(Photo: Michael Parmelee/CBS)
Blue Bloods ended its fourteen-season run on CBS on Friday night, and one of the police family drama’s executive producers has now spoken about the series finale.
Tom Selleck, Donnie Wahlberg, Bridget Moynahan, Will Estes, Len Cariou, Marisa Ramirez, and Vanessa Ray. Recurring players are Abigail Hawk, Gregory Jbara, Robert Clohessy, Steve Schirripa, Dylan Walsh, and Will Hochman star in the police family drama, which follows the Reagans – a law enforcement family living in New York City.
The series finale finds the family battling a gang war with law enforcement as the targets.
EP Kevin Wade said the following about the jam-packed Blue Bloods finale, per Deadline:
“Look, if you’re running for 14 years and almost 300 episodes, you have, by osmosis, an idea of what feels like it works in the editing room and feels like it works on Friday night at 10. So, it’s kind of the Greatest Hits without being silly about it, of what we do, of the kind of stories that we do for Frank, for Jamie, Danny, Jamie Aaron. The combining factor is the ones that we felt worked best and biggest as finales, had all of them pointed at the same case, dilemma, peril, jeopardy, whatever it was. We had talked about it a lot, especially Siobhan and I, and that’s what we came up with.”
Was this finale what Wade had planned for the series all along? He said:
“I never planned out an ending… I looked at and by it I mean, we looked at what we felt were successful series finales for long running shows, comedies and dramas, and it seemed to me that the thing that they pretty much had in common was not beating you over the head with this is the last one.
What they did was they gave you a really good episode, obviously, with a tip of the hat from the start. Then, for, let’s say, the last five minutes of the show, wrapping it up with that sense of anything we do from here on is going to be in your imagination.
Anything you see in the last five minutes; we’re inviting you to imagine the show after the show is no longer on. Sopranos did it in a very significant, mercurial way. Mary Tyler Moore Show did it in a fun and bring a tear to your eye way. M*A*S*H. did a combination of the two. So, it was really just trying to hit that. I don’t know that we got there, but we were aiming high in that sense.”
A Blue Bloods spin-off is in the early stages, but no details about the plot have been released. Wade revealed that he didn’t attempt to use the finale to set up a spin-off. He said:
“Look, Blue Bloods exist not as a lead character. It exists as long as it did and if people liked it because of the that family, that’s a lot of actors. Then going out from there, there’s Steve Schirripa and Marisa Ramirez and Greg Jbara, Bob Clohessy, Abigail Hawk, there were satellites that made the whole. You couldn’t just take one of them, place them in New Orleans and say, Blue Bloods New Orleans. So that was never an option. So in the ingredients in the kitchen for the finale, we didn’t try to do that, not purposefully or not not one way or the other. Simply believe me, that just was not on the horizon when we were doing it.”
What do you think? Were you happy with how Blue Bloods ended? Do you want to see more of the Reagans in another series?
A terrific show with a top notch cast. We look forward to a spinoff though we REALLY like the originals. Glad we have UP TV for reruns that keep us watching. The greatest element of BlueBloods is the overall synergy of the actors, writers and producers who kept each segment REAL and not filled with needless conversations that blur reality. Having family in law enforcement we all agree it has been the truest representation of the incredible effort, professional character and sacrifice of those who protect our lives and communities. The comments from some were lame considering how to wrap… Read more »
I Realize That Tom is Tired and so are the rest of the cast But I would like to have seen it go for one more year , I have been a fan of Tom for many years ever I met him and Jack Lord on the same day back when he was doing Magnum P.I. I will be looking forward to the sequel and see who it centers on
This was a great series. Every episode was better than trhe last. I do ot understand why the series was cancelled. Why didn’t some other Network pick it up. There is so much trash on TV, Blue Bloods was a class act. In a league of it’s own.
I thought the ending of the final episode was lame. The scene where Danny asks his partner out for pizza came out of the blue and was so awkward. The dinner table scene should have been longer. Danny’s son, Jack, was there but had no lines and only one fleeting close-up where he looked uncomfortable.[Is he no longer in the union and can’t have any lines?] Could have have followed up on Sean’s announcement that he was graduating early and given a clue as to his next step. I don’t see how a spin-off could capture the same family dynamic.… Read more »
Touché The whole cancellation was a terrible move and nothing can make it better except to re-think the stupidity and bring back the whole show. . . somewhere.
Please give me more of the Reagan’s
they had a good run it was open ended I love how they did it
Shocking. Loose ends weren’t tied up properly. It felt rushed and the whole last season particularly the last 6 or so episodes were definitely B grade. Very disappointing.
Funny that you are asking us now what we think. Many stated that they did not want to see Blue Bloods end. In my opinion it was the best show ever on television. For years, I looked forward to Friday nights to spend an hour with the Reagans. Please bring it back in some form.
Not sure why the network would cancel a needed show like this. The characters were perfectly flawed and human. The family dinner with grace being said was exactly what is missing from America these days. Come on, CBS, surely by now you realize what you show on the tube matters. Please bring back this show or one featuring a family just like this – even if they aren’t cops, give us some family values we can rely on each week. Keep the NY setting, too. I’ve never been there, but I love living vicarously.
Phenomenal‼️ I loved the way each member has a great future. Well played. Yes, there should be a spin off. Not sure which characters or plot. ✨️
According to CBS President Ms. Reisenbach, “All shows must come to an end.” As a viewer, I will say, “All viewers must come to an end!” CBS was the last major network my wife and I turned to for entertainment. With the cancellation of ‘Blue Bloods, ‘ we have now canceled CBS and its sponsors! Bye, Bye!
I think it was the most ridiculous action by CBS TO CANCEL This was a successful show and the cast was willing to continue . Cannot begin to guess what motivated this cancellation. They have nothing good to replace it in that slot. Obviously CBS does not care about its viewers