A Bones Guest Star Shares A Unique Distinction With David Boreanaz And Emily Deschanel

Television Drama Shows

It is not uncommon for TV stars to direct episodes of the series on which they appear. Alan Alda, Mike Farrell, Harry Morgan and David Ogden Stiers all directed more than one episode of "M*A*S*H;" Peter Bonerz became a prolific director of television shows and films after directing 29 episodes of "The Bob Newhart Show;" and Penny Marshall might never have brought us such big screen classics as "Big" and "A League of Their Own" had she not started out directing on "Laverne & Shirley."

For the directing curious, the set of a long-running television show is a great place to cut one's teeth, so it's no surprise that two members of the Jeffersonian Institute Medico-Legal Lab found their way behind the camera during the 12-season run of "Bones." The most frequent guest in video village was David Boreanaz, who played the hard-charging FBI Agent Seeley Booth. He directed 11 episodes starting with season 4's "The Bones that Foam," and also got the honor of helming the series' 100th episode. The other star to take a crack at calling the shots on a "Bones" episode was none other than Temperance "Bones" Brennan herself, Emily Deschanel. She waited all the way until the final season premiere, when she directed the episode "The Hope in the Horror."

And there was one well-known name who, while appearing only once on the show, went on to direct more episodes than Boreanaz and Deschanel combined. Who would that be?

How the Lowe family figured prominently in the making of Bones

Chad Lowe, the younger brother of Rob Lowe, only made a guest appearance on the season 4 episode "The Doctor in the Den" as a murder suspect, but he'd been directing for "Bones" since the previous season and went on to helm a grand total of 13 episodes.

For Lowe, directing was old hat by the time he arrived at the Jeffersonian. He got his small screen start in 2003 directing an episode of "Law & Order: SVU," and the following year directed two episodes of "Hack," which starred David Morse as a tough taxi driver. He's only directed one feature (the coming-of-age drama "Beautiful Ohio,") but he's kept at it on television. Over the last two decades, he's directed shows as varied as "Rizzoli & Isles," "Life in Pieces" and "The Flash." Of late, he's been working on "9-1-1" and "9-1-1: Lone Star." As for acting, Lowe has played recurring characters on "Supergirl" and "9-1-1: Lone Star," so it appears that television suits the younger Lowe just fine!

"Bones" is currently streaming on Hulu.