Did Swine Flu Sideline David Boreanaz and 'Bones'?

Here's another mystery for the sleuths of 'Bones': What was the bug that benched Booth (David Boreanaz), shutting down production on the Fox crime procedural Monday for the first time ever while the actor recuperated?

The initial rumor, spread by none other than show runner Hart Hanson, was that Boreanaz had swine flu. But both Hanson and 'Bones'' production company rushed to quash that rumor, insisting that the 40-year-old actor simply suffered from garden-variety flu, and that production would, with luck, resume on Tuesday.
Here's another mystery for the sleuths of 'Bones': What was the bug that benched Booth (David Boreanaz), shutting down production on the Fox crime procedural Monday for the first time ever while the actor recuperated?

The initial rumor, spread by none other than show runner Hart Hanson, was that Boreanaz had swine flu. But both Hanson and 'Bones' production company rushed to quash that rumor, insisting that the 40-year-old actor simply suffered from garden-variety flu, and that production would, with luck, resume on Tuesday.

Hanson started the swine flu fears on his Twitter feed on Monday morning, tweeting, "First time in Bones history we are shut down from production. Damn swine flu! That's gonna cut into Christmas hiatus."

That story had spread across the Web by the time Hanson retracted it an hour later in another tweet, writing, "Oops! There is no indication that Boreanaz has swine flu. We expect him back tomorrow. I'm now going out to get swine flu myself in atonement."

Later on Monday, 20th Century Fox TV, the company that produces 'Bones,' also issued a statement suggesting that Boreanaz' illness was not the dreaded H1N1 variety of flu. "David is out with the flu and the show shut down today since he was in every scene," read the statement, reprinted in the Hollywood Reporter and elsewhere. "We hope to resume production tomorrow." Get well soon, David!
-- By Gary Susman


WATCH 'BONES' EPISODES