Tom Selleck Opens Up About His Feelings on Blue Bloods Ending and What He’ll Miss Most
As Blue Bloods draws to a close after 14 successful seasons, Tom Selleck has shared his thoughts on the show’s conclusion, his frustrations with its end, and what he’ll miss the most about his time playing NYPD Police Commissioner Frank Reagan.
Selleck has been candid about his disappointment that Blue Bloods is ending, especially given its continued success. He explained, “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. In a Top 100 Shows of 2023-2024, we were number 9 out of 100. If you discount the three football shows, we’re #6! My frustration is the show was always taken for granted because it performed from the get-go.” He also noted that it’s going to take time to come to terms with the show’s end: “It’s just going to take a while.”
One of the things Selleck will miss the most is the close bond among the cast, who became like a real family over the years. He reflected, “The family of actors is as close as the Reagan family and the characters that they play. There 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.”
Selleck also spoke about the tone he set early on, drawing from his experience on Magnum, P.I.: “In some ways, I was the patriarch of the actor Reagan family. They knew I had worked on a long-running show before, so I had some credibility when problems came up. It helped, I think.”
When asked about his portrayal of police and what was important to him in Blue Bloods, Selleck shared, “I assumed from the first script that [the NYPD] would be represented three-dimensionally. We showed flawed cops and good cops, and we have a family of cops that mostly try to do the right thing. We entertain people and say something positive — not that police don’t screw up or there aren’t corrupt cops, but it’s a mix. I think that’s how we developed such a broad audience.”
Regarding Frank Reagan’s inner circle at police HQ, Selleck emphasized the significance of characters like Sid Gormley, Abigail Baker, and Garrett Moore: “They’re probably the people he’s closest to in the entire police department. They’re responsible for an awful lot of Frank’s success.”
When asked if he had any regrets about Frank’s storylines, Selleck humorously admitted, “Everybody says, ‘Well, it’d be nice to see [Frank] have a relationship.’ If I had any regrets, it would be that because they weren’t writing a relationship, he didn’t get to flirt often enough. But that didn’t fit what became our format.”
Selleck confirmed that Frank Reagan would not be retiring in the show’s final episode, staying true to his character’s commitment to his role as Police Commissioner. “Frank is a constant. He remains a man alone, and he is a police commissioner.”
Reflecting on his time on the show, Selleck revealed some of his favorite moments: “My favorite scenes are with the family, especially at the Sunday dinner table. Also: when [Frank] was at [NYC’s] 9/11 memorial. It was kind of an out-of-body experience.”
As the beloved drama concludes, Selleck’s portrayal of Frank Reagan will leave a lasting legacy, and his fondness for the character and the Blue Bloods family will resonate with fans for years to come.
