The disappointed reaction that Tom Selleck had to the impending end of the CBS police procedural drama television series Blue Bloods, in which Selleck has starred as New York City Police Commissioner since the show’s 2010 debut, is much different compared to how Selleck felt when his star-making television series Magnum, P.I. ended in 1988 after eight seasons. While Selleck, who will be set to turn 80 when the last episode of Blue Bloods debuts on CBS in December 2024, admitted that he’d become exhausted from Magnum, P.I. by the time the series ended, he publicly pleaded with CBS to extend the television life of Blue Bloods for at least one more season.
Much like what happened to Selleck’s iconic private detective character Thomas Magnum in Magnum, P.I. at the end of that series, Blue Bloods has long reached the point in which Frank needs to make a transition in his life. For Magnum, this transition involved abandoning his carefree Hawaii lifestyle and embracing the responsibilities of fatherhood. For Frank, this means learning to let go of his power.
After 14 generally strong seasons, the most compelling reasons for extending Blue Bloods, which has become one of the longest-running scripted shows in history, are based on emotion and nostalgia, in terms of the affection viewers have for the show’s characters and the obvious warm camaraderie that exists between Selleck and his co-stars. While this has added a level of poignancy to the show, it’s also a clear sign that Blue Bloods has gone past its natural expiry date and should end.
Frank Reagan Needs to Retire
The extent to which Blue Bloods has run its course, creatively speaking, is most clearly evident with the show’s lead character, incorruptible New York City Police Commissioner Frank Reagan, who has served as police commissioner for approximately 14 years, longer than any real-life commissioner in New York, if not history. The longest-serving real-life New York police commissioner, Raymond Kelly, held this position for 12 years between 2002 and 2014, after previously holding this position between 1992 and 1994, while most other New York police commissioners over the past 100 years have typically lasted between one and three years.
Frank has continued to perform his duties ably and with the utmost integrity and wisdom. However, his enduring authority, which has outlasted that of several mayors who have appeared on the show, has increasingly given him the appearance and aura of being the king of New York instead of just the top cop. While Frank’s most admirable qualities, his humility and inherent kindness, have remained with the character throughout the show’s run, the growing impression in recent seasons is of a man who is clinging to power, mostly out of a fear of the unknown, in terms of Frank’s long overdue retirement, which Frank seems especially ill-equipped for.
A Blue Bloods Spin-Off Series Seems Unnecessary
While some revelations have been presented on Blue Bloods over the past several seasons, most notably in the 10th season finale, when Frank discovers that police detective Joe Hill is his biological grandson, the show’s basic format has otherwise remained fairly consistent and static. Given how sharply the lives and personalities of the show’s core characters have been defined over the course of 14 seasons, there doesn’t seem to be any additional surprises to be discovered with these characters, which makes the speculation regarding a potential spin-off series seem pointless, at least in terms of a sequel spin-off series.
The only potentially interesting spin-off concept would be a prequel series, possibly involving Frank’s oldest son, Danny, who previously left the police department to serve in the Iraq War as a Marine, or Frank, who served during the Vietnam War and began his police career as a patrol officer before rising through the ranks to the highest office.
Blue Bloods Transformed Tom Selleck’s Legacy
When Magnum, P.I. ended in 1988, the idea that Tom Selleck would ever star in another television series that surpassed Magnum, P.I., both in terms of duration and impact, seemed unfathomable, especially since he left Magnum, P.I. with a then-thriving film career, following the hit 1987 comedy film Three Men and a Baby.
However, over 35 years after Magnum, P.I. ended on CBS, it’s obvious that Selleck’s attachment to Blue Bloods has supplanted Magnum, P.I. in the public consciousness, at least for people who are under the age of 40. This primarily owes to the merciless passage of time, and the fact that Magnum, P.I. has long ceased to be popular and visible in syndication, while Blue Bloods reruns have been omnipresent on television for several years.
This has been magnified by the fact that Blue Bloods has prevented Selleck from appearing in virtually any other film and television projects since it debuted in 2010. In fact, the only outside acting role that the grueling Blue Bloods production schedule has permitted Selleck to play since 2010 has been that of eponymous police chief Jesse Stone in the Jesse Stone television film series, which presently encompasses nine films but has been dormant since 2015, when the most recent installment, Jesse Stone: Lost in Translation, debuted on the Hallmark Channel.
With Blue Bloods about to end, Selleck, who assumed the roles of executive producer and writer in the Jesse Stone series, can obviously fully devote himself to the series, about which Selleck said in 2022 that he was writing a script for a 10th film. Regardless of how long the Jesse Stone series continues and whatever else Selleck accomplishes in his career going forward, it seems inconceivable that there’s anything Selleck can do as an actor to alter the indelible impression that Blue Bloods has made on Selleck’s career and legacy.