early 2000s, Fox asked writer/producer Hart Hanson to create a forensics-based crime
show not unlike CBS's extremely popular CSI franchise.
After meeting with producer Barry Josephson, Hanson watched a documentary about forensic
anthropologist and crime novelist Kathy Reichs, later saying
“What she could do with a pile of bones was amazing."
The result was Bones, which would approach the science-based procedural from a different
angle, with a little more humor and a lot more skeletons.
Rather than base it on Reichs herself, though, the show would focus on Temperance Brennan,
the forensic anthropologist from Reichs's novels.
As for Reichs herself, she considers Bones to be less of an adaptation and more of a
prequel, since Emily Deschanel was over a decade younger than Brennan was in the first
book.
The Finder
Season six brought viewers an episode called "The Finder," which introduced Geoff Stults
as Major Walter Sherman, an Iraq War veteran whose brain injury left him with the keen
ability to see connections in things most ordinary people could not.
Michael Clarke Duncan played Leo Knox, an attorney turned bar owner and Walter's sidekick
in his detective duties.
“He's not crazy.
Where I come from we call Walter's gift Darna Hula the second sight.”
Nine months after those characters were introduced on Bones, The Finder debuted on Fox.
Unfortunately, audiences seemed to like forensic investigations a little more than brain injuries
that give you crime-fighting super-powers.
Rather than racking up another 248-episode run like Bones, The Finder was canceled after
only 13.
There were plans for the characters to return on Bones, but sadly, Duncan suffered a fatal
heart attack a few months after The Finder wrapped up, ending any further plans for a
return.
The layover that became a role
Bones enjoyed quite a few notable guest stars over the years, including Emily Deschanel's
real-life sister Zooey Deschanel and the surprising reveal that Angela’s dad is actually Billy
Gibbons from ZZ Top.
For British actor, writer, quiz show host and all-around bon-vivant Stephen Fry, however,
what started out as a desire to grab lunch with a friend on a layover wound up turning
into a recurring role on one of TV’s most popular shows.
In 2007, Fry was on his way to New Zealand to meet with Lord of the Rings director Peter
Jackson, and decided to break up the long trip with a stop in Los Angeles.
Since he was in the neighborhood anyway, Fry’s agent pitched him on doing Bones, and while
Fry had never heard of it, he mentioned it to his friend and long-time collaborator Hugh
Laurie.
Laurie was starring in House, which was shot on the same lot, and had good things to say
about the cast and crew of Bones.
"I said what do you know about these Bones and he said well they're rather nice they're
just around the corner on the fox lot"
With that, Fry signed on to play Gordon Wyatt, Booth’s psychologist.
He eventually appeared in six episodes of the show, and presumably grabbed lunch with
Laurie a few times while he was at it.
Dodging the cancellation bullet
If you watched the last episode of Season 10 and thought that it felt an awful lot like
a series finale, there’s a reason for that.
When the episode was made, Fox executives hadn’t yet decided to renew the show.
That put showrunner Stephen Nathan in the position of having to switch things up.
Rather than ending the series on a cliffhanger like he’d intended, “The Next in the Last”
had to be an episode that could work as a satisfying ending for a long-running series,
while still leaving the door open for its possible return if they did get picked up.
“Oh, I’m done.”
The result was an episode built around themes of transition and reflection, where Brennan
and Booth considered moving on from their work at the Jeffersonian.
Needless to say, they didn’t have to.
Bones was picked up for another two seasons before finally wrapping up in 2017.
And with an episode title like “The End in the End,” they were definitely sure they
weren’t coming back this time.
The explosive finale
After 12 years, Bones literally went out with a bang: the Jeffersonian facilities were destroyed,
and it was an explosion that had been building since the very first episode.
During the pilot, creator Hart Hanson had a conversation with David Boreanaz in which
Boreanaz said “I want to blow up this lab.”
Hanson agreed that one day, he could, and while he would later leave the show, his successor
kept his promise.
Not only did they blow up the lab, but as the director of the final episode, Boreanaz
was the one who got to do it.