CBS on Tuesday afternoon announced a series order for a “Blue Bloods Universe expansion” starring series vet Donnie Wahlberg.
Boston Blue, as the offshoot is tentatively titled, finds Wahlberg’s Danny Reagan taking a position with the Boston PD. There, he will be partnered with Detective Lena Peters, the eldest daughter of a prominent law enforcement family.
The series is on track to debut on CBS during the 2025-26 TV season.
Brandon Sonnier and Brandon Margolis (both of The Blacklist and L.A.’s Finest, as well as Alert: MPU) will serve as showrunners and executive-produce alongside Wahlberg, Jerry Bruckheimer and KristieAnne Reed.
According to Deadline, which first reported on Boston Blue, this series was not conceived as a Blue Bloods spin-off; the only Wahlberg-led offshoot that had been pitched (but was passed on) would have transplanted Danny to Texas. Rather, Sonnier and Margolis had developed a series that would follow a family of cops in Boston whose eldest daughter is partnered with a new transfer from LAPD. The NYPD’s Danny is now that transfer.
Boston Blue marks the latest of many spinoffs currently in the CBS/Paramount pipeline. Fire Country has already spawned Sheriff Country (starring Morena Baccarin and debuting during the 2025-26 TV season) and potentially a Jared Padalecki-led Fire Country: Surfside; The Neighborhood has not one but two offshoots in the works, the former of which is earmarked for Paramount+; The Equalizer just cast a spinoff that will air as a backdoor pilot this season; an FBI: CIA backdoor pilot will air as a spingtime episode of FBI; and the NCIS-verse’s latest addition, NCIS: Tony & Ziva, is expected to premiere on Paramount+ this year.
CBS’ Blue Bloods series finale averaged 6.7 million total viewers (according to VideoAmp Overnight data), which marked a Season 14 high for the family/cop drama (including the 10 episodes that aired February through May). The series’ swan song wound up amassing a 35-day multi-platform audience of 11 million.
Blue Bloods‘ fall run averaged 7.9 million total viewers (with delayed playback), down 15% from Season 14A but still good enough to rank No. 4 out of the broadcast dramas that aired this past fall.
