Blue Bloods (TV series)

Premise

The series follows the Reagan family of police officers with the New York City Police Department (NYPD). Francis Xavier "Frank" Reagan is the Police Commissioner. Frank's oldest son Danny is a NYPD detective, his youngest son Jamie is a NYPD police officer, and his daughter Erin is the assistant district attorney. Frank's middle son Joe was murdered in the line of duty in events that pre-date the series, when he was involved with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) investigating a group of corrupt NYPD cops. Frank's father Henry is a former NYPD beat cop who rose through the ranks to Police Commissioner. Each member of the family represents a different aspect of police work or the legal process: Frank as the administrator, Danny as the investigator, Jamie as the beat cop and Erin is the prosecutor. Additionally, while each person's story might occasionally interweave with another's, the show also follows the professional relationships with their respective partners and colleagues. Frank with Garrett Moore the NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Public Information and later Sid Gormley the Special Assistant to the Commissioner; Danny with Detective Maria Baez, Jamie with Officer Edit "Eddie" Janko, and Erin with Detective Anthony Abetemarco in the DA's office.

Both Henry and Frank's wives are deceased. Erin is divorced and has one teenaged daughter, Nicky, who lives with her. Danny is married to Linda, an ER nurse, and they have two sons, Jack and Sean. Jamie is unmarried, though there have been feelings developing between his partner, Eddie, and him for some time now, which both acknowledged in season 7.

A show signature is the Sunday dinner scene around the large table in Frank and Henry's home. The four generations of Reagans gather to eat and discuss their week, which naturally includes current cases or controversies depicted in each episode. The grandchildren often have meaty or moral issue questions which the various adults answer, sometimes with differing viewpoints. The conversation may also include family members ribbing each other, and Henry or Frank dispensing wise advice. Sometimes the conversation breaks down in acrimony because of differing feelings or perspectives among family members on emotional issues, but the family always remains loving and united. The Sunday dinner has been a Reagan family tradition for more than a century.

A running theme through the first season is Jamie's assumption of Joe's investigation. The FBI tried to recruit Jamie, but he instead conducted his own covert investigation into Joe's death. The corrupt cops were operating within a fraternal organization called the "Blue Templar". The dirty cops murdered Joe when his covert investigation was getting close to naming names. Joe's murderers try to kill Jamie by tampering with the brakes on his car, but fail. After the failed hit, Jamie informs Frank, Danny, and grandfather Henry about the results of his informal investigation. Along with his prosecutor sister Erin, the Reagan family joins together and completes Joe's Blue Templar investigation. After gathering sufficient evidence to obtain arrest warrants, Frank leads a team of police officers, including Danny and Jamie, to execute the warrant. They arrest the corrupt cops while they are having a covert meeting to divide stolen drug money. The group's leader, a detective named Sonny Malevsky, admits to killing Joe Reagan. After his confession, Malevsky commits suicide with his service pistol.

Recurring

Production

Selleck said that he was drawn to the project because of the strong pilot script and that he was concerned about becoming involved in an ongoing series because he did not want to compromise his commitment to the Jesse Stone television movies. Beginning January 19, 2011, Blue Bloods was moved to Wednesdays at 10 p.m. for a four-week tryout. In February 2011, the series returned to its Friday night time slot due to the series premiere of Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior. In the UK, the show helped launch Sky Atlantic by premiering on Tuesday, February 1, 2011, at 10:30 p.m. In Australia, the show premiered in February 2011 in a primetime Wednesday slot on Network TEN, then from February 2013 for season two was moved from the network's primary SD channel to its HD channel one alongside White Collar, then on August 26, 2013, the show moved back to the primary SD channel on Mondays for season three. In New Zealand, the show premieres on July 13, 2013 on TV3 replacing CSI: NY in a primetime Saturday slot after Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.

On October 20, 2012, CBS announced that Jennifer Esposito was being dropped from the series, with her character, Detective Curatola, being placed on indefinite leave of absence. Esposito and CBS had been at odds over her limited availability for work after the actress was diagnosed with Celiac disease. She had missed a week after collapsing on set earlier in the season. According to Esposito, CBS challenged her request for a reduced work schedule, and further, kept her from finding work elsewhere. In a press release from CBS, the network said that Esposito had "informed us that she is only available to work on a very limited part-time schedule. As a result, she's unable to perform the demands of her role and we regretfully had to put her character on a leave of absence." Curatola's last appearance was in the season three episode "Nightmares". (Four years later, she was hired for the CBS crime drama NCIS.)

According to TV by the Numbers, by committing itself to a third season of Blue Bloods, CBS all but guaranteed a fourth season, because, as a CBS Television Studios production, CBS had a financial incentive to produce at least the minimum number of episodes needed for stripped syndication. On March 27, 2013, CBS made it official by renewing Blue Bloods for a fourth season to begin in the fall of 2013.

Blue Bloods was renewed for a fifth season on March 13, 2014.

Broadcast

In Australia, the series premiered on Network Ten's primary channel on February 2, 2011. Due to poor ratings of the first season, Ten moved the series to its HD channel One, which premiered the second season on October 31, 2011. Due to decreased viewership of Ten's primary channel, season three moved back from August 26, 2013, and season four returned on March 17, 2014.

In New Zealand, the series premiered on TV3 on July 13, 2013.

In the United Kingdom and Ireland, Sky Atlantic premiered the series on February 1, 2011, with season two returning on October 4, 2011, season three on December 13, 2012, and season four on November 28, 2013. Season five premiered on January 21, 2015.

Reruns

Reruns of Blue Bloods air nationally in the United States on Ion Television and WGN America, the latter of which airs the show daily. CBS Television Distribution currently distributes the series to local outlets on weekends, with two episodes being offered.

Reception

Reviewers have praised the series' on-location shooting. The New York Daily News praised Selleck's performance as Frank Reagan, while also praising the family dinner scene for discussion of morally complex issues.

The Daily News drew comparisons between Selleck's characters Jesse Stone and Frank Reagan, saying that both Reagan and Stone are moral, principled men of few words. In Entertainment Weekly's annual Fall TV Preview, Ken Tucker named Blue Bloods one of the "5 Best New Shows" of 2010.

Ratings

The pilot episode garnered 15.246 million viewers because of the Live + 7 days after with viewings from DVRs. Without the DVR adding to the live viewing the show's debut episode garnered a total of 13.02 million viewers.

Overall, the ratings have been steady for the series, after the pilot episode. The lowest viewer total of 8.88 million occurred in episode eight of season seven (which ran against Game 3 of the 2016 World Series), and is to date the only episode that had fewer than 9 million initial-broadcast viewers. The second season finale on May 11, 2012 was watched by 10.73 million viewers and received a 1.2/4 ratings/share among adults ages 18–49. The highest (non-pilot) live viewership of 12.93 million occurred in episode 14 of season four ("Manhattan Queens"), which was the series' 81st episode.

In January 2013, CBS announced via press release that Blue Bloods was the first scripted Friday series in 10 years to average at least 13 million viewers (live + 7), gaining eight percent more viewers than the previous year. The second season of CSI in 2001 had 14.78 million viewers, while the fourth season of Law & Order: SVU in 2003 had 14.92 million.