After 14 seasons, Blue Bloods said farewell last week, but the numbers suggest fans weren’t ready to let go. The long-running CBS drama, led by Tom Selleck, capped off its impressive run with a season-high of 6.68 million live+same day viewers, according to data provided by VideoAmp. What’s more than that, CBS revealed that the Blue Bloods finale is on track to pull in even bigger numbers, with the episode projected to surpass 11.4 million viewers in its first seven days of release.
What does this tell us? Well, for a start, maybe it shows us that, as the cast of the series has stated publicly, the show was still performing well and didn’t need to be canned. The strong figures showcased the ongoing popularity of the Reagan family drama, as audiences returned in droves for the series’ final stretch.
In the two weeks leading up to the finale, Blue Bloods saw significant gains, posting an 11% growth for its November 29 and December 6 episodes. The finale itself saw another 5% increase, marking a 15% jump in live+same day averages across the season, and 3% higher viewership than last season’s conclusion. The finale saw the Reagan family band together for one last mission to stop citywide chaos, as New York’s gangs united to demand amnesty for imprisoned members and those awaiting trial. Selleck’s Frank Reagan also made a pivotal decision on his future.
Tom Selleck Thinks There’s Another Story for Frank Reagan Following the Finale of ‘Blue Bloods’
In a post-finale interview with Variety, Selleck decided to open up on Frank’s fate, his future, and the decision he made to stay in his job as police commissioner despite the stress it had placed on his life. For Selleck, it came down to Frank’s sense of responsibility for his family, but also for the city of New York, as he decided not to hang up his badge and continue serving the people, even as he “hated” the job and didn’t want it any longer. He explained:
“I don’t know. I was never confronted with it. I think there’s a story there. I know that he hated the job. He hated the responsibility, the weight on the shoulders. He didn’t want it. He didn’t audition for it when it originally came up. So, it would have been interesting. He couldn’t quit. I think he would have to get himself fired. One thing he was blessed or cursed with was this hyperactive sense of responsibility that he tried to implant on everybody at that dinner table.”