When shows reach double-digit seasons (and even before that), the question inevitably arises: “How long can it continue?” With Blue Bloods now in its 13th season, we’re taking a look at just that.
Since premiering in 2010, the drama (a hit for CBS on Fridays) has followed the Reagan family — current police commissioner Frank (Tom Selleck), detective Danny (Donnie Wahlberg), lawyer Erin (Bridget Moynahan), a cop (with a couple of promotions) Jamie (Will Estes), and former commissioner Henry (Len Cariou). Like with all procedurals, it has a formulaic element to it: each member of the family deals with something in their respective lives, then inevitably, something leads to a debate over the dinner table on Sundays (a staple a few people outside the family have scored invites).
Ahead of the Season 13 premiere, when asked if he’d be in to go until Season 15, as Moynahan is, Selleck told TV Insider, “I’ve got a mortgage. I’m game!”
Would Season 15 be the perfect place to end the series? Maybe. After all, we’ve seen Frank wrestling with retiring — and when that happens, the series does have to end because it would lose the scenes with him and his inner circle — Jamie and Eddie (Vanessa Ray) get married, Jamie moving up in the NYPD, Erin planning her campaign for DA, and other milestones. Another two seasons would give the show a chance to settle the Reagans in for their next chapters (off-screen). Plus, not every procedural needs to reach 20+ seasons. In fact, another CBS drama said goodbye with 15 seasons in recent years (Criminal Minds, before continuing with Evolution on Paramount+).
Or should Blue Bloods simply go as long as Selleck says “yes” to another season? After all, we can’t imagine the series without him. Now, you might say that we would’ve said the same thing about NCIS without Mark Harmon, and that’s still going. However, continuing without Selleck would mean either having his seat empty at the dinner table or someone else filling it, neither of which would feel right.
But what do you think? Let us know in the poll below.
Blue Bloods, Winter Premiere, Friday, January 6, 10/9c, CBS
