For well over a decade, audiences have been enjoying the crime-fighting antics of the Reagan family on Blue Bloods, the police procedural drama that first aired on CBS in 2010.
Led by Tom Selleck as Commissioner Frank Reagan and also featuring stars like Donnie Wahlberg, Bridget Moynahan, and Will Estes, Blue Bloods has become a long-running mainstay on CBS, sitting among the network’s most-watched programs and airing some 275 episodes.
The fourteenth season of Blue Bloods began airing in February 2024, but fans might’ve been questioning why only a handful of episodes were released. Does this two-part release structure of Blue Bloods season 14 spell an end to the beloved series? Here’s what we know.
Is ‘Blue Bloods’ ending?
In November 2023, it was announced that the fourteenth season of Blue Bloods would be the show’s last and that the final season would be delivered in two parts. The first batch of episodes for Blue Bloods’ final season aired in Feb 2024, spanning eight weeks, with the remaining 10 episodes expected to arrive sometime in fall 2024.
It has been reported that the show is concluding due to financial negotiations, with Deadline revealing in March 2023 that CBS had pushed for budget cuts. It’s believed that actors and key talent agreed to a 25% pay cut to sustain the show for a fourteenth season, but that it would nonetheless mark the Reagan family’s final outing.
Some outlets have credited the Hollywood strikes with the cancellation, or at least with the significant delays involved in airing Blue Bloods season 14. As for the cast’s reaction to the news, Selleck revealed in an interview with TV Insider that the decision to end Blue Bloods after an illustrious run wasn’t his. The Magnum, P.I. actor said CBS will find that a lot of people, including fans and castmates “aren’t ready to say goodbye to” Blue Bloods, and insisted that the show is “certainly not out of ideas.”
Selleck later shared a statement thanking the cast and crew upon news of Blue Bloods’ cancellation, describing the role as a “dream come true.”
For his part, Blue Bloods executive producer Kevin Wade told USA Today in Feb. 2024 that the show’s writers hadn’t yet landed on an ending for the show. Wade said the team behind the show was trying to figure out how to deliver a “satisfying and emotional” series finale in which the Reagan family characters can “move forward” and “grow.”
David Stapf, president of CBS Studios, shared a statement following news of Blue Bloods’ cancellation, describing the show as a “beloved” part of CBS’ programming legacy and pointing to its success in winning the network’s Friday night time slot every season. Blue Bloods is one of multiple CBS shows to be canceled even after long-running success, with Young Sheldon, SWAT, and Bob Hearts Abishola each being axed by the network in 2023.
