Fans of “Blue Bloods” were crushed when CBS cancelled the fan-favorite crime drama in 2023.
The end of the series’ 14-season run, however, eventually set the stage for the launch of a new spinoff.
In “Boston Blue,” which premiered in October 2025, Donnie Wahlberg reprised the role of NYPD detective Danny Reagan, who has relocated to Boston. The new series follows Reagan — now working for the Boston Police Department — partnered with detective Lena Silver (Sonequa Martin-Green), who, like Danny, comes from a family of cops.
A ‘Blue Bloods’ Return
CBSOn Friday, August 7, Wahlberg took to Instagram Stories, where he shared a photo taken during a dinner in a restaurant.
As People reports, seated at the table alongside Wahlberg are his “Boston Blue” co-stars Martin-Green, Marcus Scribner and Mike Amonsen, along with a face that will be familiar to “Blue Bloods” fans: Will Estes
“Welcome (back) to the family! Jamie Regan! aka Will Estes!” wrote Wahlberg in the caption.
Jamie Reagan Returns
GettyPeople has confirmed that Estes will reprise Jamie in an episode of “Boston Blue” when the new season kicks off in the fall.
Estes will be the third member of the “Blue Bloods” cast to appear in the spinoff.
During the first season, Bridget Moynahan reprised her role as Erin Reagan, while Reagan family patriarch Henry (played by Len Cariou) also dropped by.
Getting It Right
Ahead of the series premiere of “Boston Blue,” Wahlberg spoke with The Associated Press about the responsibility he felt in honoring the original series in the new show.
“If we don’t get the city right, if we don’t do certain things right, if we don’t get the Reagan family right, if we don’t carry on certain traditions of the Reagans and part of that legacy, then it’s easy to goof it up, right?” he explained.
There was also the added pressure the Boston native felt in ensuring that his hometown is depicted accurately.
“I’m from Boston. I saw ‘The Departed,’ and if I heard one more bad accent in that movie, I was going to walk out of the movie theater,” he shared. “So I know that responsibility.”
He Tried to Save ‘Blue Bloods’
When “Blue Bloods” was on the CBS chopping back, Wahlberg led the charge to convince the network to reverse course.
As he told The Hollywood Reporter, he met with network executives armed with a compelling pitch on why they should keep the show alive.
“We were halfway into the first sentence, and they went, ‘It’s not happening, but we have an idea for something else,’” Wahlberg recalled. “I was like, ‘Hear me out about “Blue Bloods.”’ They were like, ‘It’s not possible.’ I probably would’ve continued with my list of reasons to keep doing ‘Blue Bloods,’ but I also knew nobody else had called. NBC didn’t call. ABC didn’t call. Netflix, Fox Nation, Disney Plus, streaming services — nobody called saying, ‘Let’s bring ‘Blue Bloods’ to our world.’”
Wahlberg conceded that “Blue Bloods had grown expensive to produce, while factors such as the pandemic shutdown and the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike also eroded the show’s profitability.
“We made sacrifices to keep the show on air and I would’ve made more, because I loved it,” Wahlberg said. “Economics are a real thing. But CBS stepped up with a way to keep the ‘Blue Bloods’ universe going. If I really wanted to keep ‘Blue Bloods’ alive, I had to do this show.”
Season 2 of “Boston Blue” debuts October 9 on CBS.
