Donnie Wahlberg Is Dusting Off His Badge for a ‘Blue Bloods’ Offshoot Series

CBS clearly heard all of our complaints, as they’re officially bringing Blue Bloods fans back into the world of law enforcement with a brand-new series starring Donnie Wahlberg as Danny Reagan — this time, in a whole new city, as per a report today by Deadline. The network has officially given a straight-to-series order for Boston Blue (that’s the working title for the moment, at least), which is an expansion of the Blue Bloods universe and is set to premiere during the 2025-26 broadcast season. The new series comes from the team of Brandon Sonnier and Brandon Margolis (S.W.A.T.) and Jerry Bruckheimer Television, and will follow Wahlberg’s Danny Reagan as he transfers from the NYPD to the Boston PD, where he’s partnered with Detective Lena Peters, the eldest daughter of a prominent law enforcement family.

Interestingly, Boston Blue was not conceived as a Blue Bloods spin-off. The project began as an independent pitch from Sonnier, Margolis, and JBTV about a family of police officers in Boston. Initially, the show would have followed an LAPD officer transferring to Boston, but CBS saw an opportunity to connect it to Blue Bloods by swapping the LAPD transfer for Wahlberg’s Danny Reagan. Given Wahlberg’s Bostonian heritage, the idea made sense, and CBS approached the actor about reprising his Blue Bloods role. Once Wahlberg officially signed on, the network decided to greenlight the series immediately, without going through the traditional pilot process. We don’t want to speculate that it’s linked to the fan uproar at Blue Bloods’ cancellation, but would any of us be surprised?

‘Blue Bloods’ Remained Strong Until the End

The decision to axe Blue Bloods always seemed like an odd one, mainly due to its consistently strong ratings. The cast all spoke out publicly about the decision, too, and nobody seemed particularly happy about it. In the two weeks before the series finale, Blue Bloods experienced viewership growth, with an 11% increase in viewership for its November 29 and December 6 episodes. The finale continued this upward trend, rising another 5%, resulting in a 15% jump in live+same day averages for the season. Additionally, the finale’s viewership was 3% higher than last season’s conclusion. That translated into a season high of at least 11 milliion viewers in its first seven days after release. Clearly, CBS have seen the love for these characters is strong and want to keep it going.

Blue Bloods is available to stream now in its entirety on Paramount+. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates on your favorite shows.