Pop quiz: If you’re a network procedural about a socially awkward forensic anthropologist and her colorful crime-solving colleagues, where would you stick a reference to the longest-running American sitcom in history? That’s right! In an X-ray scan.
Sure enough, those who kept a close eye on one of the lab scenes at the Jeffersonian in “The Dwarf in the Dirt” caught an X-ray image of a skull that looked conspicuously similar to the noggin of one Homer J. Simpson (complete with a distinctly minuscule brain relative to the rest of his head). Far from the only Easter egg of the hour, Homer voice actor Dan Castellaneta also played a minor role in the episode as “Officer Novarro” (seen above), with part of Danny Elfman’s iconic opening theme for “The Simpsons” accompanying his appearance in one scene. On top of that, the ultimate winner of the episode’s little person wrestling match is none other than the Bumblebee Man, the Spanish-language sitcom actor who’s been a recurring character on “The Simpsons” dating back to season 4 in 1992.
“The Simpsons” would, in a sense, repay the favor the year after “Bones” ended in 2017. The show’s season 30 premiere, “Bart’s Not Dead,” centers on a group of Christian filmmakers eager to make a film inspired by Bart’s experiences after he nearly died trying to pull off a dangerous dare and lied about seeing Heaven when he was unconscious. Among those interviewed to play the Simpsons in the film-within-the-show is Emily Deschanel (as herself). The whole thing might have come across as broad satire once upon a time — before 2014’s uproariously nonsensical “God’s Not Dead” ushered in a new era for faith-based films as legit box office contenders. Who says “The Simpsons” isn’t relevant anymore?