One of the more popular scripted shows of the summer was NBC's Shades of Blue, which is somewhat surprising, considering the crime drama was cancelled by the network ahead of Season 3's premiere in June. The fans kept turning out on the way to last night's series finale, though, and star Ray Liotta really wishes Shades of Blue could keep going into Season 4 and beyond. He even has a great idea for how Wozniak and others' stories could keep going without Jennifer Lopez, whose work on World of Dance takes precedence. In Liotta's words:
I loved doing it. I'm hungry to do another 13-episode thing. I'm truly, truly gonna miss doing it because it was a great, great character. I really think that yeah, Jennifer [Lopez] was great, but you go and get Edie Falco and we're off and running again. It was that well-constructed and you never really knew what was going to happen.
Ray Liotta, whose real-life daughter also appeared on the show, was obviously just randomly throwing some pipe-dream casting out there into the ethers, but that doesn't deny just how smart his line of thinking was when speaking with IndieWire about Shades of Blue coming to an end. Any time there is a need for a female lead at the head of a major TV drama, then Edie Falco's name should always be at the top of the list of people to reach out to. The Nurse Jackie and Sopranos vet is great no matter what role she's got, and she'd just recently worked with NBC for the headline-ripping spinoff Law & Order True Crime: The Menendez Murders, which was only set for a single season. So maybe she's free to take on a new show?
Without getting into finale spoilers here, Shades of Blue wrapped up its third season in a way that could legitimately continue without Jennifer Lopez's Harlee Santos as the narrative's ringleader. Even if the producers couldn't secure Edie Falco for a potential fourth season, the option would still be there to replace the lead with someone else without having to shutter the entire series. To be sure, Lopez was an executive producer and was partly responsible for bringing it to air in the first place, but she could presumably put those duties on the back burner for others to handle in any future seasons.
Because one thing is for sure: Ray Liotta is not pleased that Shades of Blue is over. He wants more from it, and even playfully threw Jennifer Lopez under the bus for ending it for everyone else.
I loved doing the show. I'm really going to miss the character, and I think Jennifer's fucked up for not wanting to do it. No, no --- the only reason [she wants to leave] is because the dance show [can be as long as] two hours [per episode], and the series is a lot of work. It's really hard.
For now, Shades of Blue is no more, with this particular dirty cop tale having concluded. You can catch the entire series run on Hulu, though. And if you need something to watch while mourning the drama's absence, head to our fall premiere schedule.
