One Bones Star Admitted That The Show Hasn’t Aged Well

Time is a tricky thing. As it passes, things change, and sometimes what that means is that a piece of pop culture doesn’t hold up quite as well as one might hope. According to one of the original stars of Hart Hansen’s hit procedural series “Bones,” some elements of the show haven’t really held up over the years.

The comments came on the rewatch podcast “Boneheads,” hosted by Carla Gallo (who played Jeffersonian intern Daisy Wick in “Bones”) and Emily Deschanel (who played the lead role of author and forensic anthropologist Temperance “Bones” Brennan). On an episode that released back in September 2024, Deschanel said that she has some misgivings rewatching the show. “I would say it makes you reflect on how it was a different time,” Deschanel mused. “There were some not-cool representations and some stereotypes, things to apologize for. But otherwise it is a total trip down memory lane.”

Deschanel didn’t get specific about what might not have aged perfectly in “Bones,” but I can provide a handful of examples. Agent Seeley Booth, Temperance’s FBI counterpart played by David Boreanaz, is sort of a toxic dude. As for Temperance herself, there are a lot of things about her that don’t stand up to basic scrutinyincluding the fact that she has time to moonlight as a best-selling author but doesn’t understand major pop culture references like, uh, the name “Michael Jackson.” There are some questionable plotlines scattered throughout, like a particularly nasty one where the brilliance of Ally Maki’s Dr. Tanaka is overshadowed by the fact that nobody at the Jeffersonian can figure out their gender. (Grow up, people.) Despite some of these elements, could the show ever come back? Maybe!

In that same podcast episode, Emily Deschanel and Carla Gallo discussed the possibility of a “Bones” reboota topic that’s definitely come up a handful of times since the series ended in 2017.  “It kind of always had this loyal following,” Deschanel said in the episode. “There’s a group of people who will watch it over and over again and then rewatch from the beginning. So it’s exciting that it has longevity and is still relevant after almost 20 years.” (“I’ll do it today. I’m available!” Gallo said cheerfully.)

“I think I’d be interested in something like that,” Deschanel continued, regarding the prospect of a new “Bones” show after nearly a full decade off the air. “I mean, it’s not something that I dream of necessarily. I feel like we told a lot of stories, so we’d have to have some fresh perspective on those people and those stories and those dynamics. That would be interesting to me. But I’m not holding my breath!”

Still, Deschanel did say there’s one holdout in the cast: David Boreanaz, who she claims said he’s not interested in the reboot. “He would always say, ‘I don’t look back, I look forward or I’m in the moment,'” the actress said. “But who knows? Never say never!” Well, Boreanaz did express some ideas about a possible reboot not long agoso maybe she should text him and get this thing off the ground.

“Bones” is available to stream on Hulu now.