Bones' Creators Had A Spat With The Studio Over A Washington Monument Scene

"Bones" had an impressive run. The procedural crime dramedy comprises 246 episodes, making for a total of 12 seasons. Of course, a show that goes on for as long as that was going to encounter some issues at along the way. Over its decade-plus run, there were all manner of problems that cropped up on "Bones," from the fresh body that went too far for producer Stephen Nathan to the storyline that star David Boreanez thought was just "bad television."

Usually, the show managed to overcome its issues, often in ingenious fashion. For instance, there was one point at which "Bones" borrowed a set from a short-lived Kelsey Grammer sitcom in order to shoot several scenes and ensure the set didn't go to waste. Or how about the time the showrunners cleverly covered up star Emily Deschanel's injury using an eyepatch and a circus-focused storyline.

But often, the show would stoke the ire of the network on which it aired. Fox, which has since been subsumed by Disney, wasn't exactly unfamiliar with its shows pushing the envelope. It had endured more than a decade of antagonism from "The Simpsons," after all. But a season 1 episode of "Bones" seemed to really irk the network's execs. In true "Bones" fashion, however, the showrunners simply went ahead and did what they needed to do anyway.

In season 1, episode 8, "The Girl in the Fridge," Brennan (Emily Deschanel) is forced to compete with her former lover and professor from Northwestern University, Dr. Michael Stires (Josh Hopkins), when she testifies in a case involving a woman whose body was found in a refrigerator. Originally aired on November 29, 2005, the episode ends with a shot of Booth (David Boreanez) and Brennan conversing while standing on some scaffolding. As things draw to a close, the camera pulls back to reveal the pair are actually suspended half-way up the Washington Monument.

Evidently, that particular setting caused some issues. In the book "Bones: The Official Companion," it's revealed that "The Girl in the Fridge" actually caused some friction between Fox and the showrunners. Creator and showrunner Hart Hanson spoke to the book's author Paul Ruditis, explaining how using the Washington Monument caused controversy:

"That was something. We had to fight with the studio because they thought it was going to cost a fortune –- but it didn't. The little chunk that they were standing on was built onstage out of nothing, just some scaffolding and a white wall. The two of them were sitting there with fans going to blow their hair. And then as you pulled back, the green screen CGI kicked in and it was great."

So, it seems the production teams' ingenious fix for this particular problem was to just use CGI and do it anyway — which, in fairness, seemed to work.