“Blue Bloods” spinoff series “Boston Blue” has become a worthy successor to the beloved police procedural. But the show actually started out as a pitch for a different series — one that shared similarities with the final product.
“After we heard that ‘Blue Bloods’ was ending, we walked into CBS with a pitch, hoping to fill the void of a police procedural with a family core in the lineup,” co-showrunner Brandon Sonnier told the Television Academy. He and co-showrunner Brandon Margolis pitched a story about a Los Angeles law enforcement professional who relocates in hopes of reuniting with his estranged cop son serving on the force in Boston.
If you’re a “Blue Bloods” fan, the connections may already be coming together — and they certainly seemed to be for CBS at the time as well. The network then put its own spin on the pitch, one that changed the show’s future. Margolis explained, “The idea was floated by CBS to Jerry Bruckheimer Television to us: ‘What if that cop from LA was actually Danny Reagan instead?’ And we were like, ‘Are we allowed to do that? Because yeah, we would do that!'”
Making Boston Blue a Blue Bloods spinoff strengthened the show
The simple change made the show a shoo-in to continue the legacy of the Reagan story and of police procedurals on CBS after the epic 14-season “Blue Bloods” run. “Best network note we’ve ever gotten,” co-showrunner Brandon Sonnier added.
Ultimately, it didn’t actually matter to Sonnier and his co-showrunner Brandon Margolis who the cop was at the center of “Boston Blue,” or what city he hailed from. They were invested in what it meant to explore the kind of police narrative “Blue Bloods” prided itself on being: one filled with emotional stakes. “We love telling cop stories,” Sonnier told the Television Academy. “We love the action, the investigation, but at the end of the day you know that your good guys are going to catch the bad guys. But what you don’t know is: Is that relationship going to bend? Is it going to break? Is this the last time he’s ever going to have a fight with his son? What’s happening in the core of the family is really what brings the audience back week after week.”
“Boston Blue” will return for Season 2 on CBS in fall 2026.