Curious World Staff
After 293 episodes, the Reagan family is preparing to say goodbye – but not by choice.
Ever since CBS announced that Season 14 of Blue Bloods would be its last, stars Tom Selleck, Donnie Wahlberg, and others have been vocal about wanting the show to continue.
Back in 2010, Blue Bloods was almost passed over. “It was the last pilot CBS picked up, but also the highest testing,” Selleck recalls. He credits legendary producer Leonard Goldberg for getting it greenlit. “Tom and Leonard were two titans,” Wahlberg adds. “Their reputations gave the show a chance.”
Wahlberg was on a cruise with New Kids on the Block when he got the call to be in New York for the upfronts. CBS slotted the show in the tough 10 p.m. Friday night spot – but it still dominated for 15 years.
The cast met just before filming the pilot in Toronto. It wasn’t easy relocating to New York, but they knew the Reagans belonged there. Selleck commuted from L.A. every two weeks for 15 years, saying the weekly family dinner scenes made it worth it.
When Selleck read the pilot, he warned Goldberg the dinner scenes might get cut. Goldberg promised otherwise – and kept his word.
“I was scared to death at the start,” Selleck admits. A last-minute suggestion to adopt a New York accent rattled him, but he stuck to his instincts. And from day one, he fought to keep the show grounded in family values. Originally, Frank Reagan was supposed to lead from a green screen control center – Selleck pushed back hard. “That’s ridiculous,” he told them. And it changed everything.
Though filming wrapped five months ago, it hasn’t fully sunk in. The finale airs in two parts, ending December 13. Initially, CBS ordered just 10 episodes. Selleck convinced them to do eight more, saying the show deserved a proper sendoff.
Selleck remains baffled by the decision to end the series. “Why not stream it? Do 10 episodes a year?” he wonders. “I’m still getting used to it.”
The final scene filmed was a funeral, but the emotional high point came at the second-to-last: one final Reagan family dinner. Wahlberg recalls: “When they said, ‘That’s a wrap,’ we all waited.” Then Selleck spontaneously recited Edna St. Vincent Millay’s poem Love Is Not All, moving the entire room to tears.
“Tom started saying it, and literally, my life passed before my eyes,” Wahlberg says, choking up. “This scrappy kid from a big family, watching him on TV, now sitting beside him in that moment – it was magic.”
Blue Bloods tackled heavy issues, sometimes with conflicting views within the Reagan family – something Selleck values. “They didn’t all meld. But there was respect,” he says. “Frank and I might not vote the same way – and that’s a good thing.”
Selleck has no plans to retire. “I’ve got a mortgage. I’ve got a ranch. And I love the work. A comedy would be nice,” he says.
Wahlberg says Danny Reagan’s commitment to family made him rethink his own. “I live in a different state than my siblings. Maybe I need to fly home more often, show up for things like Thanksgiving.” He’s also staying busy – NKOTB recently announced a Las Vegas residency for 2025. Still, he admits, “I keep hoping someone from Blue Bloods chases me down saying, ‘Wait – one more season!’”
As for a spinoff, Selleck was pitched an idea where Frank retires and runs a small-town police force. He replied, “That’s good – but I’m writing another Jesse Stone movie.”
Could a spinoff work without the whole Reagan clan? Wahlberg isn’t sure. “Where’s the family going to be? That’s the heart of the show.” For now, they’re all moving forward – but still looking back, just in case.
