It’s been over a decade since Tom Selleck embodied the role of the New York City Police Commissioner Frank Reagan in the CBS crime drama Blue Bloods. However, the long-running show might not have existed today had it not been for the surprising twist of fate involving the hit HBO drama The Sopranos.
Known for redefining the landscape of television drama, The Sopranos opened the door for Blue Bloods, after it parted ways with its key writers, Robin Green and Mitchell Burgess, who would later go on to create the CBS police procedural drama.
How The Sopranos Lead to the Creation of Tom Selleck’s Blue Bloods?
Created by Mitchell Burgess and Robin Green, the police procedural drama Blue Bloods follows the Reagan family, a multi-generational lineage of New York City law enforcement, balancing their professional duties with personal lives.
However, before they worked on the CBS drama, the duo had worked on The Sopranos, widely regarded as one of the greatest TV shows of all time. Green and Burgess were integral in developing the complex anti-hero character of Tony Soprano and his family for most of its run.
However, the couple reportedly left the show in 2005, just before the filming for its final season was about to begin. After years of exploring the darker, morally ambiguous characters, they wanted to shift focus and explore new storytelling territory.
Robin Green shared her inspiration behind Blue Bloods, saying, as per The Sydney Morning Herald,
We did the anti-hero for all those years, it was wonderful, it’s an old tradition…but every great character you see on TV right now is dark, they have a problem, we were very interested, as a curative after ‘The Sopranos,’ to find out what a hero is.
“We were very conscious that we wanted to rediscover the hero and write that, we did the other thing, and now we want to do this,” Burgess added, talking about the CBS drama, which was canceled after 14 successful seasons.
Their shift toward creating a show about heroes, with a cast led by Tom Selleck, Donnie Wahlberg, Bridget Moynahan, and Will Estes, resulted in Blue Bloods, which has continued for 14 successful seasons. However, the couple was let go after the first season of the show.
Why Robin Green and Mitchell Burgess Were Let Go from The Sopranos?
Robin Green and Mitchell Burgess share a long history with The Sopranos creator David Chase, as they have also previously worked on the comedy-drama Northern Exposure.
The duo played a pivotal role in The Sopranos, contributing to the show for most of its run and earning two Emmy Awards for the standout episodes Employee of the Month and Whitecaps before eventually parting ways with the show in 2005.
While the initial reports suggested that their departure from the show was “amicable,” Green and Burgess reportedly suggested that they had voluntarily left the show due to their creative differences with David Chase.
Vulture also reported that the sources have revealed that the show’s creator wanted the pair off the show. A similar situation reportedly arose during their time on Blue Bloods.
As per Deadline, the network wanted the show to be “more procedural,” reportedly leading to the creative differences and the couple’s firing after the show’s first season, despite laying the foundation for what would become a long-running series.