Blue Bloods showrunner Kevin Wade admitted that ending the beloved series was shocking, considering it left “a hole” in the CBS lineup.
Wade appeared on CBS’ Book Club segment to promote his new book, Johnny Careless, about a former NYPD detective who now works as Long Island’s police chief. The plot of the book, which is available for purchase now, seems to draw parallels to some aspects of Blue Bloods, and he said that working on the show gave him the tools necessary to craft the story.
“I had access to the best police minds in the metro area,” he said of the process behind writing the book.
Amid promoting his new project, Wade acknowledged that Blue Bloods fans were still hoping that another season of the show was in the cards, however, CBS had different plans.
“There does seem to be a hole at 10:00 on Friday nights that I’m sure they will fill eventually but it went out in the world and a lot of love came back over the 14 years that we did it,” Wade said.
Wade revealed that he is currently working on a sequel to his book, and did not reveal any plans for a Blue Bloods spinoff at this time.
Sources recently told Closer that star Tom Selleck was interested in doing a Blue Bloods spinoff with his character, Frank Reagan.
“He already misses the Blue Bloods cast and crew,” an insider told Closer on January 27. “He would definitely do a spinoff and TV movie.”
It’s a topic Tom, 79, has publicly discussed since ending Blue Bloods after 14 seasons. The Magnum, P.I. icon said that he was pitched a spinoff idea about Frank retiring and moving away from New York City but felt like it wasn’t the right story line for a spinoff.
“I said, ‘That’s really good, but I’m going to do another Jesse Stone movie. I’m going to write that,” Tom told Variety in December 2024 of hoping to reprise his popular Hallmark character.
When faced with the question about a spinoff once again during the interview, Tom expressed that he was unsure why CBS canceled Blue Bloods in the first place.
“I can’t figure out why they didn’t start streaming it, do 10 episodes a year,” the actor said. “But I’m not the boss. Everybody wanted to come back. And I think with this cast, it would have been a gift for the audience. I don’t make those decisions. I’m prepared to celebrate and commemorate this show, but I’m still getting used to it.”
For now, CBS filled Blue Bloods’ spot in the CBS lineup with S.W.A.T., which will return with its midseason premiere on Friday, January 31, at 10 p.m. ET on CBS. The episode is titled “Open Season.”
The network revealed a synopsis for the episode ahead of the premiere.
“When Hondo learns there’s a $1 million bounty on his head, 20-Squad must race to uncover the mysterious enemy from Hondo’s past who’s intent on revenge,” CBS revealed in a press release ahead of the episode. “Also, Deacon and Tan butt heads over Tan’s changes to SWAT academy. Cast member Jay Harrington directs.”
