14 seasons and 285 episodes confirm Blue Bloods as one of CBS’s longest-running scripted series. Lead star Tom Selleck said the cancellation was uncalled for since the show performed well for the past 14 years.
Blue Bloods is in its 14th and final season with the series finale slated to air in December. The show at that point has aired for more than 14 years, which is a rare feat for a TV series. Tom Selleck told TV Insider he’s going to miss the family of actors he’s gotten to know through the years. “[They’re] as close as the Reagan family and the characters that they play,” he said. “There’s isn’t a single one of them who didn’t want to come back. Most shows don’t end that way — there’s petty jealousy and all sorts of things– and we seemed to overcome that. It’s something for everybody to hang their hats on and be proud of.”
Selleck said last November’s cancelation announcement was unfair since the show’s popularity hasn’t waned over the years. “I’m kind of frustrated,” he asserted. “During those last eight shows, I haven’t wanted to talk about an ending for Blue Bloods but about it still being wildly successful. In a Top 100 Shows of 2023-2024 (in total viewers, we were number 9 out of 100), if you discount the three football shows, we’re #6 !” He also said CBS did not prioritize Blue Bloods despite high viewership. “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,” he added. “My frustration is the show was always taken for granted because it performed from the get-go.”
Tom Selleck WIll Miss His Blue Bloods Family
Blue Bloods revolves around the fictional Reagan family and its legacy in New York City’s history of law enforcement. Selleck’s Frank Reagan is Police Commissioner and his children also serve under the NYPD. The actor confirmed the show’s ensemble cast created bonds comparable to the Reagan family, co-stars and characters he’s already starting to miss. “How do I feel? It’s going to take a long time to sort all of this out,” he said. “I remember after the weekend [of the final episode’s shoot], I said, ‘I’ve got to get to bed early tonight because I have to do my dialogue for Monday.’ Well, there was no Monday. It’s just going to take a while.”
There’s a silver lining to the situation if plans for a Blue Bloods spinoff takes shape. “We don’t have anything that’s going to be in development soon but it’s a brand, a title and a show that is beloved,” CBS Studios President David Stapf told Deadline in July. “We’ve got to get it right so we’re taking our time and trying to figure it out, okay, what is the next iteration of Blue Bloods? We have a whole season to go where we intend to celebrate it all season long as to how good that show is, so there’s still time for us to figure that out.” Blue Bloods is already wrapping up its characters’ arcs ahead of the final eight episodes, which air this fall.
The final eight episodes of Blue Bloods start airing on CBS on Oct. 18. All episodes are currently streaming on Paramount+.
