Wait, was that the end of Blue Bloods?
Blue Bloods season 14 is the final season of the crime drama, but was that the final episode?
Fans have long known that Blue Bloods season 14 would be the final season of the CBS cop drama, but with the episode that aired on Friday, May 17, being the last one airing as part of the 2023-2024 TV season, does that mean we have reached the end of Blue Bloods?
We won't keep you in suspense: No, the May 17 episode, "The Heart of a Saturday Night," is not the Blue Bloods series finale, it is just the finale for Blue Bloods season 14 part one. The Tom Selleck-lead series is set to return as part of CBS's fall 2024 primetime TV lineup to officially wrap up its story.
So need to worry if you were left scratching your head, wondering if that was the last time you'd see the Reagans on TV. They’ll be back for their family dinners and solving crimes as part of CBS's Friday night lineup. We don't have an exact date yet for the show's return, but it is keeping its 10 pm ET/PT time slot.
CBS officially announced that Blue Bloods season 14 would serve as the show’s final season back in November 2023. At the same time it revealed that it would be splitting the season in two. Not all shows were given a runway like that.
The Good Doctor season 7 and Station 19 season 7 are both ending their runs this year with shortened, 10-episode seasons as a result of the 2023 Hollywood strikes that delayed broadcast's biggest shows from returning until winter 2024. Rather than go with fewer episodes to close out the Reagan family's story, CBS and the Blue Bloods creatives are going to get something closer to a normal season run, albeit broken up over the summer.
It's not clear how many more episodes of Blue Bloods we are going to get, but between February and May of this year the show released 10 new episodes for part one of season 14. Around the same number would seem like a reasonable expectation.
"CBS Studios and the CBS Television Network encouraged us to tell our stories in multi-layered narratives that have gone on to resonate with millions of people, and we thank them for their unwavering partnership and collaboration," said Blue Bloods executive producer Kevin Wade back when the decision to split the final season was announced. "We look forward to giving fans an exciting and emotionally satisfying final season, and we are forever grateful for their enthusiasm and loyalty over all these years."
Get the What to Watch Newsletter
The latest updates, reviews and unmissable series to watch and more!
This also means that if you are behind on Blue Bloods you now have the time to catch up with everything from the first half of season 14 and be able to watch the final run of episodes when they premiere in the fall. The best way to do that is to subscribe to Paramount Plus, which has all episodes of Blue Bloods available to stream on-demand.
Michael Balderston is a DC-based entertainment and assistant managing editor for What to Watch, who has previously written about the TV and movies with TV Technology, Awards Circuit and regional publications. Spending most of his time watching new movies at the theater or classics on TCM, some of Michael's favorite movies include Casablanca, Moulin Rouge!, Silence of the Lambs, Children of Men, One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest and Star Wars. On the TV side he enjoys Only Murders in the Building, Yellowstone, The Boys, Game of Thrones and is always up for a Seinfeld rerun. Follow on Letterboxd.