I dunno where everybody else’s heads were at the time, but when CBS revealed Boston Blue was in the works as a follow-up to Blue Bloods’ shocking cancellation, I blindly assumed that Donnie Wahlberg’s Danny Reagan would be visited by as many of his uniformed family members as possible. That hasn’t exactly been the case, however, and though fans can expect to see Will Estes’ Jamie in Season 2, with Vanessa Ray’s Eddie Janko-Reagan possibly also in the mix. But what about Tom Selleck’s Frank?
Despite sporadic updates indicating a potential cameo is possible, Selleck has yet to be confirmed for a Boston Blue appearance, so we likely won’t be seeing one play out amidst the 2026 TV schedule. And it sounds like finances are at the heart of the matter, at least according to RadarOnline, whose sources claim that Selleck and Wahlberg would both need to agree to a pay reduction to get Frank Reagan to make the trip. According to the outlet:
It would take financial concessions on both their parts, and that hasn't happened. Tom still expects to be paid like it's 1984 and he's on Magnum, P.I. To be fair, a lot of Blue Bloods' early success came down to his high standards and longtime audience. But the baton has been passed to Donnie, and he loves leading the spinoff on his own. He's making a fortune by network TV standards.
That explanation may or may not run counter to Selleck previously revealing that the Blue Bloods cast took pay cuts to ensure the 14th season was produced, and that everyone wanted to return for a 15th. If he was willing to work for less money then, is that not the case any longer? It’s possible his anger over the cancellation and hesitance to appear in the spinoff make him less likely to agree to any similar dips in pay.
Radar’s source pointed to the overarching financial situation being a factor, and alleges that Donnie Wahlberg also won’t agree to sacrifice his own income to bring his TV dad into the spinoff. As it’s stated:
The whole reason Boston Blue exists was to tweak the financials around Blue Bloods and turn that universe into a more profitable concern. Now, neither Tom nor Donnie is going to take another pay cut just to be on the same TV show again.
When Blue Bloods ended in 2024 after 14 seasons, it still boasted its core five stars who were there from the beginning, along with a couple of others who'd been onboard for a decade or more. So with the understanding that everyone's contract negotiations would have raised their respective paygrades multiple times during that stretch (not counting the late-stage dip), the cast's salaries alone possibly amounted to more than newer shows' entire budgets. So I get the need to walk things back to more affordable territory was key.
To Selleck's ongoing point that Blue Bloods remained a Top 10 most-watched drama even throughout its later years, that status helped CBS justify keeping it on the air. But despite a strong start overall, Boston Blue wasn't able to draw the entirety of its predecessor's viewership. Among other 2025-2026 seasonal shows, its multi-platform stats fell behind other CBS entries like Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage, NCIS, Ghosts, Sheriff Country, Tracker, Matlock and Marshals.
Which is certainly nothing to be ashamed of, since Boston Blue is still crushing over a lot of other shows from the Big 4 networks. But it does add more credence to Selleck's claims, and if that remains the status quo going forward, the chances of getting Frank sitting at Danny's dinner table may be tougher to crack than anything the Reagan family members themselves are dealing with.
Plus, the 81-year-old actor isnt' exactly sitting around resting on his laurels. Tom Selleck is reteaming with Ted Danson for the latter's new Apple TV show with Katey Sagal and Elizabeth Banks. He's also set to host the unscripted History series Crime and Justice with Tom Selleck, though neither series has a premiere date locked down just yet.
Boston Blue is currently filming Season 2 episodes in preparation for the big premiere on CBS on Friday, October 9, at 10:00 p.m. ET.
