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Blue Bloods showrunner Kevin Wade took a cue from Hawkeye, B.J., Sam, Diane and Tony Soprano (but hopefully not Journey!) when formulating his approach to the long-running cop/family drama’s series finale.
It was announced last November that Blue Bloods would end with a bisected Season 14. The first 10 episodes aired February through May, and the last eight will roll out this fall, beginning Friday, Oct. 18.
Has Wade had a series finale sketched out in his head, even before the final-season announcement? Things that he always felt must happen during that very final hour?
“I mean, if you’re on for 14 years, in at least four or five of those years you started out a season going, ‘This could be the last one,’ just as a numbers game,” the EP told TVLine during our in-depth Fall Preview Q&A. “So, I’ve thought about it a lot, along with my colleagues. [Longtime executive producer] Siobhan Byrne O’Connor and I would talk about it a lot over the seasons.”
Once Blue Bloods‘ fate cemented into a sad reality, Wade immersed himself in other long-running series’ send-offs.
“I rewatched the series finales of great shows, going back to M*A*S*H and Cheers and Mary Tyler Moore, and certainly The Sopranos..,” he shares. “I watched a lot of them for what they might have in common, and what they basically had in common, if I boiled it down, is they did a great show, and then in the last few minutes they did a little pivot towards, ‘This is also the last show.'”
That approach, Wade says, “avoided the ‘We are now going to do a retrospective of how great we’ve been,’ because I think people tune in just to see a really good episode of the show that they loved.”
And that is how he approached Blue Bloods‘ own series finale, which will air on either the first or second Friday in December.
“To me, the Blue Bloods season finales that worked best were where we found a crime or criminals or a situation for all the Reagans to work together on — separately but together,” Wade notes. “And we did that” for the series finale. “We have four different stories but all are aimed at solving or preventing the same crimes.”
Want scoop on Blue Bloods, or for any other TV show? Email InsideLine@tvline.com, and your question may be answered via Matt’s Inside Line!
Funny he mentions Sopranos as the basis of Blue Bloods was based on it. Hopefully with the knowledge before hand of the show ending they tie the final scene up with a bow. It was already a given when the cast took a pay cut for this season that it was the end of the road. Unlike other shows Blue Bloods can’t save budget by replacing cast members without loosing the ‘family’ dynamic.
Nonsense! Blue Bloods story line is the antithesis of Sopranos!
Cancelation of Blue Bloods is the most FOOLISH move in the history of television!
I get it, the show is expensive to make 14 years in but I will miss that comfortable feeling I get from watching the show at the end of the week. It wasn’t earth shattering TV but sometimes that family dynamic with the wise old owls at either end of the dining room table just worked. My one hope would be for Erin to get back with her ex-husband and she becomes DA. Not going for the top job feels incomplete.
Eddy & Jamie should have a baby. And bring back Nicky & Jack.Give Danny a girlfriend (NOT BAEZ)!
Do not like Eddy and Jamie together. she does nothing for the show. They killed of Danny,s wife, why can they not kill of Eddy.
Be careful with the ending and keep spinoff’s in mind of characters to bring into those.
What a mistake cancelling this show. The fact that is in-housed produced and owned and does well in syndication and overseas, and yet CBS was unable to make finances work, tells a lot about the state of linear TV.
Very sad!
Cast salaries were effected no one not even actors who ‘want to continue’ will work for free and with the way of streaming syndication doesn’t rake in as much as it used too. Unless you wan to pay the difference in pay cut for another year
I love Blue Blood! I really wish it didn’t have to end! I have been glued to the TV every Friday night at 10:00 for every season. I don’t think anything can fill that time slot for me. Best of luck to all the cast etc. That made it the best show on TV.
CBS made a ridiculous decision to cancel Blue Bloods. It’s a very popular show and I for one dismiss the powers that be at CBS. They cancelled other good, well performing shows to encourage us to watch some of the upcoming less than worthy new shows or…NCIS Sydney, which was awful. Demoting Norah O’Donnell for a few male anchors was another lame move.
Instead of a big dramatic ending, BB should end like how Everyone Loves Raymond did: a regular ep. No special guests, but just a regular ep.
But my friend and I still think something will happen to Henry.
I will miss Blue Bloods. It made my Friday nights. I stopped watching SWAT after the first cancelation because I thought Shemar creating a stink and acting like a baby was what got them back and even another season after tying up stories. Now I wish the cast of Blue Bloods did just that, maybe we would have gotten another season 😕
I hope the ending lives up to the hype and doesn’t make any drastic life altering changes that may deter reboots, offshoots etc. I want the Reagans on my screen in some capacity in the near future
Even reading about this is like going to a funeral. Literally nobody wants this show to end. It makes no sense. How can it be about the money when it is one of the highest watched shows on TV? I just don’t get it.
Steadily losing viewers year-to-year leads to cancellation…
They will end with 293 episodes which is dumb when they should have 7 more episodes to end with the 300th episode and make it a bigger series finale and celebrate 300 episodes. Having 300 episodes for syndication instead of 293 would also bring in more money.
I still say it’s a darn shame that this show is ending! You can’t expect a group of very talented and loved actors to not be paid commensurate with industry practices. I’m sure it’s been mentioned before but a streaming service should have grabbed the rights to this and kept it going.
BLUE BLOODS CANT END!!
CBS needs to leave BLUE BLOODS on TV! I never missed an episode! What makes me angry is station’s putting on stupid game shows and trashy reality shows that kids should definately not being watching! Saw some of the previews! You need to rethink and keep BLUE BLOODS ON!
I’m so sorry to see Blue Bloods end. It’s still so popular, I’m wondering if it’s because there’s a bit of religion in it, or because it shows a family that works things out, or maybe there’s not enough blood and guts in it, or maybe the humor isn’t bad enough. Maybe we’ll get another boring game show, yeah, wow! Can’t believe it! They call Tracker the best show on TV – NOT! Just because you say something doesn’t mean it’s true, CBS. Let’s face it, it must be, again, the bottom line – money! Maybe CBS can’t afford it. (Fire the bean counter and save money!)
I am Extremely Sad to see the series Blue Bloods end !!!! I have read some articles saying that Tom Sellake wanted to be done acting ( he is in his 70s). I have watched this show since it first aired on CBS , I never missed an episode!!! I watch the reruns on cable TV Ion network. I would dearly love to see a spin-off series ,
because I like all the actors in the show.
*Selleck, 80 in January…
Why hasn’t blue bloods been shopped around to other networks. CBS I’ve lost all responsibility for. You keep on survivor which is not cheap to keep on the air. The cast of blue bloods wants to keep going and you guys turn a deaf ear to them. It’s not like you are hurting for money. This sounds more personal. So keep it up. I think you can do a lot better. And I personally looked forward to watching blue bloods every Friday night. Now what. Thanks again to listening to your loyal viewers. And please show this to Mr selleck and cast. They need a pick me up.
We as a family would still love for Blue Bloods to continue on and not come to an end. The actors were all in wanting to continue. The cost should not of been the deciding factor. We all have rising costs in our lives, we don’t just call it quits. Come up with a better answer instead of quitting! One show we know will not be filled with violence and unneeded bad language or nudity!! Please allow the show to continue!!!!♥️💮💮
In what world are you living that this show isn’t “filled with violence?”
I know that after the final episode I’m going to cry because it’s like losing a friend and Blue Bloods is my best friend