One Scene In Bones' Pilot Completely Changed The Course Of The Show
Fox hit a home run with "Bones." The procedural crime dramedy feels like the last of a dying breed, with the show running for an amazing 246 episodes across 12 seasons. In the age of Netflix canceling seemingly successful shows after just a few seasons (if we're lucky), that feels like an impossibility. The show's success stems from the relationship between Emily Deschanel's Temperance "Bones" Brennan and David Boreanaz's Seely Booth. But that wasn't always going to be the case, until series creator Hart Hanson realized it needed to be the case.
In a 2014 interview with Give Me My Remote, Hanson was asked to reflect back on the show's pilot, which aired in 2005. Deschanel had already secured her role on "Bones" thanks to a bit of improv. Boreanaz, meanwhile, was set to be part of the show, but not necessarily the co-lead alongside Deschanel. Hanson explained how that all changed thanks to one key scene.
"Booth was gonna play one of many cops that [Brennan] interacted with. He was gonna be the most prominent, but not in every episode. I distinctly remember shooting the scene in the rose garden out at USC where the line that Brennan has is, 'I can be a duck. I can be a duck.' And going, 'Oh my god, this has to become a different show. It has to go toward "Moonlighting."' Because you want to watch these two interact; a very rational person and very emotional person."
The Brennan and Booth dynamic of Bones is born
In that moment, Hanson understood that this show needed to be a two-hander. The idea to have it be about multiple cops was abandoned in favor of having Booth be the guy going forward. Even though "Bones" flirted with cancelation over the years, that decision propelled the show to a massive run. Hanson, speaking further, understood that everyone else in that moment just wanted to get the pilot in the can. As the show's creator, he was thinking long-term.
"I just remember looking around to see if anyone else had noticed. Everyone was thinking pilot, but I was thinking series. I just thought, 'We've gotta get this guy and this girl together for a million episodes.'"
"Bones" was based in part on a real-life person named Kathy Reichs, who was an accomplished forensic anthropologist, professor, and novelist. But the series itself was based in a fictional world, one that deals with an awful lot of grizzly death. Be that as it may, it's an environment that allowed Brennan and Both to find love, which was an undercurrent in the series even as they dealt with the death of the week. The show might not have been as successful if Hanson hadn't realized what he had.
"Bones" is currently streaming on Hulu and Amazon Prime Video.