Viewers have followed the Reagan family across 14 seasons of Blue Bloods, tuning in for interpersonal drama and nuanced police procedurals. However, the series finale approaches, with the final episode premiering this December, in a cancellation move that series lead Tom Selleck hopes CBS will reverse in the foreseeable future.
Upon its debut in 2010, Blue Bloods has received generally favorable reviews, with Rotten Tomatoes praising its “intriguing plotlines, and compelling doses of family drama within its police procedural trappings.” Some elements have fallen under criticism, with Slate‘s Laura Hudson denouncing its apologizing or downplaying systemic racism, and John Oliver noting that gtting poisoned fron fentanyl by touch alone is inaccurate. But the quiet morality of Commissioner Frank Reagan is one several fans and Selleck himself support and see his story play out further.
Tom Selleck continues to hope for CBS to “come to their senses” about Blue Bloods as the series finale approaches
On November 20, 2023, it was announced that the upcoming season 14 of Blue Bloods will be the show’s last. It is broken up into two halves; the first portion consists of 10 episodes, which began airing in February 2014, and the last batch of eight will air in October. Selleck, however, hopes CBS reverses the decision.
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“I will continue to think that CBS will come to their senses,” said Selleck in an interview with CBS News. “We’re the third-highest scripted show in all of broadcast. We’re winning the night. All the cast wants to come back. And I can tell you this: we aren’t sliding off down a cliff. We’re doing good shows, and still holding our place. So, I don’t know. You tell me!”
Pulling the plug on a big winner for CBS
Selleck’s words ring true about the numbers Blue Bloods manages. It has the rare ability to claim generally steady ratings ever since the pilot episode. By January 2013, CBS revealed that the show was the first scripted Friday series in 10 years to average at least 13 million viewers, putting it just behind CSI and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.
However, the show, which is filmed on location in New York City, is expensive to produce. CBS renewed it for its fourteenth season with a universal understanding that it could be the show’s last, but the final call was not made until after the SAG-AFTRA strikes.
The network asked for budget cuts for production and actors’ salaries, a deal the cast and crew agreed to. However, a dip in viewership in seasons 13 and 14 gave the network one final push towards cancellation.
Do you want to see more new episodes of Blue Bloods as Tom Selleck hopes there will be?
