Bones Cast Shocked to Learn Their On-Set Fart Jokes Ended Up in Production Reports

The Bones cast reminisced on some of their most memorable behind-the-scenes moments together — including their best on-set pranks.

During the Bones: 20th Anniversary Retrospective panel, at the inaugural Televerse Festival on Saturday, Aug. 16, the cast revealed their favorite practical jokes often involved whoopee cushions and fart machines. 

“I used to always put a fart machine in the trailers, a whoopee cushion on Michaela [Conlin’s] chair,” David Boreanaz, who played F.B.I. Special Agent Seely Booth, reflected.

He laughed as he continued, “Oh my God, she was like, ‘David, what?’ ”

“It was a leather chair, and [Conlin] had jeans on, and it’s like, ‘This is perfect. It’s going to hit. It’s going to rip,’” Boreanaz recalled of the hilarious moment.

Tamara Taylor, who played Dr. Camille Saroyan, revealed her mother sent the cast a fart machine from her hometown in the “Great White North.”

“First it was the whoopee cushion, then we got the fart machine,” Emily Deschanel reflected. “They were remote-controlled. There were different sounds.”

Hart Hanson, the show creator, said he remembered seeing the cast’s fart pranks listed on production reports. Deschanel, who played the titular role of Dr. Temperance “Bones” Brennan, was shocked to learn their juvenile pranks had been recorded, revealing the cast had no idea their practical jokes were reported to the executives.

“Oh, everything is documented,” Hanson said. “Reason for overages: fart machines.”

In a 2019 interview with PEOPLE, Deschanel admitted that Boreanaz was the biggest prankster on set — and it appears everyone who came on the show was at the mercy of his jokes.

Elsewhere during the panel, Boreanaz recalled another prank he pulled on Luc Robitaille, former ice hockey player and president of the Los Angeles Kings, who guest-starred on a season 4 episode. 

Boreanaz shared that Robitaille was meant to have only two lines, but he told the assistant director to hand the athlete a two-page monologue instead. 

“He’s reading his pages, and he’s slowly sweating because it’s a two-page monologue,” Boreanaz laughed. “And then we go to rehearse, I’m like, ‘Really sorry. Just do the best you can.’ ”

“And he starts reading these lines. He’s like, ‘Oh, f— this! Boreanaz, you f—— screwed me, man,'” he continued.

The cast all laughed, remembering their hilarious moments together during the reunion talk — moderated by PEOPLE’s Sean Mandell and also featuring Conlin, T.J. Thyne, and Eric Millegan. 

The cast said it was their first time all together since wrapping up the show in 2017. Bones ran for 12 seasons, making it the longest-running drama series on Fox. 

Speaking with PEOPLE at Televerse, Deschanel said that she’s open to a possible reboot of the beloved show. 

“Never say never,” Deschanel teased. “I don’t know about a revival. I don’t know if that would ever happen, but I’m open to it.”