Each year, there are plenty of shows that could possibly face cancellation. Because several of the contracts for the Bones lead cast are up, there has been a lot of talk about Emily Deschanel and David Boreanaz maybe moving on to greener pastures. Well, it turns out all of the speculation may be for nothing. Instead of leaving the show in the lurch, Bones lead actress Emily Deschanel recently said she would be down for Season 11 next fall.
“I’m up for it, yeah. I feel like there’s still more to tell… The network has to pick it up, for one. And people have [expiring] contracts. But under certain circumstances, I would definitely consider it.”
Though Deschanel told TV Line she’d be willing to commit to another season, there are still plenty of factors leading into the decision. First, Bones has been on the air for nearly a decade, but despite the prominence of Fox’s procedural, there are a few cons related to the series. Ratings are down, and to make things worse, the show recently lost one of its most important and likeable characters, Dr. Lance Sweets. Sweets was played by John Francis Daley, an actor who has been branching out into writing and directing and recently signed on to helm 2015’s Vacation.
However, Bones is a drama that has and will always have Booth and Brennan at its heart. If Emily Deschanel and Boreanaz can work out new contracts with Fox, there’s a good chance Bones will get renewed by Fox for the 2015-2016 season. It's not just the contracts that could potentially help the series, either. There are lot of pros to the veteran series beyond the romantic chemistry and teamwork of the show’s two leads.
Let’s start with the fact that Bones is a veteran drama. Fans of the series have stuck with the show over its lengthy run and are into the drama via social media—the show even offers a “Fan of the Week” segment at the end of each episode. Even though ratings are down from what the show used to pull in, I’d hardly call Bones’ numbers on Thursday nights a disaster—especially compared to some of the other shows currently airing on Fox (See: Red Band Society).
While it’s clear that Bones is past its heyday on the network, it doesn’t seem likely that Fox will want to cut the procedural out of the lineup just yet. In fact the show, with its quirky humor and gross-out moments, was once and in some ways still is a show that helps to define Fox’s creative sensibility in terms of content. Bones offers more than the more straightforward case of the week stories CBS loves to offer. For a long time Fox has championed that. Now, the network just needs to cross its t’s and dot its i’ s in order to move forward. We’ll keep you posted as Deschanel, Boreanaz and Fox make up their respective minds.
