Blue Bloods star Donnie Wahlberg says goodbye to the long-running CBS show on its last day of filming. Wahlberg has played Detective Danny Reagan since the beginning of the police procedural, remaining part of the core cast through various changes and story shifts. But as Blue Bloods season 14 prepares to air its final episodes in December, and as a potential spinoff looms, the actor and former New Kids on the Block singer reflected on his long journey with the popular series.
Wahlberg took to Instagram to commemorate his last day of filming on Blue Bloods season 14, posted alongside a short clip of him arriving to work. Check it out below:
In a lengthy caption, Wahlberg offered his thanks and expressed gratitude to the cast and crew who worked on the procedural. He also thanked Blue Bloods‘ viewers, writing in part: “Your love and support for this show has been one of the great blessings of my life.”
The Reagan Family Story Could Still Continue
A Top Executive Announced A Spinoff.
Even though the show’s cancellation fits a TV trend of long-running series ending because of relatively high costs and changing strategies at broadcast networks and studios, it makes sense that CBS would want to maintain one of its top shows in terms of viewership.
During the annual shareholder meeting for Paramount Global, which owns CBS, co-CEO Brian Robbins revealed a new Blue Bloods show is in the works. The comments were made in the context of highlighting the strength of the company’s television franchises, mentioning already confirmed spinoffs like Dexter and saying in part, “In TV, new franchise extensions are coming for Dexter, Billions, and Blue Bloods.” But so far, no official details or confirmation has been given.
The news is not entirely surprising, as Paramount Global has often been fond of building on its established brands and finding ways to continue a show through a spinoff or a prequel. This has always been true of CBS, in particular, as the network has made successful franchises out of NCIS, CSI, and FBI. Each has had several spinoffs, though NCIS is the most notable. The original is still going, with NCIS: Origins and NCIS: Tony & Ziva on the way. Like those, the new Blue Bloods spinoff could be a prequel or a direct continuation.
The police drama, which is led by Tom Selleck, remains popular. Even though the show’s cancellation fits a TV trend of long-running series ending because of relatively high costs and changing strategies at broadcast networks and studios, it makes sense that CBS would want to maintain one of its top shows in terms of viewership. But the question remains whether the spinoff will focus on new characters, bring back familiar ones like Danny, or strike up a middle ground. More will likely be known as Blue Bloods season 14 returns with its last episodes in October.