Tom Selleck got some bad news that will change his career

Photo by Alan Light, CC BY 2.0, via Flickr, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

Tom Selleck’s been one of Hollywood’s iconic actors dating back to the 1980s and his role in Magnum P.I.

Selleck’s career took a turn.

And Tom Selleck got some bad news that will change his career.

For the last 14 seasons, Tom Selleck starred as New York City Police Commissioner Frank Reagan on the hit CBS TV series Blue Bloods.

Blue Bloods depicted life in the Reagan family where everyone worked in law enforcement.

But the show didn’t present a jaded view of police or try to deconstruct the men and women in uniform.

Blue Bloods is CBS’ most watched primetime drama, averaging 9.54 million viewers per episode, and it’s the number three rated drama on all of television.

The secret to the show’s success was the fact that it honored the officers that put their lives on the line every day and presented them as real people.

The show’s final episode aired on December 13, which was a bittersweet moment for the cast and crew.

Donnie Wahlberg – who portrayed Selleck’s character’s son Detective Danny Reagan – told Fox News how hard it hit everyone when the director yelled “cut” for the final time on set.

“I think one thing that I think about from time to time is, when we finished filming the scene, the entire crew came into the Reagan house. And we’re all standing around. There’s a couple hundred people standing there. And it was quiet for a minute,” Wahlberg said.

“I think there was a long pause after they said ‘cut.’ And I think we all stood there or sat there kind of hoping that either, A, someone would say, ‘Hey, it’s all just a joke. We’re going to keep filming more episodes.’ Or B, everyone was hesitant because we knew once somebody started talking, we’d all become emotional,” Wahlberg added.

Wahlberg said he, Selleck, and the rest of the cast fought to keep the show on the air, feeling there was more meat on the bone.

But CBS canceled the show feeling it ran its course after 14 seasons.

“I think one of the things we haven’t really talked about is having worked so long with the crew that we had in New York City. I personally — and I’m sure some of the other castmates — felt bad. I felt sad. Like, we tried to keep the show going. We tried to help the show carry on, and we couldn’t. We couldn’t do it. You know, we did everything we could, everything in our power, to have the show carry on,” Whalberg continued.

Selleck criticized the decision to end the show at the time CBS announced its cancellation in 2023.

“I will continue to think that CBS will come to their senses,” Selleck said in an interview with CBS News. “We’re the third-highest scripted show in all of broadcast. We’re winning the night. All the cast wants to come back. And I can tell you this: we aren’t sliding off down a cliff. We’re doing good shows, and still holding our place. So, I don’t know. You tell me!”

But CBS never did come to their senses.

And now Blue Bloods is off the air, despite delivering a big audience in an era where networks are losing shows and viewers to streaming platforms.