'Instinct' Showrunner Apologizes for Recent Amish Murder Plot With 'Distressing' Similarity to 'Bones'

“Instinct” showrunner Michael Rauch apologized Monday for a plotline of the CBS drama that was remarkably similar to one on “Bones.”

“Yeah, heard about this. Very distressing and 100% unintentional. Looking into it and how to make sure it doesn’t happen again. And of course apologies to Bones (and their fans),” Rauch tweeted.

Sunday’s “Instinct” episode, titled “Secrets and Lies,” about the murder of an Amish teenager who moved to New York City, echoed a 2009 “Bones” episode dubbed “The Plain in the Prodigy.”

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In both shows, the Amish victims had secretly built makeshift pianos (one from popsicle sticks, the other out of rocks), which led detectives to a piano teacher. A representative for CBS did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment.

The coincidence did not go unnoticed by eagle-eyed “Bones” fans.

Umm, anybody else find parts of tonight’s episode of #Instinct are completely duplicated from an old episode of #Bones? It’s kind of ridiculous.

— Anna Lee Huber (@AnnaLeeHuber) April 2, 2018

Glad I’m not the only one who noticed #Instinct “borrowing” plotless from #Bones ???’ pic.twitter.com/BwXlXqGHiF

— Lisa (@The_Lisa_H) April 2, 2018

I loved the first two episodes of Instict but the third one was a total disappointmnet and a case plagiarism from tv show Bones!???? This rude unoriginality of the Instinct writers will certainly cause some fan loss and I hope they get sued????

— Meida Maciulskaite (@meidamei_) April 2, 2018

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“Instinct” in based a James Patterson novel and premiered on March 18. “Bones,” starring Emily Deschanel and David Boreanaz, was canceled by Fox in March 2017.

Read CBS’ official show description for “Instinct” below:

“Instinct” stars Alan Cumming as a former CIA operative who is lured back to his old life when the NYPD needs his help to stop a serial killer. Dr. Dylan Reinhart is a gifted author and university professor living a quiet life teaching psychopathic behavior to packed classes of adoring students. But when tenacious top NYPD detective Lizzie Needham appeals to him to help her catch a serial murderer who is using Dylan’s first book as a tutorial, Dylan is compelled by the case and comes out of retirement.

Helping them is Julian Cousins, Dylan’s invaluable CIA comrade who rivals Dylan in brilliance and wit, and can get top-secret dirt on anyone, anywhere, anytime. Lizzie’s boss, Lt. Jasmine Gooden, is glad to see her best detective finally agree to work with someone on a case, since Lizzie has refused any partner since a tragic event one year ago. But as Dylan feels reenergized tapping into his old skill set, his husband, Andy, is concerned that Dylan’s breaking their pact about putting away his cloak and dagger for good. Though Dylan and Lizzie initially clash, when it comes to catching killers, they realize they will make an ideal team if they both trust their instincts.

A History of Creepy Small Towns on TV, From 'Twin Peaks' to 'Riverdale' (Photos)

In TV and movies, crazy, creepy, sci-fi, monster-movie stuff always goes down in quaint, tiny, Middle American suburbs far more often than it does in a big city. Let's chart the history of America's fictional small towns from kind of creepy to David Lynchian-grade bananas.
ABC
Twin Peaks, Washington - "Twin Peaks" (1990)

It doesn't get weirder than this. David Lynch's surreal twists on melodramatic soap operas and crime procedurals have left audiences scratching their heads to this day.
Collinsport, Maine - "Dark Shadows" (1966)

The classic soap "Dark Shadows" started out as just the story of a woman trying to trace down her wealthy family's mysterious roots in the fishing town of Maine. Things only really got weird when, 10 months into the show's run, cousin Barnabas Collins shows up and reveals he has a vampire curse.
Cabot Cove, Maine - "Murder, She Wrote" (1984)

It might not have been Cabot Cove that was so weird but that murder and mystery seemed to follow Jessica Fletcher wherever she went.
Derry, Maine - "It" (1990)

Clowns are already creepy. Evil demon clowns that eat children in sewers? I'll visit Derry in between Pennywise's 30-year intervals thank you very much.
Cicely, Alaska - "Northern Exposure" (1990)

Not all creepy TV towns have to be filled with murder and aliens. The perfectly eccentric weirdos of Cicely, Alaska stayed strange for six seasons and 110 episodes.
Eerie, Indiana - "Eerie, Indiana" (1991)

"Eerie, Indiana" proceeded the small-town oddities of "X-Files" and "Buffy" and was a ratings bomb. But the show was a mysterious, underrated gem about a teen who collected evidence of strange goings-on in an Indiana town where no one seemed to notice or mind.
NBC
Bellefleur, Oregon - "The X-Files" (1993)

The truth is out there - way out there in Oregon to be exact. "The X-Files" pilot established the mythology of the show in the small town of Bellefleur. As soon as Mulder and Scully show up, they encounter bizarre turbulence, an unexplained ash on the ground and a trip to a psychiatric hospital where the patients are all alien abductees.
Fox
Sunnydale, California - "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (1996)

Isn't that just how it always goes? You call your town "Sunnydale" and then it winds up on the site of a demonic gateway called Hellmouth before it eventually sinks into the Earth?
Fox
Bon Temps, Louisiana - "True Blood" (2008)

Just because everyone's a vampire doesn't mean they can't still all be southern gentleman and belles who like good Louisiana cooking with a bottle of Tru Blood to wash it down.
HBO
Rosewood, Pennsylvania - "Pretty Little Liars" (2010)

These teen girls just want to have a normal high school life and go to prom, and before long they're being harassed by the sinister "A," investigating their friend's disappearance and even digging up graves. This show is insane, so much so that it even spun off into another small town for "Ravenswood."
ABC Family
Hemlock Grove, Pennsylvania - "Hemlock Grove" (2013)

Face it, if you've got Bill Skarsgard and his demonic smile in your town, you're already well over your creepy quota.
Netflix
Vermilion Parish, Louisiana - "True Detective" (2014)

Whatever southern charm or bayou spirit you would usually find in Louisiana is gone in the first season of "True Detective," which grimly examined themes of philosophy, religion and more toxic forms of masculinity amid a web of occult murders.
HBO
Bemidji, Minnesota - "Fargo" (2014)

The movie "Fargo" is famously not really set in Fargo, North Dakota, and the show follows up on that tradition, with all roads leading back to the title town. The first season of the FX series takes place in Bemidji, Minnesota, known for its statue of Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox.
FX
Jupiter, Florida - "American Horror Story: Freak Show" (2014)

Jupiter, Florida was already creepy even before the freak show arrived. This season of "AHS" is set in 1952 and is complete with conjoined twins, bearded ladies and a clown going around murdering people.
FX
Wayward Pines, Idaho - "Wayward Pines" (2015)

Word to the wise: if you're a federal agent going to any small town, don't be as naive to think you'll only be there a short time, or that you'll even make it out of there alive. "Wayward Pines" is a perfect example of this age old trope.
Fox
Hawkins, Indiana - "Stranger Things" (2016)

Hawkins is small, but clearly not small enough that anyone cares what happened to Barb!
Netflix
Riverdale - "Riverdale" (2017)

It's not explicitly stated where Riverdale is located. Though it's filmed in Vancouver, the same as the fictional Rosewood in "Pretty Little Liars," but it's revealed that Riverdale is in Rockland County, which is a real place in upstate New York. Regardless of where it's set, the new CW series has salaciously subverted the original Archie comics for some engrossing, sexy weirdness.
The CW

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Nothing is quite what it seems in these communities

In TV and movies, crazy, creepy, sci-fi, monster-movie stuff always goes down in quaint, tiny, Middle American suburbs far more often than it does in a big city. Let's chart the history of America's fictional small towns from kind of creepy to David Lynchian-grade bananas.

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A History of Creepy Small Towns on TV, From 'Twin Peaks' to 'Riverdale' (Photos)

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