“Bones” was far from Boreanaz’s first TV rodeo. After playing the tormented vampire Angel for three seasons on “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” in the late 1990s, the actor would go on to headline the character’s spinoff series, “Angel,” for another five years. It was during that time that Boreanaz also got bitten by the directing bug, calling the shots on the trippy season 5 episode “Soul Purpose.” He would go on to helm nearly a dozen episodes of “Bones,” all while taking on more responsibilities as a producer and ensuring the show would continue to evolve.
However, if Fox had gotten its way, the series would have never formed its own distinct identity. At least, that’s what Boreanaz claimed when interviewed by Entertainment Weekly ahead of the “Bones” finale airing in 2017:
“Emily [Deschanel] and I met every weekend with Ivana Chubbuck, a renowned acting coach, for seven or eight years. She’s very dynamic in regards to bringing and creating that chemistry. We rewrote and rehearsed — we cultivated our characters that way and excited the writers. [Fox initially] wanted a serious, ‘X-Files’-ish show, and we wanted a character show. We won because we kept that drive and people responded. We’re proud of that.”
This may account for why Fox executives were constantly one step away from axing “Bones” throughout its tenure, even as the series attracted a steady viewership year in and year out. The network should count itself fortunate that Boreanaz, Deschanel, and the show’s writers actually cared enough to defy them. If they hadn’t, odds are “Bones” would have soon been condemned to the graveyard of forgotten zeitgeist series knockoffs.
You can stream all 12 seasons of “Bones” on Hulu and Freevee now.