TV Review-"Blue Bloods"-A Vehicle Perfect for Tom Selleck

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It's not that the CBS vehicle "Blue Bloods" is any paragon of riveting drama, mesmerizing dialogue or spell-binding plot work.

The show is okay for most of those things but it's a cop show.

Sure, it's a cop show about an entire family of cops but the plots and action are pretty much stock type stuff. Each episode will generally feature two to three story lines, usually involving various members of the Reagan family.

This show stands out above so many of the like in that the show seems to have been written for the star, Tom Selleck.

Per the CBS web site:

BLUE BLOODS is a drama about a multi-generational family of cops dedicated to New York City law enforcement. Frank Reagan is the New York Police Commissioner and heads both the police force and the Reagan brood. He runs his department as diplomatically as he runs his family, even when dealing with the politics that plagued his unapologetically bold father, Henry, during his stint as Chief. A source of pride and concern for Frank is his eldest son Danny, a seasoned detective, family man and Iraq War vet who on occasion uses dubious tactics to solve cases with his loyal and tough partner, Detective Jackie Curatola. The Reagan women in the family include Erin, a N.Y. Assistant D.A., who also serves as the legal compass for her siblings and father, and single parent to her teenage daughter Nicky; and Linda, Danny's supportive wife. Jamie is the youngest Reagan, a recent grad of Harvard Law and the family's "golden boy." Unable to deny the family tradition, Jamie has decided to give up a lucrative future in law and follow in the family footsteps as a cop.

There was no better dramatic role in all of the world crafted to fit an actor than Blue Bloods fit Tom Selleck's job as NY Police Commissioner.

I had no great love affair with Selleck before this show though I knew of him, of course, and I suppose I've watched shows with him in it. The very first time I watched Blue Bloods I knew that Tom Selleck would make or break this show.

The Reagan family, like the blurb above states, is mired in generations of cop work. Selleck's character's father too was an NY Police Chief and a recent episode dealt with the problem of the family as it wrestles with Grandfather Henry and his senior erratic driving.

Donnie Wahlberg plays the part of Danny Reagan, an NY Detective and not one to go strictly by the rules. Frank Reagan's youngest son, Jamie, is a street cop and daughter Eris is an NY Assistant DA. There was also a Reagan child who died, in the line of duty of course as this show's premise begs for this as part of the story line.

It's good entertainment, it is, and not much more. At times the Reagan family might come across as a bit too perfect but the siblings fight the elder causes problems, the youth too deal with life and fate.

My favorite sub-plot will always be the various trials and tribulations of Chief Frank Reagan, who looks exactly like an NY Police Commissioner ought to look.

Every episode Blue Bloods features a scene with the entire family sitting down to what appears to be a Sunday meal. It is this activity which gels the family, that presents the viewer with a family that every day faces NY violence, to come together once a week in a familial peace to gather strength to go face it all again the following week.

Blue Bloods airs on CBS on Friday nights at 10 pm.