Emily Deschanel, David Boreanaz, Barry Josephson and Kathy Reichs take a lucrative settlement after scoring an arbitration award that slammed Fox’s “reprehensible” fraud.
Less than two months after a California judge eviscerated the unprecedented $179 million award that Bones executive producers and stars won in their long-running profits participation legal clash with 21st Century Fox, Barry Josephson today added fraud to his claims against the now Disney-owned entity.
In a stunning win for Fox, a California judge on Thursday tossed most of the $179 million that Bones stars Emily Deschanel and David Boreanaz and executive producers Barry Josephson and Kathy Reichs were awarded by an arbitrator earlier this year. Judge Richard Rico has stripped all of the $128 million in punitive damages that Fox was contesting off the award granted by former judge Peter Lichtman in late February.
A whopping $128 million ruling in arbitration came after Fox licensed the Emily Deschanel series to Hulu for very little. Next week, the parties appear in open court for the next round of the dispute.
In a long-running legal battle over profits from the David Boreanaz-Emily Deschanel hit, an arbitrator’s stunning decision calls out top executives Peter Rice, Dana Walden and Gary Newman and could alter the economics of hit shows in the streaming era.
Exclusives
After 12 seasons, Fox’s Bones ended its successful run last night. To commemorate the series finale, Hollywood collectibles auction site ScreenBid, will host an exclusive online auction of close to […]
Fox has set a premiere date for the 12th and final season of Bones. Special Agent Seeley Booth, forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan, and their respective crime-fighting teams will begin the 12-episode journey on Tuesday, Jan. 3, at 9 p.m.
Not even four full days after its Monday upfronts presentation, Fox is already shifting schedules around. Pitch and Bones are swapping seasons, meaning viewers can watch the female-centric, MLB-themed drama this fall, instead of waiting for spring and a fresh baseball season.
Fox’s Bones will be getting a final chapter. The network has renewed the long-running comedic procedural for a 12-episode farewell 12th season. Stars David Boreanaz and Emily Deschanel have closed deals to return as the series’ leading duo of Booth and Brennan.
The back half of the Fox drama’s 11th season will premiere on Thursday, April 14, at 8 p.m. ET, the network announced Wednesday.
A 12th season of Bones may not be such a sure bet after all. Series stars David Boreanaz and Emily Deschanel, along with executive producer Kathleen Reichs, filed a lawsuit on Monday against 21st Century Fox, Fox Entertainment Group, 20th Century Fox Film Corp. and Fox Broadcasting in pursuit of “tens of millions of dollars” they believe they’re owed.
Barry Josephson alleges he’s been cheated out of his share of profits from Fox’s longest-running hour-long drama. He claims Peter Rice, Dana Walden and Gary Newman strong-armed him into accepting a lower fee to keep the show going.
‘Bones’ Renewed, Showrunner Steps Down
Booth and Brennan will still be on the case next season, yet there’s a big shakeup behind the scenes on Fox’s Bones. First, the great news: Fox has indeed renewed Bones for an 11th season. The crime procedural becomes one of the very few dramas in recent years to survive over a decade on the air. But showrunner Stephen Nathan — who has been the showrunner of the series since the very first episode — is stepping down to work on other projects at Fox.
Though there is no immediate word on whether it will be a final season for the veteran procedural, Fox chief Kevin Reilly said that was the likely scenario earlier in January.
‘Bones’ Likely To Get A 10th Season
It sounds likely, judging from Fox Chairman Kevin Reilly’s comments at the Television Critics Association press tour in Pasadena. The executive told critics the Monday night procedural drama is looking good for a 10th season pick-up.
They don’t get the ratings of American Idol or Big Bang, but they’re still important to their networks, whether winning timeslots or awards.
The veteran procedural gets the green light for its ninth season.
No down-to-the-wire renewal for Bones this time — Fox has given an early eighth-season pickup to the procedural dramedy.
The network is making some scheduling changes to its spring lineup, opting to give the Kiefer Sutherland drama a post-American Idol slot and moving Bones to Mondays.
Emily Deschanel’s pregnancy already forced the show to scale back its number of episodes to 13, six this fall (beginning Nov. 3) and seven in the spring, with its spinoff, The Finder, bridging the gap in the winter. Well, now comes word that Fox has ordered four additional episodes, possibly to air over the summer or be carried to Season 8 (assuming there is a Season 8).
Fox has renewed its forensic drama series Bones for a seventh season, with a formal announcement expected to come as soon as today. The news comes after another round of down-to-the-wire negotiations between host network Fox and its sister studio 20th TV.
