The CBS procedural based around the Reagan family isn’t officially over yet, but it one of the major shows ending in 2024. While many people are unhappy with CBS’ decision, there’s one former Blue Bloods cast member who thinks the choice was the right one to make. That would be none other than Jennifer Esposito, who left the show in Season 3.
Tom Selleck may not agree with what Jennifer Esposito had to say in a recent interview with Screenrant. He's been touting that CBS has made a poor decision when cancelling the series, while she's saying it's time to say goodbye. Of course, she's notably had ups and downs with the NY-set procedural over the years.
Everything has to come to an end, and I think they’re smart to end it now, it’s been a long time. I had some great times, of course, I had some not some fun times. But, I love Donnie, I met some great people there, and honestly, the fans — I still get asked, ‘Are you gonna go back to Blue Bloods?!’ And it’s like, ‘That’s, like, 10 years ago!’ That really warms my heart, so I couldn’t be mad at it. It was nice to go back.
Per her "not so fun times" comment, I'd be remiss if I didn't note there was some controversy over Jennifer Esposito’s exit from Blue Bloods. She left during Season 3 of the drama, and was replaced for a time by Megan Boone before that actress landed The Blacklist. Esposito and CBS both agreed at the time that she’d wanted a more limited Blue Bloods filming schedule.
Where they differed is that CBS felt like they needed someone who could commit, whereas the actress felt it was the network maybe wasn’t taking her health concerns seriously. She called the network's choice to part ways with her "shameful."
More than a decade later, though, it sounds like the fan support for the series and ultimately, her return to the series later on, helped her to get into a different mindset about Blue Bloods. She reappeared on the show in 2023, picking up her character’s Jackie Curatola's arc where it left off. Her character had retired from the NYPD when she’d exited, but had gone on to become a small town police chief. It was a big win for the fans to catch up with her, and clearly some of them would be happy to see more of Jackie before the show wraps.
After being diagnosed with celiac disease, the actress also got a better grip on her health and understanding why her body was reacting in certain ways. While her health issues have been ongoing, she told People in a separate interview that it changed her whole outlook.
I saw it as like, that's just what you do. Oh, you're having panic disorder at 12? Take a valium. Stomach issues? Take this and take that. So by the time I was an adult, I thought this stuff was normal. …But after understanding how deeply ill I was with celiac disease and then seeing my entire world shift… Wow. It was like, oh, I don't have to live like that.
Esposito has gone on to have plenty of memorable roles after her time on the CBS procedural. She’s had solid runs on NCIS, Mistresses, The Boys and Law & Order: SVU in the time since. Now she’s set to lead her own directorial debut Fresh Kills, which will hit the 2024 movie schedule on June 14th.
As for the CBS drama, the network has said it's definitely ending after its fall run, but there have been inklings from the network that a spinoff, reboot or other sort of "extension" for Blue Bloods. As we ramp up toward the fall 2024 TV schedule, I'm sure we'll get more intel about what exactly that could mean.
