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Did you know that “Bones” wasn’t always “Bones”? That the show’s very premise started out as something very different than the relationship-heavy procedural drama that proved enticing enough to run for 12 seasons? It’s true! In Paul Ruditis’ book “Bones: The Official Companion,” show boss Hart Hanson revealed that the original idea was to have Emily Deschanel’s Temperance Brennan work her forensic magic with an ever-changing roster of agencies, depending on who needed her talents the most.
Because of this, the first thought was to take the time-tested “the protagonist’s name is the title of the show” route and call the show “Brennan.” While this might have made for interesting television, it all flew out of the window when the makers of the show saw the chemistry between Deschanel and David Boreanaz, who played Brennan’s FBI sparring partner and eventual romantic interest, Seeley Booth.
“We agonized about a title,” Hanson said. “Initially, we thought it was going to be a single person lead … Then we saw Emily and David working together and thought, ‘Oh, we’ve got a much better thing to do here.’ ‘Bones’ is her nickname and it’s the start of every story; it’s the bones. So we thought, ‘Yeah, that’s good. That’s better than just Brennan.’ And, this way, it was easier to acknowledge that it was more of an ensemble piece than a single lead character.”
Bones is a great title, but hints of the original premise still ended up on the show
Hart Hanson was right in stating that “Bones” is a highly descriptive title — possibly one of the most effective procedural drama titles around. Apart from “Bones” being Temperance Brennan’s nickname and thus referring to the character, it was given to her by Booth so it also has a connection to the other main character on the show. Combine that with the ensemble aspect of the show being all about a team of talented researchers who solve crimes by studying the victims’, well, bones (as well as some considerably grislier aspects of their remains), it really is all there — “Bones,” that’s the show.
Funnily enough, though, something that very much resembles the original idea of Brennan working with a rotating cast of auxiliary figures also ended up making its way onto the show, despite the change in both its name and premise. After her original assistant Zack Addy (Eric Millegan) is outed as The Gormogon’s (Laurence Todd Rosenthal) minion at the end of Season 3, a rotating list of many and varied Jeffersonian Institute “Squinterns” started assisting Brennan in her tasks.
The Squinterns were no mere wallpaper, either. They contributed to some of the biggest moments on “Bones” and even played a considerable part in the “Bones” series finale — so, in way, a whisper of the show’s original premise made it all the way to its very last episode.