“Tom Selleck Shares Honest Thoughts on ‘Blue Bloods’ Ending After Season 14: ‘Frustrating’ and ‘Challenging’”
“Tom Selleck Shares Honest Thoughts on ‘Blue Bloods’ Ending After Season 14: ‘Frustrating’ and ‘Challenging’”
Tom Selleck, the iconic actor behind NYPD Commissioner Frank Reagan on Blue Bloods, has opened up about the upcoming end of the beloved show after its 14th season. In a recent interview, Selleck expressed mixed emotions, describing the situation as both “frustrating” and “challenging.”
Selleck revealed that while he understands the decision to wrap up the series, it’s been difficult to accept that the journey is coming to a close. Blue Bloods, which has been a staple of CBS for over a decade, has garnered a devoted fan base with its mix of family dynamics, crime drama, and heartfelt storytelling.
“It’s frustrating because there are still so many stories left to tell,” Selleck admitted. “I don’t think anyone was ready for it to end just yet.”
He also mentioned the challenge of saying goodbye to a cast and crew that has become like family over the years. The strong bonds formed on and off-screen have been a key part of the show’s success, making the thought of parting ways even harder.
Despite the disappointment, Selleck remains proud of the show’s legacy and the impact it’s had on its audience. He promised that the final season will be a tribute to everything Blue Bloods stands for and will give fans a satisfying conclusion.
Why The Blue Bloods Cancellation Is So Controversial
It’s Part Of A Surprising Trend
“Ending something that’s been such a big part of our lives is never easy, but I think we owe it to the fans to go out on a high note,” he said.
As the show prepares for its final season, viewers can expect an emotional farewell as the Reagan family faces their last chapter together. For Selleck and the rest of the Blue Bloods team, it’s been an unforgettable run, and the finale will certainly reflect that.
Blue Bloods star Tom Selleck gets candid about the show’s ending, saying the popular police procedural has been taken for granted. In the role of Frank Reagan, Selleck has used his status as a veteran television actor to help lead the CBS series. But as Blue Bloods season 14 prepares to come back to CBS for its final episodes, the Magnum P.I. alum is again voicing his frustration at the network.
In comments to TV Insider, ahead of the Blue Bloods season 14 return to CBS on Friday, October 18 at 10 PM ET, Selleck opened up about the fact that he’s still coming to terms with the ending. The veteran actor cited the show’s impressive viewership, noting that it comes in ninth when ranking the Top 100 Shows in Total Viewership, and sixth when excluding NFL programming. In the quote below, Selleck also talks about why he feels the police procedural “was always taken for granted”:
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 (in total viewers, we were number 9 out of 100), if you discount the three football shows, we’re #6 ! I’m not going to turn into a bitter old guy saying, “Get off my lawn!” I don’t believe in holding grudges, but if you were to say to the television network, “Here’s a show you can program in the worst time slot you got, and it is going to guarantee you winning Friday night for the next 15 years,” it would be almost impossible to believe. My frustration is the show was always taken for granted because it performed from the get-go. So how do I feel? It’s going to take a long time to sort all of this out. I remember after the weekend [of the final episode’s shoot], I said, “I’ve got to get to bed early tonight because I have to do my dialogue for Monday.’” Well, there was no Monday. It’s just going to take a while.
When it was announced that Blue Bloods would end with season 14, it was reported that the fourteenth installment was greenlit after difficult negotiations. CBS had negotiated for budget cuts, with the cast and producers agreeing to salary reductions to keep crew members and the show’s other staff employed.
Still, Blue Bloods‘ cancellation is a bit of a head-scratcher for precisely the reasons that Selleck mentions in the interview and for the kind of numbers that he cites. But the decision to let season 14 be the last becomes easier to understand as part of a larger context. Paramount Global, which owns CBS, is undergoing a sale that has led to employees losing their jobs and changes in programming.
But even outside the Paramount specifics, the TV industry is facing a period of budget-tightening and cost-consciousness. Top-rated series, like Young Sheldon on CBS, The Good Doctor on ABC, and 9-1-1: Lone Star, are all ending despite strong ratings. That is because they tend to cost more as they age, due to salary increases for the cast and crew. At a time when networks and studios are looking to cut costs, veteran series tend to be the first to go. That’s especially true, given that these series are replaced by less expensive spinoffs.
