With 12 seasons and over 250 episodes under its belt, CBS’ “Blue Bloods” has no shortage of dramatic moments. Following the daily lives of the Reagans, a family of cops and public servants, in New York City, “Blue Bloods” often tackles topical and controversial topics head-on.
When it comes to selling the emotion behind these tricky narrative elements, it helps that the cast is full of seasoned television veterans who have been there since the beginning, like Donnie Wahlberg and Bridget Moynahan. It also helps to have performers who pop in and provide new energy to the show’s streets, like “The Sopranos” alum Steve Schirripa, who joined the show in Season 6.
It’d be difficult for actors who have seen firsthand the impact and longevity of “Blue Bloods” to not have a favorite episode or two of their own show at this point. In fact, many do, including Tom Selleck, who has played New York City Police Commissioner Frank Reagan since the CBS drama debuted in 2010. The “Magnum, P.I.” star revealed his favorite episode of “Blue Bloods” occurred early on in the show’s run and tackled a very sensitive subject in a personal way.
There’s a powerful reason why one Season 2 episode is Tom Selleck’s favorite
In early March, Tom Selleck revealed which episode of “Blue Bloods” is his favorite. According to Selleck, this particular episode had him fighting back tears as he performed it, with his character, Frank Reagan, dealing with survivor’s guilt over events we learn happened to him on September 11, 2001.
“The episode that will always be my favorite is ‘The Job’ [Season 2, Episode 12], in which you found out that Frank was in the World Trade Center’s North Tower on 9/11,” Selleck said in a TV Insider interview celebrating “Blue Bloods” crossing the 250th episode mark. “The Job” aired in 2012, more than a decade after September 11 actually happened.
Selleck said it was “still fresh in people’s minds,” and he found himself fighting not to break down as he played out the story of Frank dealing with his buried trauma after he learns a friend is dying from health complications related to his work on 9/11. “The episode winds up dealing with the people who got sick from being there at the time. We were the first show allowed to show the Trade Center Memorial right after it was finished,” he told TV Insider.
“The Job” was written by “Blue Bloods” executive producer Brian Burns, who worked on “Entourage” before joining the cop-centric show, and directed by Nick Gomez, who worked behind the scenes on series like “Dexter” and “The Sopranos” before “Blue Bloods.”