Bones' David Boreanaz Got Fitted For A Prosthetic For An Episode That Never Happened
Hart Hanson's hit TV series "Bones" ran for 246 episodes over the course of 12 seasons. In that time, the two lead characters Bones (Emily Deschanel) and Booth (David Boreanaz) went through a lot, starting from a will-they-won't-they semi-romance to raising a few kids together. Deschanel and Boreanaz also served as producers on the show, with Boreanaz directing 11 episodes himself. Deschanel additionally sat in the director's chair once, helming "The Hope in the Horror," the first episode of the 12th season.
Given their professional positions on "Bones" (not to mention the show's overwhelming popularity), one might assume that our leading actors were permitted to give their bosses a great deal of creative input. After 12 seasons, it's likely that Deschanel and Boreanaz explored just about every type of story and minor character wrinkle that they wanted. After all, a marathon of "Bones" would take — without sleep — seven days, eight hours, and 18 minutes. That's a lot of time to fit your ideas in.
It seems, however, that Boreanaz was denied a "Bones" story. Shooting schedules remained tight for those 12 years and certain kinds of technically ambitious and/or expensive stories simply couldn't be told. Case in point: Boreanaz had an opportunity to play an old man in one episode, but the old-age makeup wasn't practical. He recalled this moment in a 2017 interview with Parade. Sadly, he didn't give too many details as to what his "old man" episode might have been about.
Old Man Boreanaz
When asked by interviewer Paulette Cohn what he wishes he had been able to do on "Bones," Boreanaz replied:
"I wanted to do an old man episode really bad. I actually went and got fitted for the prosthetic. It just didn't work out time wise. It's hard to get people in and out of the makeup."
It's possible someone wrote a flash-forward episode wherein audiences would have seen what Booth looked like as an old man. "Bones" wasn't like Boreanaz's other super-popular TV series "Angel" (a semi-comedic vampire-themed spinoff of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer"), so it's unlikely something supernatural or mystical artificially advanced Booth's age. Perhaps Boreanaz was to play an older relative of Booth and maybe even act in scenes opposite himself. Or maybe Boreanaz was just going to play an entirely new character, an older man who gives clues to Bones and Booth. It is unclear.
Boreanaz, however, has no real regrets. Back in 2017, he said:
"I'm in a position now where I just don't feel like I need to chase anything in my life, so whatever happens, happens. To me, it's really about finding something that would fit with what I'd like to do, whether that's developing something, being a part of something or directing a show or a pilot."
He has since found a new groove, playing Master Chief Special Warfare Operator Jason Hayes, the lead character on "SEAL Team," a military drama series currently streaming on Paramount+. As of this writing, there have been 104 episodes of that series across six seasons. A seventh and final season is currently in the works. Given that he has starred in three long-running, massively popular shows, Boreanaz has done remarkably well for himself.