There are many secrets to Blue Bloods’ family dinner scenes, including the fact real silverware was not used, but less shocking is the fact family was super important on the CBS show before its 2024 cancellation. Selleck recently wrote a book highlighting major events in his career when this tidbit came up, and apparently being the lead of a TV series was not something the actor took lightly. In fact, he was cued in to the importance of leading from the top down thanks to some key words from famous actor James Garner (decades before his death in 2014).
Writing in his memoir You Never Know, Selleck discussed at length his Hollywood experiences, many of which are tied to his runs on popular shows like Magnum P.I. and Blue Bloods. The veteran actor said that it was after landing the Magnum role (there’s a reason he refuses to personally add the P.I.), that he learned one of the great Hollywood lessons about family. He wrote:
Jack Lord had said I was in a position to make the crew a family. I was well aware of that, thanks to my friend and mentor James Garner. Each of them had made that point in his own way, but it was a reminder of my obligation as the guy to provide the leadership to help make that happen. There was no school for that, but I'd had Jim Garner as my teacher. I also remembered how many times I had worked on a set where I was walking on eggshells and how many times I had said to myself, 'Boy if I ever have my own show, that is never going to happen.'
For years on Magnum P.I., Selleck says he took this role really seriously. When the show wrapped in 1988, it was partially the actor’s idea, as ratings were still high at the time. But they had a big, happy family wrap party featuring a sunset cruise on a catamaran, a fireworks show and custom t-shirts made for the crew and their families.
Things ended on a good note, and when he got his next gigantic network TV break decades later, the actor says he remembered what he’d learned from Garner, noting of the Eye Networks’ Blue Bloods:
That's what we've become on Blue Bloods, a family. Not just a bunch of actors playing family members, but a bunch of actors who have become a family themselves. And time has graced us all with the opportunity to embrace that.
At the time the book was written, Blue Bloods had yet to be canceled. However, Selleck did say keeping the famous family dinner scenes had been a bit of a fight he’d spearheaded before the show went into production.
He also waxed on about how popular the show was, sentiments he would express some time later when Selleck was trying to keep the Reagan family drama on the air. It didn’t work out, but hey, at least there are talks of a Blue Bloods spinoff of some sort happening. And if Tom Selleck has any say, that will likely focus in on family too.
