Blue Bloods resulted in December 2024, however superfans won’t ever cease mourning its loss.
I’m one among them. I haven’t deleted the ultimate episode from my DVR, however I’m thrilled Paramount+ has all of the reruns, so I can go to the Reagan household every time I would like.
It’s very uncommon for a sequence to final 14 years to start with, by no means thoughts have such a loyal fanbase that the struggle for extra episodes will go on endlessly. Nevertheless, there are some sturdy causes for Blue Bloods‘ success in a TV panorama the place so many reveals fail.
Blue Bloods’ Success Comes From Its Sturdy Household Values
When Blue Bloods started in 2010, household dramas have been way more frequent, by the point it ended, it was one of many solely tv reveals that repeatedly showcased an in depth household coping with relatable points.
I bristle when individuals name it a police procedural. Sure, it has circumstances of the week and cops doing cop issues, however that’s not precisely what this present is.
Household is central. The vital factor concerning the circumstances is that they’re the on a regular basis job of three generations of cops who additionally eat dinner collectively each Sunday.
And sadly, that’s one thing that’s all too unusual, each on TV and in actual life, immediately.
In one of many later episodes, Frank says the custom of households bonding over a shared meal is unfortunately eroding in trendy society and that he’s grateful for each minute he will get along with his youngsters (a sentiment he repeats through the remaining scene of the sequence finale).
And THAT is what retains individuals coming again to this present, week after week, yr after yr, and why the cancellation angered so many individuals.
Virtually each article about this present talks about how particular its emphasis on household is. I do know I’ve written loads about it earlier than.
So let’s dive deeper into how the household facets supercharged Blue Bloods’ success.
It’s frequent these days for procedurals to have subplots concerning the cops’ households.
Regulation & Order: SVU used to do that nicely in the beginning, integrating Stabler’s household life with the circumstances he and Benson investigated.
Nevertheless, no present made the household as CENTRAL as Blue Bloods did.
It wasn’t simply that there was a facet story a couple of household concern. Household got here first, with the circumstances being secondary.
Give it some thought. What number of would you recall if I requested you to explain the circumstances on Blue Bloods Season 14?
I couldn’t do it, for essentially the most half. A few Danny moments stand out, and one thing about Jamie being undercover.
The circumstances might be about something. Though they often made sturdy factors, they usually didn’t stick in my thoughts just like the household facets did.
Blue Bloods’ Success Got here From Intentionally Centering Households
It wasn’t a coincidence that household was so vital to this present.
It was a deliberate alternative. The primary scene ever shot was the primary household dinner scene, and Tom Selleck’s remaining scene was one other household dinner scene.
The producers wished to see if it might work — and once they experimented with simply being a daily procedural, Selleck shot that down shortly, refusing to proceed engaged on the sequence if it wasn’t family-focused.
These household dinner scenes turned iconic and Blue Bloods included them in each single one among its 293 episodes.
When the information of the cancellation unfold, the remark I noticed most frequently on social media was that folks would miss the dinners.
For some people, the Reagan household dinners on Blue Bloods have been the final word want success — the close-knit household they wished that they had in actual life.
For others, they have been a mirrored image of the households they did have, or had at one level of their lives.
The Reagan household had gone via some traumatic experiences, each on and off-screen. Joe Reagan’s loss of life was all the time a shadow hanging over them, and Linda’s untimely finish in the beginning of Blue Bloods Season 8 was painful too.
Generally they handled issues particular to legislation enforcement, just like the time Danny needed to shoot a carjacker in entrance of his son, leaving his son fearful.
Different occasions, it was extra mundane points relatable to everybody, like not having the ability to afford automobile repairs or not discovering the correct stability between work and private time.
Regardless of the issues have been, the Reagans banded collectively and obtained via them collectively, demonstrating you could take care of virtually something in the event you undergo it with individuals you’re keen on.
That’s a message we’d like extra of proper now, and it sucks that the present has been taken off the air proper after we want it most.
Blue Bloods Dealt with Controversial Points In A Completely different Method Than Different Reveals
The opposite large purpose for Blue Bloods’ success was how nicely it united individuals.
As a present that was proudly pro-cop, devoted to depicting the NYPD within the fairest and most constructive gentle attainable, it appealed strongly to individuals on the conservative facet of the political spectrum.
It additionally appealed to these of us who’re extra liberal politically and don’t essentially agree with each place on the present.
Household values are common, in order that’s an enormous a part of why the present was so interesting to virtually all people. However I additionally suppose it did one thing no different present does these days: it let the viewers make up their very own minds about points.
Blue Bloods was not political within the sense that reveals like Madam Secretary have been.
It didn’t endorse a particular political place, except you think about love of household and assist for cops to belong solely to 1 a part of the political spectrum.
It offered loads of points associated to trendy legislation enforcement.
Frank all the time needed to make choices about political points, usually driving his workers nuts by doing what he thought was proper despite the fact that it didn’t look nice.
Points reminiscent of how cops ought to deal with suspects with psychological well being points, whether or not bail reform legal guidelines in New York have been acceptable, and whether or not police shootings of Black suspects have been a part of institutional racism have been all addressed frequently.
Nevertheless, not like most reveals, Blue Bloods by no means tells the viewers how one can really feel about these points. Frank, Erin, and different characters had their factors of view, however on the finish of the day, these have been a part of the story.
The characters felt what they felt, but it surely didn’t really feel as if the writers have been imposing opinions on the viewers, which was HUGE.
It was what made me really feel snug as an overtly transgender man with an episode wherein Baez admitted to Danny that she was uncomfortable with a transgender sufferer.
The story wasn’t instructed from the standpoint of some echo chamber the place trans individuals have been all vilified, nor did it vilify Baez for not being 100% on board when she’d by no means met a trans individual earlier than.
In actual fact, I’d argue that an episode like this, wherein completely different factors of view have been acceptable, does extra to spark discussions than all of the liberal messaging on the planet.
Blue Bloods’ Success Was Partially As a result of It Was So Particular To NYPD Cops
Certainly one of Blue Bloods’ secondary missions was to depict the NYPD pretty.
It actually rubs me the unsuitable means when anti-cop activists name that “copaganda.” This present wasn’t about portray a very rosy portrait of the NYPD the place no person might do any unsuitable.
Over time, the sequence has featured many corrupt cops, beginning with the one who killed Joe Reagan.
Frank and his household condemned these cops for disgracing the badge with their dangerous conduct.
There have been all types of cops on Blue Bloods over time. Good cops, cops who meant nicely however made large errors, older cops who have been caught of their methods, youthful cops who have been overly idealistic…
Total, Blue Bloods did a terrific job exhibiting that cops are human and educating the general public on among the pressures they really feel on the job.
That took braveness in a local weather the place everyone seems to be all-or-nothing and many individuals subscribe to a philosophy that the police must be abolished altogether.
Due to its sturdy stance, legislation enforcement professionals and people with a extra nuanced view of the problems in trendy policing flocked to Blue Bloods.
Why do YOU Suppose Blue Bloods Was So Profitable?
I’d love to listen to your ideas, Blue Bloods Fanatics.
Head to the feedback to inform us what you’re keen on and miss about Blue Bloods.
All 14 seasons of Blue Bloods can be found to stream on Paramount+.
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