Tom Selleck has a lot of love for Blue Bloods and his work on it, but he is not so sure he’ll make it onto its spin-off, Boston Blue. When Blue Bloods was cancelled late last year, the cast, including the Friends alum, made no secret of their disappointment in the show ending after 14 seasons. And though the story of at least one of the Reagan family members, that of Donnie Wahlberg’s character Danny Reagan, lives on in the freshly-premiered spin-off, his on-screen dad still sees it as a different show that he’s not sure Frank Reagan belongs in.
Speaking with Hour Detroit, Tom, 80, confessed: “I don’t know if I would do Boston Blue — that’s another show,” and explained: “I think it’s partly my lot in life to make sure Blue Bloods has its place in television history, but I don’t think it’s my lot in life to keep playing Frank Reagan.”
© Getty ImagesAnd though he appears sure in his decision to not reprise the Frank character, he again relayed his disappointment in the cancellation of the mothership show, which aired its last episode on December 13 of last year. “It was a huge disappointment, and I still don’t know why CBS did it. If you get rid of the football, we were the sixth most popular series in all of television,” he said.
Tom similarly told TV Insider last year: “I’m kind of frustrated. During those last eight shows, I haven’t wanted to talk about an ending for Blue Bloods but about it still being wildly successful,” adding: “I don’t believe in holding grudges, but if you were to say to the television network, ‘Here’s a show you can program in the worst time slot you got, and it is going to guarantee you winning Friday night for the next 15 years,’ it would be almost impossible to believe.”
Disappointment over the cancellation and hesitation to join the spin-off aside, his former co-star Donnie has maintained he is supportive of him working on Boston Blue. Recently speaking with Parade, he shared: “Of course, I spoke to Tom the minute I was deciding if this was something I was going to do. And I can’t really get into the details of those conversations, but he’s been very supportive.”
© WireImage“I can say, would I love for Tom to come up to Boston? Sure. Or would I love Danny to go to New York and visit Frank? Absolutely, yes,” he added, noting: “Tom’s always going to base his decisions on the work and material, and so yes, of course, I’d love to work with him on the show, and when the time comes, we will hopefully craft an idea that moves his heart and makes him want to do it.”
He also recently opened up about his decision-making regarding the show, mainly his choice to move forward with it. Speaking on CBS Sunday Mornings on Sunday, October 12, he emphasized: “I love Blue Bloods. I fought tooth and nail to keep it on the air, and here’s an opportunity to keep this character alive,” before noting: “And suddenly when I started to look at it through that lens it was like, ‘How do I not do this?'”
“If all of those millions of Blue Bloods fans don’t show up and love it, then I know we put our best foot forward,” he added.
