Before forensics expert Temperance “Bones” Brennan (Emily Deschanel) and FBI agent Seeley Booth (David Boreanaz) completed their will-they/won’t-they courtship on “Bones,” Temperance had a comparatively casual romantic fling with FBI agent Tim “Sully” Sullivan (Eddie McClintock) during the show’s second season. One of their intimate rendezvous would ultimately lead to trouble with the censors at Fox, specifically a scene where an undressed Brennan and Sully are lounging about under the sheets in bed.
Speaking at a 2007 Q&A with the “Bones” cast and crew (via IGN), executive producer Stephen Nathan recalled that it was not one of the ghastly crime scenes investigated by the FBI or human remains studied by the employees of the Jeffersonian Institute Medico-Legal Lab that got the show in hot water. Rather, the network’s censors complained that they could see far too much of Deschanel’s uncovered breasts during the scene in question, despite her being very careful to cover herself with a sheet (as all people are post-coitus in real life, obviously!). As such, the sheet was digitally expanded so it would cover more of her body, which was good enough to satisfy the censors.
Let that be a lesson to everyone. The disturbing antics of serial killers like those featured on “Hannibal” and “Bones”? Those are just a part of everyday life and are perfectly acceptable for network television. But if you even think about sneaking in so much as a glimpse of the exposed curvature of someone’s dumper or a tit that isn’t strictly a member of the Paridae bird family, well, then you’ve got another thing coming.
All 12 seasons of “Bones” are currently available to stream on Hulu.