Tom Selleck has once again voiced his exasperation over the conclusion of Blue Bloods and is shedding light on the cast’s collective pay cuts aimed at extending the show’s run.
“For all of us involved, Blue Bloods was a heartfelt endeavor,” recounted the 81-year-old Selleck during a recent chat on Ted Danson’s podcast, “Where Everybody Knows Your Name.” The CBS police procedural, beloved by many, wrapped up in 2024 after captivating audiences for 14 seasons.
Selleck was candid about the “frustrating” finale season of the program.
“To be real about it, at the last of our family dinners during the final year of the show, there was a unanimous wish to continue,” Selleck explained. “We had already accepted a 25 percent salary reduction and made significant efforts to keep things afloat.”
Meanwhile, CBS is stirring excitement with its upcoming series, Boston Blue, promising fans a reunion with Donnie Wahlberg’s character, Danny, along with a few other Reagan family members. This fresh chapter raises a question: what paths did the loved characters of Blue Bloods take when the curtain fell on their story? Since its debut in 2010, the show has richly detailed the lives of the Reagan family, captivating a loyal audience all the way through its impressive run.
Blue Bloods found a strong fan base when it premiered in 2010. After a 14-season run, viewers were not ready to say goodbye to New York Police Commissioner Frank Reagan (Selleck) and his children: Danny (Donnie Wahlberg), Erin (Bridget Moynahan) and Jamie (Will Estes).
CBS, however, had different plans when speculation grew that Blue Bloods could end despite the cast and producers agreeing to take a 25 percent pay cut. The final season, which was separated into two parts, aired in late 2024.
“It was very frustrating because out of the top 100 shows on broadcast television, Blue Bloods was No. 6 in our 15th year,” Selleck added. “Nobody wanted to leave. Everybody was gonna stay on. That’s hard to get.”
He continued: “It may be some kind of record to have the same cast intact for that length of time. Usually if it wasn’t a family, it would be different, but, you know, you couldn’t very well replace Jamie or Danny or anybody with another actor.”
Selleck was also proud of how close the cast had gotten, adding, “Maybe people don’t realize, but a lot of shows become miserable to work on. You get a lot of egos and ‘I’m not coming out of my dressing room until he’s coming out’ … and it’s miserable. Blue Bloods was never that.”
Blue Bloods got viewers invested in the Reagan family — but how are the characters related to each other? The CBS series, which premiered in 2010, followed the lives of the Reagan family, many of whom worked for the NYPD under the leadership of NYC police commissioner Frank Reagan (Tom Selleck). Frank’s father, Henry Reagan […]
The actor isn’t the only one to speak out about the lengths the cast went through. Wahlberg, 56, got honest earlier this year about how expensive it was to make Blue Bloods.
“With Blue Bloods, they came to us before the final year and said, ‘You need to take a 25 percent pay cut or we’re going off the air.’ And some people were like, ‘Nope.’ Other people were like, ‘OK,’” he shared in an April episode of the “George Janko Show” podcast.
Wahlberg, who now stars in the Boston Blue spinoff, tried to negotiate. “I was like, ‘Why not just say [a] 15 [percent pay cut] in exchange for four more seasons?’” he recalled. “Because they were like, ‘This is the last year, so 25 percent pay cut.’ I just was like, ‘Let’s keep it going. I’d rather have 75 percent of something than zero percent of zero.’”